It's because they are doing it as the very last:

"Hi

Thank you for contacting us with your question.

When it comes to scheduling future expansions, we are currently hoping to release Blood Moon early next year.

As for the Dragons expansion we haven't got a planned date for that one yet as we're going look at doing the other expansions first.

Hope this has answered your question

From

The Nomad Games Team"

Well, at least this is sort of confirmation that Blood Moon is coming next, and relatively soon.

But seriously, I don't understand all of the animus against the Dragon. It has one of the coolest themes in the game-not one- but three unique dragons fighting each other as the game progresses and in turn claiming plots of the land as their own. The dragons help boost characters faster and there are lots of goodies among the three decks. Drawing tokens really isn't that big of a deal IMO, and methinks this fan base protests a little too much.

But yeah, we are likely not going to see Dragon for 2-3 years. But hey, Halloween comes during Spring next year.

I would guess that, in addition to being the most controversial of the expansions, that it would also require the most time and resources. Of all the expansions, the Dragon expansion changes the mechanics of Talisman the most and therefore would require the most work.

The Dragon is indeed a great expansion that suffers from a lack of clarity in its rules, especially as related to the Alternative Endings and Dragon Tower Region.

I believe it is the expansion that is most in need of a FAQ, so I understand they are waiting until the FAQ comes out before starting work on it. Less backtracking on their part. I believe the lead developer even said there will be "burninating" in the future.

Except for Artaterxes, nobody else likes the Dragon (he claimed that he likes it, so it is the truth).

People don't like this expansion, because it eats a lot of time with all of the token drawings and managing them. Sometimes people even forget drawing them... People also don't like it because either one plays the Talisman, or plays the Dragon, but cannot play that two games at once.

In the Digital Edition most of issues with this expansion probably would be fixed, but still - people remember that they don't like this expansion, and Nomads can see that. And that is why it will be released later, when other (more wanted) expansions will come out.

I like it too...

You both are the exception that proves the rule. .

People also don't like it because either one plays the Talisman, or plays the Dragon, but cannot play that two games at once.

That's a complete myth, you can use the dragon expansion along with all other expansions simultaneously, and while using alternative endings. You don't have to use the dragon ending only when using the expansion set.

And I like it just fine as well. It just has its quirks.

Well, good or bad, both sides can admit that it is the least liked. That is reason enough to keep it last on the agenda. Why take the gamble when the other expansions are a sure thing?

XD Nemo, nobody likes The Dragon except for me. I admit, it's not too popular...

But here are some reasons why I think The Dragon is...super cool.

1. It's the only expansion that changes the endgame scenario in the core rules. With three possible final bosses!

2. The board starts out neutral, but dragons slowly invade the land, targeting where you spend the most time. Challenge or run. Tense!

3. Defeating dragons and cultists makes you stronger against their masters by collecting their scales. How cool is that?

4. Ascending a tower filled with dragons as the endgame scenario? Yes, please!

5. It realizes it's complex, and thus includes Endings to satisfy every type of itch for dragon goodness!

- The full standard rules for players who want an epic quest.

- Domain of Dragons for a lighter set of rules but all components used.

- Dragon Slayers for those who want to take down all the Draconic Lords without any other fuss.

- Dragon King for those who just want to fight a single big dragon.

Can't use The Dragon with alternate endings? Too complex to use every game? Don't worry about it! Play with the full campaign sometimes , and the rest of the time, mix in (or choose) your Dragon Alternative Endings to get a Dragon experience without all the fuss of the full rules!

That's just my opinion...I don't think I'll convince everyone lol.

I like the Dragon. I may be one who house rules a bit, but we are completist in the sense of owning and using ALL expansions. I have no particular stakes in the Digital game, but I think as someone said, it must be used as its own campaign and not to integrate with most of the other expansions, or at least with the other alternate endings. Or house rule.

Besides being a completist its also a manner of FFG's intention. It does indicate that Dragon is/should be compatible with all other expansions and aspects of Talisman. Now of course we know that a new and updated FAQ is sorely needed, especially in respect to a number of Dragon aspects, mechanics, etc.

Can't use The Dragon with alternate endings?

