Nice try, but floating ability screams for the best score in the best place. Always.
Sure, but how does that make the character less of an elf or less of a dwarf or less of an orc? It makes the racial choice MORE about the race and less about the abilities.
What prevents a lot of people from doing the orcish sorcerer, the dwarven wizard and so forth is exactly the fact that will not get the famous sweet 16. Most will not see that they gained something else in the process. They do not care about the other stuff the race gives them. They care about the sweet 16.
I disagree about Dwarf , that was the most common wizard I saw played in the early days (ironically less so now probably because there are like 40 playable races). The +2 to constitution and medium armor proficiency tended to draw people to that race even without an intelligence bonus.
If people really did not care about the other stuff the race gives them and only care about the ASIs then post Tashas, there would only be mountain dwarves and half elves because those races get the most bonuses. Those two races get more ASIs than any other. Meanwhile variant humans, who get the fewest bonuses, are statistically the most popular race even post Tashas. That more or less proves that it is not all about the ASIs.
With floating ASIs it is more about the race. I pick a Goblin because I want nimble escape or maybe because I want to be small or maybe for some story or thematic reason, but it darn sure is not about the floating ASI because I can get those same ASIs with any almost race. It is something about the Goblin specifically that is drawing me to playing a Goblin.
I pick hill dwarf because I want the hit point bonus or tabaxi so I can get that cool move or a Kobold for Pack tactics (at least for a little while longer) or a Bugbear so I can get the reach and surprise attack. It is ALL about the race now.
And with floating ASI, you see mountain dwarves wizards with that 16 in intel and medium armor and 14 in dex and 15 in Con for quite an over powered char. Or half elves and so on.
I don't see that as overpowered. More powerful for combat than you could build a mountain dwarf before, but not as powerful as other available options.
Further although a lot of Wizards (and players in general) do invest in constitution, that does not make them a more powerful character overall. It point buy it makes them a less powerful character overall. It only makes them more powerful in combat. They will be weaker in the other 2 pillars and in a game that emphasized all three phases that difference will be noticable. A character that uses point buy and starts with a constitution 15 or greather will necessarily be weaker considering all 3 phases than a character who starts with a constitution of 14 and a lot weaker than a character who starts with a constitution of 13 or less. The Intelligence and Dexterity are good investments outside of combat, but constitution isn't and someone who puts this much emphasis on constitution is going to have a lower Wisdom or Charisma or both.
Finally, you are also assuming here that people are using point buy, which is not universally the case. If you want people to stop playing with the numbers the best way to do it is make them roll dice.
