DnD is usually a spring board, for a lot of people it's: "My first RPG" and as a result they may feel restricted to archetypes they are used too. Not out of any sense of malice to the players from the game makers, but because they think that's how roleplaying is meant to be.
Just because those of us with a decade plus of roleplaying experience have already taken this and just assumed it as a part of the game. Doesn't mean new players will and that's what this is targeting, new players, it's stating that it doesn't matter who you are or what you want to be, you can be anything... and by anything we don't just mean: GYGAX! the level 32 warrior mage with a +5 mace of killing folks with fire... you can be GYGAX! the level 32 warrior mage with a +5 mace of killing folks with fire and you can play him as gay/bi/whatever you want, that as a character, they can be an extension of you and not just what you think the setting dictates they should be.
It's easy to be flippant about it and say other systems already do this, but when it comes down to brass tacks, this change isn't for us... it's for that new player who might be awkward, fumbling, may have only glanced at the core books and not realised; their barbarian doesn't always have to Conan, not all Dwarves are Gimli, every Elf isn't a pointy eared bow twanger and their Mage doesn't always have to be Raistlin.
And for those saying: "I don't see the point in pandering" well... is there a point in not pandering? Pandering opens the books up to new markets and demographics, at the end of the day (I like to think) most roleplayers are a progressive lot and this... hell it's not even a mechanical change... just this piece of information, helps bring people who may not have otherwise played into the fold. So yes, whilst you could say it's pandering and pointless, there is also no real reason not to include it, it's not like FATAL it isn't some grand mechanical feature... it's a roleplaying tip and oft times, new players need all the help they can get with those.
Just because those of us with a decade plus of roleplaying experience have already taken this and just assumed it as a part of the game. Doesn't mean new players will and that's what this is targeting, new players, it's stating that it doesn't matter who you are or what you want to be, you can be anything... and by anything we don't just mean: GYGAX! the level 32 warrior mage with a +5 mace of killing folks with fire... you can be GYGAX! the level 32 warrior mage with a +5 mace of killing folks with fire and you can play him as gay/bi/whatever you want, that as a character, they can be an extension of you and not just what you think the setting dictates they should be.
It's easy to be flippant about it and say other systems already do this, but when it comes down to brass tacks, this change isn't for us... it's for that new player who might be awkward, fumbling, may have only glanced at the core books and not realised; their barbarian doesn't always have to Conan, not all Dwarves are Gimli, every Elf isn't a pointy eared bow twanger and their Mage doesn't always have to be Raistlin.
And for those saying: "I don't see the point in pandering" well... is there a point in not pandering? Pandering opens the books up to new markets and demographics, at the end of the day (I like to think) most roleplayers are a progressive lot and this... hell it's not even a mechanical change... just this piece of information, helps bring people who may not have otherwise played into the fold. So yes, whilst you could say it's pandering and pointless, there is also no real reason not to include it, it's not like FATAL it isn't some grand mechanical feature... it's a roleplaying tip and oft times, new players need all the help they can get with those.