You can, and to disallow it would violate the Dragon rules, which states "The Dragon expansion can be used with any Talisman expansion". If you couldn't use Alternate Endings with it, then you couldn't ever use the Nether Realms expansion. If you thought the rage was evident over The Shaman towards Nomad, just imagine if they take the time to make the Dragon expansion and then you were forced to only use the Confronting the Dragon King ending, or Domain of Dragons or Dragon Slayers. You couldn't even use one of the Alternate Endings that comes with the expansion (Dragon King). People would freak out if they made it like that.

The only thing that is removed when using any other Alternative Ending is the ending itself where you fight the reigning Dragon King, that's it. And that is all that happens normally when you use an Alternative Ending in the first place, the standard ending is replaced. If people select to use a Hidden or Revealed Ending option when setting up a game, they can still choose to Include the Standard Ending, which in this case is the dragon one, just like they can today. There is simply no good reason if the Dragon expansion is enabled and players are drawing dragon tokens and placing scales that you can't meet the Ice Queen or use the Sacred Pool ending at the same time.

That's why in my Forever Talisman Rules (another shameless plug getting good at these) I've made the rule you never play with the full Dragon rules. You still play with characters and the endings of course and I've made domain of dragons a higher ending choice, thus making some of the Dragon characters that little bit better to take as starting characters and allowing the use of some of The Dragons rule more likely.

I agree that players of the Digital Edition will be disappointed if full rules are not allowed with Alternative Endings.
However, players will grow weary if forced to use the full rules every game.

One option for the Digital Edition is to add the new characters and endings when the expansion itself is enabled, but give a separate option to turn the full rules on or off. This will allow any Alternative Ending to be played with basic rules or Dragon rules, with the exception of Domain of Dragons which would always be played with components as described.

But truthfully this will also be difficult for Nomad to make. The Dragon rules are quite complex, so optimizing them for a single (standard) ending will be enough work as it is. Ensuring that The Dragon rules work with all endings will likely be an incredible amount of work, and at the very least it will delay the expansion significantly.

Moreover, Nomad cannot anticipate future endings, and honestly Alternative Endings are usually developed without being very "Dragon friendly." Not out of spite, but just simply because the creative freedom of an ending will be constrained if forced to fit in with such complex rules from an older expansion. So, even if Nomad commits to the massive undertaking of coding Dragon rules with Alternative Endings, the cardboard version will likely not make the same effort, and thus Nomad will have backed themselves into a corner trying to meld The Dragon with endings that weren't developed for it. I can easily see it snowballing into a problem.

So while it might make a good house rule for the cardboard game, where players can fill in the gaps without being perfect, I think it will be a nightmare for the Digital Edition. Fans could indeed be angry if after they purchase the game, they can't use the full rules whenever they please. But if they are clearly instructed before purchase how to use the features, then I think they'll be fine. I bet most will still purchase it anyway because they can appreciate the forethought.

While the Dragon expansion is the only one my friends and I won't play with (The token drawing is too time consuming and tedious.) I'm very much looking forward to the digital version of it. I'm hoping that the digital version speeds things along and makes it easier took keep track of the token drawing. I also love the Dragon cards and hate not using them.

That being said, I have completely fallen in love with the Harbinger expansion? And I wouldn't mind if Dragon came after that one!

It's not definitely going to be last. We never think more than the next two expansions ahead. One of them has to be last though.

Dragons can kill you very fast! However, while I do not like Dragons as is, I like it with variants, but with Harbinger, I like Dragons as is, because while the Dragons are dangerous they are safer than the Harbinger!

It's not definitely going to be last. We never think more than the next two expansions ahead. One of them has to be last though.

Not if we never stop making expansions ;-P

And some of us have plenty of ideas. I think the future is small expansions that get no or few Adventure cards to mix into the deck - like Harbinger.

I'm fascinated with Vampires and also female characters/NPCs. Why not a female Queen of Darkness/Vampires NPC? Since Harbinger enhanced or furthered the concept of Terrain cards, why not further the concept of Day/Night mechanics?

Queen of Darkness starts in the Graveyard and moves only when a Lunar Event happens (so more Lunar events!). I have an idea that I can't quite further myself, around the idea of "Midnight". Midnight is invoked when after all players have moved after a Lunar/Event brings the night (or last Lunar event since multiples can happen in a round), and each player can opt to make it Midnight, by paying a Fate (or a Dark Fate, perhaps, so Woodlands tie in as well?).

