United Nations Fix Inc

new patch notes for the 4.1 PTR are up on mmo-champion! included in the latest PTR build is a fix for the united nations guild achievement.

"The guild achievements for earning exalted reputation with factions (Ambassador, Diplomacy, and United Nations) have been fixed to now correctly count cumulative guild members with exalted factions. Previously, these achievements would only count exalted factions on one guild member."

this is wonderful news for guilds who have yet to complete this achievement due to the current bug. it also means many pet collectors have yet another reason to look forward to the next patch. i know i am! be ready to join the family, dark phoenix hatchling! :D

Patch 4.1 Overview

patch 4.1 may also contain a lot of undocumented updates/changes as well as new pets, so here's a list of all the notable changes, updates, or additions involving vanity pets. atm there is still no confirmed release date for the patch, but it seems likely that it will be deployed before may.

- at least 10 new pets!

- the stormwind and orgrimmar children's week quest chain will have a new pet reward that players can choose: scooter the snail. (note: the older pet rewards will NOT be replaced and will still be available)

- the shattrath children's week quest chain will have a new pet reward that players can choose: legs. (note: the older pet rewards will NOT be replaced and will still be available)

- two new archaeology pets: pterrordax hatchling (fossil) and voodoo figurine (troll).

- a possible conclusion to the lashtail hatchling quest chain, pet included?

- two new pet collecting achievements: petting zoo and menagerie. neither will award a pet.

- an update to companion sounds: some pets that did not have any on-click vocalizations prior to the patch will be updated with their very own noises. a few other pets will also have their sounds changed or updated.

- zul'aman will be transformed into a lvl 85 five-man heroic dungeon. solo farming for mojo will likely not be possible after this change has been made, but it's very likely that mojo will still drop from ZA.

- companion pets will persist through log out/log in and most zoning. if you range your pet or die, they will despawn as usual and will not automatically be resummoned.

- an in-game NPC tribute to drrum will be added to the everlook inn in winterspring. this NPC will be the vendor for the winterspring cub.

- a fix for the united nations guild achievement will be implemented, unlocking the dark phoenix hatchling for many guilds previously unable to complete the achievement due to a bug.

- a few pets that were previously bound on account will change to bind on battle.net account. this change will mean it's possible to receive and learn companions between two accounts that are under the same battle.net account. (note: players will still be unable to mail bind on account and bind on battle.net pets across servers on a single account. to move pets from server to server on a single account, players must still pay to transfer characters.)

- the crawling claw will be bind on pick up (previously bind on account).

- a new feature: call to arms will be implemented. depending on which role(s) (tanking, healing, or DPS) is "called to arms" each day, eligible players who solo-queue for a level 85 heroic five-man dungeon will have a chance of receiving a vanity pet found within a goodie bag (satchel of exotic mysteries) after killing the final boss of the instance. the satchel will be bind on account, therefore transferable to a player's alts on the same server.

- a bug that gave the teldrassil sproutling and withers the same skin as a moonkin treant will be addressed and fixed. they should have their correct and intended graphical skins once 4.1 is released.

did i miss anything? let me know. :)

PTR Pterrordax Hatchling Preview

PTR preview of the pterrordax hatchling! see my previous post (towards the bottom of that post) or the new pets in 4.1 page for details on this new pet.




(edited for a better screenshot)
oh, were you expecting something adorably cute and cuddly? well this fierce looking pet is what you will get once you learn the pterrordax hatchling lol.

i think it has about the same wingspan as one of the dragonhawk hatchlings, and it also flies with you! it has a constant wing flutter sound like most flying pets have but no on-click vocalizations yet. it will randomly make a small dinosaur-ish roar that's really faint (it's so quiet and does it so infrequently i almost didn't notice it).

and just because i think its face is absolutely shocking to see up close, here are a couple more screenshots haha.




if you're wondering, yes, its mouth is CONSTANTLY open. at least it looks like it has good dental care and hygiene :P

i'm really looking forward to discovering this pet as well as the voodoo figurine. time to get back into archaeology-mode!

