mac40k said:

When running or playing WFRP v1 I predominantly saw groups consisting mostly of Elfs and Dwarfs. Humans were a distinct minority (halflings were non-existent. v2 fixed this somewhat, but non-humans were at least half of every group, if not more. I don't think v3 will be any different.

The fact is that many players will want to play elfs or dwarfs, simply because they like them. The only way to counter that is to make humans more powerful mechanically than the other races, something which is problematic from a gaming and setting stand point.

 I have never run a party with an elf in WFRP. Not once, and we're talking some heavy playing time since 1986 to today.  It's almost universally 3/4 Humans with Dwarfs filling out the party.  I did run a one-off adventure for some new folks in the late 90s that was all dwarfs. But that was it. 

A big part of the reason for that is these two factors: 1) Elfs are seen as fairly alien outside anything but the largest cities (wood elves weren't encountered much outside Athel Loren), which corresponds to penalties for social interaction in most situations, and 2) my players just didn't seem interested in playing those sorts of characters. 

That may change this v3 go around, as I am introducing the system/setting to new people, one of whom has never played an RPG. 

I don't see a problem with the inclusion of both High and Wood Elves, after all the GM can change any setting into something different for the style of game they choose to use.  The drop of Halflings, until a later supplement, might seem like a bad choice, but chances are they will be developed further than anything done for Elves.  So I see this as an attempt to explain the differences between two of the Elven cultures.

Having the Dwarfs from a nearby Hold seems more at odds when you consider the fact that Dwarfs have actually had a long standing relationship with the Empire and some have even made Human settlements their home.

I currently have a group of 6 PCs consisting of 2 Humans, 2 Elf, 1 Dwarf, and 1 Halfling.  I am disappointed that Halflings will not be in the core set for WFRP 3e, but I hope that with the inclusion of High Elf we might finally see some different takes on magic between the races.

One of WFRP (all variants) longstanding problems is that compared to humans all the nonhuman races are massively under developed.    How much info was there on Halflings in v1?  A couple pages, including one in the religion section covering their god?  The dwarves got a supplement near the tale end of v1's run, but for most of the time information was fairly thin on the ground.  As for v2 none of these major player races got a sourcebook yet Bretonnia and Kislev each got one.  Realms of Sorcery was cool, but nonhuman magic is a side issue for the book.

I wish halflings had been included, not because they were ever popular in any of the games I play, but for completeness.  I can live with them being in a supplement because they were never a popular race for my players.  I do want WFRP to contain more background for dwarves and elves that WFB army codexes and it finally looks like that might happen.  I'm quite prepared to live with them starting small and then expanding and that careers such as Swordmaster and Ironbreaker will be playable.  So, overall, I'm reasonably happy with what I'm seeing so far. 

In my games all Elves are banned as playable races, they simply don't fit together with humans.

Instead we got quite a lot of Dwarfs and Halflings cause they're rather common in the empire and works socially better in the groups.

I still use Gnomes in my games and they are also a playable race.

The current race selection in 3:ed is rather sad... and only Reiklanders!!! Plain silly! I suppose you will get a new human race card in each booster pack.
 

I wonder if enough 15 year olds will get their moms & dads to cough up the $$$ for this diluted, pale imitation of WFRP. I fear that this new game will not only be a critical failure, but a financial one to boot.

Why there are High/Wood elves and not Empire/Mountain dwarfs?

And adding Halflings (for fan's joy), was so pricy?

I can pay 101$ ...