Why do so many people love the Altmer?
-
Armaes of the Ansei
- Layman

- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 2:45 pm
- ES Games: Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim
- Platform: PC
Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Is there something I'm missing? I just don't see it.
- legoless
- Global Wiki Admin

- Posts: 2552
- Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2009 2:02 pm
- ES Games: All
- Platform: PC, Switch
- UESPoints: 420
- Location: Ireland
- Contact:
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Who loves the Altmer? Haughty banana people.
Wiki admin. Contact me on my talk page or via PM.
- Archer
- Journeyman

- Posts: 396
- Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2012 8:00 pm
- ES Games: Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim
- Platform: Xbox 360, PC(Morrowind, Skyrim)
- Status: Thinking of good 'what if' scenarios
- UESPoints: 1
- Location: I'm not quite sure....
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
The Altmer are the essence of all that is good and superior in Tamriel. Its only natural that they be loved so. 
- Minor Edits
- Champion

- Posts: 819
- Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:52 am
- ES Games: Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim
- Platform: Xbox 360
- UESPoints: 10
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
You may be talking about the popularity of the Aldmeri Dominion in ESO? That's a gameplay thing more than anything else. The Aldmeri Dominion apparently has the best quests.
I concur with Legoless.
I concur with Legoless.
Br3admax wrote:This post is bad and it should feel bad.
-
Armaes of the Ansei
- Layman

- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 2:45 pm
- ES Games: Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim
- Platform: PC
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
I meant the race not the Dominion. It seems like everywhere I go people talk about how awesome the Altmer. This is is the first forum I've been to that hasn't considered the Altmer to be the master race.
- noobishlord
- Warder

- Posts: 420
- Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 2:41 pm
- ES Games: Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, Online
- Platform: PC (I - V, O), Xbox 360 (IV, V)
- Status: Sugar-addled
- Other Profiles: JumboWheat01 (XBL/Steam/PSN/ESO)
- UESPoints: 3
- Location: Malone, NY
- Contact:
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Well, people (in general,) love magic. Altmer are considered the defacto offensive spell-casting race in the game, always having the biggest magicka reserves at their disposal. This lets them (figuratively) turn just about anything into a pile of ashes on the ground.
Oh for the love of little green tomatoes...
- Minor Edits
- Champion

- Posts: 819
- Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:52 am
- ES Games: Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim
- Platform: Xbox 360
- UESPoints: 10
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Bretons are better. Altmer are too weak to magical attacks, and IIRC, their racial perks have been diminished in the newer games.
Pop psychology: the Altmer are "the Other" in the Elder Scrolls universe. An inordinate amount of TES fans are rather geeky and often feel like "the Other" amongst their peers. Hence, an inordinate amount of them may identify with the Altmer on a personal level.
Frankly, though, the Altmer can suck it, as far as I'm concerned. As Socrates said, "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." The Altmer tend to fail this basic test of wisdom, and treat everyone else as ignorant savages. Ungracious as losers, cruel as winners. They can go to hell.
Pop psychology: the Altmer are "the Other" in the Elder Scrolls universe. An inordinate amount of TES fans are rather geeky and often feel like "the Other" amongst their peers. Hence, an inordinate amount of them may identify with the Altmer on a personal level.
Frankly, though, the Altmer can suck it, as far as I'm concerned. As Socrates said, "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." The Altmer tend to fail this basic test of wisdom, and treat everyone else as ignorant savages. Ungracious as losers, cruel as winners. They can go to hell.
Last edited by Minor Edits on Mon Apr 14, 2014 11:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Br3admax wrote:This post is bad and it should feel bad.
- Dark Spark
- Undecided

- Posts: 4746
- Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:37 am
- ES Games: Oblivion (SI); Skyrim (DB)
- Platform: XBox
- Status: Reality and I aren't on speaking terms right now
- Other Profiles: DarkSpark135
- UESPoints: 5
- Location: Edge of the world and all Western civilization
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Plus, when you kill them they leave behind this smell. A curious blend of cheddar and mint.
Baurus: Our job is to get the Emperor out of situations like this. Though I'll admit, things aren't going exactly to plan.
Casandra: At the moment, the deadliest weapon at my disposal is a goblin's head on a stick. I'd be worried if this was the plan.
Casandra: At the moment, the deadliest weapon at my disposal is a goblin's head on a stick. I'd be worried if this was the plan.
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
I love magic, so they have to be the best, right?
- BetaB17
- World Class Eejít

