Races like orcs are still humanoids, which translated more or less to an orc being a person. That counts for something. A non-hostile orc shouldn't be killed on sight, but will surely face suspicion.
I have a goblin pc that had to wear a neck chain held by our barbarian whenever we go into towns. It's just .. better .. that way.. put people at ease until he could wild shape.
Then he just would wildshape into a very ugly pig with an unusually large head and lots of teeth.
I liked Eberron's take on orcs. they were clearly a playable race there. (And other humanoids (like goblins kobolds, hobgoblins) There was a nice monster nation and a great novel trilogy.
I ran a game with a homebrew campaign world for a while about thirteen years ago, where orcs were not an uncommon sight in many of the human nations of the world. This was because orcs were often hired as mercenaries by human nations who needed to bolster their armies in times of war. This had the benefit of not only enhancing your country's military power but also one of draining the military power of the orcish barbarians across the border. The orcs like to fight and have a lot better chance of grabbing some loot than they do if they are in your average orc raiding party.
Of course, societies that do this have to have ways to manage the presence of the orcs in their lands. They won't necessarily be killed on sight, but they will often be seen as scum by most people, which would be the equivalent of a lower social class than most people. The higher class the person is, the less likely they will be willing to have anything to do with a typical orc.
In some countries (notably the Bakari Empire, where most of my adventures took place), orcs had settled in civilized lands as part of a multi-racial empire. In Bakar the orcs of the Aglak tribe (also known as the "white orcs") had been granted land on the frontier where they had to defend it against other orcs from the wilds across the mountains. They were more civilized than your average orc, and their leaders were keen supporters of the Emperor. Knowing that they didn't have too many friends amongst the humans, dwarves, elves, and other races in the Empire, they made sure they remained valuable to the Emperor by acting as his "legbreakers" and providing a core of competent military force in his support. The Aglaks were more sophisticated as a result and made very competent soldiers.
A big part of the notion of my Shatterstone game was the free will of sentient beings. Orcs are sentient and can choose their values as well as anyone else. They fact that they are usually evil or chaotic does not mean that they need to be so. Most of the things that we attribute to orcish societies in RPGs have been features of human societies at various points in Earth's history, so there is no reason that the primitive orcs could not learn to be more advanced.
A big reason I designed the world this way was that it can be great fun to play an orc. You are kind of a social outcast but you can be the big tough guy that can really cut loose in a fight. You also can slip into the seedy side of society where you can make connections with the local protection rackets and fighting pits. Sometimes I play orcs kind of like Klingons from Star Trek, adhering to some kind of warrior code and placing honor above their own lives. It's a fun kind of character to play. But of course there can be all kinds.
As far as orcish stats go, their Ferocity is the big one, not the +4 to STR. You will note, strangely, that it is not the same as the "Orc Ferocity" ability that half-orcs get. A regular orc can stay up below 0 HP for as many rounds as he can stay alive. Considering the way Paizo structured their point-buy system, points-wise a +4 to a stat is worth about 2.5 times a +2 to the same stat. If you wanted to moderate things a bit you could let them remove a -2 to one of their mental stats in exchange for switching "Ferocity" to "Orc Ferocity" (which only lasts one round).
Peet
I like the idea of an orc culture based off the Chaar of Guild Wars.