I hope that the goblin will not be a game race, this is nonsense, since goblins are exceptionally evil monsters without free will of non-human origin, this will break the game and only a few will play them.
I guess it all hinges on one's personal definition of "sentient".
I"m reading Harry Potter fanfic lately and there are a ton of discussions of what is the difference between a "dangerous" entity and a "dark" (evil) one. Both can cause harm, be dangerous, murder and so on.
But it's intent. If one has intent to cause pain/inflict suffering, then that's truly dark, and for someone who is truly sentient and can chose a response and have personal motivation that has to be a choice. Yes, I can absolutely see that a particular race or species (Or culture but that's a whole other discussion) might have a tendency to do this or that. But a sentient individual always has the potential to choose compassion.
YMMV
