Quote Originally Posted by Anderlith View Post
All I did was just compare it to creatures that are of the same alignment.

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So when I say EVIL I'm talking about EVIL in all caps, not a NEUTRAL race in a bad environment. The Monster Manual doesn't say they have to be primitive, but it does say that they are "almost always EVIL"
Then turn that around; would you describe Dwarves (Usually LG) as essentially being Archons, that they are "99.8%" going to be exalted paragons of Good and Law with a tiny fraction not even worth mentioning being Evil? I doubt it.

Orcs, by RAW, are usually (~40%) Chaotic Evil with the rest of their population distributed mostly around NE, CN, and TN with a tiny number of Good or Lawful renegades. Dwarves, by RAW, are usually (~40%) Lawful Good with the rest of their population distributed mostly around NG, LN, and TN with a tiny number of Evil or Chaotic renegades. If this is about what the SRD says, our views of them and their demography should be mirror images.

Whether intentional or not, both people who say Orcs are always Evil and people go in the opposite direction of saying they're Neutral like Humans are removing what makes the Orc interesting and long-lasting in fiction. They represent the barbarian peoples out on the edge, people who are our enemies and want to tear down our societies, but still occasionally produce individuals who defy that generalization and can side with the forces of Law and Good. Taking that away is like taking away Dwarven greed because, hey, they're LG after all and thus cannot ever succumb to mad lust for treasure. It diminishes them and makes the setting less interesting.