- Posts: 1441
- Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2013 4:13 pm
- ES Games: Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim
- Platform: Xbox
- Status: Naughty Cake Boi
- Other Profiles: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- UESPoints: 14
- Location: Top of the world!
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Personally, I will never understand the strong following for the altmer. Part me holds it due to how they relate to other fantasy elven races, and that alone has a strong appeal.. and lets not forget the magic. On the other side, because their stereotypical ignorance and culture, we are kind of led to dislike them.. but as we all know others simply wish to oppose.. and so a minority becomes a majority.. that will tear out your throat if you could not agree with their opinions via the internet(partly an exaggeration with some truth)
I mean look at most altmer related topics, and how quickly they boil down to two strong-sided groups.. the ones who unconditionally/irrationally love them.. and those whom unconditionally/irrationally hate them. Even before the Thalmor added some wood to this fire, it existed, and is more or less a trend that seems like it's staying
Another point to make is people love to dominate, to feel superior.. and in ever bit of sense.. the altmer enjoy the very same. This does not mean all altmer are inherently 'jerks', nor the same to their fans. It is just those with a more passionate opinion seem to be heard from amongst the crowd
Now, I have no issues if somebody enjoys this race or culture. My only objection is when one stops listening to reason and logic... and then tries to tear out my throat.. that last bit would normally do it...
I mean look at most altmer related topics, and how quickly they boil down to two strong-sided groups.. the ones who unconditionally/irrationally love them.. and those whom unconditionally/irrationally hate them. Even before the Thalmor added some wood to this fire, it existed, and is more or less a trend that seems like it's staying
Now, I have no issues if somebody enjoys this race or culture. My only objection is when one stops listening to reason and logic... and then tries to tear out my throat.. that last bit would normally do it...
"I Seek Truth, Not For Power, But For Understanding"
~Former Steward of The Queen's Sweetrolls~
~Proud Disciple in the ways of Believe~
~Forever a UESP user~
[?]
-
Armaes of the Ansei
- Layman

- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 2:45 pm
- ES Games: Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim
- Platform: PC
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Lol I absolutely love thisDark Spark wrote:Plus, when you kill them they leave behind this smell. A curious blend of cheddar and mint.
-
CBR JGWRR
- Grand Master

- Posts: 2925
- Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:04 am
- ES Games: Skyrim, all DLC, Oblivion, GoTY and aniversary, arena
- Platform: X360/PC, X360/PC, PC.
- UESPoints: 2
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Morrowind - weakness to magic, weakness to elemental damage, tons of magicka.Minor Edits wrote:Bretons are better. Altmer are too weak to magical attacks, and IIRC, their racial perks have been diminished in the newer games.
.
Oblivion - weakness to elemental damage, not as much magicka, but still a nice amount.
Skyrim - no weakness at all, a measly 50 bonus magicka.
Which means that the race most attuned to magicka yet uniquely vulnerable to it are no longer vulnerable. Or that attuned to magicka.
- Mattbott
- The New Number Two

- Posts: 2325
- Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:33 pm
- ES Games: Mw, Ob, Sk
- Status: embellishing my headcanon
- UESPoints: 1
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
yeah, i miss the old school Altmer vulnerability to magicka, they really shone as a race to play when you combined it with the Atronarch
it's negative psychology, Skyrim shows us how evil the Thalmor can be so everyone loves them. If only it worked with broccoli and herbal tea..
it's negative psychology, Skyrim shows us how evil the Thalmor can be so everyone loves them. If only it worked with broccoli and herbal tea..
- Dark Spark
- Undecided

- Posts: 4746
- Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:37 am
- ES Games: Oblivion (SI); Skyrim (DB)
- Platform: XBox
- Status: Reality and I aren't on speaking terms right now
- Other Profiles: DarkSpark135
- UESPoints: 5
- Location: Edge of the world and all Western civilization
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Broccoli tastes better with cheddar. And there are herbal teas with mint.Mattbott wrote:...it's negative psychology, Skyrim shows us how evil the Thalmor can be so everyone loves them. If only it worked with broccoli and herbal tea..
Whoa.
Baurus: Our job is to get the Emperor out of situations like this. Though I'll admit, things aren't going exactly to plan.
Casandra: At the moment, the deadliest weapon at my disposal is a goblin's head on a stick. I'd be worried if this was the plan.
Casandra: At the moment, the deadliest weapon at my disposal is a goblin's head on a stick. I'd be worried if this was the plan.
- Will Zurmacht
- Warder

