"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.
