I've seen a lot of mods have a good crack at it too. But even then, they sort of just... give up. They seem to start out strong, then hit a boring 'neighbourhood BBQ' like you said, and when that falls through they just stop. There's no follow up.
Haven't heard them referred to as pre-mades before, but I think we're talking about the same thing. It's like a plot bunny, but for character creation. You still get 98% complete freedom to make your character, and you basically get assigned a starting point and instant line. All while keeping a realistic setting, appropriate ages all while giving mods and their characters and clear basis to IC stir shit for the sake of the story. Also stops every character from 'being new in town' and having to wade through all that shit.
Totally right about trends falling out of favour. We're all so fickle and quick to move on! Ha.