The character set up process is generally not considered to be in roleplay. Some players choose to go down that route, but its not mandatory. Majority seem to prefer to fully set up their character first then start roleplaying it, which is why faction restarts now give a camera ship, as it doesn't exist in roleplay and has the fastest cruise speed in the game, so players can get to the sellpoint of their desired ship easier and without interruptions, and get set up to start roleplaying sooner.

If you'd prefer to build up each of your characters from ground up, all variants of Civilian and Freelancer restarts are set up exactly with that type of use in mind (/showrestarts command has the full list, it's the templates starting with Civilian or FL in their name). They use the same map as faction restarts, and give a basic but functional loadout you can work your way up with, and even keep it closed-economy if you prefer (there are also Classic restarts, which basically gives you a vanilla-style start, with blank map, no gear, etc).

Also the reworked restarts no longer carry any pre-defined reps. All the rep adjustments you see on a fresh char are from rephacks of the ID, which generally only include a forced rephack toward hostile factions for gameplay purposes.