i need to put some restrictions on some of the races in the EPHB...who's in and who's out. no Gith-folk, no halfling bug men, elans...hmmm...i'll get back to you, no half giants, no duergar. that's all i can think of for now. i like the exotic as much as anybody but some of these races are more than i care to deal with.
side story: back in the day, a friend of mine, Gus, was intrigued with playing unconventional things. as a matter of fact he was (from what i gather) somewhat obnoxious if he didn't have something outrageous or peculiar. for instance, he was telling me about the Pegataur (yes, a Pegataur) that he made (in another camp). i was sort of puzzled as to why this was such a fix for him. i came to understand that it was a way for him to make up for the lack of role-playing experience.
Granted, playing an exotic race is no doubt fun (one of my favs is the Wemic) but i believe that one should know how to role-play before taking on something that they may not know how to handle.