Shazman said:
Your group must not be powergamers then. Lots of players would say I'll play a half-orc for the strength bonus. I can always get feats later.
I agree with that.
Consider the Half-Orc as a Fighter.
+2 STR
-2 INT
-2 CHA
It would take 20,000 XP (both ability feats for INT/CHA) to bring that up to +0, and then another 10000 XP for STR:
+4 STR
+0 INT
+0 CHA
whereas the Human can only get +2 STR, ever, with 10k XP.
(I'm ignoring the 4th level ability boost here)
Unless you're making a build with some serious multiple ability requirements, you're almost always better off choosing a race that has a +2 to a primary stat.
Heck, I'd go Dwarf for the extra 12 HP at 6th level from obtaining +4 CON. That's like an entire (good) hit die, for anybody that's not a CHA based caster.
For savvy gamers (I won't even go as far as saying power-gamers here; most players would not choose a Half-Orc for a bard, for example) optimal race/class selection isn't a mere afterthought in a game that's open to all the choices in the SRD. Add into that the fact you can "buy" your way out of the ability penalties (at least to +0), it starts becoming a no-brainer.
You don't see that in standard DND since the ability boosts are few and far between.
I don't know how it would be fixed, or if it needs fixed. Turning the notion that "human extra feat is the best!" (at least in my school of char-creation) is a bit of an odd thing.
Going "dwarf" makes CHA the ultimate dump stat. Who wouldn't give up -2 CHA for 12 HP, if you don't need CHA? It's only a -1 to CHA skills, for most people.
Anyway.