On Being An Elf (1 Viewer)

[Tantric Cereal]

So, fantasy gaming has reached the point where people are sick of the sight of elves - apparently. So I wondered, how do elves get treated in these games. Has there been a game that has actually provided elf as a character choice in any real depth - no matter how 'clichéd' that depth might be. After all, Tolkien wrote reams on them. Yet in rpg's (which obviously wont' have the same type and amount of detail), they are just often another variant of stats and spells. Before they get written off completely (which really does strike me as somewhat childish really - no one suggests that humans have been done to death do they!), were they really been done properly in the first place

 

[Juriel]

Tolkien elves are just wishy-washy humans with pointy ears. Whose writer has a hard-on for their superiority. There's not much racial depth there to be found, so games' treatment of them as just humans with some bonuses is pretty accurate.

 

[ResplendentScorpion]

So, fantasy gaming has reached the point where people are sick of the sight of elves - apparently. So I wondered, how do elves get treated in these games. Has there been a game that has actually provided elf as a character choice in any real depth - no matter how 'clichéd' that depth might be. After all, Tolkien wrote reams on them. Yet in rpg's (which obviously wont' have the same type and amount of detail), they are just often another variant of stats and spells. Before they get written off completely (which really does strike me as somewhat childish really - no one suggests that humans have been done to death do they!), were they really been done properly in the first place

The problem is among the people(who, once again might be just a vocal minority), not the industry's treatment of elves. Just like humans, they have been rendered in enough ways to make the sentence "I hate elves and people who play elves." meaningless, except maybe as a hint that you may be dealing with a problematic player and should investigate further. Even the more common renditions of elves(noble savages, haughty ancient empire, mystical superhumans with superhuman virtues and vices, fey) are distinct enough to accommodate the tastes of most. D&D4 even went out of its way to accommodate elf lovers by providing two types of elf, each following a different set of archetypes.

 

[Juriel]

D&D4 even went out of its way to accommodate elf lovers by providing two types of elf, each following a different set of archetypes.

Which then again pisses off elf-haters, because there aren't different kinds of orcs being provided, but for some reason these people whose main feature is having pointy ears, deserve a million different sub-types. 4e did take it to new heights, since out of the first player's book, 3 out of 8 races, or almost half, are variants on elf.

I think they've been over-saturating the market for a good while now. Even without any previous biases, that sort of a thing might start to annoy people.

 

[Tantric Cereal]

The problem is among the people(who, once again might be just a vocal minority), not the industry's treatment of elves. Just like humans, they have been rendered in enough ways to make the sentence "I hate elves and people who play elves." meaningless, except maybe as a hint that you may be dealing with a problematic player and should investigate further. Even the more common renditions of elves(noble savages, haughty ancient empire, mystical superhumans with superhuman virtues and vices, fey) are distinct enough to accommodate the tastes of most. D&D4 even went out of its way to accommodate elf lovers by providing two types of elf, each following a different set of archetypes.

Vocal? Apparently, from reading topics here.
Minority? Hard to tell. Not so sure.

 

[DrTemp]

Elves of the Tolkien type are cool. They just don't fit into each and every fantasy world.

 

[Tantric Cereal]

Elves of the Tolkien type are cool. They just don't fit into each and every fantasy world.

Is that even the case?

 

[Elemental]

Elves of the Tolkien type are cool. They just don't fit into each and every fantasy world.

And if you take away the culture that Tolkein gave them, you don't have that much left. A lot of time, elves just feel pointless and underdeveloped, being pointy-eared humans who live a long time and are "better than humans" and "cultured" in some highly vague way.

Either that, or trying way too hard to be Not Tolkein ("In my setting, elves are soulless tree creatures who practice human sacrifice and have a natural affinity with sandstone."). Most of the time, the first case could simply have been a different human culture. In the second case, they could just have been an original race, with no need for the name's baggage.

 

[DrTemp]

Is that even the case?

No, but I think that is what people mean by "overused": Elves used where they don't fit.

I mean, "Desert Elves", for example, are nonsense. "Immortal Bedouins", sure, why not, but don't give them pointy ears. But High Elves with fantastic cities and powerful magic are cool.

 

[Llenlleawch]

"In my setting, elves are soulless tree creatures who practice human sacrifice and have a natural affinity with sandstone."

Isn't that pretty much what Earthdawn elves were like?

Me, I liked elves like they were in AD&D. Long-lived, agile, somewhat lightweight, fast, connected to magic and nature, pretty elegant. It's not a less solid concept than dwarves, and no one's been dissing on dwarves like they've been on elves.