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But does that mean a giant shrinks when he becomes a vampire, while a halfling grows, an orc loses its piglike snout and green skin, an elf's pointed ears become rounded, etc?
If you want the vampire to retain characteristics of their former life, you're really going to need to handle the undead state separately from the race.
Well to be fair, I've seen class-based systems which also allowed you to learn any skills you like (Rolemaster springs instantly to mind).
Right, but what if their natural abilities are also things they can learn and train? Perhaps the Drakin can develop its natural armour through specialised meditative techniques, while pixies can learn a wide range of airborn skills and flying combat techniques, etc.
Going back to the original question, I'm very much in favour of races which are thoroughly fleshed-out - I really don't like this sort of thing:
Pixie: +2 Dex, -2 Str, permanent fly affect
Elf: +2 Dex, -2 Con, permanent infravision affect
Dwarf: +2 Con, -2 Wis, +10 save vs poison
Instead, I'd much rather see a lot of detail for each race - not just a decent quantity and quality of background information, but also the technical side. Ideally I'd like to see a wide range of special abilities for each race, so that you can mix and match racial powers with the common skills available to everyone.
The other approach I'd like to see is something along the lines of the I described on MudLab last year, where your 'race' and 'class' are just some of the many optional things you can choose to add to your character.
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