Why do so many people love the Altmer?

[Armaes of the Ansei]

I've pretty much gathered from this discussion most people either love or hate them. I've asked some of my friends irl why they like the altmer and it almost always boiled down to the magicka based racial bonuses. Makes sense I guess. The racial bonuses are why I chose a Redguard the first time I played TES. Of course I love them even more now, knowing their lore.

[Aranel]

The altmer and the dunmer are, hands down, my favorite races in TES. I probably prefer the dunmer a little bit more, though; I'm not sure. That said, I love the altmer game-play wise because of how magic orientated they are and sometimes it is nice being a giant among men.
But from a cultural standpoint, the Altmer are the closest there is to the Aldmeri ancestors of all elves - thus, the altmer are (sort of) like a "living fossil," so to speak. Even their cousins, like the Ayleids and the Falmer, have a lot of parallels culturally, linguistically, and religiously (of course, the Ayleids branch the most on this comparison, but still). And while the Dunmer are the direct descendants of the Chimer, Altmeri culture can give you ideas how Aldmeri culture was, and by extension, some insights about the Chimer. I don't know, I've always found this really interesting -- not to mention, it gives some potential on backstories you can make for Altmer characters in Skyrim.

I have atleast one character who, while she was an altmer, I had her be part Ayleid - in this case, it was watered down a bit (her mother was half Altmer, half tribal Ayleid and her father was another Altmer), but it always gave me a fun reason to give her the relatively uncommon "dark" appearance (black/dark brown hair, one of the last two skintones), and some fun roleplay potential with her. Granted, it was being a little flexible with the lore (I had it so her mother's village pretty much died out though by the name her daughter came around), but still.

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.

Well... Honestly that's more if you know who the Thalmor are and if you still admire them greatly. The Altmeri people have some cultural problems, like how they seem to be really ...stagnant, not adapting to change very well, etc. and they can be a bit "haughty", though most of this can probably be attributed to their long lifespans.
After all, if you're 250 years old and comparable to a 25 year old human but have all of that knowledge someone could gain in that timespan, it might be tiresome talking to say, a 25 year old human even though in some ways you're on the "same level" so to speak (okay sorta throwing out numbers since there is conflicts on the lifespan of mer races, but yeah).

But that said, not all altmer are egocentric or racial supremacists. Reldith finds farming to be a noble and rewarding profession, saying "there is a joy in honest labor you won't find elsewhere" and her adoptive son is a Redguard who has a head for business -- he even says his mum is the hardest worker in their town, but he is the one that is better at business than she is. And then you have other altmer like Runil, who tries to atone himself (and he came to worship Talos, or atleast revere him) after his participation as a Thalmor solider in the Great War, and then you have people like Legate Fasendil who are really good people at their core. The issue with the representation for the Altmer in say, Skyrim, is that the most vocal ones are members of the Thalmor, thus share those core beliefs -- that, and there is very few High Elves in Skyrim. I think there is only 41 named Altmer in the game or so, but the most "developed" ones are Thalmor members (not to mention the tons of randomly spawned Thalmor patrol units).

So Altmeri culture can be shortsighted, but altmer=/=Thalmor. I feel like there is a pretty important distinction there. :'D

[MataataVonFawks]

I like the Altmer in their own way, much like the other races. The ones that aren't totally taken by vanity are quite nice.

What I want to know is why everyone hates the Bosmer.

[Raynil dralas]

I like the Altmer in their own way, much like the other races. The ones that aren't totally taken by vanity are quite nice.

What I want to know is why everyone hates the Bosmer.

Because they're boring.

[legoless]

What I want to know is why everyone hates the Bosmer.

They're described as exceedingly annoying, lazy, unattractive elves. "I'd rather sleep with my horse."

[noobishlord]

What I want to know is why everyone hates the Bosmer.

They're described as exceedingly annoying, lazy, unattractive elves. "I'd rather sleep with my horse."

Wasn't the Annoying Fan a bosmer? Maybe that has more to do with it than anything else.

[Raynil dralas]

Realistically its probably because they haven't really been represented in game at all, they've always been a playable race but we've never really seen valenwood or heard much about their culture and they've never had any involvement in any main quests or anything. Plus of the 3 meric races they are the most "normal" People like altmer because they have badass magic skills, dunmer because dark elves are always cool and people loved morrowind etc. Bosmer are just... dudes that shoot arrows real good.

[skullclutter]

I think ESO will help with improving people's perceptions of the bosmer. The Aldmeri Dominion has a lot of zones in different areas of Valenwood, so many of the questlines center around their culture. It's been a lot of fun for me so far.

[Ichiryuu]

Expecially on Facebook I found the opposite, many who dislike altmer because of the Thalmor. In my first playthrough I chose an altmer basically for what has been said, I liked magic, I wanted to play mage - even though for my style that was more like a battlemage and a breton or a dunmer would have been better choices - so I went with them. Moreover they link immediately with elves of other fantasy worlds, so if you generally like their elegance and wisdom you easily like them.

It is interesting then how the perception changes when one learns about their arrogance and boasted superiority, that origins from their belief of having had their godhood unjustly stolen by Lorkhan. They cannot just understand then how Men can live on Nirn with little if any concern about regaining divine powers. This reminds me of the ideas of medieval mystics and their battle against material reality.

[Raynil dralas]

My best character in morrowind was an Altmer battlemage called "Umbracano" (sue me :p) Altmer were awesome in the old games because they had Looooads of Magicka but a weakness to it making them a cool glass cannon race.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

What I want to know is why everyone hates the Bosmer.

