I favor gamist RPGs like 4E. I see 4E as a tactical wargame with a dash of roleplaying for favor, i.e. D&D is primarily a game wherein you roleplay your character. I don't see roleplaying as a high art that needs to be perfected; it is simply a means to an end, a way of flavoring the otherwise flavorless tactical wargame.

Anyway, my characters are usually human because of the floating +2 bonus. Humans may not be the best fighters or wizards, but they can be decent in either role. Also, since all of my characters have Linguist and Jack of All Trades, the bonus feat that humans get helps to mitigate my suboptimal choices.

Basically, I play characters that are optimized for the concept that I want.