The thing about races is that they were meant to be like having another class.
Correct me if I'm wrong but in Basic D&D there was Fighter, Magic-User, Thief and Cleric (a fighter/magic user). The Dwarf and Elf provided a different slant and could play two or more classes at once. That was the point of being NOT human. Racial advantages served to give a reward for playing an unusual and not as identifiable race.
With the evolution of the game it gets further away from the original simplicity - not such a bad thing - but can leave those playing for the first time with the old generation X syndrome of 'options paralysis'. So many choices of toothbrush that you pick none.
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