Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Pet of the Week - Peddlefeet

peddlefeet is the lovable goblin "cupid", and is obtained during the 'love is in the air' in-game festival. i was lucky enough to get peddlefeet before festival revamp when the only way to obtain the pet was through a RNG drop from v-day gifts. it was THE last night of the event and i was doing my hourly rounds of kissing guards and hoping to get lucky. and what do you know? TA-DA! to my relief i opened a gift and it had peddlefeet waiting inside for me. goes to show the RNG gods CAN be kind :P

why i love it
peddlefeet is just a neat pet. er, if you can call him that? i'm not sure goblins enjoy being called pets. well he's definitely a one of a kind of... something. lol.

he holds sentimental value for me more than anything else. the fact that i was lucky enough to receive the pet under RNG circumstances is something that i hold dear.

what i would change
i'd love to see peddlefeet do a shooting animation on random players or even on the owner. it might get a bit annoying though, having a random heart pop up above your head lol.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Goodies For a Good Cause

mmo-champ reports that blizzard is partaking in an auction to help raise money for the Peninsula Education Foundation and the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD). PVPUSD is a school district located in LA, California and includes 11 elementary schools, 3 junior high schools, and 3 high schools.

the bundle of items up for bid includes:
- World of Warcraft Collector's Edition (Signed by the Development Team);
- World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Collector's Editions (Signed by the Development Team);
- World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition (Signed by the Development Team);
- World of Warcraft TCG Etheral Plunderer Loot Card;
- World of Warcraft TCG Spectral Tiger Loot Card;
- World of Warcraft TCG Spectral Kitten Loot Card;
- World of Warcraft 1 year Subscription Card;
- World of Warcraft Gryphon Hatchling Plushie with In-game Companion;
- World of Warcraft Wind Rider Cub Plushie with In-game Companion.

that's 7 non-combat pets, a mount, plus a year's worth of game time. not to mention each of the expansion packs and the original WoW game itself.

at the time of this writing there are 7 bids and the highest is $1,600.00. the auction ends on Apr. 26, 2010 at 10:00 PM PDT. not bad so far!

it's a little steep for my budget (that's an understatement lol), but it's good to see blizzard using their means for a good cause. i'm pretty eager to see how much the ending bid is. oh the suspense! one lucky person is going to end up with a whole lot of companion pets on their hands, and i have to admit i'm a bit jealous :P

good luck to those who love to collect and have the income to submit a bid. know that your contribution is heading for a good cause. blizzard deserves a pat on the back for helping support the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District too. with the education budget cuts, any little bit of help can make a big difference.

2010 Arena Tournament - No New Pet

"While it would be cool to provide a new pet, we're not necessarily trying to encourage as many people as possible to pay $20 and sign up for this tournament ultimately because they want a new pet. It's a nice perk to encourage people, but we don't want the Arena Tournament to be a more complicated version of the Pet Store. We want players who are serious about competing to sign up for the tournament, not just a reason to take in more money through offering a new vanity pet with each new tournament." - zarhym

blizzard nailed it right on the head this time. it's great to see that they do recognize how big of a deal the online PetStore is and how far some are willing to go just for new vanity items.

had they created a new pet for the 2010 arena tournament, it would be difficult for anyone to believe that they AREN'T taking advantage of the collecting community. $20 to enter into a tournament that some have 0 interest in, save for the non-combat companion reward? yea, i would have liked to see blizzard talk their way out of that one. the store is one thing, but when it comes to PVP and PVE/vanity, there is a definite line there.

so kudos to blizzard for making the right decision; promote the actual event, not the rewards. those who are interested in arenas and PVP will enjoy it that much more, and pet collectors will have one less new companion to stress spending real life money over (while doing an activity that they may or may not enjoy, aka pvp). it may lead to less of a profit for blizzard, but it's the "right" thing to do in this situation.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

This Is... PVP!

mmo-champ reports that a new arena tournament season will be starting soon. it costs $20 to register for the 2010 season, but pvp'ers and pet collectors rejoice! according to the official rules and faq page, Murkimus the Gladiator will be available again for those who participate.
- Players can earn the exclusive Armored Murloc pet for their live characters.

