Might as well try and stay on topic.
>Can we finally move past elves as the default fantasy race? They're boring
No, people will either pick:
>Human:default
>Half-e;f: Slightly better human
>Elf: Special human
Forever, its ben established that truly alliin beings are hard to emphasize with.
Plus it allows game designers to use similar models. Maybe a race of dog like beings could work in a game.
>Familiar
>People empathize with dogs
Only issue is figuring out a balance between cool and cute or creepy and cool cause you don't want your player first instinct is to open fire when you see them or completely demean them by treating them like an actual dog.