Alright, here's a leap of faith. 

I think that Tolkien's fantasy sucks... unless the writer is J.R.R. Tolkien himself.

I look at the massive success that Tolkien's work has achieved, (much akin to George Lucas' by the way) and I think that, in a lot of ways, the myth has grown larger than the man. Especially now that those godforsaken movies are out, the hype machine has caused Tolkien's world to become a worldwide phenomenon of mass gathering, much like a large-scale bug zapper.

I once sat down and tried to figure out why the Middle-Earth thing became so popular. It hit me quite suddenly, that it was not the characters (who were largely forgettable, stock characters) or the story itself (which was also largely unoriginal if one has ever read norse mythology)... it was the setting. Not the elves and treefolk and various taken-from-mythology races, but the detailed social system existing on Midgard, I mean, Middle-earth. It was the political heirarchies, the history behind something as insignificant as a group of hairy short people who liked maps. The setting was rich with background on just about everything, which allowed a person to sink into that world. That is the true magic of fantasy.

Now, I told you that to tell you this. Standard fantasy stories that rely largely on the magical characters and their powers and interaction, while moving them around in a standard setting, just don't have that pizzazz. This is why Tolkien elves irritate me so much... because they're his, not yours. I think that the way to make a good story, is to base it in a good place.

Moral: Don't just borrow someone else's fantasy world. 

bravo! wonderful sentiments, and ones which I share.

Heh, Perhaps you're right about the reason that Tolkien's works are so popular. Honestly, I like his elves better than I like other elves, but that's perhaps because I was introduced to Tolkien's elves before I was really introduced to any other sort. Even now, I don't have a very firm grasp on the more usual sort of elves. Only Santa's elves and Tolkien's......

And why not borrow a fantasy world? The reason I make up worlds and histories is so that other people can borrow my worlds, and make their own histories to interlock with mine. To see someone using my world pleases me no end. And to borrow someone else's world (mind you, I do usually ask first, if possible) is a great thing for me.

  You're close. For me, it was the description. Even though I was 13 when I read it, the pictures are still fresh in my mind. The setting was a part of that, but the "great moments" were just as important to me. (This could be why the movies were a travesty to me, and the hype even more so, since I was chastised for having my own opinions of it. The scenery in the movies was just too soft and... wussy looking... to do his descriptions justice.) I believe Tolkein made this so effective by writing poetically, though I've heard that some people find that annoying.

  It really, really, really ticks me off when I see a comment on Elfwood saying "actually, your character isn't an elf, because they look like such-and-such..." How do you know!? It's fantasy! You can't be narrow minded about what constitutes a species in an original story! Or when they call Quenya, Elfish. Tolkein didn't say you had to plaigirize his language just to make your elves foreign!
  Grrrr....

Amen. And that mindset is all over fantasy discussions, as if one single writer has defined the entire existence of a creature. 

I get this a lot with Drow, as I've never read any of R.A. Salvatore's work and occasionally write or roleplay them. Apparently my ideas don't quite fit the mold, which earns me a tongue lashing (the bad kind) ever once in a while.

And the elves in my only Elf story speak a variant of Mandarin Chinese. ^^

  Mandarin Chinese... now that is cool. ***imagines the rest of the culture***

I tend to dislike Salvatore's Drow because with the exception of Drizzt, Their pretty shallow villians. They're all the "Mwahaha I'm being evil!" kind.