There has been a lot of controversy over Goblins being +CHA.
This is mainly due to many people believing in the "Monster races" concept. Though there are many exceptions, such as those who believe that a race of creatures known for living amongst garbage, with hideously large mouths, needle teeth, and oversized heads should have a bonus to social interaction rather than a penalty.
Whatever the reason for believing the shouldn't have CHA as a bonus, I believe that falls tot he wayside when we talk about why Paizo made goblin a core Ancestry.
It's their unofficial mascot. It has been for a long time, and they've capitalized on this we the We Be Goblins line. However, just because real people find goblins endearing, and enjoy playing them doesn't mean that they should be a +Cha race. Especially when they are noted for how terrible they are to interact with.
Additionally there is very little in their ancestry writeup that makes them appear charismatic.
However there is a decent bit that points towards them being good tinkerers
endless tinkerers and view their companions’ trash simply as components of
gadgets yet to be made."
This seems like a key indication that Goblins should be a +INT race instead.
Let's take a look at goblin society for a minute here.
It i stated that goblins fear the written word, and because of this they have maintained a very primitive society.
But, even though Goblin society has an aversion to learning goblins have always been good at picking up new tricks to make things burn, and have made some pretty decent homes out of junk. So while as a society they may not be very smart, as a race they seem to be able to grasp new ideas quite easily.
So if we changes their stat lineup to +DEX +INT -WIS, we have a race that instead of being a cute, likeable bunch of trashmonging, green pyromaniacs who for some reason have an affinity for magic(resonance), we have a race of scrappy scavengers, who despite their dumb decision making that leads often to an early death, have an affinity for making junk do just what they want it to and are very good at figuring out how to make a couple of different powders go boom.
I understand that they start to fill some of the design space as elves, and many people will be worried about seeing goblin wizards.
However I feel that this helps to give them more of their own identify that makes more sense in universe than goblins going from being universally disliked to being naturally endearing.
Hey, fearcypher: There's actually an engaging conversation going on about this very topic in this forum thread right here. Your arguments would have merit there. :)
Cheers!
- D.B.