Once it is Midnight, no other event or lunar event can change to sunlight, at least until after a full round of Midnight (or be evil and make it 2 full rounds?)

Midnight: Except for Good players, all others add + 1 to any non-movement die roll (or 1 per turn). Also at Midnight, Spirits are invulnerable to Spirit killing devices (but not battles)

To make the Queen different from other NPCs, perhaps her movements are (determined by whoever pulled the Lunar event), she only moves 1 space at a time. Or maybe not.

But when she lands on a player, they roll:

1 = All followers (exclude horses, mules, etc.?) are spirited to the Vampire's Tower (discarded)

2 = Lose a life

3 = Hypnotised! Lose a turn and/or lose a Magic Object (discard)

4 = Move to the Graveyard

5 = Move to Cursed Glade

6 = Receive Vampiric Talisman (new card for the set, you always have at least 1 life?)

That's about as far as I got - but as a Boss she would have the usual 12/12, or maybe 13/13. Perhaps if she moves one space at a time, she is heading for the Tower and if she gets there, she wins, or something else happens - all players must fight her psychically, wherever they are?

Enjoy or tear to shreds! LOL.

I want every piece of Talisman in both physical and digital form (already there with the physical side!), and I don't care what order I get them in

Also worth noting, while Blood Moon is coming in the Spring, they have a decent amount of work done on the City!

It's not definitely going to be last. We never think more than the next two expansions ahead. One of them has to be last though.

Not if we never stop making expansions ;-P

And long may they continue!

It's not definitely going to be last. We never think more than the next two expansions ahead. One of them has to be last though.

Not if we never stop making expansions ;-P

And long may they continue!

I think we can all clink our overflowing tavern mead mugs together to this. ;-)

Add me to the list of people who enjoy and play with The Dragon.

We like to play with the Dragon Tower and when not using that, we use the Dragon Realm overlay.

As for alternate ending we just ignore the top card of the tower and treat it as the crown space. It has very little conflict when using alternate endings.

Most of the time the alt endings that need a house call are the ending from the dragon box itself; you can see the ending are intended for playing with or without the overlay or tower specifically. Kind of weird.

With the digital edition I feel the biggest complaint about the Dragon expansion is solved; that is having to often reference the slightly complicated rules when drawing tokens and from the dragon decks. With all of that done for you it makes things much more simple.

The expansion has a lot of potential; take your Dragon Priestess one game and go to the city and troll it with dragons all over the place. Last time I did this I "teamed up" with the Spider Queen to make some people at the table very angry

and as as far as i'm concerned with my stakes in the digital edition. After The City is finished....

The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion The Nether Realm Expansion

......a third of this expansion is in the game, and it rocks. That Pandora's Box ending is just amazing.

I have no particular stakes in the Digital game,

This has to change. Perks: 1.) Playing your friends on the forums here! 2.) Soooooo many DLC characters. I think a total of 13, not in the hard copy. I'm a big fan of the Black Witch because it's just downright nasty, but some of the more off the wall editions like the Gambler make for fun games. He starts with Fate 6!

I want every piece of Talisman in both physical and digital form (already there with the physical side!), and I don't care what order I get them in

Also worth noting, while Blood Moon is coming in the Spring, they have a decent amount of work done on the City!

Do you really have everything in the physical form? Do you even have these:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/67054/talisman-fourth-edition-crown-command

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/67056/talisman-4th-edition-revised-danse-macabre

I want every piece of Talisman in both physical and digital form (already there with the physical side!), and I don't care what order I get them in

Also worth noting, while Blood Moon is coming in the Spring, they have a decent amount of work done on the City!

Do you really have everything in the physical form? Do you even have these:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/67054/talisman-fourth-edition-crown-command

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/67056/talisman-4th-edition-revised-danse-macabre

Ok, so I don't have those in physical form (I don't think they were ever sold?) However, I do use those endings. Everyone hates The Horrible Black Void so we house rule that to be the normal Crown ending. Then we use one of the revealed variant endings to be Danse Macabre.