You're half right. Personality/story/etc. and fighting are two of the things I pay attention to. I look at both aspects, but never at the same time.

I don't consider a character's personality/background/story/etc. when I choose them for my party, since all of that becomes irrelevant when I am fighting an enemy. All that matters is how useful they are in battle. That is only for fighting, however.

The other side I look at is their personality, background, how they fit in with the story, etc., all of that good stuff. I do pay close attention to this. I would be missing out on a lot if I just considered a character's fighting skills and totally disregarded everything else about them.

I know it might seem like I don't care about Zidane's character in my previous posts, but I was just stating my opinion of him battle-wise. His personality is an entirely different thing. I actually don't mind his personality, it's much better than Squall's at least.