It’s not sepecifically the Elves, though. I was very amused, when everyone pointed at the war going badly for the Alliance, when Genn said “That’s the last of the soldiers, we’ll be calling up farmers next.”, considering that implied that with decades of near constant catastrophic wars, including the total destruction of Stormwind itself in the first War, they didn’t usually have to draft those all the time. Not to mention that Orcs somehow are a world power 10 years after they were internment camp refugees that came to Kalimdor with whatever ships they could steal from Southshore in the night. The devs never cared, and frankly, neither should we. This isn’t a new phenomenon, so we really, really shouldn’t be surprised by it at this point. If we can enjoy the ride it has to be despite inconsistent populations (among other things). When Warcraft story works, it’s not because of its detailed world-building, it is because it’s stupid fun.