Results 1 to 30 of 80
-
2008-04-18, 11:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
- Location
- Oh gods i wish i knew
- Gender
Something that has always confused me about elves
now here is something that has always bothered me. Elves live to be around 700 right? Thus three generations of elves would be around 2,100 years on average right? According to most D&D creation myths, elves came before humans
So why are they generally on the same middle age tech level? Look at humans and how much they advance in two thousand years (the entire C.E. period)
Now i have a few ideas
1) As they generations are very long lived, they are like normal generations in that they dislike accepting change.
2) Conservative and isolationist
3) Spend all of their time perfecting one particular thing or perfecting a single art
4) Humans are just fast movers
your ideas?
from
EE
-
2008-04-18, 11:03 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2007
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
Alot of people claim your number 4, that humans are fast and have the best diplomatic-ey stuff.
-
2008-04-18, 11:04 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
This is the issue with pretty much any fantasy story:
"TEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO VILE DEMONS WERE SEALED AWAY ECT ECT..."
If demons had been sealed away on earth 10,000 years ago, they'd be suprised as hell to awaken now.
Even saying magic makes people not learn tech isn't enough. Eventually you'd either learn a way to have everything we have via magic, or people really would just invent a microchip.
-
2008-04-18, 11:08 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2008
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
My DM once joked about it, saying "This elven public official is doing his job for three hundred years, and is veteran....well, good luck with convincing this guy."
-
2008-04-18, 11:10 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
- Location
- Australia
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
According to RotW, elves tend to live in the past more than it is healthy for a race. They are just... slow to take up new things and all that jazz, I think.
Keith Baker, on the age of Erandis d'Vol:
Spoiler
... The miniature of her certainly makes her look older, but personally I like young Erandis both on the basis that the purge of the line started before she could grow into her full powers, and also because it lets her and Jaela have a vicious catfight sometime.
Maybe I'm playing a wrong game.
-
2008-04-18, 11:12 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Location
- West Coast
- Gender
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
A level of magic that precludes inventing technology to overcome inconveniences.
Not only are generations long lived, but childhood is extended. Maturity in most cases takes 100 or more years. That's a lot of time to get indoctrinated into your societal roll.
DnD and Tolkien elves are depicted as being very environmental, thus there development of technology is hampered by greater awareness and an unwillingness to harm nature.
Imagine the bureaucracies that have developed. Trying to get everyone on board with an idea would take several human generation just to get past committee.
-
2008-04-18, 11:12 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
- Location
- Oh gods i wish i knew
- Gender
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
But if one group of elves became became industrialist for example, how much could they do in a few generations?
from
EE
-
2008-04-18, 11:13 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2006
- Location
- Gold Coast, Australia
- Gender
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
-
2008-04-18, 11:15 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2004
- Location
- Hawaii
- Gender
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
You know, if there was a race that hit adulthood at 3, then became old and died somewhere around 20, I think most people would find it odd that they mature as quickly as they did and wonder how they managed to cram a growing up worth's of knowledge in 3 years.
Of your four options, now, I'd say 2 and 4. Humans just mature and grow ridiculously quickly - I'd assume that most modern-day elven sequences exist due to the necessity of having to keep up with the arms race, and otherwise they'd have continued at their normal pace.Beginnings usually happen over trifles... even if it's a coincidence...
~ Final Fantasy Tactics
-
2008-04-18, 11:16 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Location
- West Coast
- Gender
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
Again, dnd elves, even those that are not druids and rangers, tend to be more harmonized with nature. The sedate life style and the magical conveniences make for a less industrialized society.
When everyone can easily support yourselves, markets for needs become less industrialized. Quality reigns as you would need to buy several cheaper products over your lifetime.
-
2008-04-18, 11:17 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
- Location
- Oh gods i wish i knew
- Gender
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
forgot about the maturity thing
from
EE
-
2008-04-18, 11:18 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Location
- West Coast
- Gender
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
Buying a single, well made item becomes more economical.
-
2008-04-18, 11:19 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
- Location
- Australia
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
Sure they live long, but humans breed fast! Given 400 years (3 generations of elves), humans would've gone through something like 20 generations, with their number multiplying exponentially.
Therefore, I don't think they'd achieve any more than a given human family could achieve with the same amount of time.
p.s. Oh sweet lord, while I was typing this it occured to me that to elves humans might look like bacterial growth...Last edited by Bag_of_Holding; 2008-04-18 at 11:20 PM.
Keith Baker, on the age of Erandis d'Vol:
Spoiler
... The miniature of her certainly makes her look older, but personally I like young Erandis both on the basis that the purge of the line started before she could grow into her full powers, and also because it lets her and Jaela have a vicious catfight sometime.
Maybe I'm playing a wrong game.