PTR Voodoo Figurine Preview

PTR preview of the voodoo figurine! see my previous post (towards the bottom of that post) or the new pets in 4.1 page for details on this new pet.




this companion currently doesn't have any on-click vocalizations, but this is still the PTR so that may change. it's a little bit shorter than lil' xt, and when it walks it makes a rumbling noise (it almost sounds like faint thundering or a drum roll). it stretches its arms forward, clasps its hands together, and faces its palms outward in a "cracking knuckles" fashion when idle.

also... is it just me or does it look a little like a stone golem wearing a loincloth? lol :P

PTR Fun Fun Fun

this past week i discovered that my character copies FINALLY went through to the PTR. so yay! i get to test out the new stuff with my main rather than a premade toon. plus now i have access to all my pets again. being without them made me feel so naked and incomplete. :P

so far i've done ZA just once. no sign of mojo or any hex sticks yet. for those who want to solo-farm mojo, i definitely recommend doing it before patch 4.1 as there's no guarantee that you'll be able to post-patch.

since my main copied over after i completed the lashtail hatchling quest chain on live servers, i decided to try doing the ZG quest chain and hopefully find out if and where the new baby raptor becomes available. unfortunately, the chain is currently bugged and i can't move on until it's fixed. so my main toon is in the same boat as my premade; stuck due to a bug and out of luck for now. besides determining when/where the hatchling comes in, i definitely would like to sort out whether or not the current lashtail hatchling quest chain is a prerequisite for the vanity pet version of the baby raptor. i guess i'll have to wait on doing more research on that, though.

other than that, i've been checking out archaeology on the PTR. since it's likely that the pterrordax hatchling will come from the fossil branch and the voodoo figurine will be from the troll branch, i've been concentrating on those two the most. neither have popped up for me to solve yet, although i did get two other new rares.

it probably seems like a waste of time for me to do all of this on the PTR since i'll have to do it all over again on live servers once the patch is released, but i don't mind all that much. companion pets are worth the extra time and effort! :)

UPDATE: the pterrordax hatchling just popped up for me on the PTR! it's indeed under the fossil branch and takes 120 fossil fragments to complete. "could this fossilized egg still be... alive?!" screenshot coming soon! (hopefully i don't waste this solve on an incomplete and unfinished item though x_x)

UPDATE #2: yay the voodoo figurine decided to become available for me too. troll branch, 100 fragments, 3 keystone slots. "a medium-sized figurine of unusual complexity and troll manufacture." can't wait to see what this pet looks like!

Three New Goodies and 4.1 Previews

mmo-champion found THREE new possible pets in the latest PTR build:

- Pterrordax Hatchling
- Voodoo Figurine
- Guardian Cub

while we don't have any information on where or how or even if these will be available to players, both the pterrordax hatchling and voodoo figurine summoning spells have similar flavor text as other rare archaeology items. it seems very likely that these two companions will be discovered through this profession. possibly fossil and troll digsites? that would be my best guess! not a guess now since wowhead is listing both under the aforementioned branches. the hatchling will require 120 fossil fragments, and the figurine will require 100 troll fragments with 3 keystone slots. as with all things PTR, this may change before patch 4.1 is released.

there's already speculation on wowhead's PTR site that the guardian cub will be a small mini-pet version of the new mount that blizzard announced it would be releasing as a blizzard store item in the near future. we will have to wait and see on this one.

last but not least, blizzard released an official preview of some of the new pets coming in patch 4.1. going from left to right - lashtail hatchling, nightsaber cub, winterspring cub, panther cub, legs.

in light of this preview, there are a couple things that are highly likely:

1. patch 4.1 will be released before children's week (before may 1st)

2. the lashtail hatchling will indeed be available as a pet (and she'll look slightly different than the razasshi hatchling, yay!)

3. YES, legs will be a baby marshwalker

TCG - War of the Elements Release Date

for those looking forward to landro's lichling, you can expect to see this loot card hit the market in about a month. the next trading card game expansion set is due for official release on april 26, 2011.

it's still unclear what this pet will look like, but if it follows in the footsteps of lil' xt and landro's lil' xt, the lichling may look the same or very similar to lil' k.t.

i should note, though, that while the two xt's currently look the same, the PTR files shows a new spell for landro's lil' xt which may indicate the TCG version will be getting a new/different or tweaked model skin. (compare: current spell for landro's lil' xt and new spell for landro's lil' xt) we'll have to wait and see.