- Players who participate in at least 50 rated tournament games on one character and with the same team during the last four weeks of the online qualifier will be eligible for the Armored Murloc pet for their live characters.

for the full faq: click me!

remember that the catch is you must play 50 rated games during the LAST FOUR WEEKS of the online qualifier. the arena tournie as also only for 3v3, so you'll need two others in order to create a team and enter. one last thing, if you leave your team for any reason or switch during the last four weeks, your previous games will be void and you'll have to start over again and re-work your way up to 50 rated matches.

as much as i love murky and all forms of the cute little guy, i've already spent enough money for the next few months. plus PVP is just not my thing :P

Fly Me Away


i was lucky enough to be gifted with the rocket chicken tonight! thank you, a million times, thank you! i absolutely LOVE its "chance on" explosion, but at the same time i feel a little guilty hoping that it'll fly up and explode. lol.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Pet of the Week - Brown Prairie Dog

the brown prairie dog is sold exclusively by a tauren in thunderbluff. i've always wanted a little prairie dog, but for a while it was out of my reach. i managed to obtain this pet pre-character creation change, when you could only create toons for either horde or alliance on any given server. this was one of the horde pets that i made a point to stop by and pick up while my horde account was still active.

why i love it
the prairie dog is cute in its simplicity, and i adore the way it grooms itself. it's so shy and timid looking, and i don't blame them. being such small creatures yet hanging around such large tauren and kodo. it must make for some nerve-wracking moments. ('earthquake! this is not a drill! everyone back to the burrow!') i can't help but be taken by these little critters whenever i zoom in and look into its tiny black eyes.

what i would change
a model upgrade would be splendid for this pet. atm, it seems pretty blocky and there are angles that just shouldn't exist on a prairie dog. an idle animation such as burrowing into the ground would also be a nice addition to this older companion. i can just imagine it digging down and then popping its head up to see if it's safe to come out again. ;)

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Vanity Fun For Everyday Chores

as i was running around doing my normal dailies in dalaran, cooking and fishing, i thought to myself, 'i'd like some variety instead of having just this one pet out the entire time, but it's such a hassle to have to stop and summon a new random pet.'

i'm currently using the random macro (thank you warcraftpets.com!) to summon a random companion, however i felt the need to take it one step further.

with just a couple extra lines of simple script, i edited my current random pet summon macro to activate whenever i mount or press it to dismount:
#showtooltip
/run CallCompanion("CRITTER", random(GetNumCompanions("CRITTER")))
/use Great Purple Elekk
of course i still use the random summon macro for times when i can't mount up, but now i can have even more pet fun while continuing to be efficient in everyday activities! it's great to have a random non-combat pet out with me to make all those mundane and boring dailies more enjoyable. :D

Friday, April 16, 2010

Balancing Act

the whole lil' xt commotion makes me wonder how blizzard will address the growing concern that only money will get the "better" pets. again, better, best, etc. is all relative. in general when i say "better pet" i mean in terms of how rare it is (fairly rare, not quite TCG rare but not vendor common), how unique it is (something original instead of a recycled version of an existing companion), and the quality of the pet (interacts with a wide range of emotes or other items and is graphically well-done).

for those who didn't or can't buy Lil' XT and other Blizzard PetStore items, what would be an in-game equivalent of paying $10 for a "well-made", "super cool", "better" FREE non-combat companion? a new pet-rewarded quest? farmed companions? vendored ones? specific instance drops? something else that no one has thought of yet?

paying $10, in my eyes, for a pet would almost be the same as receiving a pet as a reward for doing a semi-epic quest chain like the sprite darter questline or the mechanical chicken chain. these pets took a little research and i had to go off the beaten path in order to start and finish. in the end it was worth it though.

the quest would make the pet rare/unique for a while, or at least until news of it spread via word of mouth. but being a long chain, it would create an adventure which would add to the companion's charm and quality.

i mean, provided that the pet is actually worth the time and effort to do the entire quest. going out of my way for another vanilla-style cat that does absolutely nothing and is colored the same as say the siamese cat would not be considered the equivalent of paying $10 in my book. the pet would need to be new and fresh and not a recycled version of an already existing in-game companion.

