What part about "you do NOT have to use floating ability score bonuses yourself" is unclear?
The part where you seem to think that's an effective argument.
If you want to change my mind...
I have no interest in changing your mind. What you do in your head is your issue. I'm simply expressing a different opinion, and not for your benefit, but for Larian's.
You have put forth no sensible reason why someone else choosing to put in a +2/+1 where they want - when nothing stops you from leaving them at the default - personally damages your fun.
Decisions like this don't exist in a vacuum. They have a real impact on the gaming experience for everyone involved. From your point of view, you see it as affecting your character. I see it as affecting the entire race.
A default placement means nothing when most players will shuffle their stats to the most mechanically beneficial spot. This mentality quickly spreads throughout the setting. Halflings are suddenly as strong as Half-orcs. The delineation between the races is watered down.
I don't want to play in a world that turns a blind eye to obvious differences.
There's something to be said for functioning within boundaries. Again, as I mentioned earlier, catering to the crowd that wants their cake even after they've eaten it leads to players eventually saying, "You can't hit me because I have a force field."
It's a spoiled mentality that lessens the game for everyone by tainting the racial differences. And, as another poster mentioned, that suddenly negates the balance of the other racial differences, things like skills, armor proficiencies, and darkvision.
In short, it's just a narrow-sighted bad idea someone had because they wanted better stats.
