[quote=@Rapid Reader]
"Tragedy and trauma makes your character more interesting."
[/quote]

I have literally had a player say this to my face as reasoning for the character's comically tragic (not to mention nonsensical) backstory xD

Personally I prefer characters with a more average/uneventful backstory nowadays. I find a lot of our tragic friends end up changing not-so-much throughout the course of the story, with all their development is stuck in their past. In my opinion, it's better to put only as much as you need to support their personality in their backstory, and leave the most interesting bits for the actual IC. Putting all the conflict and suffering in the past leaves so little to be played out in the future! (Basically, leave your tragedy, your trauma, your hardcore development for the IC, IMO. It's more fun that way)