My main reason for sometimes (and even often) playing human is due to background/personality concerns. There are many humans in the city and not too many elves I would imagine. So sometimes human becomes the natural choice. And if you want to play a paladin for instance, human may also be the natural choice, since a human would be more likely to go on holy crusades than say elves or halflings.
I understand the appeal of more exotic races, well, simply because they are more exotic. But if you are going to play your elf like if he was a human then you may as well play human. I also often wonder about halfelves: In Tolkiens Middle Earth there are only 3 documented cases of human + elf having children if I am not mistaken. Now d&d is not LOTR but still? Seems to me you often think of your new character completely out of context, which is natural, I do it too, but spending some time learning about the world you are going to be a part of in the game you will often be able to create a much more interesting character than otherwise. People you meet may better relate to you, and you will be drawn into the world and its cultures in a much more meaningful way. Depending on the GM or, in this case, the game developers. You may then find that your carefully created human character suddenly becomes just as exotic as any other member of any other race.
