Yeah I definitely agree - I grew up with Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" book, and although the movies weren't my first introduction to fantasy, for a lot of people they were - and that's generally the most popular image of elf-kind that has stuck with people in general. Not to mention Tolkien himself changed the broader perception of elves from "small pixie-like fairy trickster creatures" as in English folklore, to "beautiful, elegant humanoid beings with pointy ears" in the first place.
I see where the die-hard DnD players with particular mental images are coming from, but it's most likely that most players of BG3 come from a generic fantasy/RPG background rather than a DnD-specific background? (I could be wrong!) So it makes sense to appeal to the broader audience that will go "oh, pretty person with pointy ears - ok that's an elf" as opposed to "WTF is that weird fairy/pixie thing?"
That said, there is still room to refine the elven features for player characters. Just add some new face options that are more slender and elegant.
Just leave the elf NPCs alone! they're already awesome.
(Sorry if half of what i said has already been discussed, I'm coming in very late into this thread and haven't read the whole thing.)
they're already awesome.
