Curiously, why does everything have to be balanced? As long as it makes sense, that's what I care about. Which is why I don't particularly like the human stuff. Extra carry weight? Why? All humans have militia training and learn how to use pikes? This kind of stuff leaves me scratching my head.
I care about the flavor.
The balance? So what if my playthrough as a half-orc fighter is balanced differently than my playthrough as a half-elf druid? That's a serious question. All this *need* for balance is why we end up with crappy flavor.
Folks used to roll dice as a standard. Now there's all this point buy. Always pushing to make things balanced and fair, so Timmy's character is just as "good" as Billy's. Might as well just hand everybody the same character sheet. Here, this is who you're playing. Your attack is ten and your defense is ten and your smarts are ten and your pretty is ten and your perception is ten. You all are ten.
My DM made us do point buy in my last pathfinder game because I rolled up 3 18s and my stats were ridic for first level sorc.
