I guess it depends on the gamer. Playing an elf can be a tough role to get in to. How are pretty people treated? How do you react to situations and life in general when you have a long lifespan? How about the elf social stigmas (good and bad)? There's just a lot to think about when you roleplay an elf.

That said I doubt that everyone that plays an elf ever really thinks about the roleplaying aspect. Fast, pretty and "immortal"? Oh hell yeah! That's what I'm playing! I have to admit, back in 1990 when I was playing my first elf in Shadowrun that's what I was thinking. That and phys ads with monowhips and 3 auto successes totally rule.

I've played a human and an elf character but I've never played an ork, dwarf or troll. My next character will be a dwarf or an ork on general principle since I think they are vastly underused.

- J.

Elves are only min-maxed if you are making a face. I don't have an SR2 rulebook, so I can't speak for that edition, but for the others - in SR1, humans ruled because every other race had to sacrifice their Priority: A and roll for a random allergy on top of that; in SR3, dwarves ruled because their low Priority cost and high Attribute bonuses made them optimal for a wide variety of concepts; and in SR4, orks rule because of the net Attribute bonuses they get (trolls actually do even better, but a base Strength of 5 is only useful for a melee-oriented character, while a base Body of 4 and Strength of 3 is right at the sweet spot).

They do, perhaps, attract certain categories of munchkins, and people who like playing certain types of stereotypes. I prefer playing metatypes a bit against the usual stereotype, myself.