I like it, but something cooler would maybe be better.

Are there really people who buy games based on boxart..?        I have NEVER done that!   Not even when I were a kid with NES & SNES!   I ALWAYS looked up all the games before buying (I'd be an idiot not to since they were helluva expensive!)

It lacks epic.

I like it. Fits the pseudo art deco feel of the game.

My only thoughts would be to flip the art. Since we read left to right, psychologically we associate with the future to the right and the past to the left.  So right now it feels like she's reflecting on the past instead of planning future conquest.

Also the sun feels like a sun set. Bumping up the saturation on the yellows n light blues will make it feel a bit more like morning.

Wow! It really does look better backwards. I think it is a little heavy on one side though. I like asymmetry, but it doesn't have balance. There's a dragon, a man, and a balcony on one side, and pretty much just a few clouds and nothing much else in the foreground.

That's impressive! But I'd make the dark castle bigger... and have something nasty (many somethings, actually) marching out of it towards you.

  Nice drakkheim.  I agree.  Art is fine by me, however, with so many art assets going, I would probably wait and pick the cover art till towards the end of the development cycle.  That way you can pick from a large assortment of ingame battles, scenes, images from ingame as well as exploratory artwork concepts from your book and game.  I think you would then  have a better understanding of what the game artwork should be. 

  Also, the box art is important for sales and it does influence people in whether they might stop to read it or just walk on by.  I think this mostly applies to instore shopping vs online digital distribution, but it probably still even affects digital downloads also to some degree.

To be honest, if I saw that Box Art in a Store the image would give me ideas of a typical RPG, the way it kind of focuses on the Character and the Dragon with the medieval stylings. That may be the intention, as Elemental does focus on the Sovreign quite a bit, in which case ignore me. Civilisation IV had good box art; it didn't show any characters because that's not where the focus is. The focus was on the buildings; the civilisations. My suggestion would be to start there and add some kind of battle; the subtitle is 'War of Magic' after all.

I personally love that art piece. I've been using it for my desktop since early December I believe.

I am really impressed how the little changes you suggested improve the design.  Instead of surveying, it seems the character is now planning.

Not bad but I was expecting something new :/
Nevertheless the Stardock logo seems to pop out from nowhere.

Personaly I like suggestive box like that :

Other than the constructive criticism's like Drakk's pay no attention to the naysayer's it is a beautiful cover.

Regarding Drakk's flip screen and comments: Wow! Good points. And I had always felt like the character in the original unflipped image was contemplating the cataclysm, pondering the past and also the future. But the flipped image definitely dows have a more frward looking and hopeful tone.

I still think I prefer the unflipped image. I really appreciate your comments though, it is interesting to understand WHY I was having the thoughts about it that I was.

Flipped or unflipped - GREAT box design I love it!

About the past being to the left and the future to the right, seems I missed that memo. I prefer the original design where he looks to the left.

The reversed version seems better, that's really something. How does such a small change make such a big difference?

As for the Mass Effect 2 box... that's for the collectors edition of a sequel. Everybody who is going to buy that version already KNOWS that. The box art could be nothing but black text on a white background and it wouldn't affect sales a whole lot. You'll notice that the standard version has more conventional art.

(And Heavy Rain is going to bomb, so let's not use that as an example of what to do. Worst controls ever.)

Well, first off: Everyone is entitled to hisser own opinion. And secondly I bet Brad didn't publish it to get only replies stating how absolutely beautiful and epic it is, but maybe also to harvest constructive criticism.

On the other hand he didn't ask for opinions explicitely. So maybe he simply wanted to give us a glimpse at what it will look likw, no matter WHAT we think about it... 

Don't forget we don't get to see the back of it, or the fold out flap. Assuming its going with the flapstyle cover that shows more stuff.

If you know how good this game is, you will buy it. If you go to a store and look at games in their boxes, the box art will make this game look like a boring oldschool fantasy game.

Joking! Don't kill me!

The man makes a good point.  The box art might be lovely for those already feeling love for Elemental but does it really make me want to pick it up and check out what the game is about if I know nothing about it, I'd say nope, no way.

I do not like the "Games for Windows" band and the blue Stardock logo on the front.

Beside that I think that it would look better if you used some green leaves or ivy on the cover like on the top of the Elemental website (https://forums.elementalgame.com/Themes/Elemental/images/body.bg.png).

Maybe a bit of maguic casting on top of the box would be nice

To add to this suggestion:  It would add more implication of what the game is about if you took the current picture and added an attacking army on the plains and the sovereign in the process of casting a spell from the balcony toward the attacking army. 

But still good either way.

Looks good as is. Too much action or being too busy would be bad things. Just make sure there is a line with 4x TBS on it and then

Games For Windows?  I thought you were using some kind of custom Impulse based MP system?

Or is it just standard for every game to have the GFW logo on it these days (I haven't bought a boxed game in years)?

Now that i think about it, please, oh for the sweet love of all things small and cuddly and delicious with BBQ sauce, do not use games for windows live for the MP. GFWL is the single worst multiplayer system ever invented. It got beat out by the stand-outside-and-yell-really-loud-in-binary system. I only see the GFW sign, not the GFWL, so i am hopeful, but even that much is horrifying.

It's Games for Windows, not Games for Windows LIVE. No multiplayer based on GfWL. It'd be a mistake for Stardock.