Board Thread:Online Discussion/@comment-180.95.18.10-20130528000937/@comment-7153552-20130529222218

You have to take into account, 70.95.190.91, that the Dunmer are grotesque compared to their Chimer past. They are Mer from a harsh land and a harsher past, this should make them rough looking folks. As for the Altmer, 180.95.18.10, it's more a progression of technologies and story-telling that makes them change so much. Keep in mind, however, that in this case it isn't Bethesda doing it. The only thing Bethesda is contributing to this game is their Loremaster, everything else is Zenimax Online.

With that being said, the "Tolkein" elves, or the classic D&D elves are represented by combining all the Mer of TES. TES took elves a step further and said that they won't all be the same just because they're all evles. They'd be similar, sure, but as differed as the Humans of Earth, or even of the Men of Nirn. So accept the Altmer as the look and feel of the regular fantasy Elves, while the rest of the Mer represent other parts of the same body - even the ones dead and long gone.