No one' denying that over levels, races all hit the mortal limit of 20. A gnome fighter playing to their strengths can come close to a similar half-orc, and eventually match. Race was designed to reduce in character importance over levels; it's strongest at 1st and a quaint quirk from 11th+.

But setting and world-building is all tier 1, levels 1-4. This is where baselines are established for immersion. It's no surprise the player of the Str17 half-orc suffers cognisant dissonance when they find their gnome companion has Str17 too. The half-orc archetype they thought they had made is actually just a human-wearing-a-funny-mask.

****

Ability scores are front and centre of D&D. Always were and 5E stated this loud and clear. Only thing more important to a character is class, but ability scores directly impact on that too.

Race's biggest impact are to ability scores. All other features are lesser and get mentioned in notes on the character sheet. Players routinely forget their charm resistance, stone working or fearlessness etc. But when they make their Dex check they always add the right modifier.

Playing a nonhuman race in an RPG has always been problematic. Players ask me 'how do I play X?' It's a serious question because we players are all human and want to somehow get into the head of a different being. So fantasy races need to have an archetype reinforced mechanically, in ability scores. Therefore when you take away ability scores you end up homogenizing races - which is exactly WotC's intent with 6E.

6E is trying to undo this 40 year-odd legacy to fit a divisive political viewpoint. There's no denying that proponents of change are mostly on one side of the political spectrum - and how it came to this is squarely on recent WotC management. Mike Mearls, Andy Collins, Monte Cook; big name game designers from late1990s-mid2010s never went down this path; they balanced legacy with flexibility.

****

I have no demands from 6E. It's done, I'm out. So are my friends. WotC published Tasha's Cauldron of Things and said 'this is how it will be.' I'll continue to run my 5E games, and frankly this system is pretty solid.

****

Btw, there's nothing really shocking about Hasbro's stock diving, it was all part of the OGL debacle, and is old news now. MTG fans could tell us more, they've been griping longer.
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/hasbro-continues-destroy-customer-goodwill-212500547.html