@nightscrawl: if you start as a warrior or rogue slave... they're going to have to break the lore to allow you to be anything but a slave.
It'll go something like this: "You're a special snowflake who had an unusually kind Tevinter master... who... umm... let you go to become a really super important person in Tevinter by the end of this game..."
No, it would be MUCH better if all human (and maybe elf) characters start as an Altus mage/rogue/warrior - so all of them have the same status and capacity in Tevinter.
"IF" they did slave - I'd like you to either BE a slave, or to have achieved your freedom at a steep price.
I actually foresee a few possible paths if the game starts in Tevinter and our character is from there (as opposed to being from elsewhere and just journeying there as part of the plot).
One is that they might return to a more nuanced, detailed approach to racial origins (back to DAO roots, as it were), IF they decided to go with multiple races again. There are dwarves and Qunari in Tevinter, and Dorian talks about them with dwarf and Qunari Inquisitors during his first dialogue with them, so it's certainly possible to incorporate the experiences of all four of the Thedosian races in a new game that is set in Tevinter.
Dorian: I've met some Tal-Vashoth in my time, however. Mercenaries, and a few merchants. They're not the same as Qunari. Might easily be a different people altogether.
Qunari Inquisitor: No one in Tevinter has issues with Tal-Vashoth?
Dorian: I didn't say that. Prejudices are deeply rooted back home, but I have more sympathy than most.
Dwarf Inquisitor: Is that an issue for you?
Dorian: An issue? Whyever would it be an issue for me? Back home, you see dwarves everywhere... and not just from the Ambassadoria. Rather odd how, in the South, everyone thinks of dwarves as merchants. Limited view, in my opinion.
Another is that they might just limit themselves to human and elf. Considering the whole thing with Solas, I think that would be an interesting thing. Perhaps the elf PC, as part of their origin, is approached by one of Solas's agents. If they take the game in the direction that I would prefer, I think this would be the best option, and I think would offer far more opportunity for reactivity if they purposely limit themselves to just these two races, and design the game from the ground up with JUST those two races in mind. If they do that, I may actually play the elf PC if they can differentiate the experience enough.
The final option that I have considered -- which is the least preferable for me -- would be to have the PC be an outsider from another nation who comes into Tevinter for whatever reason. That way they can have the multiple races if they want. But I think this would be missing out on a great opportunity to let us be a part of Tevinter society and really experience it, whether as a slave, a normal citizen, or an altus.