I don't like calling them night elves at that stage. Let's just say elves. Remember blood elves and high elves, highborne and nightborne, even nags and satyr are all in that group at this stage not just night elves. Ancient Kaldorei would've better or Kaldorei empire elves. Night elves do nothing but sit on their arses looking down their pious noses at everything.
The true elf pedigree carried on in the high elves, they are the rock stars and they did with a reduced enhanced capacity to the night elves cos remember they devolved a little bit losing a bit of everything. Height, intelligence, longevity l, strength etc in their exile. Yet they formed a well of power, built a kingdom and did so much more with less natural ability and less magical power source than the night elves. They show they are more resourceful and better, wiser even because having less they did more. And look at night elf loves now. Still with more natural ability in every department. Accesss to a well they are still only using bows and arrows. What a joke!
As Rommath remarked on seeing the nightsell. 'What we could have done if we had this'. High/blood elves would have built a civilisation far greater than the ancient Kaldorei if they had had the Well of Eternity or the Nightwell. They'd have done a better job than any elven group. If only.