I am not too bothered by diversity casting or new characters etc. The writing is just not that good. My wife actually made the comment that she felt she was watching community theater. She has never read Tolkien and her only experience is with the films.
I was pretty much bored after two episodes. The plot pulls the characters along instead of the characters driving the plot forward. I can handle the occasional short haired elf, but old elves just look like old humans with pointy ears. Very little elvish spoken, so nothing to make them feel other worldly. I could go on but why.