Which Kind of Elf is the Best?

[cyberius]

i like dark elves. much more then the others.

[AKB]

I prefer the Pariah folk, which sadly weren't included. Poor Orcs, no one ever notices that they're elves.

[Assassin540]

I prefer the Pariah folk, which sadly weren't included. Poor Orcs, no one ever notices that they're elves.

Thought they where considered beast folk?

[AKB]

They're elves. The elven races consist of:
Aldmer (a.k.a. Elder Folk)
Altmer (a.k.a. High Elves)
Ayleid (a.k.a. Wild Elves, Heartland High Elves)
Bosmer (a.k.a. Wood Elves)
Chimer (a.k.a. Changed Folk)
Dunmer (a.k.a. Dark Elves)
Dwemer (a.k.a. Dwarves, or Deep Folk)
Falmer (a.k.a. Snow Elves)
Maormer (a.k.a. Sea Elves or Tropical Elves)
Orc (a.k.a. Orsimer, or Pariah Folk)

[legoless]

I dislike them all. Altmer are inbred elitists, Bosmer are annoying, cannibalistic tree-huggers and Dunmer are xenophobic religious nuts. Give me an Imperial any day.

[Wolfie]

Orcs are elfs noticed the ears?

[OblivionDuruza]

The Dunmer are the most balanced of the three, from a gameplay point of view. I can't argue any other points because I'm clearly way too biased. Dunmer are the greatest race in existence. But their fellow Elves still outclass most other races.

[AKB]

Come on Duru, you're practically asking for this thread to turn into a flame war with that.
To clarify what I said earlier, I like the Orsimer. A lot of them are mean, but at least they're upfront about their feelings towards you. If you actually manage to befriend them, you couldn't ask for a better ally. I'd rather have one Orc at my side than one-hundred of any other elven race. I am also fascinated by Orcish history, which sadly isn't very well documented.

[OblivionDuruza]

Well there is truth to the claim they are the most balanced of the three gameplay wise. Altmer make better mages for sure, and Bosmer better Thieves, but if you take into consideration starting Stats and Skills, the Dunmer can go in any direction, giving the player a range of choices.

As for anything else I said, like I said, I'm too biased to make many other valid arguments here without upsetting people, so I'll avoid them. If people can't respect a personal opinion, then I might as well walk away now.

[Hyder]

Dwemer are by far my favourite Elves. Yeah, you have little, if no, interaction with them, and they aren't available as player characters. For me - as with most things - it's the lore behind them. The mystery of their disappearance is enough to tilt them into my favour, simply because they make me think about the circumstances and whatnot.

If I had to pick between those in the polls... Dunmer and Altmer would tie. I have preferences with both gameplay and backstory for each race, but in the end I would happily play as either. Bosmer however...

[unokitsune]

I prefer Ayleids and Altmer. Ayleids were so intune with magic that their wells and halls as well as their dark welkynd stone and other traps survived for eras while non elven buildings died and decayed faster. Also because the Ayleids provided the Welkynd stones and Varla stones which orginally rained down from the sky. Altmer because of their affinity with magic.

[MARS]

Elves are superior. Dunmer are the superior elves.

[Frost Mage]

Come on Duru, you're practically asking for this thread to turn into a flame war with that.
To clarify what I said earlier, I like the Orsimer. A lot of them are mean, but at least they're upfront about their feelings towards you. If you actually manage to befriend them, you couldn't ask for a better ally. I'd rather have one Orc at my side than one-hundred of any other elven race. I am also fascinated by Orcish history, which sadly isn't very well documented.

Yeah they're rude. They've been racially pushed around for years, even in Morrowind. I have to agree with Duruza, Dunmer or die.

[Dark Spark]

...
To clarify what I said earlier, I like the Orsimer. A lot of them are mean, but at least they're upfront about their feelings towards you. If you actually manage to befriend them, you couldn't ask for a better ally. ...

Yeah they're rude. They've been racially pushed around for years, even in Morrowind. ...

Repost:
...Brutish, yes, but there's a certain sense of honesty behind that.

If an Orc doesn't like you, you'd know it from the start. An Altmer or an Imperial will instead pretend to be the better person by slipping the knife in under a velvet cloak. I don't like being deceived— it means that people are stealing my act.

