It depends almost entirely on the context, and how the player handles their character.
"Overpowered" and "underpowered" pretty much boil down to the same thing; people often write the traits first, and the character second. Generally speaking, overpowered characters aren't annoying because of the traits themselves (though in some cases it certainly doesn't help). An overpowered character isn't necessarily annoying to a lot of people because they turn into Mega Odin and Shin-Zantetsuken things willy nilly, but because their traits are more or less written in a way that says "Please respect and admire my character for having this ability". It's essentially a plea for others to find the character interesting without actually engaging in the meaningful interactions that, well, make the character interesting.
Underpowered characters are certainly capable of falling into the same trap of being, intentionally or inadvertently, written as "unique character traits" that just happens to have a character attached to it as opposed to a character that just so happens to have some unique traits. It's the difference between designing the chassis before the engine, or vice versa, the engine being the character's personality that drives things forward and the chassis being the "unique" traits or abilities that decorate it. And yes, some people consider it pretty important to have a nice looking chassis, but it's not the pretty chassis that determines whether or not you can travel in the first place.
A character's weakness can be played in such a way that is identical to the overpowered character: "Please notice and worry over my character for having this weakness". Underpowered characters can be just as irritating to deal with as overpowered characters.
So how do you avoid this? That can be a difficult question to answer, but the short answer is "Don't force anything."
As I'm ever so fond of saying, it depends on the context. When introducing your character to other characters, some people are attracted to the pretty chassis and want to interact with that and its implications. Some people don't care about the aesthetics and only want to see how your engine drives things forward.
There are some fairly safe things to use. When introducing your character, don't make overt attempts to make their traits relevant. Give it a sentence or two. Less than a paragraph. And if the traits aren't relevant, then don't crowbar them in or try to draw attention to them. Let your engine do the driving--the character--and if other characters on their own notice the pretty chassis--the unique traits--then great, you can roll with it. And don't get bent out of shape if characters don't immediately acknowledge the pretty chassis you put so much work into.
Let their interest in your character and their unique traits grow naturally.
"Overpowered" and "underpowered" pretty much boil down to the same thing; people often write the traits first, and the character second. Generally speaking, overpowered characters aren't annoying because of the traits themselves (though in some cases it certainly doesn't help). An overpowered character isn't necessarily annoying to a lot of people because they turn into Mega Odin and Shin-Zantetsuken things willy nilly, but because their traits are more or less written in a way that says "Please respect and admire my character for having this ability". It's essentially a plea for others to find the character interesting without actually engaging in the meaningful interactions that, well, make the character interesting.
Underpowered characters are certainly capable of falling into the same trap of being, intentionally or inadvertently, written as "unique character traits" that just happens to have a character attached to it as opposed to a character that just so happens to have some unique traits. It's the difference between designing the chassis before the engine, or vice versa, the engine being the character's personality that drives things forward and the chassis being the "unique" traits or abilities that decorate it. And yes, some people consider it pretty important to have a nice looking chassis, but it's not the pretty chassis that determines whether or not you can travel in the first place.
A character's weakness can be played in such a way that is identical to the overpowered character: "Please notice and worry over my character for having this weakness". Underpowered characters can be just as irritating to deal with as overpowered characters.
So how do you avoid this? That can be a difficult question to answer, but the short answer is "Don't force anything."
As I'm ever so fond of saying, it depends on the context. When introducing your character to other characters, some people are attracted to the pretty chassis and want to interact with that and its implications. Some people don't care about the aesthetics and only want to see how your engine drives things forward.
There are some fairly safe things to use. When introducing your character, don't make overt attempts to make their traits relevant. Give it a sentence or two. Less than a paragraph. And if the traits aren't relevant, then don't crowbar them in or try to draw attention to them. Let your engine do the driving--the character--and if other characters on their own notice the pretty chassis--the unique traits--then great, you can roll with it. And don't get bent out of shape if characters don't immediately acknowledge the pretty chassis you put so much work into.
Let their interest in your character and their unique traits grow naturally.