- Posts: 529
- Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:40 am
- Platform: PC
- Status: For good threads I bid my sails search and search
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Not so fast.Armaes of the Ansei wrote:This is the first forum I've been to that hasn't considered the Altmer to be the master race.
Altmer are the master race, by several metrics. It's just that Imperials have had the dominant culture for a long while, and for good reasons.
It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones slept better... while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more. -Woody Allen
- Emzi 43
- Journeyman

- Posts: 221
- Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2012 5:04 pm
- ES Games: 1 to 5 of the main series, none of the spinoffs
- Platform: xbox 360 skyrim, all else pc
- Other Profiles: Steam: Dovawolf
- Location: Turn around
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
I prefer the Ayleids, better at Magic(Possibly, we don't really know, but Welkynd stones were awesome and OP) and have you seen Umaril? If only we could play as Ayleids in vanilla games(Modded Oblivion to crashing point, I have a level 10 slaughterfish in there somewhere)
*Insert witty signature here*
- legoless
- Global Wiki Admin

- Posts: 2552
- Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2009 2:02 pm
- ES Games: All
- Platform: PC, Switch
- UESPoints: 420
- Location: Ireland
- Contact:
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Remember that Umaril was only half Ayleid and half winged demigod. He was also functionally Daedric when we see him in Oblivion, meaning he could have reformed his body in any way he wanted. Not a great biological representation.Emzi 43 wrote:I prefer the Ayleids, better at Magic(Possibly, we don't really know, but Welkynd stones were awesome and OP) and have you seen Umaril?
Wiki admin. Contact me on my talk page or via PM.
- Mod-Loving Wood Elf
- Journeyman

- Posts: 291
- Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 2:55 am
- ES Games: Morrowind (and expansions), Oblivion (and expansions), Skyrim
- Platform: PC, always.
- Status: Back to Skyrim for the fifth time.
- Location: On my computer, usually.
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
I don't think they're loved much more than most other races; they're very equally hated, especially on the Skyrim forum. If anything, they're a race that erupts the strongest feelings, one way or another.
Shops are open 24/7. Half the time, you don't even have to pay!
- Uncle Sheo
- Uncle Sheo
- Believe
- Guardian

- Posts: 663
- Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2011 2:05 am
- ES Games: Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, ESO
- Platform: PC, Xbox
- Status: Nil
- Other Profiles: Creator Of All (Xbox)
- Location: NZer'Land
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
I think Altmer are not so much "loved" as they are "pitied".
Anaemia isn't very pleasant. And their livers must be absolutely shot.
Plus all their hairstyles look stupid.
Anaemia isn't very pleasant. And their livers must be absolutely shot.
Plus all their hairstyles look stupid.
*advice given by Believe does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UESP, its owners, staff, or users*
BetaB17 wrote:I somehow feel that if the mods were all gods.. Believe would surely be the God of Awesome and Booze
- Pilaf The Defiler
- Imperial Legate

- Posts: 4359
- Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2011 9:03 pm
- ES Games: Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, ESO
- Platform: PC, Xbox, Xbox 360
- Status: Fresh
- UESPoints: 20
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
The average fan who thinks Altmer are great are probably relatively new to the series and making the mistaken comparison that they're like the High Elves/ Light Elves of other comparable fiction series.
On the surface the comparison holds.
As for the people who know what the Altmer are and believe and still admire them...well...
Your local library probably has a number of tomes on the phenomenon of sociopaths.
On the surface the comparison holds.
As for the people who know what the Altmer are and believe and still admire them...well...
Your local library probably has a number of tomes on the phenomenon of sociopaths.
Monsters are bred in labyrinths, labyrinths are bred from walls. There is a reason the Giants choose to remain nomadic rather than follow their shield kin the Nords in building permanent settlements. The Tower is the beginning of all walls.
- Dark Spark
- Undecided

