Quote from Radnd23 >>

You are delusional if you think this is "creative" in any way. 

 lmao

Quote from 01EpicFail01 >>

Quote from LorrdWolf >>

You mean just because the guy who pretty much invented the idea orcs as we know them envisioned them as evil, you don't have to? He didn't assume the orcs were evil...um...he created them as an evil race.

 What he said!  The world requires evil races and good races in order to have proper conflict.  The beauty of playing a character that is an evil race, yet has a heart of gold and chooses to live it's life for good, is the degree of difficulty that it takes.  Arguably one of the most epic characters of all time is Drizzt Do'Urden, a dark elf at odds with his people and their entire way of life.  If you were to suddenly alter their entire history by making Dark Elves no longer evil by default, making life easy and simple to integrate with all other races, you lose all of the edginess of the character and it's race.  The rules for D&D were never set in stone, they've always been open to interpretation and we've had the ability to make what we want of each and every character/adventure.  If you have to be told and change a rule set, or in this case a race, to realize that something is possible, or able to be done, you've not been truly playing D&D.  I believe changing the orcs in this manner is a fail on the part of WotC.  This is no less of an issue than what Disney did to Star Wars canon by releasing the Sequel Trilogy and altering the history and facts of the Star Wars universe.  True fans aren't opposed to change, they are opposed to altering the known universe and erasing it's history.  

 All you need is protagonists and antagonists. The race of the 2 can be anything, even then same race. Orcs could raid on orcs. Plus, there are the drow, githyanki, and a few other evil races. You could also use monsters as the antagonists. It's all up the you.

Quote from 01EpicFail01 >>

Quote from LorrdWolf >>

You mean just because the guy who pretty much invented the idea orcs as we know them envisioned them as evil, you don't have to? He didn't assume the orcs were evil...um...he created them as an evil race.

 What he said!  The world requires evil races and good races in order to have proper conflict.  The beauty of playing a character that is an evil race, yet has a heart of gold and chooses to live it's life for good, is the degree of difficulty that it takes.  Arguably one of the most epic characters of all time is Drizzt Do'Urden, a dark elf at odds with his people and their entire way of life.  If you were to suddenly alter their entire history by making Dark Elves no longer evil by default, making life easy and simple to integrate with all other races, you lose all of the edginess of the character and it's race.  The rules for D&D were never set in stone, they've always been open to interpretation and we've had the ability to make what we want of each and every character/adventure.  If you have to be told and change a rule set, or in this case a race, to realize that something is possible, or able to be done, you've not been truly playing D&D.  I believe changing the orcs in this manner is a fail on the part of WotC.  This is no less of an issue than what Disney did to Star Wars canon by releasing the Sequel Trilogy and altering the history and facts of the Star Wars universe.  True fans aren't opposed to change, they are opposed to altering the known universe and erasing it's history.  

 Just as there are good humans and bad humans, there are also good orcs and bad orcs. Same with the drow.

Quote from RinSigua >>

Because they're peaceful now, their Savage Attack is now gone. Got replaced with a skill that let's you run away better.

 Or that let's you run headlong into the heat of battle and start cracking some skulls.

Half Orcs and Half Elves and Half Anything still exists, it's just no longer supported directly by having racial/species features that try to blend 2 together. Instead you pick the "dominant" traits you want to come out in your character by picking either of the halves.

And if you really wanted I'm sure you could work with your dm on blending the traits of 2 species together to better represent the dual heritage.

Quote from Fart_fig >>

It’s all very vanilla tbh, the races are now nothing more than skins for a video game. Choose your features, pick a hair style…. No not that one it’s silly… ah perfect. And boom, just a soul less  husk or what once was. 

 If it's soulless to you maybe you just lack the imagination to bring it to life? I see endless potential here.

Quote from MSLabo102 >>

Temporary HP you get from Adrenaline Rush sounds negligible, at least for higher levels.

