Ambercon US 2006, homework

Having Asked: how much do you all like/hate doing the 'homework' of designing/selecting characters and getting the gist of the scenario from the GM?

It sounds like:

1. most folks would like the choice between pre-gens and BringYerOwnCharacters.
   
2. most folks would like the play system to have minimum tinkering
   
3. most folks would like the PCs to be essential to the plot
   
4. most folks would like backstory to be a quick kibbitz in the 10-15 minutes of slot-start
   
5. most folks would like more slots to have Independant story (and perhaps serial/sequence applies)
   
6. character quizzes are bad
   
7. prep time over 30 minutes is bad