I really dislike elves.
I always have. I think because most people see elves as being a "perfected" or ideal version of humanity where everyone is tall, slender, beautiful and communes with nature or whatever it is that elves do while they're busy being almost immortal. So when I was reading the Dark Sun Campaign Setting for 4e and read about how they changed the different races, I was surprised to see what they had done with the elves.
They turned elves into gypsies.
And not the Hunchback of Notre Dame, golden hearted gypsies. Nope, they took every single stereotype of gypsies, minus their penchant for extremely gaudy clothing (which I guess on Athas would be impractical) and reskinned the formerly elegant elves as nomadic gypsies.
I love it.
It gives the elves not only more of an edge, but completely takes everything I hate about them and removes it, leaving behind a clever race of people who are desperately trying to survive.
This flavor change also forces the player to reconsider what classes they would normally choose and often can make for some interesting combinations that people normally would never have considered.
Obviously, an elven rouge and ranger are still viable options, but given the new nomadic and materialistic nature of elves, you may want to reconsider primal classes such as druids and shamans based on the fact that elves seem to not be connected with nature in Athas. Obviously, Psionic powers could translate well and I actually had a player make a ranged Ranger/Psion hybrid that worked fairly well. Basically, primal power contradicts the new view of elves on Athas and I try and keep my campaigns low arcane due to the Sorcerer King's ban on magic.
Obviously, in your game, you can do whatever you want, but I think that these limitations actually opens up new opportunities for role-playing. Elves on Athas are accustomed to a brutal life-style. They band together in caraveans and make their living peddling wares, conning and basically doing whatever they have to survive. They are insular, usually trusting only those in their "tribe" and are the subject of vast prejudices from other races, resulting in MUCH less half-elves.
All in all, I think it makes elves a lot more interesting to play as and completely subverts what most people think of when they envision elves.
