Box?  Who buys computer games in boxes anymore?

I like it - it has style, and doesn't lie about the game. It makes you dream about your future empire

The worst would be if there were some kind of obscene demon or troll WoW/Warhammer style being sliced to dice by a semi-nude blondine in platemail that covers about 5% of her body.

Another thing is that we know the pic above since quite some time already, so no surpise to get excited about.

I like the scene and the concept, but the dragon does seem to be perched really awkwardly. Maybe it should be flying in the top left of the frame instead?

Yay for boxes. Looking awesome.

I like it. It looks epic, and it'll probably stand out on a shelf of games because it's different. You should probably show it to people other than us for feedback though, since we're all fans already.

@Stardock: You can use whatever art you decide it's best (and you will, and that's fine for me as the game itself is more important than a cover) but you should know that for my copy, I want (would like?) that piece. I'm sure you can produce art of even better quality that I'd greatly enjoy but I like that one. As an alternate cover or whatever. Maybe I'm biased because each time I think of Elemental, my mind offers me that picture as what the game is about.

The art isn't bad but this a game is about leading empires and casting epic spells.  Why not have a similar picture but show a nice fallen army marching towards you in the distance and having the wizard conjuring some nice epic spell.  The current picture is a little too generic and could easily be for an RPG which is much more common in the fastasy genre.  I just think you would be better served if the picture gives the viewer a glimpse of what they can expect in the game.  Also I think a little action would spice things up and draw more attention.

Also have to agree with the dragon's pose looking a bit weird.  Really could care less myself about the box art but that's my 2 cents. Of course I have 0 experience with cover design or art so I am probably wrong anyway but you wanted opinions.

Maybe you're right, maybe Elemental should throw up it's nose and shun decades of traditional box art by creating a boring static scene that doesn't make sense. I mean, hey, magic and dragons aren't real right? So obviously gravity shouldn't matter, we should just break all the rules of graphic design and put things floating in space. I like Elemental's style of artistically drawn yet realistic scenes, but the box art is just boring. There needs to be some sort of dramatic action to show that stuff happens in the game. You may as well just have the guy sitting in a chair playing a banjo; the box art should be dynamic, it should represent what happens in the game, giant awesome magical battles.

Lizards are very small and have tiny fibers that grip surfaces on the pads of their feet. Even if this were some bastard child of Puff the Magic Dragon and the Geico gecko, it's still an awkward way to place something on the cover.

No background in advertising but wouldn't you want to convey more of what the game is about? The box front only conveys "fantasy" to me. Oh well, its good enough I guess.

You guys complaining about the pose of the dragon being weird, how it would fall off its perch... The position and form of the foot on the right makes it abundantly clear that the dragon is in motion. Not to mention dragons typically have four legs, and we have no idea what it's doing with its hind two.

I think the cover looks good, but I do agree with the criticism that to the random buyer, it might not be eye-catching enough (for precisely the reasons why I like it...). It has muted colors and an artistic feel, and sadly I don't think that appeals to the general gaming demographic.

Don't listen to those who say that it lacks epic.

I just love that image (even with the strange dragon). It changes from every other titles.