Making the ideal coward in 3.5

[Rubik]

I'm guessing you mean optimization?

Yeah.

Because as a rule my group doesn't go too crazy with that (although all of them try to be relatively cheesy in their assigned roll). I think the monk rolls with Vow of Poverty to get the super high AC.

Oh. Ow. Yeah, you're definitely a low-op group (or you don't get any WBL to speak of).

Are you suggesting that i hold back on optimizing my character? Honestly i'm not very good at optimizing to begin with (and find it rather distasteful, like min-maxing).

Optimizing just means making decisions that make you better at what you do and the game more fun for you. If you find making a useful and fun character distasteful, I kind of feel sorry for you, honestly. Having fun is important to you as a player, and being useful means you're not a drag on the group (and you, as a player, are never stuck twiddling your tumbs for long periods of time in-game, as I can't imagine that's fun, either).