Variables - Randomness in Character Creation

Thanks to the new Dragon Age RPG by Green Ronin Publishing, I've been thinking about randomness in character creation. My knee-jerk reaction is that randomness has no place in a modern RPG.

Why do I think this?

There's a part of me that thinks I need to be able to make whatever I want when I'm generating a character. However, there's a part of me that's thinking that I'm getting a bit older. I'm maturing as a gamer. I don't know that I need to pick everything. In fact, I kind of like the idea of randomness offering a bit of a challenge in roleplay.

What do I mean by this?

Well, Dragon Age doesn't suggest that you can't play certain character types depending on your random stat generation. You can swap two of your attributes at creation, effectively allowing you to exalt one specific score. But that's it, that's your limit. So you might have to play a character that's not perfect in all the ways you might like. I like that. In the real world, successful people aren't always the best in their fields. Sometimes, it's just a desire to succeed that makes success happen.

Also, random generation cuts out pesky math, and stops you from having to make tough decisions. This makes for quicker characters. I think that might actually be a benefit for newer players. Character creation is one of the first steps in learning an RPG, and it's certainly one of the least glamorous. Getting it done and over with gives you a better chance of giving your new player a "wow" moment.

So gamers... What do you think? Are you comfortable in your character creation enough to do something we thought we got rid of years ago? Do you refuse to let chance dictate how you play?

(And before it's mentioned, I'm not a fan of either/or setups. That typically has a player throwing away the option they have a prejudice against.)