You mean as opposed to the humans' arrogance that's couched behind insincere modesty? I really don't get this, yes the Altmer come off as arrogant, but on closer inspection they have reasons to believe they are 'better', they have the longest natural lifespans, are masters of magic, and were the first civilized race and culture in Tamriel. Now compare that to humans, who's empire is basically a copy/paste of Altmer culture, used WMD to force provinces they couldn't otherwise conquer militarily into submission, have the gal to insist everyone (even the non-humans) should recognise and venerate the god of humans (Talos), believe they're the only force for civilization in Tamriel, get pissy when when elves think they're barbaric savages then turn around and in the height of hypocracy treat the beast races in the exact same manner. Hell the Nords' entire claim to being the best is largely based off the fact that Talos was one of them, despite the fact that in theory any member of any race could be Dragonborn.
TL;DR Humans=Manifest Destiny, which is pretty much the epitome of arrogance.
You see, thats it right there. THIS is why I hate Altmer and other races that use Magic.
Magic, whilst handy in many situations, is just another skill. Sure you can heal yourselves, sure you can throw fire balls and sure you can conjure slaves and weapons at anytime. BUT it is NOT the ultimate solution to every problem. And this is not just applied to Skyrim.
Okay, I admit, I am biased towards Nords, I love my Nordic brothers and sisters, we're warriors, we don't need Magic, we have our mettle, strength, the steel in our hands and the mead in our bellies. It's our way. We fight, we never retreat (Well I don't anyway), we wear armour and we're rugged, tough and boisterous.
I have NEVER, in any game (SP or MMO) been beaten by someone (NPC or PC in PvP) who wields magic, and I have never played someone who wields magic. Why not? Because I like to roleplay and I put a lot of myself in my characters. I don't use Magic in real life, If I did live in a world like Skyrim, I would use a sword, a shield, some armour, a few potions, a Bow and some arrows, and my courage and resolve to fight my fights. Yet I am willing to bet, some magic using Elf would think himself better than me because he can throw an Ice spike, and look down his pointy little beak at me. How do you expect people to react? Yes sir, no sir, three bags full of Frost salts sir? Someone who is proficient with weapons, physically powerful, proud of his heritage and of his adventures? If a mage approaches him and says 'Greetings warrior, how fare you. How about we share good storied and ale?'. You'll get a positive response. You approach a warrior, or assassin with 'You blade swingers are no match for a magic user, you're all inferior' (typical Altmer attitude), then your going to swiftly land on your back courtesy of a right hook, yeah you can heal and counter it with a fireball, but all you'll do is piss him off further and you'll end up dead. It's a known fact that most Magic users are so self assured of their own abilities that they sometimes forget that all it takes is one length of cold, sharp steel to end their life.
If mages are so 'superior' Why is it that in WoW the trade channel is full of mages spamming 'LF Tank for Onyxia raid'? If Skyrim ever became (and god forbid that it ever does) an MP game. then I guarantee us blade swingers will be sought after.