Dunmer are my favorite race to play as. I don't consider myself a typical fan of elves in general, but there is something about how Elder Scrolls treats elves that makes them much more relatable and appealing to me; possibly because elves are pretty much just people and not mythical, long lived inscrutable beings. That said, I am not certain how I feel about the looks of elves in Skyrim. The change was enough to make me steer clear of Dunmer initially, but I've since warmed up to the latest rendition and have even begun to appreciate the alien look.

I mean, I consider it a solid improvement over the "full faced human with a blue skin" that we had with Oblivion. I do know that I appreciated an appearance that wasn't so wrinkled. Truly, I think if we could have the facial design of Morrowind, which struck me as being angular, but also human, then it would possibly be the perfect balance between Oblivion and Skyrim. Pointy ears obviously stick around!

I've included Altmer in this topic for those who want to talk about them, since by and large, the changes made to dunmer applied to altmer. Bosmer are probably fair game too.

Have they ever talked about what their inspiration for mer design is? Was there a specific reason we saw such a radical departure from the design of mer from the first 2 games? Here's hoping they go back to the drawing board and keep the good things from each iteration.

There is definitely a touch of Romulan in their Mer, which i think is rather appropriate considering some of the major Science-Fiction inspirations that have left their mark on TES. That said, if you look at Morrowind and Redguard, and a good deal of Kirkbrides concepts from that era, they are far more Skyrim like than they are Oblivion. Almost all of them feature a more pronounced brow with a higher arch and a more... stern visage than the putty-faced mess we saw in Oblivion. The major differences between Morrowind and Skyrim, i think, stem from the resolution and model limitations of 2002 than any dramatic change in the design.

This was, of course, a departure from Arena and Daggerfall, but the races were not very well defined, aesthetically, back then.

I think the main failing with Skyrim is the fact that everyone looks old, exhausted and filthy. Even the rather well off nobles look like they have to roll around in filth before stepping outside.

There is an artist on Deviant Art who has, in my mind, realised the aesthetic potential of the 'modern' Mer design and is a good representation of what can be done with it.

http://kokomiko.deviantart.com/gallery/41513828/The-Elder-Scrolls