[quote=@HaleyTheRandom]
[indent][indent][indent][color=00EDDD]"Should likes/dislikes, hobbies, fears, etc. be included/required in a character sheet? What are some of the things that are absolutely mandatory for a character sheet? What are some things that we're better off leaving out?"[/color][/indent][/indent][/indent]
[/quote]

I think there's no harm in it, and I don't mind if people want to go that far, but for myself I'd rather keep details like "likes/dislikes" under my hat until it comes up naturally in the roleplay. I like being surprised. Knowing every little detail about someone else's character before we start sometimes makes me less excited to meet them ingame, not more.

If I already know everything including their long and tragic backstory, then all I can get interested in is the present/future. I probably won't bother having my character ask questions like "so where are you from?/why are you looking at me like that?" if I know I'm going to get an in-character repeat of "I'm from Hecktown, where both my parents died in a tragic demon attack. / You're a goblin, and I HATE goblins." Having my character ask questions I already know all the answers to isn't very interesting for me as a player, though sometimes you have to do it to "catch up" your character with that info to avoid metagaming. If you don't tell me, I'll have way more fun finding out as we play.

You can add some detail, I just don't want to know your character like the back of my hand like you do right from the start.

That said, for stuff I [i]do[/i] want to know...

Name and the basic details of what they look like at first glance are the barest minimum I absolutely need to know. This isn't even because I need to know, per se, it just makes it a hell of a lot easier to write my post when I can address it properly...

"Jeff noticed the person(?) on the other side of the room and nodded vaguely" is doable, but not very smooth, easy, or engaging. If I don't know the basics, I've got next to nothing to use in my own post. Goes without saying, I guess?

"Jeff noticed the tall, cloaked figure, came to the conclusion he probably could not take them in a fight, and decided that extending a laurel might be a better idea. He ordered two drinks and approached with his eyes firmly fixed on the shadowed face." Even if all I know is that your character is tall, edgy, and wears a dark cloak shrouded in shadows, I can use that and give a bit more action/reaction for both of us to work with. I don't need a lot, but it really helps to at least have a little.

Then all the rest for me is decoration, and gives me more material to bounce off/work with. A more in-depth description, what their pronouns are, the basics I could have "Jeff" glean from a once-over... It helps me to get interested in your character, and I might get a better idea of whether mine and yours might get along or form an interesting rivalry/working relationship, but I can work with less. Other people may not feel the same.

TL;DR: Less is more, but nothing isn't something.