Flight Rising Discussion

[quote name="LucidFeathers" date="2020-09-27 07:21:41" ]I’d say it’s less “changing its theme” and more “changing its focus”. [/quote] I agree! I definitely have seen more horror aesthetics associated with arcane recently, especially since the forbidden portal was added to the coliseum. In earlier years, arcane aesthetic was very capital-P Pink; pink crystals, pink space, etc. Like yes, arcane has always had darker parts in the lore, and it's not as though people weren't aware of that, but that was how the flight aesthetic was most commonly represented in the community. This is just my hypothesis, and I don't have any evidence or anything to support it, but it really makes sense to me what the op mentioned the darker theme to be "in line with what people want." This community is seven years old now, and it isn't surprising to me that as things have aged a little over time, a different side of things, especially a darker side, has become more popular. Also as a side note to that, pink space aesthetics were all the rage in 2013, which is also when Arcane was the biggest or second biggest flight (sorry I don't remember exactly).

Arcane getting darker is tempting me to switch back to it, haha. ;v;
I basically left back then because it was a little bit too pink and magical for my lair's aesthetics and lore, but seeing the new artworks makes me remember why I've chosen this flight back then when I joined. c:

Other than that, I agree to what others have been said: Arcane has always been both to me. It's just that the site is covering more of the darker aspects in their recent artworks.

Arcane has always had a GrimDark vein running right through it. The Crystal Pools hum not with life, but with radiation. Gravity is distorted, warping the very bedrock. We are the crater of a epoch-ending disaster, an irradiated nightmare. Our deity called forth the eldritch horrors of the Shade, our portal is a gateway to Lovecraftian monstrosities. To quote Jurassic Park: [quote] [i]Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should [/i] [/quote] I mean, [b]sure[/b]! We're pink, and friendly...but that's the beguiling fascination of it.

man I really hope people are clarifying that Arcane has horror lore for other people's sake and not mine. cause otherwise it's like everyone is assuming I don't read anything or know about site lore

I wrote that whole thing about the horror coming from tragedy, and why I thought these changes ran the risk of interrupting that-

[quote name="MagicHats" date="2020-09-27 16:14:05" ] [quote name="Rowdy" date="2020-09-27 13:40:06" ] Every flight has the potential for horror aesthetics and as someone who loves dark and spooky, I'm jazzed to see it start with Arcane. I loved shadowstrike for shadow's fest too. All fire got this year was a lizard. [/quote] Indeed, i'm also of the opinion that any flight taken to it's logical extreme can easily get into horror tropes and aspects. It just also seems like for the moment we're seeing more of it in Arcane right now than we are other flights. [/quote] Oh yeah, the official lore is a lot darker than people seem to think it is. I mean, Imperials don't want to [i]live[/i] together for fear of an Emperor dragon. Imagine that, an entire breed having to live in complete isolation to one another for fear of what they could become should they die. And some dragons die by magic overload and basically friggin [i]explode[/i].

the arcane terriotories might warp and shift at night; theyre a cosmic flight. whos to say they arent nocturnal or that in nighttime is when the starfall isles flourish

Considering I just moved to Arcane because I heavily vibe with the cosmic horror aspects, I'm all for it!
I think the overall diversity in aesthetics is more an indication of the art team growing and improving, but I wouldn't doubt if the increase in darker content is also to appeal more toward older players.

Also considering the Arcanist has literally induced the apocalypse by accident more than once, I feel like showing off the more ominous and chaotic side of the flight is only natural progression.

@Drakessis [quote]Are we set for changes for some flights, and stagnation for others? More overlap? Worsened neglect of certain flights? Changes that match what people have, but not what they joined for? Absolutely nothing at all?[/quote] I didn't read everything, but I think I get the gist. You're wondering if staff or artists will expand on other flight's aesthetics the way the they're expanding on Arcane's recently? I think they will. Devs were really caught up with just figuring out how to make the site work correctly for a long time, and artists are constantly busy with updates, new items, and breed backlog. The site rewrite is making good progress, and even though a lot of lore has already been written, there's still so much room for more art and representation. I think a lot of lore that has been ignored in favor of simplicity and ease of identification will start getting fleshed out more when it comes to backgrounds and apparel. I joined Arcane mostly for the lore, not the pink aesthetics, so I really love the new representation of Starwood at night, too. I honestly think we're going to see more of "vicious flesh-eating plants", "deep-trench sea creatures", "plague's aesthetic in general", and other areas of established lore that haven't been touched on yet by the artists. I'm glad you brought this up, because it makes me more hyped to see the map update and the new details it will have. I've been waiting for this expansion-of-aesthetic since the site was created and I started reading the lore and imagining the kind of clan I wanted to have. I honestly don't think of any of this as "changes"; instead I see it as additions onto the established "core" of the flight, giving individual clans more freedom of expression. Hope that all made sense. ^^

[img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/0d2ea4919066f52bae4912c2e79244a4/tumblr_pq2rwbR8241tpgqzno1_400.png[/img]

Given that the Starwood Strand is a literal canon location...there's no way I would think of Shadow when seeing those trees. On the other hand, I do own the Starwood Guardians subspecies, which is very specifically designed after the Starwood Strand, so perhaps I'm biased.

Either way, I don't think it's getting darker other than in terms of luminosity. Arcane isn't the happy-go-lucky flight that everyone views us as, and none of this really screams "eldritch horror" except the Forbidden Portal, which is...forbidden. It's not exactly a widespread aesthetic, based on the name.