however if this is truly the case, then there might be some hope that landro's newest creation, the little lichling, will also have a more unique skin when compared to lil' k.t.

sheesh. all of these similar names "xt, kt, lil', little" and so on is starting to melt my brain! perhaps that was their intention all along... i mean, they are miniature bosses afterall. :P

Give Me Back Quintessence'aka!

normally i wouldn't discuss something like this here, but it's somewhat and possibly pet related and this was just too awesome to not write about. :)

so as i mentioned in my previous post, the lashtail hatchling MIGHT be a vanity pet available in patch 4.1 (or later). currently it's part of a quest item on live servers and is not considered a true non-combat companion. while i'm not entirely sure, the quest chain involving the non-pet baby raptor may be a prerequisite in order to receive the actual pet of the hatchling. again, not sure at this point!

that being said, i tried doing the chain while on the PTR to see where it would lead me, but got stuck due to a phasing bug. (something interesting to note: this particular baby raptor model is different on the PTR. instead of looking like the razzashi hatchling like it currently does, the quest item raptor looks more like the venomhide hatchling except it's red with saucer-sized blue eyes.)

after running into the phasing problem on the PTR, i decided to bite the bullet and just do it on my main on live servers to avoid hitting roadblocks that may pop up after patch 4.1 is deployed.

i must say... the lashtail hatchling quest chain is absolutely AWESOME. not to mention very endearing. :) i would recommend it to all pet collectors, even if a vanity pet doesn't result from it. who can resist a little baby raptor following you around while in stranglethorn vale? it's a level 25ish to 30ish quest, so for higher level characters, it should be fairly easy.

let me put it this way: if your heart melted for pebble during his initial quest chain (no, i'm not talking about waiting for the elusive pebble dailies *shakes a fist at them* :P), then you'll probably enjoy the lashtail hatchling quest chain just as much. :)

to start the chain, head to the rebel camp in stranglethorn vale (alliance) or to grom'gol (horde). alliance will need to pick up and complete the quest bad medicine and horde will need to pick up and complete the quest the defense of grom'gol: raptor risk. upon completion of either quest, players will either auto-accept a new quest (the quest item is included) or it will become available through the turn in NPC if your inventory was full. hang onto the quest item and don't destroy it! i won't go into detail about the rest of the quests since it's quite lengthy and can get complicated later on, but the rest of the chain will require you to have the baby red raptor with you.

possible quest spoilers behind the break. oh, and some pet speculation.

Gotta Have My Lists

i've written up a list (mainly for my sake, hooray for being slightly OCD?) specifically for the datamined 4.1 pets: possible pets in and after 4.1. the page can also be found on the right navigation panel.

i'll continue to update it with any new information until the patch is released, at which point i'll be taking it down. once 4.1 goes live, any new pets will be listed over at WarcraftPets.com! (the listings there are more organized and prettier to look at anyway :P)

Lashtail Hatchling - Not Quite Found

after checking up on wowhead for the little lasthtail hatchling (currently NOT a vanity pet on live servers, but MIGHT be available as one after 4.1 is released), there was an intriguing comment that i simply could not ignore. it directed me to a quest that rewards this baby raptor, an old friend, however there's currently no information on this quest, how to pick it up, how to complete it, etc.

what is interesting is that it's a level 85 quest listed under "quests" and then "raids" which may indicate that it's a quest given and/or completed within a dungeon or raid. it looks pretty incomplete so this may change before the patch is released.

in an attempt to find out more and possibly run into this new quest on the PTR, i tried to complete the lashtail hatchling quest chain on my premade druid. unfortunately i got stuck at the "be raptor" part and am unable to complete it. it may be due to me missing something during the quest chain, phasing issues or because ZG was officially turned into a 5 man dungeon, but that specific quest is bugged on the PTR and there's nothing i can do. literally. when teleported into zg to play as the raptor, i find myself zoning into an empty area that i can simply fly through.

note: to be on the safe side, if you haven't completed this quest chain on live servers, i would recommend doing so before patch 4.1 hits. once ZG becomes a new dungeon zone, it may cause a whole host of phasing/quest chain problems. if the lashtail hatchling does indeed become available as a true vanity pet, this quest chain may become a prerequisite and if phasing is this huge an issue, doing the quests before the patch goes live will be the best way to avoid those issues. (on the other hand, doing the quest chain prior to patch 4.1 could just as easily cause phasing and completion complications. :\ so it's a risk either way.)

hopefully someone who has a completed the quest chain can provide some insight on whether or not the "an old friend" quest pops up for them while in ZG or doing some of the new ZG-related quests.

