Character Creation Styles

So I've been thinking more about the theory behind gaming lately, and I started to wonder what method of creating characters is the best. Since this varies from player to player, I figured I'd throw out a general question, including a fancy-schmancy poll for the lazy (although, I'd prefer if you elaborate in a comment).

After some thought, I boiled them down to five basic variants. They are listed below the fancy-schmancy poll itself.

Which character creation style do you prefer?

Exalted Style: Exalted Style can basically be described as "Gung-ho make any character with the permitted rulebooks. Give this character a motivation and a backstory. The Storyteller then bases the story entirely on the characters, and makes no plans until he has the characters available."
Pros: Allows for a story tailor-made for your character, allows for players to control the story more, offers the most freedom.
Cons: Very slow, most of the creativity burden is on the player, issues with getting the group to fit together.

Vampire Style: Vampire Style is a little more constrained than Exalted style. Here, the idea is "Make a character belonging to one of these factions" or "Make a character with a motivation based on this-or-that". Basically, it's a very loose guideline (like a team you must belong to, or a thing like greed that motivates you).
Pros: Allows easy integration of story and character, offers much freedom.
Cons: Makes some character concepts wonky or inapplicable, moderate creativity burden on the players.

Tactical Style: This style refers to the Storyteller attempting to make the group work out tactically without constraining the characters much storywise. Players are given guidelines like "Make a halfling rogue specializing in stealth" or "Make sure your character is good with guns, stealth, and possibly mental traits, but avoid social skills".
Pros: Allows for very efficient team-play, offers players a basic idea for a character.
Cons: Very restrictive in character design, characters may still not integrate into the story proper.

Convent Style: Normally used at convents, this style is when the Storyteller handles the character creation in detail. Normally this means that the Storyteller assigns all the stats and traits, and details what the character is doing here and what he/she wants.
Pros: Characters fit the story seamlessly, team-play is improved.
Cons: Very little creative input by the player, can't cater to all tastes.

D&D Style: This is the style used by most "plug-and-play" adventures, like the ones you buy at a store. The Storyteller and the players do their work entirely independently, with no constraints on neither party. Then, some effort is made to fit the characters into the story after both are finished.
Pros: Speedy and easy way, minimal preparation needed, all character concepts are viable.
Cons: Characters may not integrate into the story at all, heavy modification may be necessary.