Shattered Kingdoms

Erevan.

Make a deep-elf.

Seriously.

Inzy,

I think your way off base here. There is nothing wrong with Paladins being able to WTFPWN Deep-elves, its what a paladin is suppose to do!

I'll admit that their super low con is a bit misplaced, not sure why they are more frail than a sprite.

Have you been playing any characters other than Inzzarid? If not you should play something other than a deep-elf to often people see the weaknesses in their characters and think that those weaknesses trump all other ones in the game. Playing something else might give you some perspective.

Maybe its time for you to roll Gulasto!!(sp?)

I've played many types of characters.

The most insanely annoying, by far, has been Inzaarid.

Halflings are fun, and being able to hide and sneak innately is intense.
Dwarves do the damn thing, especially with the axe twink and the wtf constitution. (Too bad they're so dumb they can't concentrate on more than 1.5 spells at once.)
Elves have better stats, and if you think deep-elves are going to be messing with you, BoG can answer to that. Also, as an elf, it is more newbie friendly.

You can start in Exile, Nerina or Ayamao, and peacefully move throughout your domain.

Comparatively, as a deep-elf, you can start in Krychire, Uxmal or the Empire.
The relatively laughable law NPCs of the Empire make me giggle.
Krychire is isolated, but definitely your best choice to avoid BoG/HW happy lighties.
Starting in Uxmal is never for the faint of heart.

Elves are also more viable warriors because of their stat advantage, both as mercenaries and swashbucklers.

I've exploited the weaknesses of all the races, but never have I seen ownage so intense as BoG. I do agree that maybe the specificity of the paladin justifies his wtf ownage of many things, given his inability to own many things (like a light hearted swashbuckler), but rare is the occurrence of light-vrs-light violence in comparison to violence scenarios involving other aura matchups.

Ever seen color spray spam? You can epic kill a whole group of deep-elves solo.

A hellion with curses on his weapon is quite often a death sentence for most deep-elves.

The imbalance in cabals and tribunals contributes to excessive annoyance as well. Where will deep-elven spellcasters go now? The Midnight Council? The Harlequin (psych)? The Northern Wastes (probably the best option)?

The magic protection is alright. Not that good, though. 24 intelligence is a luxury, not an obscenity, like 25 strength is. If you ever notice, the affect of stats like strength and constitution have more appeal the closer they come to twenty five.

The carrying interval between strength values increases exponentially in the 20's range, and the damage mechanics as it pertains to strength matter VERY much. Ever see a grandmaster mercenary's attacks deflect off of someone? It's pretty sad, dude. The difference between 18 constitution and 20 in warriors is unholy.

I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying.
A giant warlock might be a better option than a deep-elven mercenary.

The greatest problem, though, is mentality. I'm playing for fun, and many more play to 'win', encroaching heavily on my will to ever make a character like Inzaarid again.

What advantage is there in making a deep-elven character of certain classes?

Hellion and sorcerer. Maybe priest. That's about it.
I want deep-elves to have the same options as their counterparts, or at least greater incentive to be played. Innate 'art' might be cool. As well as a stat boost--maximum value in intelligence just isn't as useful as maximum value in strength, constitution, or dexterity.

I guess another large problem is the intelligence statistic doesn't have enough facets. It has the least HRMPH of all the statistics.

Goodness, this is a really long post. I could go on, but I'm sure someone has a rebuttal. And I'm also sure the immortals won't give this light in the face or greater bones to pick.

The game is lighty centric. Dark aura's, especially deep-elves, will always get the shaft when it comes to game mechanics. (in a lot of cases)

I would say the game is more gray than anything, there are more light aura races but the choice for the other races is still there..

No, the game is pretty much lightie centric.

Lighties: Better and wider range of levelling areas
More cabals (currently), more tribunals.
More reliable allies (I don't think I've seen an extensive period of time when zhensh/taslamar/ayamao wasn't allied. That's three cabals and tribunals, right there)
Ability to request armor all the way up to gm
Lightie classes and cabals have spells/weapons that do massive damage to opposite aura/clergy/darkie races.

A class can own another class sure. Let pallies own necros. But for a class to completely own a race...That is lame

Hellions can own both centaurs and elves. I don't get your point. Hellions must be overpowered and out of concept too.

Hellions can't stop people from fleeing. You can't compare that.

I've played deep-elves before too