They're described as exceedingly annoying, lazy, unattractive elves. "I'd rather sleep with my horse."

Wasn't the Annoying Fan a bosmer? Maybe that has more to do with it than anything else.

And Fargoth. And Gaenor. Some of the most annoying NPCs ever, really.

And some of the most evil people in TES Lore are Altmer, although some of the nicest also are, so they're a mixed bag. I find High Elves played out in fiction overall.

[Starfang]

I definitely don't love the Altmer. I've never cared for their stuck-up "self important" attitudes that many of them carry. In fact the only Altmer that I have ever "loved" was my Champion of Cyrodiil from Oblivion, he was perfect

[Damon]

I am in the "Don't like the Altmer" boat, as well, though more from a gameplay perspective than from the "arrogant master race" perspective. The large magicka reserves don't always make up for the fact that you're badly weakened against magical attacks. It makes playing a mage with them less enticing when I can use a Breton that's naturally geared towards restorative and more defensive magic, can have a decent magicka reserve with the right birth sign, and lacks the huge weaknesses to magic.

[noobishlord]

I am in the "Don't like the Altmer" boat, as well, though more from a gameplay perspective than from the "arrogant master race" perspective. The large magicka reserves don't always make up for the fact that you're badly weakened against magical attacks. It makes playing a mage with them less enticing when I can use a Breton that's naturally geared towards restorative and more defensive magic, can have a decent magicka reserve with the right birth sign, and lacks the huge weaknesses to magic.

Sot some though, that natural disability is what makes them more interesting to play. They are strong in their own right, yes, but greatly weak against one of the more common things that get flung around. It adds a sense of danger and suspense. All it might take is one magic spell thrown at you from behind without you noticing and BOOM! Down you go.

I can emphasize with that sometimes, though I do rather prefer the Skyrim version, where I'm not weak to it, but can chuck magic out with great impunity and not have to rely on "100% reduction" enchantment.

[MJJ]

I think the Altmer make great antagonists and I hope in the next stand alone game we get to participate in the struggle between the Thalmor and the Empire. However, I've never felt the urge to play one. Especially after the events of Skyrim, I'd rather be defeating the Altmer in righteous battle rather than playing one myself.

That's just my opinion...

[Jelena]

I would play with an Altmer if I was to be an assassin and a thief. Because they seem to me only fitting for those two things. But they're too much of a disgrace to be a Dragonborn or something like that. I hate Altmer.

[Cununculus]

And here is my poor Orc, wandering till Orsinium rises again.

[Dark Spark]

Orcs are at least upfront and honest about their antagonism. Altmer use their lofty sense of worth to mask their disdain for other races.

[SwagMaster]

I'm guessing elves and magic, typical [&@%!] fantasy.

They have neither the culture nor the biology - less fertile and long lifespans that breed the rigidness that comes with age - that would encourage development yet somehow are the 'magical' and 'wise' race. Somehow their magic is what the Mages Guild - oh great, founded by an Altmer - stuck with. Nedic magic? Shadow magic? Ash'abah magic? Reach magic? Ancient Nord magic? Yokudan magic? Telling me those meddling Bretons and arrogant Nibenese did not develop any magic of their own? What of the Khajiit and Argonian magic?

Meh. Make them footnotes (if that) and push the idea only the Altmer (and by extension all elves) have magical prowess - because reasons - worth noting. Throw in a race of humans whose elven ancestry adds no depth to the lore and are otherwise human in every other respect for good measure. Keep magic elven because D&D. Appeal to the vanilla fantasy crowd and keep them unimaginative even though having Altmer withering into irrelevancy would make for a better ethos than the contrived "I'm High Elf therefore I'm better than you".

And what is Other about them? What are their maxims and edicts that make them so strange? What cultural practices? And there is nothing unique about the Thalmor's disdain of mortality. If anything, it reeks of cartoon villainy and is antinatalism giving theology.

You want Other, try the Qunari. Troll logic, cultural norms humans cannot adhere to, and advanced technology in a universe that takes the practicality of magic to its logical conclusion. Even better on DA's end, those snooty elves were ROLFstomped by the 'short-lived' humans.

F**k, even the Nietzcheans are better written than the Altmer, and Andromeda f**king sucks.

[Starfang]

The only Altmer whose attitude I could actually stand is the farm woman in Rorikstead, she had good reason to be haughty because of her hard work. Oh and Ondolemar...dat voice tho

[House of the Wolf]

Runil's actually really cool, too. His dialogue helps establish that the AD's army was (in part, at least) filled with relatively grounded individuals.

Regarding the main topic, though, I think it's just playing into a very common trope: those who dabble too deeply into magic, and let their mastery of it consume them, eventually turn into major megalomaniacs hell-bent on even greater power, no matter how much they kill/destroy to obtain it. In TES, because the Altmer are far more likely (age, natural inclinations, etc) to delve deep into magical learning, it makes more sense (story-wise) for them to carry the lion's-share of crazy megalomaniacs. The fact that they're also the antithesis to humanity also doesn't help their case.

[IcarusBen]

I played an Altmer last time I ran through Skyrim. He had no problem with Talos, he was a generally nice individual, heavily anti-Thalmor, took an Imperial wife and a Nord child...

oh, did I mention he was Listener for the Dark Brotherhood and single-handedly murdered the Emperor of Tamriel?