Races should be different and yes it should be natural that you orc mage will be dumber then a high elf even if he tries his damndest, especially if the high-elf also ties his damndest. The more radical the differences between the various races, the better, and we should do EVERYTHING in order to make that happen, including racial speels, skills, and ability scores. In fact, we should bring back NEGATIVE ability adjustments as well, and the ASI adjustments shouldn't be re-arrangable, except for maybe the half elves. The race system should become MORE rigid, not less so. Back in BG2, we had certain classes locked to certain races and the limitations of the races actually defined who they were. The racial system in current D&D is way too individualistic and fluid, and it gives people the illusion that non-human races are basically just humans with exotic body party and shin colours.
I mean I heard some very dumb people say that orcs must not receive an ASI penalty to INT/CHA because that's racist against a certain race of real life humans. What the hell? Orcs and half orcs are NOT HUMAN that is the entire point.
