I kinda miss the bonuses/penalties to abilities of older editions.

I remember that Halflings had a penalty to Strength in 3e. (-1 in AD&D). And that kinda helped to set the tone and highlight the differences between different races (ancestries).

Most choices were indicators that certain classes were better fits for specific races, and vice-versa. It was clear that building a Fighter Halfling would come with certain limitations or challenges that came with their size and Strength score.

They changed this in 4e and 5e and removed the penalties completely. And for 5e 2024, they changed it and ancestries have no bonuses anymore, it is the Background that grants you a +2 and +1 to two abilities, or a +1 to three of them. This basically helps min-maxers because now they can choose any ancestry and pick the Background that fits best to boost the stats they want.

This results in Halflings that can be just as strong as Goliaths. (This is super cool for the Halfling but it kinda minimizes the Goliath, they should be stronger, shouldn't they?). Or Half-Orcs that can be as charismatic and persuasive than a clever Half-Elf.

Don't get me wrong, I still like 5e 2024. I just miss that races/acestries felt different before. Statswise, they are basically all the same now.