Yeah, that's all very true. The primary reason you haven't seen elves probably is because they are almost exactly the same as humans. They're... a little shorter, maybe? And have pointed ears. That's it.
Also, girlinhat, are you still up for doing that gold armor thing? I've got a manual I'd like you to use, was having don do it since I hadn't seen you in a while, but as far as I know he hasn't started it yet. Let me know if you're up for it!
I should probably rep for giants too.
Giants get absolutely AMAZING strength growth. Easily double that of humans. It allows them to put out rediculous damage, even with the technically inferior (to dual wielding) 2handers. When you get to the point you can go to black dragon you'll notice anyone that's killing raptors with any level of ease is a giant. They also get great Will growth, which is used for fighter skill damage. Their windmill range is a touch larger then the other races, since their hitbox is bigger. They can also equip normal two handed weapons with one hand. There are some giant two handers, but they're far and few between, and before you ask, yes, if you're using a two handed weapon with one hand it does get the smash bonuses. On top of all this they can equip a Lance with a shield, removing a lot of the fragility that plagues human lancers. Basically super melee damage all around. On exclusive skills they get windguard and taunt which is probably the easiest and best way to tank in this game, admittantly only for a minute or two at a time. Stomp is a handy skill, almost like a melee magic bolt with a much more limited range. Their ranged attack involves javelins and hits amazingly hard, but lacks flexibility. They can also use charge without a shield which is super handy. Annnd they tend to get better shields then other races.
However, their dex is very low, meaning you'll either have to ignore dex entirely and just focus on hitting hard without worrying about balance, or have a heavily balance leaning weapon, which can detract a bit. Additionally, they don't get a lot of intelligence, so magic attack is an issue. Intermediate magic also takes even more MP then usual to cast. They also don't have any way to drop aggro, which is an issue early on. As you progress you'll find this becomes less of an issue. Much less of an issue. They cannot use bows or crossbows AT ALL PERIOD which is a huge problem. Armor is also very limited, so aesthetics can suffer rather significantly. This was ultimately the reason I dropped my giant, because there were like four heavy armor,s and two were dungeon drops, and I like to switch things up.
So yeah, giants are great fun and a good option if you want to wreck shit, but it can be easy to get bored with them if you like aesthetics. They also tend to have issues with anything that has more then level 2 heavy stander, if you can't bash through it with melee, there is about nothing you can do with it. That sums up the class in general really.