Are there any exact number on the average height of each playable race? IIRC the UESP mentions Nords as being well over 6 feet, and that Altmers and Orcs are taller... are there any sources to that? and what about the other races?

I'm pretty sure orcs and nords are the same height (in oblivion, don't know about lore) and the altmer are the only ones that stand unequalled above the rest.

If i had to guess, i'd say imperials are around 6 foot even, since they seemed to be based on the "normal" person. That would prbabally make the bosmer 5'7" or so. These are estimates, btw.

I don't recall any sources for that. Although the games imply it somewhat. You might look in the editor, I know that Morrowind had a multiplier that determined the length of the models.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Races

^^^ there is a model height chart at the bottom of that table. May not be exactly what your looking for but its something to go off of I suppose.

Altmer are the tallest at 1.1 for both genders. Nords come in 2nd just barely above Orcs at 1.06 vs. 1.05. Then most of the other races come in at 1.0 even (with the males being just slighty taller.) Then there are Breton and Khajit females at .95 and bringing up the rear are the male Bosmer as .90

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Races

And there is the one for Oblivion. Different as usual.

What units of measurement are those in?

By assigning a corresponding height to those numbers and calculating accordingly, you can get what looks like a relatively realistic chart.

I used 6 feet to correspond to 1.0, because 6 feet is a nice even number. It seems a bit tall to be a statistical norm, yeah, but it'll get you a workable chart, from which rather than the middle of the statistical norm, you can consider the results to be the highest range of what is probably normal for each race, with the average being conceivably anywhere from 3-8 inches LOWER.

So if you figure 1.0 = 6' = 72'', multiply 72 by each variation on the chart, then divide by 12 to put it back into feet and inches, you get this (some are rounded to get even inches and half-inches, since most of our brains don't work in measurements of .2 inches ) :

Altmer (both genders) - 6'6''
Argonian Male - ~6'2''
Argonian Female- 6'
Bosmer Male - 5'4''
Bosmer Female - 6'
Breton Male - 6'
Breton Female - 5'7''
Dunmer (both genders) - 6'
Imperial (both genders)- 6'
Khajiit Male - 6'
Khajiit Female - 5'7''
Nord (both genders)- ~6'3.5''
Orc (both genders) - 6'3''
Redguard Male - ~6'1''
Redguard Female - 6'

The values are a ratio to a benchmark, but you figured that out already. Which is rather useful then actuall values because aside from arguing over metric and imperial, it shows who is bigger and by how much.

That being said, metric is allot easier because you'll be multiplying 1.80 by x where x is the height value.

You durn kids and yer durn newfangled metrik system! *waves fist*

i think its more fun to say that I'm "Six Feet Tall" than "One-point-eight meters tall" or whatever it actually is...

Thats a matter of familiarization. You don't have to say the point and usually you say the centinals rather then the decimals. One-Eighty-Eight gets the message across.

And wouldn't within those races, there be variations? If, you know, there was a bit of "real-world" to it. Like an Altmer could be anywhere from the average of around six-and-one-half feet to quite a bit taller to a lot shorter.
Be a bit boring otherwise, no?

Different in-game, I know. And this post certainly doesn't help things, does it?

Yeah I would say that it would have to vary from person to person although the way I see it generalized or the more common height is like this, from tallest at the top then down...

Nord
Altmer
Orc
Redgaurd
Argonian, Imperial, Dunmer
Breton
Bosmer

And the only reason I did not list the Khajiit is because you can't define characteristics for a race that comes in different breeds. Like the Ohmes-Raht is can look like a bosmer with the height and the fact that they are with out fur, Suthay-Raht which is the breed from OB and MW, and then the Cathay-Raht who are the large warriors of the Khajiit.

Nice calculation you made there, carrick!

Ofc if Tamriel was a "real" world the heights would differ, however it's probably alot easier to make one "skeleton" for each race rather than letting the player decide the height... lets pray for a TES V that lets us adjust height and weight

Altmer are taller than nords by all accounts....

And Argonians also have different breeds.

Don't you mean Khajiit? The Argonians only have different art styles.

Yeah I know Altmer are taller but I just don't like that.