and of course, keeping in mind with the generalized "better" definition, the new quest pet would have to be more interactive in order to be on par with a PetStore companion. more pixels are nice too.

i enjoy all the pets that blizzard has released thus far. the newer ones may have more more detail, but this cannot replace the sentimental value of the older pets who may not be as interactive or shiny. this is why i make it a point to include all pets, old and new at random, in my weekly review of each non-combat companion.

even so, i would still like to see blizzard take steps to find balance with the sale of virtual goods and the availability of "free" virtual goods of similar excellence.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

A Divided Community

as expected, the release of lil' xt and the celestial steed has the WoW community and pet collecting community in a buzz. some are ok with the idea of paying-to-pet, while others feel it's a poor decision on blizzard's part.

the big question that hangs over my head as i contemplate the wider and wider selection of vanity items being sold online for real money, is: 'is this right?' "right" and "wrong" are very vague and often subjective ideas though. perhaps a better way to pose the question is, 'is this ethical?'

Action Figure Fun


color me psychic! ok well psychic's a little too much. maybe just good timing :P

i JUST updated my comment over at warcraftpets.com yesterday about hoping for an update on the Lil' XT, Celestial Dragon, and Frigid Frostling soon. and what do you know? ta-da! Lil' XT's available for purchase from the blizzard store today ($10 each). one out of three isn't too bad. :)

i've yet to see this non-combat pet do his infamous tantrum, but he does sleep and exercise as shown in mmo-champ's video. i also haven't tested any emotes on him yet, but i'll find some time to get around to it.

a huge thank you to the one and only who gifted this newest companion to me. less than three!


**edit 1107 am: apparently lil' xt doesn't play nice with the clockwork rocket bot and the blue clockwork rocket bot! when one comes close, lil' xt will cast and kill the other companions and then exclaim either "i think i broke it!" or "i guess it doesn't bend that way!" the warbot doesn't have any effect on lil' xt for some strange reason though.

**edit 1148 am: lil' xt will tantrum when a toy train set is placed near him. he's a bigger, more bad-ass version of the wind-up train wrecker (although lil' xt does it unintentionally :P)!

**edit 1226 pm: he ends up breaking the crashin' thrashin' racer and the blue crashin' thrashin' racer too. lil' xt just can't seem to play well with his toys.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Falling Out of Love


even after much testing, coaxing and suggesting on my part, it looks as if the plump turkey and spring rabbit have fallen out of love. :(

prior to this year's noblegarden event these two unlikely lovers happily mated and produced cute little baby bunnies, much like when two spring rabbits find love with each other. why the plump turkey and spring rabbit had bunny babies only and not mutant cross species children is a mystery.

but alas, it seems that it was only a spring fling. when placed next to each other now, there are no sparks of love, no hearts, and much to my dismay... no baby bunnies. they are strangers to each other again.

it's always sad when blizzard corrects a fun and amusing mistake, but i guess it was only right. turkeys and rabbits weren't meant to be afterall.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Pet of the Week - Jubling

i acquired jubling during the molten core days when blackrock depths wasn't as easily solo'ed as it is today. at first i didn't even know of this frog's existence, as it was still quite rare to see anyone with it. after some research and instance solo'ing tips from a guildie, i was a proud owner of jubling's unhatched egg! then the 7 day wait began lol.

why i love it
this amphibian is on the larger side compared to its fellow froggy/toad friends. it's no surprise to me since the jubling loves beer! it's gotta have the weight to be able to handle all that alcohol it drinks :P

it's always amusing to watch the jubling literally climb the walls to quench its thirst and love for ale. although... i must admit that it's actually been a while since i last traveled to blackrock depths to pick up a few dark iron ale mugs for my jub-jub. my poor frog has not had a treat in a while.

what i would change
a "drunk" animation would definitely be a nice addition whenever the jubling drinks a little too much. i can imagine it seeing stars, flipping over onto its back and falling fast asleep. hey, even heavy weights will feel the effects of alcohol if they drink enough :P

