honestly i want all the PHB races.
Give people the ability to play any archetype they want, without implementing a gorillion races.
You dont need 80 elf races, you can probably play an kind of elf character you want if you have "Elf" and "Drow" as races.
likewise, i dont neccesarily need lizardfolk if we got dragonborn.
So its about the breath of archetypes available rather than the actual number.
Gnomes and Halflings dont need to be both present.
but if theres no halforcs ill riot
First of all: We need both halflings and gnomes so that half orc barbariens have different ammunition for throwing
But I agree that having a few races that are well implemented into the game, like it comes up in dialogue or stuff you are doing, is better than having tons of races and the only difference are slightly different stats.
Prof. Dr. Dr. Mad S. Tist 
