Extra PC races in back of 4E MM

Yeah, after reading the Player's Handbook I really got the impression that it was designed to appeal to as many people as possible without turning people off. Dragonborn and the new tieflings are there to appeal to younger players. "Eladrin" are there to appeal to the people who like elves just a little too much, and all the other races are in because they appeal to a clear segment of the audience other races don't cover. Half-orcs got the boot because, A) most of their role has been taken by Tiefers and Dragonborn, and B) the generally implied orc rape could turn off younger or more prudish players. Gnomes got the boot because, even though players have always sort of liked them, they've been the butt of jokes since 2E or earlier and WotC decided (wrongly, in my opinion) that no one would mind if they got pulled from the Player's Handbook.

I don't blame WotC for treating the PHB as a marketing tool more than a rulebook -- 3E suffered significantly from its creators' poor marketing sense (ugly book covers, terrible art in the core books, no clear plan for bringing in new players, etc.), and in the end didn't do enough to pull D&D out of the slump it's been in since TSR ran 2E into the ground a decade ago. I think WotC's plan with 4th is to do everything they can to fix that. In a lot of ways the renewed focus has paid off already. The art in 4E is way better than 3E, the books are better designed with more interesting covers, and players seem really energized by the new edition. It is a shame that a lot of good stuff from older editions got dropped to increase market appeal, but I'm hopeful that the D&D we know and love will return as the supplements trickle in. I think the Monster Manual is good evidence of that. Aside from the the Shadar-kai (who were promoted from obscure fey to Drow replacements because Drow have been over-played as villains), the playable races are all solid traditional old D&D monsters (most of which have been playable in some form since 2E) that players have always had a soft spot for. Hopefully the supplements will have even more of that old school flavor.