What do we gain by keeping Favored Classes?

[Mosaic]

I was just thinking about complications caused by favored classes - like trying to figure out do they grant extra HP or skill points, do they grant extra XP or have a faster progression, etc. - and it occurred to me, why do we even keep this idea? What does it make better? Mightn't it be easier to drop the whole concept? Racial ability score adjustments do pretty good job at showing racial proclivities, why do we need another way? Just a thought.

Oh, and dropping them altogether would have no effect on backwards compatibility :)

[Gurubabaramalamaswami]

Bonus hit points seems like a gain to me.

[AB Pos]

I'm with Mosaic.

It would eliminate a whole annoying math process (figuring out XP for those who multiclassed without their favored class)

It would improve flexibility and player choice.

It is eliminating a rule, not adding one. So just one small step towards making the game easier to learn. One less thing to explain to new players.

Totally backwards compatible.

If concerned that it upsets the balance by de facto removing an advantage of humans, just give the humans a cookie to rebalance it. A few bonus hit points or something.

[Keldarth]

Favored classes give a kind of XP bonus to those who multiclass in their favored class...

Favored classes also try to recreate the traditional class combinations of previous editions (elves being wizard/something, halflings rogue/something, etc...) and give each race a more distinctive feel.

I think the favored class rule is often forgotten or cast away, prompting the proliferation of weird three-or-four class builds made almost entirely of one or two-level dips.

[Mosaic]

Sorry, I didn't see the other Cut Favored Classes thread before I started this one.