Flight Rising Discussion

I want to say, aside from the debate on whether or not they fit with Light's theme (something that is IMO completely arbitrary), I can understand if people don't like the insectoid aspect.

Some people don't like bugs. That's fine.

However, I also feel like the fanbase is shooting itself in the foot a little bit here.

This is the strangest and most eldritch design we've gotten so far. A lot of us have asked for it. If you wanted something more traditionally angelic aka "biblically accurate", complaining that these guys are too off the wall may potentially work against you.

Now, religious mythology and angelology in particular is a special interest of mine, so I would have been thrilled if they pushed Everluxes father in that direction (even if it isn't an explicit aspect of the site lore). But if this is the most that the playerbase can handle, I wouldn't be surprised if the designs never pushed any further in the 'weird' direction than what we've already gotten. We know that the devs take player opinion into account when making designs.

This is why constructive crit is important. Don't just say that you dislike them. Say what you do want to see instead. Be specific. Nobody here is a mind reader.

I really like Luxes, but I do hope we get more designs that push the envelope that aren't insect-themed. Bugs, obviously, can be pretty divisive, and there are a lot of interesting places to pull inspiration from.

I hold out hope for a kirin inspired dragon some day.

I absolutely love the Everlux, it gives me light dragon vibes with the skinny and multiple legs. I’m so shocked that so many people don’t like them to be honest! I didn’t even think that people could dislike these fat lil guys.

Ancient dragons should look like this! Very different from Moderns to make up for the fact they don’t wear apparel.

I'm actually curious now... There have recently been several insect-themed content releases, and this is now the third insect-looking breed. Unlike the other two, however, this one looks more insectoid than reptilian, which makes the association unavoidable.
...yet none of these breeds or other content updates are supposed to be repulsive/horror-themed. But then... Why incorporate common phobias or what most consider to be disgusting into a design if it is not supposed to be horrifying or repulsive? Was it unintentional?

P.S. In case anyone would like to reply: could you not mention my username/remove my username from the quote and clip it after the first sentence? I'd like to delete this comment later.

[quote name="Aequorin" date="2024-11-13 14:34:55" ] [quote name="xobrynnx" date="2024-11-13 13:55:13" ] [quote name="Aequorin" date="2024-11-13 13:48:58" ] [quote name="xobrynnx" date="2024-11-13 13:45:43" ] i have a genuine question, though. why has every ancient followed their flights aesthetics and matched the dragons of their element except this one? /nbr [/quote] Hello @/xobrynnx, how do you mean? [/quote] every other ancient has had similar traits or looks to the other dragons native to their flight; why does this one get a pass to look so different? a lot of us were expecting something with ties to angels or luminax, as that was the standard [i]set by the site[/i], as seen from all the light fest items and dragons. it doesn't make any sense to me. /nbr i'll quote my previous post here: [quote]a dragon matching its flight aesthetic is crucial, and all past ancients have done so. undertides have fins and specifically ocean oriented terts, velispuns have long manes and bug wings that match the shadowy forest witch/fairy aesthetic, gaolers are stocky with lots of fur which makes sense for large, guardians of a frozen prison, aethers are curious, semi-eldritch bug eyed explorers which again, fits with the space aesthetic, abberations are multi-headed with sharp claws and fangs: i could go on. the concept of the flight is knowledge, yes, but it feels like there was no thought to the consistency of the flight.[/quote] [/quote] Angels as the Light aesthetic or concept is fanon or head canon, not official canon. Fanon/headcanons are valid for your own personal gameplay, but not what we base our development decisions on. We are also not responsible for player fanon or head canon. Officially, Light Flight is about knowledge, scholarship, philosophy—not angels or seraphim. The Light dragons of the Sunbeam Ruins are philosophers. They prefer to be unbiased and logical, revealing the nature of the world as do the rays of the sun. Of all the dragons, Light dragons are the most scholarly, holding the pursuit of truth as the highest virtue a dragon might aspire to. Scrolls and relics are their favored treasures. I should note here that many of your examples require the support of the accompanying lore articles and stories. Granted, Dusthide and Everlux currently don't have stories—and we plan on addressing that in the future—but even with just the breed articles, we can see where Everlux fit in. They are bookwyrms. They are dedicated archivists. They live and move with grace, mindfulness, and elegance. I encourage you to read [b][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/wiki/wiki/article/everlux-dragons]the Everlux encyclopedia entry[/url][/b] for more information on them at your earliest convenience: [quote]snipped[/quote] I hope this helps! [/quote] I know this answer is not to me - but I'm also interested in the answer and I don't see how this answers the question. This thread is, of course, about the visual design of the Everlux, not what's written about them. I could read the Everlux article with the picture of Aethers heading it instead and, possibly, be less confused. To put it in a way that might eliminate the confusion, these are creatures that did not pop randomly into existence and pledge their allegiance to whichever deity suited their personalities best. These are creatures that the Lightweaver designed and crafted according to what she likes or wants and what her Flight needs. Why did she make dragons that looked this way? We know what her first and second children looked like, and these are a departure from that. There's no saying a fantasy writer can't decide to write sci-fi after five books, of course... but there's usually a reason why. And you can also usually tell its the same writer. That is, I think, the question they were asking. I could be wrong. But I think the question was about visual storytelling.

