Larian at one point did say that they wanted to put rolled stats in the game, and if those do appear, you might end up playing in multiplayer with someone who rolled well and made a 16-STR Gnome Fighter, even if flexible ability scores don't make it into the game. Even if Larian were to add flexible ability scores a la Tashas - which they might not because of time or other constraints - using the defaults would of course still be an option.
I fail to understand how Player 2 making a 16-STR gnome Fighter mechanically affects how you play any differently than if player 2 made a 16-STR Half-Orc Fighter.
