Just have seen a vid of your game! Looksamazing...BUT it's not a game about dragons! Dragons have 4 libs + 2 wings. 2 limbs + 2 wings = wyvern! It's sad that developers don't give a... doesn't respect mythology

Bloody hell!

Then why is Smaug described as dragon in the movie?

Originally posted by Ateri Angelus - YelloaZ:

Then why is Smaug described as dragon in the movie?

you are using a MOVIE as a proof? and no doubts that that's a lie too? ehm, maybe this will help?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyvern

Most of the things on Wikipedia are false, simply because anyone can edit it.

Due to marketing considerations, the name was changed from "Wyvernflight" to "Dragonflight". The developers fought tooth, nail, and wing against this criminal act, but unfortunately when flight came to firebreath they couldn't deny the fact that "Wyvernflight" tested poorly.

Now thats an awesome Dev response :D

well *BURN*DaRadTanksGoesFasta that was a good devburn :p

Originally posted by keith:

Due to marketing considerations, the name was changed from "Wyvernflight" to "Dragonflight". The developers fought tooth, nail, and wing against this criminal act, but unfortunately when flight came to firebreath they couldn't deny the fact that "Wyvernflight" tested poorly.

well, you could add 2 more legs to them :'(

There's no real common thread to dragons in mythology, in and outside of Europe. The whole "dragons have 4 legs, wyverns have 2!" factiod isn't really true, since dragons in European folklore can be pretty much anything reptilian and magical, with or without legs, wings, or even firebreath.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/V%C3%ADbria.png/220px-V%C3%ADbria.png

This beaked two legged-winged titty dragon from Spain is still a dragon. Mythology is weird and inconsistent, mostly because the myths are all localized and not at all standardized.

In addition to what Triceracop says.....if we take films and games into consideration then in most films and games dragons are what is in tabletop rpgs classified as wyvern appearancewise. As ironic as it is........I'm almost used to dragons having not 4 legs despite hearing first about them in tabletop rpgs. (I think computergames are what 2-3 that gave them forelimbs and films I can only think of dungeons and dragons and the dragonhearth series.....all others have them portrayed as having 2 limbs and then the 2nd set (if at all) merged with the wings.).

Like all forms of fantasy there are no rules without context.
There are conventions and common themes, but in the end there are no rules without a context.


It is true that in most common conventions a "western dragon" has 2 wings and 4 legs; just as an "eastern dragon" has a long serpantine body with short legs and no wings and yet hovers; whilst your "western wyvern" is a 2 legged 2 winged creature.

However those are only conventions. Angelius and other dragons in the Drakengard series are 2 wings 2 legs; as are a good many other dragons and drakes and wyrms and wurms and suchlike. Meanwhile in Braveheart we have a dragon with 2 wings and 4 legs and a segmented tail blade.

Heck even breathing fire isn't always a given as the Dragons of Pern are shown to need to consume a specific rock to generate fire; as are the dragons in Flight of Dragons (who use limestone and gemstones). Meanwhile those Dragons of Pern are shown to have insane powers of travel; meanwhile in the Dungions and Dragons world dragons are defined by their scale colour more so than anything else.


So yes within context there are rules; without context there are just dragons - which range from the mytholgical all the way to hurricans.






ps - far as I know Smaug always had 4 legs and 2 wings barring in the film..... Certainly all the artistic references and even his sketch on the old maps of Middle Earth show him as such and I suspect his description in the book also supports it (its been a long while since i last read it to confirm)

Originally posted by DaRadTanksGoesFasta:

you are using a MOVIE as a proof? and no doubts that that's a lie too? ehm, maybe this will help?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyvern

You didn't really read that page did you? because if you did, you would have seen in the fourth paragraph:

In the middle ages, no clear distinction was made between the two. Since the sixteenth century, in English, Scottish, and Irish heraldry, the key distinction has been that a wyvern has two legs, whereas a dragon has four; however, this distinction is not generally observed in the heraldry of other European countries, where two-legged dragons are entirely acceptable.

Your own source disagrees with you on the importance or even recognition of that distinction. Much of Europe has mythological tales of two legged dragons, which may also have any number of other weird traits, like the creepy boob-having dragon I posted earlier. The word wyvern and the separation stem entirely from the British Isles, and wyverns were obscure enough that the common folk probably never knew there was to be such a difference.

So yeah, not only do the devs have their own creative license to call the creatures dragons; they are perfectly in line with history, mythology, and 90% of fantasy fiction.

OP is an idiot. The nature of mythological creatures is that their appearance is subjec to change based on pretty much anything such as the culture talking about them, the time period, etc. If there was a set description it wouldn't be myth. Dragons in some places are said to have limbs and wings, in others they look like serpents. Stop nitpicking over nothing.

FOOLS! The ancient scribes illustrate that Wyverns, while not as powerful as the tradional dragon, are still a form of dragon.

Sure some may argue that they are not a "true" dragon, however they are a branch of dragon, similar to how the Blue Shark is related to the much greater Great White Shark.

as far as the scrolls are concerned, if the creature of legend is a scaly fire breathing beast. then it is likely considered a dragon (add wings 90% of the time)