[quote name="Aequorin" date="2024-11-13 15:16:36" ] [quote name="xobrynnx" date="2024-11-13 14:37:50" ] it did not, but thanks. i wanted an answer as to why they deviated so far from other dragons of the flight, not the lore. [/quote] Hi @xobrynnx, in what way? [/quote] please stop. i will not be responding to this thread anymore.

[quote name="Aequorin" date="2024-11-13 14:34:55" ] [snipped for length] Angels as the Light aesthetic or concept is fanon or head canon, not official canon. Fanon/headcanons are valid for your own personal gameplay, but not what we base our development decisions on. We are also not responsible for player fanon or head canon. Officially, Light Flight is about knowledge, scholarship, philosophy—not angels or seraphim. The Light dragons of the Sunbeam Ruins are philosophers. They prefer to be unbiased and logical, revealing the nature of the world as do the rays of the sun. Of all the dragons, Light dragons are the most scholarly, holding the pursuit of truth as the highest virtue a dragon might aspire to. Scrolls and relics are their favored treasures. I should note here that many of your examples require the support of the accompanying lore articles and stories. Granted, Dusthide and Everlux currently don't have stories—and we plan on addressing that in the future—but even with just the breed articles, we can see where Everlux fit in. They are bookwyrms. They are dedicated archivists. They live and move with grace, mindfulness, and elegance. I encourage you to read [b][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/wiki/wiki/article/everlux-dragons]the Everlux encyclopedia entry[/url][/b] for more information on them at your earliest convenience: [snipped for length] [/quote] @Aequorin Honestly, thank you for directly addressing the "angels as the light aesthetic" fanon vs canon. It's always rubbed me the wrong way that so many people seemed to treat it as canon and that viewing Light in any other way was incorrect. (This is just commenting in general now) I don't really understand the argument of dragons looking like they belong to certain flights. Most of the reasoning to me is either confirmation bias (aka being used to a certain breed being from a certain flight and then finding the characteristics that match), or equating certain features to real world animals and matching the element to the environment that animal lives... which also doesn't work because real world animals themselves are so varied. It's like saying feathers = wind because birds have feathers and fly. Except that there are plenty of birds that don't fly, and a lot that live primarily near water or in arctic environments; not to mention the association with fire in some mythology, such as phoenixes. The site itself also plays with animals representing elements outside of their physical environment, like the Spirit of the Arcane familiar being a squid. It also leaves out certain flights because there aren't strict physical features that work for them; like how do you convey plague as a physical concept? Have the dragons just be a featureless blob of bacteria? Have the Shadow dragon just be a puddle of ooze? From a lore perspective, the deities are the ones designing the breeds anyways, so it makes sense that they might want to play with different features or create breeds that can fit various different purposes. [quote name="Yokudl" date="2024-11-13 15:16:16" ] I'm actually curious now... There have recently been several insect-themed content releases, and this is now the third insect-looking breed. Unlike the other two, however, this one looks more insectoid than reptilian, which makes the association unavoidable. ...yet none of these breeds or other content updates are supposed to be repulsive/horror-themed. But then... Why incorporate common phobias or what most consider to be disgusting into a design if it is not supposed to be horrifying or repulsive? Was it unintentional? [/quote] Believe it or not, bugs are just animals. Your personal opinion on them doesn't mean they are inherently horror themed. They are just creatures that exist, independent of human genres, and it's fair for them to be represented in art the same way that other animals are.

[quote name="Yokudl" date="2024-11-13 15:16:16" ] But then... Why incorporate common phobias or what most consider to be disgusting into a design if it is not supposed to be horrifying or repulsive? Was it unintentional? [/quote] I can't speak for staff, but I can say that to people who love bugs, they will incorporate bugs into things they work on because it is enjoyable to them. Insects are inherently neutral creatures. You could say rodents such as mice and rats are horrific depending on the circumstances, but many people could also disagree, especially in this age where these animals are significantly more popular and charismatic to the wider population (at least where I live) than they probably did generations ago.

I've avoided this thread for the most part, but there are some critiques about the silhouette and business of these dragons I was thinking about. I do agree that particularly ancients can have a tendency to be very busy and detailed, especially compared to some of the older dragon designs. That, coupled with busy genes, can make them very hard to read. However, I do want to counter a bit that some of these silhouettes (like the female pose here) offer some really interesting opportunities. This actually makes them prime real estate for unique skins, and for female everlux in particular eclipse looks magnificent because of the crowded pose and how things fall. Idk, its one of those things where yeah, I do agree that designwise some of the ancients, these guys included, might be on the busier side, but that also can be a plus. Also makes me want some simpler genes to highlight the dragon design as a whole!