Because they are not Tolkien/WoW/DnD elves. They are TES elves.

They have been that way since Morrowind and probably before that too. Oblivion was the oddball with the potato heads.

And I don't think they are hideous. I think they are very well designed as I'm tired of elves simply looking like humans with blue or green skin with long ears.

The elves look absolutely amazing in Skyrim. I couldn't be happier with their appearence.

Hideous? They are the best looking Altmer I've seen in the series so far.

Maybe the OP is saying that it's difficult to make them look physically appealing in terms of how one might think an attractive human would look---if that makes sense. For example, there are just some facial features that you can't do anything with in order to make them look more human... something more along the lines of a human-mer hybrid. At least I think that's what the OP may be getting at.

They're not hideous though unless you want to make them look that way. I once made a DiD female Orc that was big, butchy, and as ugly as I could possibly make her. OTOH, I also made an Orc female that looked close to human.

But I would like to see hybridized races. That'd be cool... within reason. I don't think there's room for a Khajit-Argonian hyrbid.

Some high elves look attractive some dummer also look attractive...

What? You realise the elves cant look the same in every fantasy world?
also i love how the characters look in skyrim

Elves are a freaking huge improvement over Oblivion's nancy boys, I'm thankful for how much Bethesda got right in the art direction this time around.

High elves probably talk about how short, dumb and ugly humans are, with their tiny bead-like eyes and tiny stupid heads.

http://images.uesp.net/0/0c/AR-Race-High_Elf_Male.jpg
http://images.uesp.net/e/ee/AR-Race-Dark_Elf_Male.jpg

http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/www.ign.com/9109/2011/09/highelf_daggerfall.jpg
http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/www.ign.com/9109/2011/08/darkelf_Daggerfall.jpg

http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/www.ign.com/9109/2011/09/highelf_morrowind2.jpg
http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/www.ign.com/9109/2011/08/darkelf_Morrowind2.jpg

http://www.supercheats.com/guides/files/guid/the-elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion/ob-122.jpg
http://cloud.videogamewriters.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/23853-1-1239938773.jpg

http://c3333424.r24.cf0.rackcdn.com/d0c3a5750e1ebc1e8bdd8ed3560e23e782461dae.jpg__620x415_q85.jpg
http://pcmedia.gamespy.com/pc/image/article/118/1187131/skyrim_darkelf%281%29_1312990898.jpg

Just for comparison.

Im gonna have to agree with OP's view on this.
TES version of elves are not the sort similiar type of beautiful looking elves that we are used to seeing in LOTR, WoW bloodelves
They're not hideous, but they just don't look as pleasing to the eye to me compared to the humans.

That said, i love how Dunmers look, somewhat evil looking, rough, rugged with that perpetual snarl and ready to poke you in the eye.
The perfect template i was looking for when creating my assassin character Illucia.

Thank goodness we got mods to fashion how we wanna view em in the game.

Edit: Just saw Gheart's screenshots comparison. Good lord Oblivion's character art was FUGLY!!!
Just 5 years of difference between Oblivion and Skyrim can show us the massive difference.
I look forward to see how characters will look like in another 5 years from now in TES6. (hopefully they're still making it)

I find the elves in Skryim to be incredibly ugly. The Dunmer used to be my favorite race to play in ES, until I saw them in Skyrim. I cannot bring myself to play one now, since they look more like goblins than elves. They did not just get hit by an ugly stick, the whole darn ugly forest fell on them.

The secret to making an attractive face is keeping the features proportional. http://j-u-i-c-e.hubpages.com/hub/better-looking-characters. You can have a face that looks inhuman, but is still attractive, as long as you remember that. But the elves in Skyrim have their proportions thrown out the window. There is no balance between their features. Gigantic chins, neanderthal brow ridges, mushroom-shaped skulls, etc... Everything is over-exaggerated in the attempt to make them look alien. But the end result is that they are inhuman and ugly.

I'd say my Bosmer is pretty hot, no?

]http://i.imgur.com/rAHdW.jpg

I think the elves look amazing. I too am glad that they are not just pointy-eared humans. I like their alien look. And by the way it IS possible to make attractive elves with the vanilla CC, it just takes some practice.

Mer is the best looking being in Tamriel.

ALL HAIL THE GREAT JIUB, SLAYER OF CLIFF RACERS, LIBERATOR OF MORROWIND

Indeed she is. Any cosmetic mods in use?

The rather less aesthetically pleasing look of the Elves in TES adds some character to the TES universe as a whole, which I believe is a better artistic expression than mirroring the concept of elves that has been repeated since Tolkein.

I love the fact that they decided to make elves unique and exotic looking instead of just humans with knife ears. Being an avid reader of Elder Scrolls lore, I think the physical differences help show the rift between men and mer. That being said, I'm not a fan of how unsightly some of the elves are, ESPECIALLY the males. The females, particularly altmer, can in my opinion look both strange and appealing. Their cool skin hues, tattoos, height, and facial features give them an otherwordly presence. I think this is what Bethesda was going for here. Many of the female npcs look pretty bad, but at least it's possible to make a bearable-looking female. The men........well let's just say I dont know what they were trying to accomplish. They look different, that's for sure, but not really in a good way like some of the females. It's extremely hard, for me, to make an appealing male elf. I wanted my main, Talindil, to look just like the altmer from the loading screen, but quickly found that impossible. Like I said, I applaud Bethesda for making elves look alien and exotic, but the way in which this design choice was implimented leaves a lot to be desired.

I don't agree. The elves in general aren't hideous at all. They just look different from men, as they should - however, that doesn't
mean that there aren't any ugly elves in the game, but that is due to their individual physical characteristics, just like there is plenty
of ugly Nords in the game.

I personally love the new designs for the Mer-races, and I appreciate Bethesda going out of their way to make the races seem much
more visually different from eachother. The only race I'm not satisfied with are the Bretons - I would love if their mixed human-elven
ancestry was also a visible characteristic; Pointy ears but with predominate human facial traits.

http://i.imgur.com/OJjEG.jpg

But yes, I view how the mer look in this game to be FAN [censored] TASTIC! I love it! No longer are they just pretty humans with pointy ears, but something more alien. Hell, they pretty much look like updated Morrowind mer, which is GREAT!

Very well done!

I'm gonna go with the motion that I think the elves look great.

Actually, I love how every race looks in Skyrim.

aren't LOTR elves just pointy eared humans?

the elves in this game look great. I can actually take one serious when they talk....

wasn't the "adoring fan" an elf?

http://i.imgur.com/mSeGc.jpg or http://i.imgur.com/GA12Q.jpg..they're look amazing.
The alien-ness is what really makes them stand out from the normal 'elf'. I'm glad Bethesda went out of that comfort zone and tried something new. c:

They did it already with Morrowind, only that the graphics were not as high end as it is today.

I like it that the elves don't look like humans with pointy ears. There are some features that i don't care for, but they're supposed to look alien.