First of all, orcs are totally playable races in most games worth playing. Even half orcs are fun. But full-blooded orcs are a great thinking exercise.
As a player, if I play an orc I recognize that there are going to be assumptions about my character. Orc often causes one to assume the being in question is brutish, unsophisticated and violent. These are all desirable traits in most characters I want to play, but serve best as a start. Orc characters are amazing if you assume brutality and lack of refined etiquette, then add that as seasoning to something else. Orc diplomats are awesome. Orc bards are awesome. Orc scientists are awesome. Even an orc barbarian, almost a redundant statement of character, can be awesome if you throw in a "but also." Orc barbarian, but also a tactician. Orc barbarian, but also a shaman. Orc barbarian ronin. Monastic orc barbarian.
As a GM, I love orcs as a playable race for all the reasons above, but also because the assumption of violence and crudeness is all the more fun as you develop orc culture. I draw on Hun and Mongol nomadic influences, Native American tribal structure, Norse raiding culture, and just about all I can learn about "barbarians" to include orcs that are not just monsters, but monsters that could be family for a player across the table from me. I muse on orcs often, because orcs are just things we don't like about ourselves anyway. Some people I may be related to put people inside wooden people and set it one fire to please the gods? I don't like that about people, but when orcs do the exact same thing it just seems to fit.
Also, Dominic Deegan orcs are amazing.
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