I would like to point out (as an addendum to what I said about minmaxing), that when players roll up a character for my games, I'm not a leave them as they lie (rolled in order and set in stone) DM, I let my players apply their rolled stats as they see fit, and I will allow them to roll multiple sets of stats (sets must be used cohesively), it tends to lead to characters who are good at their jobs as well as something (or things) other than that job.
I don't take issue with a player who sets themselves up to be a good ____, I take exception to players who abuse the system, a player who just sets themselves up to be effective is not a minmaxer, a minmaxer is abusing the rules to 'win' or 'be the best' by doing everything they can to have their chosen field at maximum possible (or impossible, but munchkins are a different story) values.
And as an aside, point buy is evil, and should never be allowed due to the hideous things players create with it (yes, I've done it too.)
A bit belated here, but this made me realize what the disconnect between us was. I've always considered the "game" and "story" aspects of a character to be, by necessity, part of a coherent whole; when minmaxing a character, for me, eroding at their
character isn't an acceptable tradeoff for more power. The point is, as someone back there suggested, designing the crunch such that it enables roleplay rather than shutting it down. Someone who doesn't want to optimize their character at all would be better off playing a freeform just as much as someone who wants to powergame is best off playing with others of their ilk.
'Cause that's the thing. The person you make doesn't exist in a vacuum. Their crunch needs to roughly correspond to the power (though not necessarily
competence, as long as it's not something liable to repeatedly wipe the party) of both the other players' characters and the campaign. Treating it as a nonentity is just as harmful as letting people do whatever they want, because when the Rogue with the 11/8/8/9/12/11 spread and Healer misses every trap, constantly gets caught stealing, and can't talk his way out of a paper bag, that's not an enjoyable experience for anyone who isn't a masochist.
That's the difference between freeform and round-robin storytelling as opposed to tabletop: stats do matter, as they do in any story where important events are decided by dice rolls. That's not saying that you should ignore character for stats (though if everyone in the group enjoys that, more power to 'em), but that you need to find a balance.