Skyltd: It sounds that you have a very good idea of what type of campaign you plan to start if you already know that you want precisely three people. Would it be possible to hear more details on the campaign?
I suppose it would also be useful if potential players listed their preferences so as to facilitate the process of creating the campaign.
Personally, I prefer to play in 'serious' campaigns. I am using 'serious' here as a term in opposition to 'funny'. That does not mean that I do not advocate having fun in D&D games - merely that I do not like the artificial inclusion of silly/ludicrous situations (an example of such a situation would be a dragon that attacks the party with apple pies, or playing basketball with Bugs Bunny- believe it or not I have had both of these happen to me in one campaign). Please accept the above examples of a silly situation in place of a definition, because I cannot think of a good way to define it. 'Realism' will not do as a definition, because I enjoy including the supernatural in the campaigns. Perhaps lack maturity would come closest to my meaning of a 'silly situation'. This is the strongest of my preferences - anything else I am able to accept.
I am also tend enjoy the story within the campaign. This means that I like it when the DM has a guiding hand rather than simply the characters doing whatever they want and ignoring the larger plot. Consequently, I am not opposed to seeing DM intervention in character creation, both in terms of character background, or other aspects of character creation, so that it fits in better with the campaign he or she has in mind. The same goes for rules - I am fine with the DM modifying rules to his/her heart's content, as long as they aid the flavour of the world and/or the story. Flavour is the key for me, rather than balance. None of this means that the players should have absolutely no choice in what their characters do - I merely feel that it is good if the DM constrains this choice to better his campaign.
As to the amount of combat in the campaign, I have a marginal preference for a more talk rather than combat campaign, but in the greater scheme of things this is not important.
Well, that's enough for now. Please bear in mind that what I described above depicts my ideal rather than what I would expect in most campaigns.
Last but not least, I think the DM should also post his/her preferences/plans (abstract - not the story of course) for the campaign. Thanks for listening. :)