"Railroading" is vastly overstated.
And quite frankly in principle I prefer it to the complacent "Everyone must be equally good at everything" anyway. Especially if that "equity of opportunities" is not even obtained by reaching similar effectiveness by different means but quite literally by removing distinctive traits.
I like races having different peculiarities and strong points.
Races would still have their strong points just the same even if you could milk an extra +1 to an ability score with an extra feat. The races that don't need that +1 can invest it in something else. Choices are fun and they make the character feel more your own and unique.
It just doesn't feel good playing that Tiefling Cleric with 15 Wisdom or High Elf Fighter with 15 Strength. Rolling feels better in that regard since your "off-race" can potentially start with an 18 in their main stat. The +2 races still maintain their lead and are exceptionally good at something but anyone else can be on par with each other. That's the spirit of the rules and I'd like it to translate to BG3.
