I'm trying to wrap my head around this. How does having a more generic figure make it easier to create characters?
Those of us who make characters generally want the characters to look unique. That means they should look like individuals. Having the "that's obviously Dawn!" visible in the character's shape is a HUGE headache for those of us who try very hard to make each character look like it's own person.
So yeah. Having a more generic shape helps immensely, as when we're spinning dials, it's a lot less about trying to get the obvious-Dawn look out of our shape presets.
Dawn has a nice look, and that's fine - but when you are making characters, you want your shape presets to each one look different from the others. Just like real people look different from each other.
For an example of what I mean, just go and look at Nataani. Look at the comparison of his SHAPE, with default Dusk. You don't see a lot of "Dusk" in Nataani's features, and Nataani would most definitely look like his own person if he were walking down the street or standing at a bus stop waiting for the bus.
THAT is why the generic shape benefits character creators. We make 3D people, not just faces.