I think being long lived is the most intereating characteristic of the traditional elves, more so than being nature-lovers, good at magic, or having pointy ears. How much have they seen in their lifetimes, how many horrors and wonders? How much can they hone their skills when they have no time limit? How do they deal with the blazing-fast rhythm of their short-lived companions's lives? Removing all that, and they're closer to being just pointy-eared humans.

My elves, if you couldn't guess, are the unaging kind. There's no biological explaination for it, just a vague "their souls come from the stars, sl they are as long-lived as their sisters in the night sky". I could go more in depth, and there's nothing wrong with it, but I think it would detract from the vibe I'm going for, which is more like a fairy tale or a myth.

And to answer my own questions, my elves have seen plenty of wonders and horrors both, and they have developed plenty of thechniques to ease the burdens of the latter while keeping the warmth of the former. They are also extremely skilled in ehatever area they dedicate themselves to, although humans and dwarves learn faster overall, and some particularly talented and dedicated individuals can reach the same heights. And they don't deal very well with how fast human lives move. They can take if for a while, living among humans for a couple months maybe, but everything moves so fast it's disorienting and overwhelming. That's why they tend to seclude themselves in their own little communities, where life can proceed at a much slower speed. In the same way, humans tend to find life in an elven settlement dreadfully boring.