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Thor Animations and... Diablo 3

there's still no video on the starcraft 2 WoW non-combat pet yet, but here are just a few animation ideas that would be neat:
- Thor teams up with grunty and fights the zergling
- Thor takes "lead" and commands grunty around
- Thor takes on the zergling on his own and an epic battle ensues
- doing the "robot dance" while idle (lol? ok so a mech suit isn't exactly the same as being a robot :P)
- Thor meeting another Thor leading to a whole lot of "i'm a better Thor than you!" talk or animations
- an animation relating to the actual old god himself (lightning, hammers, etc.)
that's all i can think of right now. i can't wait to see what blizzard has in store for us!

after the news about a world of warcraft companion pet being released with the purchase of a CE of SC2, i started wondering about blizzard's other big name game: diablo 3. much like SC2, there's no official release date for diablo 3, but it wouldn't surprise me if they also released a special WoW non-combat pet with the CE version of the new diablo.

there's already a diablo inspired in-game pet, mini tyrael, so it would be awesome if the CE of diablo 3 came with a companion that was either an ally or enemy of tyrael. mini-pet battles, go! (gosh i'm feeling more and more like a pokemon trainer every day :P)

Friday, April 9, 2010

Starcraft 2 and... WoW?

what on earth could starcraft 2 have to do with companion pets in WoW?

mmo-champ reports that the collector's edition of starcraft 2 will also come with a slew of other goodies, INCLUDING *insert drumroll* a new WoW vanity pet!

the new pet will be a miniature version of Thor, a new unit featured in SC2. mmo-champ has a video up of Thor as it is in starcraft 2. there's no preview for the in-game pet version yet. hopefully we'll be seeing it soon!

while i'm not a huge starcraft fan, i have a friend who is. hopefully i'll be able to talk my way into being gifted the Thor in-game pet. although i'm not entirely sure if those who buy the CE edition of starcraft 2 will even be able to give away the pets or if they will be permanently tied to the battle.net account for which SC2 was bought for. if the latter is the case, then i guess no Thor pet for me. :( i love my pets, but i'm not going to shell out $100 for a game that i don't even really enjoy just for the noncombat companion.

being unable to sell, give away, or trade the pet would also make it a pretty useless bonus feature for starcraft junkies who have zero interest in world of warcraft. well, we'll see what happens.

as of right now starcraft 2 does not have an official release date, but i'll be sure to bug my friend to start looking out for the CE pre-order or in-store reservation. :)

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Best Wishes

WarcraftPets.com has been such a huge factor and aid in my companion-collecting success, so i just wanted to take some time and wish WarcraftPets.com a happy third anniversary! i would be so lost without this site. i have a hard enough time keeping track of all my non-combat pets in game!

a huge thank you and /hug to breanni and all the mods who take care of our collection tracking needs. may there be many more bright years of companion pet collecting, announcing, and obsessing ahead!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Pet of the Week - Mojo

mojo is the lovable blue frog from zul'aman. i was one of the last in my guild to get this pet, but i was fortunate enough to have friends who were willing to give up their hex sticks so i could have extra attempts. :)

why i love it
despite mojo having the same model, different coloring as the four other frog pets, you can interact with mojo! blow him a kiss and suddenly you're a frog yourself. talk about spreading "warts" :P

one thing that i adored pre-wotlk was that you could mount and /kiss him while mounted. doing so would turn you into a frog sitting upon a GIANT mount. since the release of wotlk though, they've fixed this bug.

another bug that i enjoyed but has since been fixed is the bug where shapeshifting while a frog would turn you into a different colored frog each time.

lastly, an interesting thing that they have not fixed yet is that druids can shapeshift into bird form, sit down, and /kiss mojo. ever see a flying frog? it's great!

what i would change
while i understand that giant mounts with frogs riding them could cause gameplay issues, i don't see how a shapeshifting druid changing frog colors could hurt. please give me back my chameleon-like frog form!

other than that, i wouldn't change a thing. the model is outdated and the vocalizations aren't anything special or new, but the way players can interact with this pet makes up for these things in my opinion.
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Perks N Peeves by Quintessence is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.