Kiwi Farms

I'm in the very, very, very (very) early planning stages of my own RPG and I have to confess I don't exactly have the best concept of the genre. I haven't played too many but I still want to try and capture the essence of them.
You don't have to tell me how dumb I am, I already know

Anyway, I wanted to ask the diehard RPG fans out there a few questions so I can get a better feel for what I'm doing. Feel free to answer just one question or all of them or none of them or wish that a plate of lasagna would fall from the sky and land in your lap.

• What are the quintessential classes you feel every RPG should have? And as a followup, which class is your favorite and why?
• How many different characters do you like to choose from? I was thinking I'd have somewhere around 10 with a tentative 5 classes and a choice of male or female for each class.
  
• How many party members is ideal for you? Three, four, five? More? Less?
• Do you like knowing exactly where you're supposed to go and what you're supposed to do, or do you prefer minimal direction?

• What do you think makes a good RPG great? Strong characterization, a good story, exotic places or epic fights? (These are examples, feel free to come up with your own reasons)
• Conversely (and lastly-- for now at least), what about a bad RPG in your eyes makes it bad? Convoluted crafting systems, flat characterization, annoying battle mechanics, [insert other flaw here]?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to some answers


(As an addendum, I just want to state that I'm not currently looking for help with the game itself, not that I'm expecting offers but I don't want anyone getting their hopes up or anything.)