Wow, you actually remember this? How flattering
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While I enjoy well-written predefined characters (like in JRPGs… just like GG said), I get most out of creating my own from scratch - and I'm not talking about stats here. I play around with visuals a lot (the more options the better), and once I made a character I think I might like, his or her backstory starts to emerge in my mind; this in turn is what makes me decide on my char's path in the game, on their actions, reactions and, of course, the equipment they use.
I'm somewhat the same way. Even in DDO, which is basically nothing but hp, dps, and "hjeal me naow!", my characters for the most part start to develop a personality in my head. In one case, Mirys the Half-Elven Favored Soul, she has even started to get written into part of my own game. This is a character and name created specifically for DDO, and the concept I built around her class and prestige line, "Angel of Vengeance".
Ijii the Bard also has a developed personality, though the name was taken from a freeware platformer. Accordingly, my Paladin Rachail lacks one, as I've grown to dislike the pure melee type in DDO. Oddly, while Aerii has seen much more play than anyone else in my roster, she only has a bit more development than Rachail.
A number of NPCs from my game also migrated from older CRPGs such as Phantasie III and Bard's Tale, where they managed to grow on me years ago and remain with me in some fashion. They were characters I created and built, and despite the limitations of the engine and game, I found a personality developing around those green or black text names with no unique portraits, and no dialog choices.
Many of the characters traveled from Skara Brae to the Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord; onward to Varn, Cron, Terra, and Xeen, were the Lords of Harmondale, fought the Dark Savant, and traveled the Sword Coast and up into Icewind Dale, and even into the lands of Krynn.
It is a rare jRPG which holds my attention for long. Some times, it's the anime art style, but most often it's the cardboard cutout characters, the generic-seeming plot, and the overall lack of choice (most I've played are linear, go here, do this, then go here, ad infinitum) which drive me away. I can count on one finger the number of jRPGs I've replayed through, and one hand the number I've played extensively or bothered to finish.
It's actually a rare cRPG that I can't create my characters in that I play for long too. It's why I've been reluctant to buy the Witcher; I just don't get into games with a set protagonist, someone that I have to play as.
On the other hand, some of my favorites are the Baldur's Gate and Ultima games, where you create one character then recruit the rest of your troop. I think it makes the one I create even more alive to me, to actually have them interact with others regularly, that I didn't know of beforehand.