I play games SP only, and don't care one whit what others do in their games. What does fair even mean when an experience is entirely your own ?
But my general position would be to always allow players choice where it is practical and reasonable. Not doing so often reduces the appeal of a game and the reputation of the developer.
I think "hey - it's a single player game and you can do whatever you want" is generally really healthy attitude and I completely agree with it when it comes to modding games, choosing difficulty, cheats w/e. I think there are 3 aspects you should take into consideration:
1) it's not single player only game
2) even if you are the only person in the world who knows, there is a sense of satisfaction in knowing that you started from same position as any other player and overcame greater challenges.
3) there are people like me - who are really bothered if they didn't make their char as strong as they could when they could have and will spend 30 mins + just sitting there and rerolling. It's not a fun experience. There are reasons why RPG trends moved away from random stats.
I believe fixed starting stats would make for a better game, but more that I think about it, more convinced I am that they will go with DnD 5e rules.
Specifically, on your points, my personal take is:
1 / It will be SP if I play it; and I don't believe any play mode should limit the experience of other play modes.
2 / Nope, sorry, but I really have zero competitive instincts, which is why I am uninterested in MP. The story construction and breadth of game experience are what matters to me, not artificial metrics like pointless collectables, random achievements, or even difficulty levels..
3 / I would like to say I've never done that, but it would be a lie
I once spent about 6 hours rolling and saving all sorts of strong characters - I assume I then played one of them, but can't actually remember. But it was my choice, and therefore my problem.
Your way of looking at it is obviously fine, we just have different values perhaps?
I have quite a strong dislike of anyone who thinks they know better than me what I want from a product I purchase. This is why I use Linux rather than Windows or MacOS, despite the fact that it is less polished; I am prepared to deal with the problems that come with my choice in order to remove myself from someone else's control.
I guess I am probably Chaotic Good
