How are Elves "good"?

Quote from 6thLyranGuard >>

Quote from heydanseegil>>

 I actually asked this because I am re-watching rings of power and I forgot how dumb the elves are. Our world will end unless we have the pretty stone from the Dwarves. And then they act like the Dwarves are the greedy ones. Psh.

There's the problem.  First: D&D is heavily influenced by Tolkien but it isn't Tolkien.  Second: Rings of Power just wasn't very well-written.

 About "Rings of Power", that series was derived from Tolkien's notes and private letters but it was written without Tolkien's thought process. Were you aware that Tolkien went through 13 or 14 rough drafts before he crafted the version of "Fellowship of the Ring" with which he felt comfortable? He went through a similar numbers of rough drafts for "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King". All of these rough drafts are preserved in a reserved room at Oxford University. "Rings of Power" probably did not go through such a lengthy thought and review process, which is probably why it feels that something is lacking.

That having been said, it will be interesting to see how well Stephen Colbert's additional chapter to "Fellowship of the Ring" fits into the overall story arc. Colbert is a Tolkien scholar and an excellent writer but has he acquired the Tolkien "magic touch"? We will have to wait and see.

Quote from GnollitAll78450 >>

 

Imma be honest, their term for other elves "Tel'Quessir" meaning "the people" and their terms for non-elves being "N'Tel'Quessir" or "Not the people" comes off a little too close to coming as Elves=people and Non-Elves=Not people for my licking sometimes. Sounds very ick.

I mean, you're kinda reaching for that interpretation, imo. Or at least reaching to pigeonhole it with that single particular subtext. It's a basic "us" and "them", which is pretty much how any early culture will define itself in relation to other groups. On its own, they're not anymore loaded than "human" and "nonhuman". Obviously they can become used as superlative and pejorative in a particular setting/narrative, but I would say the literal translations is just linguistics.

I'm no Tolkien expert but, when looking at the Player's Handbook regarding Character Creation, there are chapters that allow me to choose my Alignment (of which 'Good' is an option) and Species (of which Elf is an option).