I think I'll contribute. Been a while since I last Roleplayed but I think that the very first thing anyone should do when making a character is simply... read the GM's posts regarding the RP itself. Especially the first one. The second thing I do is read all accepted character's or talk with other players about their ideas.
Before even thinking about naming your character, what gender or species or abilities or class they are; it is imperative that I know exactly
what the world I am going to be playing in even is and
who are also playing in this world. Before I design my character I need to know how to make them even fit within this world. If races are preexisting and are hard-set in the realm then it is foolish of me to try and create my own and force them into the game. If there are limitations then I should know what they are and how to work with them or enhance them to my personal benefit as a plot/story device. IF the RP allows creative extras like 'you can make your own race' then it is important to work with the GM on those details to get the finer details done for it.
When it comes to reading all accepted characters, this gives me an idea of the 'range' I'm allowed to fall into and I normally try to stay in the middle of that range rather than straying off it. Reading those other characters or even simply talking to the other players about what they'll play also gives me an idea of what is already existing within the RP.If we go by classes. If the group has a tank, a thief, a mage,a ranger and a duelist then the logical thing the group will need is someone who can play as their healer. If the group is playing as 4 men and 2 females then playing as another female character might be beneficial to help equalize the gender spectrum. If there are only 4 races in an RP and the group is mostly 3 out of the 4 races, being of the minority will add more flavor to the story. So on and so forth. Very, very rarely will there
not be some niche or role within the group that isn't filled. Now the reason this is so important is for myself. If I'm playing as a role that is already perfectly filled, then either I will be left on the sidelines or I'll be pushing them on the sidelines. Either way neither will be happy with playing as what is basically a copy of another character as far as roles are concerned.
Again to clarify 'roles' I'm not just talking about combat classes but also race/sex/sexuality and motives.
In the end though, it is important to always start with these two simple questions.
- What is the RP's setting?
- What is the story that the GM is trying to tell?
- What genre is the RP?
- What are the races?
- What limitations are there?
- What do I need to know?
- What can I play that the RP is missing?
- What class types are currently in play or that are planned? How do they plan on playing those classes? Are there any missing niches that'd be needed and interesting?
- What races are missing that I can play as? What is the diversity like? How can I work with what is currently in play?
- What is the sexual diversity within the group? Is the RP predominantly one gender or equal? What sexuality are in play if any?
- What story can I bring in that I can expand within the story without conflicting with other plots within the story itself?
Knowing these 2 main questions (and all associated questions that fall under them) I can then finally get to working on a character that'll both fit within the story and still be unique as I'd be filling areas that the main group didn't seem too interested in. Using the RP's setting as my base.