aurance
Explorer
Actually, I was curious about this phenomenon as well, and this thread has been pretty informative.
Why do people hate Elfkind?
- Thread starter Byronic
- Start date
Actually, I was curious about this phenomenon as well, and this thread has been pretty informative.
WayneLigon
Adventurer
Jealousy.
In seriousness, I think a majority of elf-hate was caused by the astoundingly broken Elf handbook for 2E. If elves were not better than everyone else before, they certainly were after that.
Desdichado
Hero
I actually never played 2e.
To be honest with you, elves just kinda represent to me all the things about D&D that I find tired and boring and in need of being shaken up. I don't hate them per se (it's not like they're gnomes or something); I just have little use for them.
To be honest with you, elves just kinda represent to me all the things about D&D that I find tired and boring and in need of being shaken up. I don't hate them per se (it's not like they're gnomes or something); I just have little use for them.
I think this was the beginning of the serious ant-elf happenings at least for D&D. When elves were better stonemasons and armor smiths than dwarves I think even people on the fence started looking for torches and pitchforks to carry on there next D&D character.
Honestly... I think it has alot to do with the way certain players choose to play elves. Many players can appreciate and empathize with a human character, or an earthy, zest-for-life type of dwarf who smites foemen with zeal then drinks through the night with abandon.
In my experience, many players that choose to play elves like the psychodrama and attention angle, and will go to great lengths to explain to the last detail how their elven princess has braided silvery hair and violet eyes. If none of the player characters are impressed with their beauty or charm, they will go on to explain that Annistrianna Thistleraven Nightwhisper Winterbreeze IV is the last elven princess descended from a legendary sorcerer/druid that slew a mighty demon lord and ruled a massive kingdom or whatever, and then want to get snotty when the other players are still more interested in the events of the campaign than their uber-cool character.
In short... I think it's more to do with certain players than with the proliferation of subraces, although that does get on my nerves too.
In my experience, many players that choose to play elves like the psychodrama and attention angle, and will go to great lengths to explain to the last detail how their elven princess has braided silvery hair and violet eyes. If none of the player characters are impressed with their beauty or charm, they will go on to explain that Annistrianna Thistleraven Nightwhisper Winterbreeze IV is the last elven princess descended from a legendary sorcerer/druid that slew a mighty demon lord and ruled a massive kingdom or whatever, and then want to get snotty when the other players are still more interested in the events of the campaign than their uber-cool character.
In short... I think it's more to do with certain players than with the proliferation of subraces, although that does get on my nerves too.
Brennin Magalus
First Post
Don't tell me they've created a race of ant elves, too!
I don't care for all the subraces of the past. For example, someone saw "sea elves" in Tolkien and created elves with gills, apparently without actually reading what Tolkien meant.
Elves in spaaace is another faux pas, although Spelljammer was lame even without space elves.
And then there were "wood elves" and "wild elves." Who was behind that decision?
Anyway, as much as I dislike the 4e ruleset, I give the designers props for what they did with elves. (Although the name "eladrin" is lame.)
Gothmog
First Post
1. Elf fanboys are the most annoying creatures on earth- makes you want to hate all over the elves.
2. To me personally, elves rub me completely the wrong way. They are flighty, capricious, highly emotional, self-important, self-absorbed, and condescending towards others. I've never seen elves presented in any campaign setting in such a way that they wouldn't be more appealing as spitted and roasting over an orc campfire.
3. Elves are tired and OLD. Everyone and his brother used to play elves, and they are always done the same way in every setting (yes, even Eberron elves are the same insufferable twits).
Oddly enough, I LOVE dwarves. Maybe its because I admire the traits of the dwarves, and the RP possibilities of dwarves aren't so stilted or elitist fanboy power/adulation fantasies.
And why don't I "fix" elves? I've tried, but the bastards keep reproducing anyways.
2. To me personally, elves rub me completely the wrong way. They are flighty, capricious, highly emotional, self-important, self-absorbed, and condescending towards others. I've never seen elves presented in any campaign setting in such a way that they wouldn't be more appealing as spitted and roasting over an orc campfire.
3. Elves are tired and OLD. Everyone and his brother used to play elves, and they are always done the same way in every setting (yes, even Eberron elves are the same insufferable twits).
Oddly enough, I LOVE dwarves. Maybe its because I admire the traits of the dwarves, and the RP possibilities of dwarves aren't so stilted or elitist fanboy power/adulation fantasies.
And why don't I "fix" elves? I've tried, but the bastards keep reproducing anyways.
Brennin Magalus
First Post
Not in Birthright.
taliesin15
First Post
You can't have Elvis without Elves.
I've never encountered this attitude outside of ENWorld in the almost 30 years of gaming I've been involved with. Now hating the subraces that have come along since the first Monster Manual, that's another story. As a DM I've used Drow once, and it didn't really do that much for the campaign. All the subraces, splatbooks, and mostly useless products out there I think is what's causing this attitude.
IMC Elves are more like the Tolkien Elves, and they along with Gnomes are the center of the milieu and by far the most powerful humanoid/demi-human races.
FWIW, I tend to present "Wood Elves" and "Grey Elves" as simply regionally separate from the High Elves, all three speaking a related tongue, but each with a distinct dialect.
I've never encountered this attitude outside of ENWorld in the almost 30 years of gaming I've been involved with. Now hating the subraces that have come along since the first Monster Manual, that's another story. As a DM I've used Drow once, and it didn't really do that much for the campaign. All the subraces, splatbooks, and mostly useless products out there I think is what's causing this attitude.
IMC Elves are more like the Tolkien Elves, and they along with Gnomes are the center of the milieu and by far the most powerful humanoid/demi-human races.
FWIW, I tend to present "Wood Elves" and "Grey Elves" as simply regionally separate from the High Elves, all three speaking a related tongue, but each with a distinct dialect.
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