QUOTE (MYST1C @ Apr 27 2008, 02:53 PM)
Yet there are descriptions of "really old-looking" dwarves and elves in stories set just in the 2060s or even 2050s! Geriatric-looking orks or trolls I can accept (I'm of the "orks and trolls age faster than humans"-school) but not elves and dwarves.
The only time I can remember an "old looking elf" was in Year of the Comet. He introduced Ghostwalker to his speaker (some ork who's name I dont remember). I just have to write it off as IE or something like that.
QUOTE (Method @ Apr 27 2008, 06:03 PM)
Also, I've always thought the shorter life span of trolls and orcs had a certain "social injustice" quality to it. Poverty, manual labor, crappy health care, shitty diet, violence, etc... all major contributers to shorter life span in certain minority populations even today in RL.
That is definitely a part Ork/Troll lifespan issues. However, their natural lifespan is already very short. Orks, and I think Trolls as well, reproduce in litters. Sometimes as many as 8 at a time. Elves on the other hand have a much longer pregnancy and dont reproduce close to as much (if fluff is to be trusted).
I personally go for the 400year non-IE elf, as 400years is a very good length of time, and immortality is overrated. I do agree that perhaps they should have waited for the Elf nations till most elves were 25-30, and not 18. I think the rapid population influx was also from parents of Elves who wanted their elven kids to grow up someplace that was safe for them. I also think that originally there was an influx of all metahumans, because it was supposed to be a land of promise for metas.