Im a little confused why Lord of the Rings should be even relevant here ... Its completely different setting, in completely different universe, from completely different autor, and with completely different rules. O_o
I mean, dont get me wrong, i know that LotR was kinda iconic Movie for our generation ... But in game industry, i would dare to say Major fantasy settings are Warcraft or the Elder Scrolls ... Warcraft is probably kinda too cartonish to be concidered, yet since nobody claimed that "proper elf should have half meter long ears" ... people seem to understand that different settings means different visuals. In Elder Scrolls tho, especialy Skyrim ... elves actualy do have triangle shaped faces, and i never heard about anyone who would have problem with that. O_o
My point, RagnarokCzD, was that people are used to seeing elves as pointy-eared humans because of the LOTR movies and other media renditions of elves where they are humans with pointy ears. That's all. Most of what they have seen of elves is that image.
The other point I was making by calling out LOTR is that Tolkien's original concept for elves was nothing like humans with pointed ears. His original descriptions were quite different. They were more fairy-like. So the movie and other media's renditions of elves is not even true to Tolkien, who was somewhat of the original basis for elves in D&D.
Anyway, humans with pointy ears is what a lot of people think of, now, when it comes to elves, and that was my point. They don't standardly think of elves as described in D&D, and even a lot of D&D art doesn't depict elves as something different from humans with pointy ears. So, I imagine it didn't even cross Larian's minds. Even if it did, they were probably thinking that anything but human with pointy ears for elves would seem weird to the general audience.