[merlinthewizard]

Dunmer also make the coolest looking vampires
My first character in Oblivion was a Bosmer, better balance for a dagger weilding, stealthy mage

[Avron the S'wit]

I think the only reason the Dunmer have such a following is because we had a chance to really get in tune with their culture and history in Morrowind. I do admit that they have a great, great story behind them as a race and that I really felt curiosity, wonder, and awe when playing through TES III...but I think the others just don't get the credit they deserve.

I'm a big fan of the Bosmer. They're always slugged as the "annoying" ones and, personally, I like to play into that if I play or write one myself, but I think they have a neat history, too. Their religion? Pretty darn cool. Their ideas on life? Pretty neat as well. (From the Wiki: The Bosmer greatly value diversity; even their names are so diverse that it's usually unnecessary to proffer family names. Their respect for life's many facets is inherent in many of their old sayings, like "One mans miracle is another mans accident".) The Wild Hunt? Pretty damn spiffy! And their neighbors in Valenwood? Come on - need I say more?

Even the Altmer, from what little I know, are interesting. I hope in the future that Bethesda finds a way to make us feel for each race and their story as its destined in the Elder Scrolls the way they did with the Dunmer in Morrowind. Until then, I'm stickin' out for the underdogs!

[OblivionDuruza]

Hehe, all you say is true Avron, although for me I've liked the Dunmer since before playing Morrowind. Still, the fact that they have such a fleshed out culture and society, is the major factor in the allure of them as a race. This didn't work so well for the Imperials, because they were portrayed in a somewhat 'bland' mundane manner, but basically every race has huge potential to have an immersive and enthralling culture constructed around it, particularly the Elves.

[Frost Mage]

I thought I'd find you here Duruza . I've always loved Dunmer. I've always wanted to know more about Altmer and Bosmer some day. I should probably just read more books in Oblivion and now Skyrim.

[Ezkaton]

The Dunmer are the most balanced of the three, from a gameplay point of view. I can't argue any other points because I'm clearly way too biased. Dunmer are the greatest race in existence. But their fellow Elves still outclass most other races.

I will second that.

[Talamare]

Manmer are the best Elves

[Anonymouse]

I prefer the Pariah folk, which sadly weren't included. Poor Orcs, no one ever notices that they're elves.

Seriously, Orc's had to earn their respect the hard way: As muscle for the Imperial Army. Plus the Orc honor system is so cool. Plus they worship a daedric prince! All hail Malacath!
If I wasn't such a spell addict my vote would be for orcs, provided they became an option. But until then, I'm all for the Altmer.

[Samaelthedestroyer]

Orcs are my favorite elves, they're to the point and direct when they speak. They have a great history that hasn't been touched very much, personally I would like to see what their homeland, orsinium, looks like.

[AKB]

I prefer the Pariah folk, which sadly weren't included. Poor Orcs, no one ever notices that they're elves.

Seriously, Orc's had to earn their respect the hard way: As muscle for the Imperial Army. Plus the Orc honor system is so cool. Plus they worship a daedric prince! All hail Malacath!
If I wasn't such a spell addict my vote would be for orcs, provided they became an option. But until then, I'm all for the Altmer.

Well Orcs do have "some" traits that are good for magisters. It's just that they're much better at ignoring those traits than the other elves. Though, I have to say, I find it extremely hard to support the Altmer after recent lore. Like, impossible to support. Like, they're just frakking evil at this point.

Hehe, all you say is true Avron, although for me I've liked the Dunmer since before playing Morrowind. Still, the fact that they have such a fleshed out culture and society, is the major factor in the allure of them as a race. This didn't work so well for the Imperials, because they were portrayed in a somewhat 'bland' mundane manner, but basically every race has huge potential to have an immersive and enthralling culture constructed around it, particularly the Elves.

Well, according to the most recent game, that's no longer true. The new all-arounders are the Nords or the Khajiit. I'm willing to accept that the Nords probably just have new traits in Skyrim as it's their home region, but the same can't be said for the Skooma Cats. Your guys are getting beaten by the beast folk, Duru.

[OblivionDuruza]

Hmm, yeah, Skyrim's racial skill bonuses are messed up, but 4 games worth of Lore is not meaningless simply because of one new one.

[AKB]

Except when that game takes place far enough into the future to quite possibly be the dev teams attempt to point out that the racial bonuses for the races have changed with the times. This might change back in Elder Scroll 6: Electric Boogaloo, but for now, you guys are a sneak/mage hybrid.