Regardless, they're perfectly right. I can use an analogy from League of Legends. You have, in general, two types of players. He who plays to have fun, ie an individual that becomes part of an thoroughly enjoys the community and game he is part of with minimal questioning. Then, he who plays to win, ie an individual that has a disdain for anyone that hinders victory (a large majority of the community) and often forces the "meta" and "best playstyles" onto others to ensure victory. Of course, a game like League has a clear win-loss condition, but the mindset still applies.
What I will do is say I understand your plight. In high-tier AU's, it pains me to see bland characters ripped straight from the canon or simply anything that feels like the writer just forced it into the roleplay to be part of it.From genre to genre, I sometimes PREFER to see that bland character. Fuck yeah, give me the stark, faithful Paladin every time if its played right. Is this scifi? IS THAT A SPACE MARINE? IS HE WROTE LIKE SOME LONESOME SPACE COWBOY WITH NO REASON TO LIVE, JUST WIELDING A BIG GUN AND TAKING ORDERS? There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing is really original, anyway. Anyone whom believes originality itself holds any real merit is just looked for a reason to feel better; I often prefer allusions, references, etc. solely because that's my taste, but that doesn't mean I can't do either.
Then, let's look at creativity. This is where we blur my line. I actually do hate it when creativity is lacking, but that's because you can be creative with even dull aspects of a character and give them unique features. You don't have to stand out. You don't have to be individualistic in the most outlandish way possible. You just need to have a story, follow a pattern and fit into a concept. If you're a niche character, fine. If you're that Paladin, fine. But have a story to it. If you're that Space Marine, make yourself the most cliche as fuck sob story about your dead wife and lost kid and run with that shit. Make it work. I will say that if characters are just going paragraph-to-paragraph doing nothing, yeah, that's dull.
And what is mediocre writing to you? Read some of the greatest classics - ever. If you took excerpts from your favorite book, it might seem like mediocre writing. It's all about context. How do you determine skill? Integration of literary techniques into plot and character based narrative using a third person perspective of an ascribed character made for the setting? Is that skill? Do you have to write in poetic verse every single post? Do you need flowery fluff, awesome alliteration and a back and forth flow that make each of your grammatically perfect sentences have an ebb and flow as natural as the Ocean tide? Is that what you're after? Do we need to revise and re-structure each post we make after making absolutely perfect word choice? If we do...
That shit gets old. Doesn't matter how good you are, writing like that is exhausting and its a great way to deter new roleplayers, making reading a bigger chore (as it tends to lengthen posts) and although yes it does make reading more fun if you do it every single post it takes away from the emphasis it can bring to more important posts.
I believe that role plays should be held with high respect and regard as a form of literary medium, rather than a generic tool to be entertained with.
If that is what you believe, you need to observe and reassess what roleplays are and why they retain popularity. I am probably considered one of the biggest elitists and self-proclaimed (watch that wording there) advocates to educate as well as increase the overall skill of the roleplaying masses, but I will never outright say the only mechanic and point of roleplay or collaborative storytelling is to act as a literary medium. If that is seriously how you feel, you are a niche writer. You can have whatever opinion and outlook you want, but you'll be wrong in what function roleplay performs. I can get pissed and yell at my allies in a ranked game all day, it won't get me a victory, it won't fix my score and even if it's their fault, it won't result in improving the community or the game. Even with tutors and mentors, that takes time, practice and patience.