I think being catchy is actually a big part of a lot of the input here. There are plenty of high magic fantasy RPG's on the market. You've got to stand out from the competition in order to make an impact and catch someone's eye. Earthdawn has a lot of unique elements going for it once you crack open the books and start reading, but with only a split second to try and get someone's attention with the cover, displaying a bit more of those aspects visually necessary in order to get them to that point. It's a lovely piece of work, and I don't think anyone here has stated otherwise, but there are definitely ways to make it more unique to Earthdawn.
I also realize it may be too late to make any changes now. However, I do think it's still a good idea to discuss them, in order to get the thoughts out in the open for future development. There are plenty more Earthdawn books scheduled to come out with the massive success on the Kickstarter campaign, and each one is going to need a cover. I haven't fully agreed with every suggestion for this cover, but I do think most of them are good ideas, and I know I'd like to see several of them applied on other books. For example, while the fleet of airships idea is cool, I think it might be overcrowding this cover a bit, since there is already a lot going on. However, a fleet of merchant ships flying in the skyline above Travar on its upcoming sourcebook is a definite thumbs up.
As a brief aside on the female character inclusion, since that has been mentioned several times; gender equality is something we're really looking at to make sure it's included through out the writing in the 1879 material, and I just want to say that it is reassuring to know that this is something the fanbase is actively looking for, beyond just being something important to us.