Panther Cub Found!

after reading about kaellan acquiring the panther cub on the PTR through the new ZA or ZG quest chain, i decided to investigate.


ta-da! it's true, the baby panther is a quest reward from the new (ZG?) quest chain in patch 4.1. this may or may not change once the patch goes live.

the quest that rewards the panther cub is called "some good will come", however, to reach this quest you must complete the pre-requisite quests. the chain starts in stormwind/orgrimmar which leads you to stranglethorn vale (the other seperate, and i'm guessing ZA-related, quest chain takes you to ghostlands). it's a very linear quest chain, so it's hard to miss. if you're being sent to kill a black panther mob named mauti, you are on the right track to your panther cub.


"the panther cub looks at you with a look in it's eyes that says, "will you be my new dad?" - awwww! *insert mushiness here*
one thing to note is that at the time of this writing, the panther cub item is NOT bind on pick up. again, this could change once patch 4.1 goes live.


much like his two cousins, the panther cub has the same model, idle animations (sit and lying down), and on-click vocalizations.

i can't wait to complete this quest and obtain a cute kitty on live servers. of course i'll be his new mommy! who could resist those adorable wide eyes? :P

Children's Week Quest Updates

as many have already speculated, legs was added to the children's week reward from the shattrath orphan quest chain in the most recent PTR build.

now that both the shatt and stormwind/orgrimmar have new pet rewards for the orphan quests (scooter the snail for the stormwind/orgrimmar chain), i wonder if the northrend chain will have a new pet reward as well. at the very least, i hope the bug in which players couldn't complete the dalaran children's week quests twice is fixed. i'd like to finally adopt a curious wolvar pup please and thank you!

Bigger Pets All the Time?

the WarcraftPets twitter posed a good question: if the change to pets (atm they persist through log out/log in on the PTR) goes live, will that mean players will have to use fewer papa hummel's old-fashioned pet biscuits? in other words, does the size increase also persist through log out and log in?

i'd love to try it, but my character copies are STILL in limbo and uncopied over to the PTR. i'm left with just a premade toon and unfortunately no pet biscuits. :(

if someone with biscuits could test it on the PTR, i'd love to know what happens upon log out/log in after using it on your vanity pet!

UPDATE: thank you rhapture for testing it on the PTR! unfortunately, pet biscuits used on the companion will not persist through log out. when you log back in, your pet will be waiting for you but they will be normal-sized again. :(

additionally, after a quick test on the PTR, pets seem to stay out when you zone as well (hearthing and entering/exiting an instance)! i'm unsure about phasing and being summoned to a location, though. note: hearthing seems glitchy and doesn't appear to consistently work. zoning in and out of a dungeon works, but i haven't tried getting summoned into one or taking a random dungeon queue.

strangely enough, if a vanity pet was present when hearthing, it won't show up after loading in. however, right after hearthing, i logged out and logged back in and the companion i had out prior to hearthing suddenly re-appeared.

in conclusion - it's buggy.

Where the PetStore Isn't the Answer

first off, my thoughts and prayers go out to those who were affected by the earthquake and tsunami. as someone once put it "even if you do not believe in religion or god(s), it's still ok to pray, hope and wish."

secondly, while browsing the official wow forums i came across this post. personally i feel that the idea, regardless if it the poster was serious about it or not, is in poor taste.

some may feel that it's an appropriate way to help the victims and their friends/families (and 'hey, why not receive a companion pet while at it too, right?'), but this is a vastly different situation than say to a donation to the make a wish foundation by blizzard from the profits generated by the PetStore.

unlike the make a wish foundation who's purpose and intent is to help children with a terminal illness to live their hopes and dreams in a light-hearted fashion, the disaster in japan has more serious and somber undertones. fundraisers for japan deserve a solemn approach out of respect for their dire and immediate need.

that isn't to say the make a wish foundation isn't serious about easing the pain and suffering of children, or that the situation the kids face is something to brush off or laugh about. it's just that the two situations really don't compare.

those willing and wishing to aid those affected should instead direct their attention to organizations like the red cross and other similar non-governmental organizations. for a major disaster situation like this, if you are seeking to help, do so with the purest intentions of helping. not for the sake or even secondary intent of receiving something from it (such as a non-combat pet). unlike donating money to see a child's dream be lived out, this isn't a whimsical and cherry occurrence. the lives of thousands are at stake.

just my two cents.

