Racial Question

[vincaroo]

Hey Guys,
I'm and Noob to TES, but have preordered Skyrim and am really looking forward to it. I'm excited about having the freedom to create a custom character, but I have a question about it. I know that different races have different racial abilities, but what about racial stats? I found references to the races in previous games having higher or lower than average stats (Nords with higher strength, or Bretons with high intelligence but low strength, etc).
So my question is, will we really have the freedom to create any character that we want to play or will we be "lead" into choosing a race to accomodate the playstyle that we want. Can I create a high elf warrior, or a redguard mage.....or will this work against me? Any experienced players have any input?

Thanks

[Lone_Sword]

For the most part, the racial stats are only for min/maxing players. I had no issues using very different play-styles with any race. Basically pick whichever race you like the best :)

[alehm]

We aren't sure yet but I believe there are.
For example on the Skyrim speed run both contestants chose their character to be an Altmer. Someone asked in the official speed run thread was there a reason why they chose the same race and one of the Bethesda employees replied "Yes" but wouldn't elaborate as to why.

[dannythefool]

That could be something that's only useful once in a speedrun, though...

[TheSagetEffect]

The thing I loved about Oblivion was how you could roleplay without an overbearing fear of being left in the dust vs NPCs. Oblivion had a slider-bar adjustable difficulty. Not sure about Skyrim.

Anyways, to your original question, it's not a huge deal unless you really wanna get an amazing character. I'd just pick the race you like most.