tl;dr - Elves are in a very bad spot right now due to staff support constantly leaning away from them, combined with a few very strong misconceptions of the playerbase on how to play a decent elf. Ideas are great, opening up clans would be great, but also keep in mind that with how elves have been the last few years, there's some instances where very non-elven behavior has become prominent, either in practice, or in proposed fixes, code wise, to make them more appealing. Elves always have, and always will be, more about cunning than prowess.
I already play mostly city-elves, and have for a very long time.
Mostly I think there's a problem of them being in the game but having had all of their in game roles systematically removed and moved elsewhere, largely because of this idea of consolidation that's going on and obvious neglect (i.e. A shop that at one point sold/dealt with all elves now moved to only deal with a single clan that no longer exists, and it's been left in that state for years, OR, the shop that used to cut better deals to elves to emphasize black market trading/fencing, then did it for only a single clan, and now does it for no one).
In discourse with a staff member, I've been told that the problem with elven tribes/groups is their strong loyalty giving them advantages over other groups; I've tried to compromise on that bit, even though I find it a little silly. That -is- the trademark of elves, is that even 'the lonefoot' has specific ties that are growing into loyalty ones. That's by design, and it's their legitimate strength and desirable trait. My compromise has always been a differentiation between elven gangs versus elven families. Elven families will without fail be entirely loyal; if you mess with any part of that family, you have a straight vendetta on you that you can't buy your way out of. It will result in submission to stipulations or death. This is why eastside, in terms of the role it plays, -is- stronger than the westside. Don't contest that. It's true. The difference is that the eastside is rarely united by threat. By design, you don't want to give incentive to unifying multiple tribes of elves against you. This is, currently, very hard to realize in game because of the lack of support given in such.
The elven gang, on the other hand, is not a family. Gangs are much looser, much less loyal to each other, and are based around mutual gains and enterprises and working together to create favorable conditions for favors to be granted and owed, and this is the realm that elves work in and thrive in. A large part of the problem lies in player mentality where people want to play an elf exactly the same as some other race, but with a couple tweaks, but elves go entirely different. Theft as feats of courage grants insight into their mentality far further than just 'they steal a lot'. Personal risks are something that is viewed as ballsy and something to be admired when they work out, and something they should have seen coming or stupid when they attempt it and don't pull it off. That extends into their business dealings. An elven gang should be avoiding risks save for calculated moves, which is why elves as a rule are more of a 'make them disappear' mentality over a 'Kill them in the streets and send a message' mentality. The message is that people who go against them tend to disappear under mysterious circumstances, not that they look like badasses.
I agree that staff support is required. But it's mostly to correct the sideways effects of other changes in the game, i.e. other groups taking over their traditional 'turf' as far as business. I've spoken in discord about how elves, historically, were the importers of poisons into the city. They ruthlessly stamped out other avenues so that their deals with their desert-elf relations (which were always kept strong) were the main method of import. There are small changes like this over the past long time that apparently seemed like small shifts, but were actually very potent in degrading the 'place' that elves had in the city.
Coinciding with this has been the struggle for players to keep them relevant by themselves. It's resulted in that loyalty issue becoming very downplayed and reduced to outright 'pledges' of loyalty into groups, which is...odd. It's an avenue of play that I've not really experienced until the last couple years at most. Prior, it was just an intrinsic trust that built over the long course of repeated dealings. It took a long time, because as it grows, it results in increases in personal vulnerability. That acknowledgement in being behind a closed door. That acknowledgement that they have friends and you don't, and they want you to stand there alone in front of them. Etc. Etc. Etc. It's only as that vulnerability is ventured tentatively and met with trust that trust grows. Again, it's a -long- process, which is part of why I can understand the lack of appeal to many players.
And yet every time there was a group of 4 tightly knit elves working together, they owned the entirety of the criminal world.
Until the first major PvP battle of course.
In my experience, this is untrue. There have, however, been instances where a group was doing well on all fronts until staff decided it was out of hand, where I point to one of the things I pointed out above: Just because you're strong as an elven group doesn't mean you get reckless or big in your boots. Always maintain that 'in the shadows' approach. Don't try to create wars, try to manipulate situations to get what the tribe/gang needs without it coming back to them. Just like the Guild, no crime group is strong enough to wage all out war against the other factions of the game. Stop trying. That's suicidal. Likewise, all out war between west and east sides of the labyrinth profits -no one-. No one in their right mind wants to make that war. It fucks over both sides on any of their true goals.
To be clear, when you create an elf, create an elf. Don't just choose elf because you want to be villainous and -look- like a criminal. Stop trying to play the in-character stereotype of an elf, and play a true character that other people will mold into the stereotype. You should be playing smart. You should be looking to invest favors and steal favors in a way that furthers your survival and resources available to be able to arrange favors for someone else (and thus have them owe you one). Try to owe favors just as much as you earn them, so that there are entities that are interested in your survival. Play the elven life the way many of you play the elven stereotype, but in a way that makes sense from a psychological standpoint. You're careful. You take calculated risks of daring when you think you can pull it off. You know the rest of the city doesn't care much for you, so you're out to make them care. Your 'shadiness' is actually shrewd negotiation and being aware of the status quo and the state of every relationship you have.
