What of the Dragons of the First?[Theory]

[Nalien]

Does anyone remember what the name of the Dragoon AF gear is this expansion? I think I heard it somewhere, but can't remember. Might be a clue there.

Nah, we still have a Job quest at Lv80, that presumably rewards the sets, and they've said those quests will be a case of use returning to the Source to check in on the Job NPCs. Unless they've gone for another Heavensward style "Weekly Tomestones buy you AF gear" this time, that would mean the AF sets are still Source based.

Isn't Fay2 mentioning the times where Dragons just... pop in the Interdimensional Rift? Middy comes in at the end of Sigmascape and then the one whose name I won't try to spell saves us at the end of Alphascape. So in a sense, they do storm in another dimension.
Now I'd think the interdimensional rift remains a space created by Omega, on the Source, for its little experience. It's not as wide as Shards for instance. SO perhaps Middy and co kind of already know what Omega is up to and what it is capable of, which allowed them to slide in Omega's DM.

No need to even overthink it that much. The entrance the the Interdimensional Rift was right there on the Source. I assume Middy was already in the Rift with us anyway, and him "entering" was more a case of him summoning his "true" form to save us. Hraesvelgr on the other hand, I believe said that Middy told him to come get us, and given he drops us off right outside the entrance to the Rift we've been using, I assume he simply used it as well... In both cases I don't see it being a scenario in which they hopped dimensions at all, they merely used the same door we'd be using.

As such, there is no reason to believe dragons have some innate gift for dimension hopping. Once again I'm just going to point at Crystal Tower, because prior to us traveling to the First, that's the only instance we have of something Source side traveling to the First, and a dragon could easily have hopped a ride on that.

[LineageRazor]

Pteroslaver if I remember correctly.

Also Middy and those sired by him being from a different planet does mean something because it means Dragons as we currently know them did not naturally exist on Hydaelyn until after the split. Now it could be that certain Scalekin eventually evolved into something that ended up being called dragons because its fantasy there has to be dragons, but until we get to the First we won't know what the locals there consider them as.

Actually...

Now that I think of it, if any creature was doing any "evolving" it would have been the true dragons on the Source, rather than the creatures on the First. True dragons, descended from Midgardsormr, are specifically noted to change forms as they grow to adulthood (over a period of thousands of years). Evolution happens on a MUCH broader timescale - at least, if Evolution works in this Fantasy world like it does in ours. Twelve thousand years is FAR too small a time scale to see any meaningful changes in any of the flora or fauna.

However, it could well be that there were dragon-like creatures already existing on all the worlds following the Sundering. On most worlds, they are those worlds' dragons. On the Source, however, Middy's descendants individually developed into similar creatures, and eventually wiped those creatures out, filling their ecological niche.

Which would mean that "true dragons" as folks on the Source would regard them, aren't "true" at all. THEY are the pretenders! The pod people! The dragons on the other worlds are the rightful holders of the name.

[DamianFatale]

It's a fantasy game. In order to keep the mobs from having a lack of variety there probably will be dragons, and they will find some weird aether or fantasy reason for the dragons to be there.

[fay2]

Wait, when?.

exhibit A

[Keever]

exhibit A

But...we took Midgardsormr there, lol. He was with us as his li'l dragonet form as usual, and turned into his BIG BOY NECK form to chomp the Omega shield bubble that was suffocating the WoL. That's not "crossing dimensional barriers".

[Seraphor]

Wait, when?

As far as any developer has ever confirmed, Omega and Midgardsormr crossed the sea of sea of stars, aka the interstellar vacuum, aka a vast expanse of regular old space within the Source dimension, not across any dimensional boundaries. I could also foresee someone pointing to the hydra in World of Darkness or the void dragons on Eureka, but those are both misunderstandings, as well; the former were bioweapons fed to the void by Xande, the latter were dead Source dragons possessed by voidsent.

Midgard also states that he came "to the Source" not "to Hydaelyn" indicating that he came from somewhere other than "The Source" which would make it a shard.

But actually, this question has already been asked to the devs, and they've admitted that they haven't decided if Middy came from another planet or another shard yet.

[Jonnycbad]

He came from the dragonstar and that planet was at war with Omega's planet. Shards are superimposed ontop of the source. They're not visitable by traveling through outer space. Midgardsrmr left his world and traveled for centuries before arriving at Hydalyn. He likely didn't come from a shard.

[Jonnycbad]

Don't look too deep into pteroslaver. Remember most AF gear names are ripped directly from ffxi.
https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Pteroslaver_Armor_Set

[Jonnycbad]

There's a quest in Il Mheg from an Amaro that has you collect egg shards. When you turn them in, the Amaro asks if we noticed a particularly large egg and then says it belongs to some much larger creature but it's shrouded in mystery, as it existed much before the Amaro arrived.

Maybe the Voeburt people knew of the Dragon but perhaps it's long since died or slain by sineaters?