First off, it must be said that I try to play an anthropomorphic fox whenever a game allows it (or something close enough that I can pretend). I discovered servers for NWN that used mods which allowed you to be an anthropomorphic fox (among many other options), but the leveling rules were too wonky. >.> When my roommates convinced me to play WoW with them following cataclysm, I rolled a red-furred Worgen and pretended it was a fox. In D&D I've played shifters, werefoxes, and worked on creating a fox race that was balanced with respect to core races. In Shadowrun I played a fox shapeshifter. And then there is Ironclaw, which is all anthropomorphic beings. So it should be understood that I really would like to see a race that would at least allow me to pretend it is an anthropomorphic fox.
That being said, this game does not need a race like that for me to be excited to play it! This is partly because of what the developers seem to be doing with races. Humans are being given subtypes. This is significant because in D&D and D&D-inspired games, humans usually don't have subtypes and just go with something along the lines of choose a stat to boost (4.0e), get a bonus feat, gain extra skill points at first level, etc. When compared to the other races, which sometimes have subtypes, this tendancy highlights how all non-human races end up being pushed into a particular role. Given the same stats pre-racial modifiers, your dwarven bard won't be as charismatic as your human bard because all standard dwarves lack social skills (3.5e, with negative stat modifiers for all races but humans) or humans are adaptable (4.0e, where humans get +2 to a stat of choice). All standard dwarves are also innately good with stone and know how to craft and appraise things made of stone. Dwarven subtypes help provide dwarves a little more flexability, but they can't match with humans' flexability, while humans have flexability, but lose out on all the nifty abilities.
Which is rather frustrating. Humans should have subtypes, such as Human: Seafaring or Human: Mountain Clan, which give some relevant abilities and stat adjustments. Climate, geography, and culture should have an impact. So I am extremely happy to hear that this game is apparently going to implement that sort of subtypes for all races. And another benefit of subtypes is that you can create one that goes against the usual conception of that race. For instance, desert elves who aren't so in touch with nature (perhaps even caused the desert to occur centuries before through deforestation) and are sturdy (good Con) would go against most of what we imagine elves to be (and then what if they met their more traditional elven kin...). There is a wealth of possibility for fresh takes on races such as humans, elves, and dwarves in a system that gives each race multiple subtypes. This, then, helps with the fact that there will be races in this game that show up over and over again. If the developers do it right (as I'm sure they will...), then there will be subtypes for those races that break the mold.
Now, I agree that when done poorly, anthropomorphic animal races end up being no more than humans in animal suits. This gets compounded if the animal the anthropomorphic race resembles is also in the world. And the result is often rather lackluster. However, these do have potential. Let's take anthropomorphic foxes as an example, since I know some about vulpine behavior. If done poorly you end up with a bunch of humans that look like bipedal foxes. They might visually appeal to certain people (such as myself), but nothing really would feel unique about them. But, if you start adapting behavior of actual foxes and thinking up a different culture based off those adaptations, then you start getting a decent race. Foxes communicate through vocalizations, body language, and scents - a race of anthropomorphic foxes probably would do the same, which would affect their culture. Would their tails and ears betray their emotions (a tail lashing back and forth on a fox signals either fear or aggression - perhaps another race would mistake it as a sign of happiness, causing trouble) or would they be able to train themselves to lie with their body language? You might be able to have an entire conversation without saying a word. Would they have a writing system? How would something like crime be different if they scent-marked valuables (in addition to land)? Would the females of the race go into heat and the males compete for their attentions? If this were the case, would a system eventually have been put in place in their more civilized domains to prevent unnecessary bloodshed (some sort of games instead of combat)? Their architecture would probably be different and they might not wear as much clothing because of the fur. And this is just the start. In other words, it is possible to make an anthropomorphic animal race that isn't trash, but it requires thought instead of just putting a human in animal clothing. So if this game does get an anthropomorphic animal race, let us all hope that it is done right, so that we get something memorable and fresh instead of disguised humans.
