I was recently asked to design a character for somebody's friend with no input from that person. No concept of what they want, because they didn't have a character yet. I said no. why?
I absolutely loathe adoptables - and by "adoptable" I mean any type, whether it's a batch of them for sale, a commission or a request. Any time an artist designs a character for somebody else with no input about what the individual wants, no preexisting concept, it's an adoptable.
People should come up with their own designs, even if it's a simple description like "jet-black fur and muscular", because at least that's a concept.
I especially hate batch adoptables: flooding the world with designs that the new owner didn't come up with and at the same time restricting others' creativity... basically art the Microsoft way". It disgusts me.
If a person can't make their own character, they shouldn't even bother having one.
This, of course excludes situations when, say, a company or organization is looking for a mascot, or a studio is looking for a character concept, because, in those cases, it's not an individual looking for a character.
I may be persuaded to do it if I were paid immensely but, if you have that kind of money to waste, waste it on a DECENT artist instead of an amateur's mediocre "art".
So, simply put: never in an infinite number of years will I do an adoptable for ANYBODY. EVER.