Small TCG Change?

"Cryptozoic Entertainment just launched its first set since taking on the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game." - worldofwarcraft.com

as you may remember, blizzard ended their TCG contract with upper deck entertainment and has since then signed up with cryptozoic entertainment for all their TCG organizing and printing needs.

not much has changed since cryptozoic entertainment took over. the loot cards are still in print, still randomly placed in packs, and are still redeemable. however, i must make a note of one particular change that does affect pet collectors.

upper deck entertainment had a point system in which buyers of cards could redeem a set amount of points for rare items, one being landro's pet box. while under upper deck management, this item had the chance of dropping 6 random items, 3 of which were companion pets (bananas, ethereal soul-trader, and dragon kite).

now under cryptozoic entertainment's care, the TCG Wrath Gate set includes landro's pet box, but under a new name: Landro’s Gift (a "common" loot card). this loot card is still good for one box that holds a random item within it, but it must be noted that unlike upper deck's pet box cryptozoic's pet box DOES NOT include any companion pets.

"The common Loot is Landro’s Gift. More often than not, you’ll receive Papa Hummel’s Pet Biscuit, Path of Cenarius, or Sandbox Tiger from it. [...] If you’re lucky, you’ll receive the Saltwater Snapjaw Riding Turtle, the Red Bearon Battle Bear, or the X-51 Nether Rocket! [...] Oh, did I forget to mention your character could loot a Spectral Tiger from Landro’s Gift!?" - source

they seem to have replaced the pets with mounts instead. have no fear, there are still a few ebay listings for upper deck entertainment pet boxes if you're willing to try your luck. make sure to read the full listing before purchasing though. if in doubt whether or not you are buying the original landro's pet box or the new one, ask the seller.

well i'm glad that the transition from upper deck entertainment to cryptozoic entertainment was relatively smooth. i must admit i'm a little disappointed about the change to landro's pet box (it would have been awesome to loot a dragon kite or soul-trader!), but that's just how it goes.

i can't wait to see what pets (if any) the next TCG set has in store for us!

Pet of the Week - Toothy

this week's review is on toothy, a crocolisk pet obtained through the outlands fishing daily. (i'm actually breaking my rule of randomly selecting a pet to write about this time because companions with back stories are just so much more fun to gush about. :P) toothy is a very significant pet for me, even if he's one of four croc pets. the moment i learned of his existence from the PTR, i was very anxious to start doing the fishing dailies. once the server came up on patch day, i made a bee line straight for old man barlo. after completing the quest i received my reward and what do you know? lady luck was on my side that day! toothy had a new home with me and i had my very first croc pet. for the rest of the day i was on cloud nine with nearly everything going "right." toothy has always been a sort of good luck charm or good luck reminder since then. :)

why i love it
obviously the sentimental reasons outweigh any sort of superficial or cosmetic appeal i may have for toothy. but i must say that i absolutely adore his sort of baby grumble vocalization (on-click). i bet the developers had a blast coming up with what a baby crocolisk would sound like!

he's also such a cheerful little guy, always smiling that toothy grin of his. (harr harr :P) it's hard not to enjoy his company.

what i would change
to be honest, i can't really think of anything. an animation for this pet would be cool but what does a crocolisk do outside of basking in the sun and swimming all day?

All's Quiet... For Now

things have been slow in terms of pet collecting news. alpha testing for cataclysm is currently underway but we've yet to see or hear any news about possible companions due to the NDA policy that's still in effect.

in the mean time, the next big in-game holiday is the midsummer fire festival, which collectors like myself are anxiously anticipating. this event brings the scorchling and spirit of summer to azeroth!

unlike previous years and other holidays, this is one event where i'm hoping they DON'T add a new vanity pet that drops off of the holiday boss due to the change in how holiday bosses and their vanity items will be handled.

i'm still strongly opposed to this change for the time being. however, my hope is that blizzard has heard and has compassion for the collecting community and will offer some sort of compromise/compensation such as a much higher drop rate for vanity items off the holiday bosses.

if they add a new pet that is acquired in the same fashion as the spirit of summer (aka: gathering holiday currency to purchase the companion), i would actually be satisfied with that. i can handle grinding items and "farming". it's closer to being a guarantee (not quite a guarantee though) than a low drop rate from a bag that can only be obtained once a day. working diligently and being determined enough to obtain a non-combat pet feels so much more rewarding than hoping RNG will be in your favor. i'm not sure where blizzard got the idea that the majority of people actually find RNG fun (in any situation, not just collecting items).

well, we'll see what happens come midsummer fire festival. the forums will either be ablaze (see what i did thar? :P) with outcries of dissatisfaction, or they will be relatively calm if blizzard somehow manages to find a balance amongst the majority of communities out there.

for now i'll just continue to sit in dalaran and play with the current pets that i have. it takes a lot of work to go through 132 pets to make sure each one gets some loving!

