And as to races: the only differences in gameplay you'll possibly notice are small differences in natural magic resists.
Each race has resists, but each race has them for different spells. Fyro for example have some natural resistence to fire, Matis the same amount of resistence to poison.
Apart from that, the only differences are the fame (reputation) levels you start out with (which can be changed in a few days to anything else), the initial craft skills you gain in the starter zone (all the others can be learned though), and looks. Important maybe for roleplaying if you're into that, but otherwise merely cosmetic.
Each race has resists, but each race has them for different spells. Fyro for example have some natural resistence to fire, Matis the same amount of resistence to poison.
Apart from that, the only differences are the fame (reputation) levels you start out with (which can be changed in a few days to anything else), the initial craft skills you gain in the starter zone (all the others can be learned though), and looks. Important maybe for roleplaying if you're into that, but otherwise merely cosmetic.