No I understand what you are saying. It's just our roleplay philosophy is different. What you see as a tax, I see as an opportunity to overcome a flaw. So in my mind, if I choose to play a sub-optimal race for a class, I do so knowing the character will be sub-optimal because to me, it fits the world and maintains my immersion as part of the world. I generally refuse to play halflings with STR 20 because it doesn't make logical sense to me. My halfling fighters will be agile and quick, looking for precision strikes. But if I for some reason choose to play a halfling who depends on his strength, then I will do so knowing he just won't be as strong as the half orc fighter in the party. I will find a way to overcome that statistical weakness.
As I've said multiple times already if I do want to play a character who is handicapped and not as good at their class as others I can already do that by simply not distributing their stats optimally. I don't need a game mechanic that forces that decision on me.
And hey, if you don't want to play a halfling fighter with 20 strength that is entirely on you. I, however, might have in mind a heroic halfling barbarian with immense, unparalleled physical strength for his kind that can grapple with half-orcs if needed. And this is not any more immersion breaking in my mind than a human barbarian wrestling a bear (19 strength) or a tiger (17 strength) or a FRICKIN' ALLOSAURUS (19 strength) or any human-sized being getting hit by a dragon and not being reduced to a mushy red paste.
Besides, DnD's mechanics are all abstractions. In the real world being swol as heck doesn't make you better at hitting enemies with a sword, but for some reason in DnD it DOES do exactly that. Having a high STR isn't just your raw muscle mass, it also covers your skill at utilizing that strength and your proficiency at wielding certain non-finesse melee weapons. Which is why it can be so frustrating. My halfling barbarian should be able to be just as skilled at wielding a longsword as a goliath even if the goliath can lift and carry significantly more weight than my halfling ever could.