Pet of the Week - Whiskers the Rat

whiskers the rat is one of the three original children's week quest rewards. i must admit that i chose him last out of the three. what can i say? the other two just seemed cuter. ^^;

why i love it
at first, the thought of a rat didn't appeal to me. but after meeting whiskers, i've come to adore these furry rodents (at least in game). i love the way he's constantly active; looking around and washing his face. this rat is probably the cleanest one in game!

the fact that he also does tricks (plays dead) is also really interesting. i wonder who taught him that because it certainly wasn't me! a smart rat indeed.

what i would change
for one of the vanilla companion pets, i'd say whiskers is pretty complete. the only extra thing i would add would be along the same idea as cat and dog/wolf pets chasing each other. rats/mice and cats not getting along too! just think of it: whiskers being chased by a siamese cat who's being chased by the perky pug. it satisfies my sadistic side :3

Profession Pets In Cataclysm

unfortunately, mmo-champion had to take down the lovely screenshots of many of the new cataclysm creatures, critters, and possible pets, but a blue post has given us some goodies about professions to speculate over:

engineering

Engineering is still being designed, but expect new unpredictable gadgets to use on yourself or enemies. Toys, explosives, and even a new vanity pet or two. Oh, and powerful mechanical bows and crossbows in addition to guns.

enchanting

An enchanter vanity pet is being added.

i expected new engineering pets for cataclysm, but color me surprised about the enchanting pet! that's going to be a doozy, i'm sure.

what worries me slightly, though, is that these new pets may be limited to their professions only (bind on pick up) for the first year or two, and then blizzard will eventually feel the need to switch it up and make it bind on equip. i hope they know how this is slightly disheartening for both those that can craft the limited-time-profession-exclusive pets and to those that who can't.

why can't the profession pets be either bind on pick up or bind on equip? why must there be a change? with a sudden switch in how these pets are obtained, those who worked hard on gathering mats, leveling the profession, getting the pet recipes, etc. will feel a bit cheated. as if all their hard work and dedication was for nothing, because in the end everyone will have it. those who don't have the profession will rejoice in the end, but in the mean time will be upset that they have to wait for the pet to become bind on equip. if only blizzard would choose one way or the other instead of changing their minds.

personally, i'd prefer the bind on equip profession pets. i went through the experience of dropping one profession to engineering, leveling engineering up to the correct skill level, gathering the mats and pet recipes, crafting and learning the pets, and then switching back and maxing out my original profession (all in one night!), and after undergoing that massive adventure i can definitely say i'd rather not do it again.

it stung quite a bit when blizzard announced the lil' smoky and pet bombling change shortly after i made the switch and switch back. part of me enjoyed the challenge but another part groaned and said 'if only i had waited just a little longer, i could have gotten the pets without having to pick up engineering!' my blood, sweat, and tears put into it all felt like it was devalued once the pets became available to everyone.

we'll see what blizzard decides come cataclysm. in the end i may wind up doing another switch and switch back since i just can't resist companion pets!

Pet of the Week - Durotar Scorpion

the durotar scorpion is one of the 5 horde argent tournament companion pets. as i mentioned before, i was lucky enough to find a horde trading partner on my server. we both had a definite interest in the non-combat pets, so we agreed to exchange one for one whenever we both had enough champion seals. it was a very sweet deal, and one that i'm very grateful for!

why i love it
well i adore just about any creature to critter to companion pet transition. especially one as feisty as the durotar scorpion! it's quite amusing to see it pause as we're running along, and try to take aim at me with his tail. the poison doesn't actually hurt, and most of the time it will whiz right past my head while we're moving.

interesting observation though: poison animation doesn't actually start from its tail! just before the green glob is hurled towards you, a green glow can be seen emanating from the scorpion's mouth. strange, huh?

what i would change
the only thing i can think of at this time that i would change would be the lack of sound from this pet. the classic bug/scorpid scratchy voice as you pass by it made into miniature form for the durotar scorpion would have been a nice final touch.

