I for one don't really care whether they have customizable characters or not. I think it would be better for them to create the character, like always, so they can focus on other more important things.
For online, I agree with other people- it would be good to customize characters so we don't all look the same. I imagine it would be SO fun to beat people online or get my ass kicked as well. Its a good idea to be able to join a clique online so that we could set up "clique wars".
The only drawback I see to that is that more people might choose to join a clique over another, creating an imbalance.
It would be cool if you could create your own clique, sort of like a clan, so that all the B-B members could be together and kick ass