There is nothing inherently wrong about the RP of an honorable thief or a self-serving Imperial.

As long as you use the ROLE command correctly, doing a corrupt Tribunal isn't bad either. It's been done before, I believe.

One thing that I don't like about the roles I see on PBFs is the way 90% of people mold the role exactly to the specifications of the cabal/class. Very few people actually allow their characters to learn and develop, or include conflicts / personal struggles in their role. I like the idea of a Paladin who means well but struggles with concepts like pride, murder, vanity, etc or a BattleRager who because of something in his past despises magic but slowly starts to realize that it isn't so bad.

Unfortunately, adding those kinds of twists to a role can be very difficult because they're generally interpreted as poor RP or, depending on how far you take it, can mess up your character mechanically.

I'm not saying I'd want to play an elf who turns dark and loses his specs, but I certainly think there are too many cookie-cutter roles out there that basically amount to, "Here's why this character is 100% perfect for this scenario and should be rewarded."

If you have a unique role you would like to play, do it. End of story.

Also, there's a HUGE difference between a Paladin who has a few character flaws and "is just human" like everyone else and a Paladin who is "greedy" not because it's one of the darker aspects to his role, but because his player cares too much about gear, stats, and ego. 99% of the time, themes like greed, rage, resent, and intelligence often bleed from the PLAYER and not the character.