-
2008-04-18, 11:20 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Location
- West Coast
- Gender
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
More like a cancer
-
2008-04-18, 11:20 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
- Location
- Oh gods i wish i knew
- Gender
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
I can imagine a society of humans ruled by a single elven king for a few hundred years. Enlightened monarch
from
EE
-
2008-04-18, 11:20 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
- Location
- Australia
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
Last edited by Bag_of_Holding; 2008-04-18 at 11:21 PM.
Keith Baker, on the age of Erandis d'Vol:
Spoiler
... The miniature of her certainly makes her look older, but personally I like young Erandis both on the basis that the purge of the line started before she could grow into her full powers, and also because it lets her and Jaela have a vicious catfight sometime.
Maybe I'm playing a wrong game.
-
2008-04-18, 11:20 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2008
- Gender
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
i always thought elves were just stupid when it came to technology.
-
2008-04-18, 11:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
- Location
- Oh gods i wish i knew
- Gender
-
2008-04-18, 11:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2006
- Location
- In search of cheese
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
Humans tend to be around in these settings for several thousand years, and still end up being in the same middle age tech level as well, despite the presence of magic.
Methinks it has something to do with the lack of rules for science and research. =P
Or possibly, it just takes forever to innovate, and when humans arrive they steal everyone else's technology, instantly leaping to the fore of technological superiority. The exception being those ancient obscure races, for whose technology nobody writes instruction manuals for, and the knowledge of which somehow happens to be lost even though elves were around during its creation.
...Maybe this suggests a tendency of elves to lose instruction manuals, thus never climbing very far up the technological level. There's apparently only so much you can teach someone in 700 years if you don't have reference books.Belkar's Bad to the Bone.
Dispossible a fetter hein and bemay kine a sinder's tock.
-
2008-04-18, 11:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
Sort of off topic but...
Why does EVERY race seem to live at least twice as long as humans? Dwarves? Gnomes? Halflings? Whats the deal?
-
2008-04-18, 11:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
- Location
- Australia
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
Last edited by Bag_of_Holding; 2008-04-18 at 11:22 PM.
Keith Baker, on the age of Erandis d'Vol:
Spoiler
... The miniature of her certainly makes her look older, but personally I like young Erandis both on the basis that the purge of the line started before she could grow into her full powers, and also because it lets her and Jaela have a vicious catfight sometime.
Maybe I'm playing a wrong game.
-
2008-04-18, 11:22 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Location
- West Coast
- Gender
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
Orcs are shorter lived then humans
-
2008-04-18, 11:23 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
- Location
- Oh gods i wish i knew
- Gender
-
2008-04-18, 11:24 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2005
- Gender
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
When you can age your own wine a few decades for maximum flavor without wasting your life, you'll find yourself less occupied with trivial nonsense like industry.
See, the elves live long lives, and therefore have no fear of losing time.
Because of that, they put everytihng off.
It's a culutrual lethargy.
-
2008-04-18, 11:26 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
- Location
- Australia
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
Last edited by Bag_of_Holding; 2008-04-18 at 11:27 PM.
Keith Baker, on the age of Erandis d'Vol:
Spoiler
... The miniature of her certainly makes her look older, but personally I like young Erandis both on the basis that the purge of the line started before she could grow into her full powers, and also because it lets her and Jaela have a vicious catfight sometime.
Maybe I'm playing a wrong game.
-
2008-04-18, 11:26 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2006
- Location
- In search of cheese
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
Actually, the evil races (provided they aren't aberrations or off-shoots of the other races) always seem to be shorter-lived. Maybe it's so we have a reason for why they aren't using epic magicks to melt our faces off.
On the other hand, it could also imply that humans are a semi-evil race.Belkar's Bad to the Bone.
Dispossible a fetter hein and bemay kine a sinder's tock.
-
2008-04-18, 11:29 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
- Location
- Oh gods i wish i knew
- Gender
-
2008-04-18, 11:32 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2007
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
I have pondered this for a while, and I finally came up with an explanation I'm satisfied with: Elves are lazy.
Elves have all the time in the world, so there's no need for urgency most of the time. This means they procrastinate like heck. If a human wizard spends, I dunno, six hours studying per day, an elf spends 1. The other 19 hours he's awake, he's viewing the beautiful gardens of his elven city, watching elven opera, and taking part in a number of other enjoyable past-times. This means that beyond the arts, elves tend to accomplish very little when it comes to advancing their society, hence the reason elven wizards are as knowledgeable as human ones, and why they still use bows instead of having developed rifles by now.
-
2008-04-18, 11:36 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2005
- Gender
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
-
2008-04-18, 11:36 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2007
Re: Something that has always confused me about elves
The same reason it takes an elf 120-170 years to learn magic, and 17-27 for humans. Elves are stupid.