New Pet Updates For 4.1

gormanghaste from WarcraftPets posted some interesting changes to vanity pets!

many pets that currently do not make any sounds or noises (on-click or periodic) have apparently found their voices on the PTR. if these updates go live, we'll start hearing more from once silent companions such as the sinister squashling, sprite darter hatchling, and tickbird hatchling, just to name a few.

not all pets have had their on-click vocalizations updated, and some companions may still remain quiet once patch 4.1 goes live. i'm pretty eager to hear at least a few on live servers, though!

additionally, rhapture also discovered something pretty neat. if you log out with a vanity pet on the PTR, you will resummon that same pet once you log back into that toon. i just tried it with my premade character, and although i was last online yesterday night, it worked! my druid had a content little nightsaber cub waiting patiently next to my character the moment i logged in. sweet!

Finally Some PTR Fun

"i could be convinced to part with one... IF you'll promise to give the cub a good home."
yay for being on the PTR, finally! boo for having to use a premade character instead of being able to use my toon.

anyway, as you can see from the above screenshot, i paid drrum's NPC a visit! when you speak with her to purchase a winterspring cub (50 gold and NOT bind on pick up), she gives you a warning that you need to promise to give the kitten a good home. aww :)

both the winterspring and nightsaber cub have the same model, idle animations, and on-click vocalizations. their current model is basically an opaque version of the spectral tiger cub.




both the new cubs also have a sit animation like the spectral tiger cub, when idle for too long. however, they have an additional idle animation where they lie down and rest their chin on their front paws (very much like the druid cat form version of sleep). it's cute. :)

i still haven't gotten around to trying out ZA to look for mojo, but i'm hoping i have some time to do so before patch 4.1 comes out. if the theory is true that the panther cub will be a rare drop, like the razzashi hatchling was prior to the removal of the raid version of ZG, i'll have to start looking for panthers within ZA and ZG or around those zones. same thing for the lashtail hatchling. then again, that's IF. there still hasn't been any confirmed source for either pet yet.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

uhm, what? legs. i kid you not. this pet popped up in the PTR files recently. if and how it will be available? no clue.

there's speculation over on wowhead that this may be a marshwalker (hence the name and the spell/item icon). i can definitely see how a conclusion like that could come about, but blizzard has thrown us curve-balls before, so i'm just going to wait and see what this one could be. or if it will even be available to players once patch 4.1 goes live.

part of me would enjoy having a baby marshwalker but then again... how morbid interesting would it be to have just a random severed leg hobbling next to you? i mean, we already have a ghostly skull and a crawling claw. might as well throw in a few more body parts, right? lol. :P

Better Late Than Never

it seems blizzard is fixing or has fixed the bug with the PTR realm list not populating for some players. so it took a while, but there's still hope. i can finally participate on the PTR now! or... soon. maybe. i'm waiting on my character to copy over. hopefully i won't wind up with the "characters not showing/can't create new toons" bug. >_<

things to do: play with the new cubs and maybe get some screenshots of them. hunt for mojo! look for the panther cub?

i'm definitely going to head over and say "hi" to drrum's NPC too. :P

Short and Sweet

or should i say slow and sweet? :P don't get the reference? well mmo-champion has news of yet another PTR build with a minor pet-related change:

Little Snail is now Scooter the Snail.

my strange humor make a little more sense now? no? haha. oh well!

anyway, the little snail was previously datamined, but with this recent change, hopefully it is an indicator that we will be seeing scooter soon!

wowhead's PTR site is showing that the source of the item necessary to learn scooter the snail is a quest. although the quest hasn't been specified yet, perhaps it will have something to do with new children's week quests? some kids love to play with insects and slimy things, right? :P

UPDATE: mmo-champ's database has the snail shell listed as a reward for a children's week quest. it is probably safe to say that scooter will be part of this year's children's week holiday event (starts in may).