- Posts: 4746
- Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:37 am
- ES Games: Oblivion (SI); Skyrim (DB)
- Platform: XBox
- Status: Reality and I aren't on speaking terms right now
- Other Profiles: DarkSpark135
- UESPoints: 5
- Location: Edge of the world and all Western civilization
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Novelty is drawn to the brightest lights of your ambition, to grab for hope.
Experience allows you to warp what you've found into new and decidedly twisted fashions.
They'll learn. Then they'll hate the Altmer as much as we do.
Just kidding.
Experience allows you to warp what you've found into new and decidedly twisted fashions.
They'll learn. Then they'll hate the Altmer as much as we do.
Unfortunately, I don't need such a book. All I need is a mirror.Pilaf The Defiler wrote: ...Your local library probably has a number of tomes on the phenomenon of sociopaths.
Just kidding.
Baurus: Our job is to get the Emperor out of situations like this. Though I'll admit, things aren't going exactly to plan.
Casandra: At the moment, the deadliest weapon at my disposal is a goblin's head on a stick. I'd be worried if this was the plan.
Casandra: At the moment, the deadliest weapon at my disposal is a goblin's head on a stick. I'd be worried if this was the plan.
- Mattbott
- The New Number Two

- Posts: 2325
- Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:33 pm
- ES Games: Mw, Ob, Sk
- Status: embellishing my headcanon
- UESPoints: 1
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Altmer have always gone through phases, sometimes they are a bit like TV's Sheldon Cooper, sometimes they are a bit like the Red Queen from Lewis Carroll, sometimes they aren't as likeable as either. In Morrowind they were amongst the only people who would actually talk to you when you were a vampire and that made them alright to me
as a pc race i always liked their focus on magic in the earlier TES games but now racial bonuses are a bit watered down they have lost that.. it gave them a vulnerability which they no longer have
tbh the dwemer ruins in Skyrim indicate a cruel and aloof race and I can't help thinking the Thalmor aspire in some way to what the Dwemer achieved (assuming the Dwarves didnt all die and go to a rather unpleasant corner of oblivion reserved for cruel and aloof races)
as a pc race i always liked their focus on magic in the earlier TES games but now racial bonuses are a bit watered down they have lost that.. it gave them a vulnerability which they no longer have
tbh the dwemer ruins in Skyrim indicate a cruel and aloof race and I can't help thinking the Thalmor aspire in some way to what the Dwemer achieved (assuming the Dwarves didnt all die and go to a rather unpleasant corner of oblivion reserved for cruel and aloof races)
- Dohva.
- Grand Master

- Posts: 3683
- Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2012 9:46 pm
- ES Games: Skyrim, Morrowind
- Platform: PC
- Status: gaming
- UESPoints: 7
- Contact:
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Exactly. With such grace, intelligence, beauty, and superiority, who wouldn't be loved?Archer wrote:The Altmer are the essence of all that is good and superior in Tamriel. Its only natural that they be loved so.
Believe, you have a funny haircut! Ha ha but in all seriousness, I like to play Altmer because I enjoy roleplaying a conceited primadonna who likes to get her own way by cutting words or a fireball spell.
- Will Zurmacht
- Warder

- Posts: 529
- Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:40 am
- Platform: PC
- Status: For good threads I bid my sails search and search
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
Only the most enlightened TES fans know this truth, buried in a code from St. Kirkbride's Protocols of the Elders of Alinor. If the average, low-information TES fan had this knowledge, that the Altmer, collectively, as a race, are actively trying to smuggle a dirty soul gem into White-Gold Tower and blow up the world... well, then their ire could be based on solid evidence, instead of what it's based on in the majority of avowed cases: the fact that a yellow guy (insert skin color joke) made an unkind remark to their character in game, and it hurt their feelings!Pilaf The Defiler wrote:As for the people who know what the Altmer are and believe and still admire them...well...
Your local library probably has a number of tomes on the phenomenon of sociopaths.
It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones slept better... while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more. -Woody Allen
- Br3admax
- Grand Master

- Posts: 3904
- Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2012 3:32 pm
- ES Games: I-V
- Platform: PS3, PC
- Location: The line between radiance and shadow
Re: Why do so many people love the Altmer?
The point is about the people who do know, though.Will Zurmacht wrote:Only the most enlightened TES fans know this truth, buried in a code from St. Kirkbride's Protocols of the Elders of Alinor. If the average, low-information TES fan had this knowledge, that the Altmer, collectively, as a race, are actively trying to smuggle a dirty soul gem into White-Gold Tower and blow up the world... well, then their ire could be based on solid evidence, instead of what it's based on in the majority of avowed cases: the fact that a yellow guy (insert skin color joke) made an unkind remark to their character in game, and it hurt their feelings!Pilaf The Defiler wrote:As for the people who know what the Altmer are and believe and still admire them...well...
Your local library probably has a number of tomes on the phenomenon of sociopaths.
Justice knight wrote:Oh and listen to Br3ad he speaks wisdom.