 The hit points definitely seem like more a small perk added on to the bigger feature of being able to dash X times per rest. But hit points is still hit points, and even a small amount can save you in a pinch sometimes.

The way they are described it still doesn't sound like they live amongst settled civilization, and really the only thing that has changed is they are no longer inherently evil. You can still have war bands of orc marauders roaming the wilds and destroying villages and towns to help sustain their lifestyle, but now you can also have some orcs who choose to move on from that nomadic lifestyle and settle down in more civilized places or choose to go on adventures with others besides just other orcs.

"Evil" can still be more of a default for most orcs if you wish, but maybe that's just because they live a very different lifestyle compared to more civilized species.

Quote from Gnollish2 >>

it says that they wait for Gruumsh (the god of rage and hatred btw) to call upon them for acts of heroism 

 What is heroic to one group of people might be labeled something entirely different by another. It's a matter of perspective.

Most orcs can still live a hard life wandering them plains and pillaging to survive, and maybe some or many even enjoy the killing that is likely to come along with that. This is no different than a group of humans who live that same lifestyle. Same with Drow/Dark Elves, they still dwell in the Underdark, and very harsh landscape that also has cutthroat politics and such which shades the way you live life a certain way.

Just because evil is not the default for some races now does NOT mean those races cannot be evil, even largely so because of their way of life. What it does mean now is that they don't NEED to be evil, but they still may live with certain prejudices against them because of their species.

This has created more options in the game, and made characters like Drizzt make more sense because he isn't inherently evil, but rather he comes from a place that drives a lot of people that way.

Quote from Gadigan_Thunderguild >>

"lots of other races that can easily replace the Orcs old niche of generic evil race to fight against" - This actually neatly sums up the 'problem' some people may have with orc default no longer being evil. If sentient races can be evil by default then why bother changing orcs? If the goal is to make sentient races more neutral, with some members evil and some good and some neutral, like people in the real world (keeping it really simple), then why isn't that the default for all sentient creatures?  At which point simple white-hat / black-hat world building breaks down. And suddenly your hero becomes the bad guy for assuming that the viking longboat pulling up to the defenseless (except for the heroes) fishing village are raiders and not traders and so you attack first so as not to get overwhelmed. Its a bit like did Han shoot first? Either you give your heroes enough world information that they can act (in Han's case that a bounty hunter is absolutely going to shoot you, in this case that orcs are evil) or your heroes are at least going to get ambushed and die a lot more. (Or you nerf Greedo's aim. So orcs become storm troopers.) And a fun adventure game gets bogged down in moral questions like was that a squad of goblin lookouts that I ambushed before they alerted the hobgoblin camp or were they just on a camping vacation in the wrong place at the wrong time and we're all murderers? Knowing who the evil monsters are is a basic component of our shared worlds.

And its not so much the description of the race as the move from 'monster manual' to 'player race' default. You can always have 'monster race as PC' rules, and role-playing. Maybe entire parties, or even settings, without normally-player-races if you want. (It would be easy to create a setting where the normally 'good player' races are the conquering invaders vs the normally 'evil monster' races - imperial storm troopers vs plucky rebels - if you want to turn it completely on its head for example.) Those are fun. Precisely because they are a departure from the norm. But the norm is still clearly understood. When there is no norm there is no shared reference and what some people crave is that basic shared reference which is part of their sense of community. The world is messy and full of grey, entertainment is easier when its black and white. 

PS> As someone much earlier first realized, orcs now make good wizards as they are less squishy. Enemy hits you, Relentless Endurance to not die, Disengage, then Adrenaline Rush (Bonus Action Dash) to escape and get some temporary hit points. Next round, fireball. That sword on the hip of Gandalf the Grey Orc is just for show. 

 To turn this whole thing around on you, you can come across Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and many other races and be equally overwhelmed because this particular group was evil but you were not expecting them to be.

Were those humans sitting by a campfire lookouts for an evil cult, or just some people who love to camp in the wilderness?

Your point makes zero sense.