4.1 - Lashtail Hatchling

mmo-champion datamined another new addition in the latest PTR build! the lashtail hatchling :D

this companion isn't entirely new, though. it's currently a quest item on live servers and is NOT a companion pet. however, if the changes with patch 4.1 go through, players will get a baby lashtail of their very own!

with the addition of the winterspring cub companion, my guess is that this is the horde equivalent of a venomhide mount corresponding companion. if so, it's great to see blizzard taking steps to ensure a balance between the two factions is maintained. :)

biggest question on my mind: where and how will one acquire a lashtail hatchling?

one thing i hope blizzard keeps in mind is that if they insert it as a reward for the current lashtail hatchling quests, some players have already completed that chain. hopefully there won't be any bugs that prevent those players from receiving a hatchling of their own.

another and simpler way of making this baby raptor available to both alliance and horde is to make it purchasable from a neutral vendor. it's not as fancy, glamorous, or interesting, but sometimes keeping it simple is the best way to go.

last thing i'd like to note, and this is really more of a subjective thing, i hope they change the lashtail hatchling companion's model (if it goes live). the current lashtail hatchling as it is in the STV quest chain, is a recycled model of the razzashi hatchling. if blizzard's intent is to truly keep a balance between the horde and alliance pets, they may want to consider giving this baby raptor a makeover. i'd love to have a venomhide hatchling-esque pet! those wide-eyed babies are adorable in a creepy sort of way. :P

The New Zul'Aman and Mojo

with zul'aman being turned into a 5 man instance in patch 4.1, collectors are wondering: will mojo still be obtainable within this troll area post-patch?

the answer so far is... i don't know! :(

as mentioned in a previous post, i'm completely locked out of participating in the PTR due to a technical glitch afflicting many players (many, but not all, of whom were participants in the cataclysm beta). so i sadly can't test whether or not mojo will still be available in ZA after the next patch.

if anyone has any information or is able to test this out, please leave a comment! i'm dying to know if our blue, warty (he says he doesn't have them, but we all know he does :P) friend will still be obtainable post-patch.

i don't think it would be too difficult to include the hex stick mechanic within the new ZA, but i'm not a game developer so i really can't say. it may also not be high enough priority for them to consider or work on. or perhaps, like the razzashi hatchling, mojo will be relocated to a new home and may be acquired in some other fashion after patch 4.1 goes live. who knows?

should players go into a panic and rush to ZA to get mojo if they haven't acquired him already? panic and rush? no. but this is something that collectors (especially newer players) will need to watch closely and keep in mind when proceeding forth with their collections.

you can bet that WarcraftPets will have the latest updates and news if anything comes to light about mojo, though. ;)

Blizzard's Watching You

ryoshi from WarcraftPets.com pointed something out that i think is worth noting. the NPC that currently sells the winterspring cub on the PTR has a strikingly familiar name, doesn't it?

when i first learned about the vendor, michelle de rum, i thought to myself 'what a unique name. why does it feel like deja vu?'

that's because it's very likely drrum's namesake! michelle, aka: drrum, was featured on wowinsider's 15 minutes of fame in late 2010. she has an outstanding gallery on her website of all her vanity pets and matching in-game outfits! it's hard to not be awestruck by the amazing screenshots she's taken over the years.

much like breanni of WarcraftPets, drrum is an excellent choice for another nod to the pet collecting community within the game. her time, energy, and effort spent on not only collecting all those companions but also all that gear to match each pet is a pretty accurate portrayal of what collecting is about. it's fun, it allows her to enjoy the game in her own way, takes dedication and some patience but pays off in the end, and at the same time it inspires others.

just goes to show that blizzard is silently watching from the shadows. even if they may not be saying much or actively participating in all the world of warcraft communities, they are taking notes and who knows? if you've somehow managed to leave a positive impression on them, you may find yourself staring at your namesake in the future too.

call me a geek, but i'm absolutely ecstatic for the pet collecting community if the naming of this NPC was totally intentional (it definitely seems that way, though, doesn't it?). considering the many groups found within WoW and how small the collecting community is in comparison to the more well-known types of gameplay, any acknowledgment, however subtle, from blizzard is really amazing.