Mini-Thor Video Preview

mmo-champion has another goodie up on their website for pet collectors. it's our first look at a video preview of mini-thor!

the animations seem pretty tame so far, but there's no telling how thor will interact with other companion pets in-game. it'll be a surprise and we'll just have to wait and see what happens when mini-thor comes face to face with a mini zergling!

unfortunately i'm still unsure whether or not i or a friend of mine will be investing in the sc2 collector's edition. personally, i'm waiting for news from blizzard if the in-game pet will be redeemable by any battle.net account, or if it will be permanently tied to the sc2 user that installs the collector's edition game. we'll just have to wait and see.

the previews of mini-thor have me excited either way though!

Wishing and Hoping

as i was going through some of the cataclysm screenshots that mmo-champion currently has up, i found a couple creatures that i would love to see made into non-combat companion pets! (preferably mini/baby versions but adult pets are ok too :P)

wtb: fox pet!
wtb: (sea?) snail pet!

the new deep sea murloc looks really cool too. i'm having a harder time imagining it in baby version, though. ^^;

and of course, the mastiff that was revealed during blizzcon 2009 looks awesome as ever. i wonder if it will run around and chase the cat companions... yes please!

Mini-Thor Preview

mmo-champion gives us our first look at the SC2 collector's edition world of warcraft noncombat pet! check out thor!

the dark on dark color scheme makes it a little difficult to see it properly in the screenshot, but it's looking pretty neat so far! i'm eager to see a video of it in action.

A Word From Our Sponsors

one last comment on the northrend orphan quest bug: it's good to see our money spent on Blizzard PetStore pets going to good use!

.....kidding! (or am i? ^_~)

this post was just an excuse to make use of my new "does not approve" picture :x

No Love For the Children

"Update: We are aware of the issue that is currently affecting the Children’s Week quest line in Dalaran which does not allow players who have completed the quest line last year to take part in it again this year. We do not currently have a fix planned to address this issue at this point in time." - Aredek

"To clarify, this issue won't be able to be resolved for Children's Week this year. If you completed the quest previously you won't be able to complete it again for the other pet this year." - Bashiok

translation: we probably won't be fixing this issue this time around. i say "probably" because i still have some hope (however small and weak it may be) that blizzard will pull a bunny out of a magic hat and fix the northrend children's week quest chain. extending the in-game event due to this devastating bug would also be a plus...

it's quite disappointing that there seems to be a lack of attention and TLC for this year's children's week bug. many other in-game events that have had similar bumps and hurdles were tackled and fixed with such fervor. yet it is apparent from the blue post's comments addressing this issue, that blizzard has "better" things to do at the moment.

i suppose i can't blame them considering the alpha testing for cataclysm is now out, a starcraft 2 date has been released, AND they still have yet to announce a blizzcon 2010 ticket sale date. blizzard has quite a bit on their plate at the moment, so one little (big?) bug in-game will probably be last on their 'to-do' list.

still... this is very disappointing news for collectors.

Pet of the Week - Tuskarr Kite

my tuskarr kite was generously gifted to me shortly after the scourgewar tcg release. a huge thank you since i never expected to get the newest tcg pets! being one out of only two kite pets, i feel strangely honored to own one.

why i love it
it's great if you're a lover of lightning! XD this is just one of those whimsical "pets" that's fun to run around with. it's also quite amusing in raids, especially when the lightning strikes at random. "what was that?! ahhh it's so big i can't see around it!"

being a druid, i especially enjoy running around while in travel form with the kite out. watching the tassels flutter in the wind as it floats behind me; it's almost as fun as flying a real kite irl!

what i would change
much to my disappointment, the tuskarr kite does not change colors each time it's summoned like the dragon kite. so i would definitely add some additional tassel colors to the tuskarr version.

also, i would definitely allow the tuskarr kite to be used while mounted (ground mounts and flying mounts). it just seems like it would be so much fun zooming across the sky with a kite fluttering behind you. that is.... if the tuskarr kite could even keep up with a flying mount.

i wonder if the higher you fly with the kite out, the higher your chances of being struck by lightning. hmm... could be why they don't allow kite flying + mount flying at the same time haha.

But I Want THAT One Mommy!

the northrend children's week quests for the curious wolvar pup and curious oracle hatchling are currently bugged. Q_Q if you completed the quests last year and got either pet, the dalaran matron will not give you the quests for the other orphan this year. at least not until the blizzard devs nudge miss matron (probably during this week's maintenance).

so i guess i'll be waiting until then to complete my collection. worst case scenario: blizzard doesn't fix this bug at all and we'll have to wait yet ANOTHER year for a chance at that second northrend orphan. but i'm crossing my fingers that that doesn't happen.

since there doesn't seem to be any other new addition to this year's children's week, i'll just be hanging around dalaran waiting on the matron to stop being stingy with her kids :P