My view would be if you are against removing racial ability scores they main point of concern should be more NPCs and less character creation.
I think that's a great point. In games like these I'm usually all for extensive amounts of customization, so one is able to play even very unusual combinations properly. That said, I believe it should not be the default, as the difference between species should reflect in their general stats. No two persons are the same but if you imagined a distribution of stats according to race, you would expect e.g. Half-Orcs to be stronger in general and reach levels of strenght naturally that Halfling couldn't. And I'd expect the general NPCs to follow these typical characteristics of a race. The world itself should reflect this. If some unique NPCs then try to play a different role than expected and try to adapt to it, that can be interesting.
As some already mentioned, these differences lend themselves to play unique characters that don't entirely fit their mould. I guess it can be difficult in a video game, but at least in normal DnD these characters can shine in roleplay bits. I remember a Dragonborn Sorcerer I played, but as I didn't want to waste the +2 to Strength, I didn't dump the stat. Combine that with a Sorcerer's proficiency in intimidation and it makes sense roleplaywise and plays into the intimidating physique of a Dragonborn.
Yet I think in the character creation it should indeed be an option. I won't use it in my first playthrough, but there will come a time when I just want to play around and there will be people that first and foremost want good stats but also a race they like. It reminds me a bit of the hair colour where you could unlock the more exotic options via a checkbox. If someone wants to play their crazy strong elf with their unique, let them, as long as the rest of the world follows the normal rules I can't see a problem with that. People would make a mod and just adding it as an optional feature would be a logical next step then anyway.
That said, I hope you can still also use the normal rules, I personally enjoy them more for a serious playthrough, but that's subjective.
