Mojo Made Easier?

thankfully mojo was not removed or relocated even with the changes to zul'aman. one thing that did change somewhat are the amani hex sticks necessary to discover mojo within the instance.

previously, the hex sticks were tradable but despawned if the player holding them exited the zone. as of patch 4.1, though, they persist outside of the instance and can even be sold on the auction house.

this may mean it will be easier for players to acquire mojo, as long as there is a steady supply of hex stick auctions on the AH. all one would need to do is buy up a few (or more), head to ZA and start transforming those frogs! just be wary and careful of those nasty troll pats. solo'ing those will probably not be possible until we're a few more large content patches into this expansion.

this change to the hex sticks may or may not have been intentional, so if you're looking to satisfy your froggie-fix, do so sooner rather than later. who knows if blizzard will revert the sticks back to how they were pre-patch 4.1?

I'll Never Leave You Again

♡ ♥ ♡ quite possibly the best companion quest chain to date. i tip my hat to blizzard on this one! :)

unlike the other baby raptors, the lashtail hatchling is significantly larger. she's either about the same size as the ravasaur hatchling, if not a little bit bigger.

also, has anyone else noticed that the lashtail hatchling will sometimes wander over to a corpse and retrieve a bone for you?

so far i've only seen her do it while in ZA or ZG, but i'm trying to coax her into repeating this idle animation outside those instances. i'm not sure if it requires a humanoid corpse or what, but so far i haven't had much luck getting her to fetch out in the world.

New Children's Week Quests

i can't remember the last time i made so many updates in such a short span of time. it's a busy time for collectors!

anyway, with children's week nearly here wowhead has details for the NEW stormwind and orgrimmar children's week quest chain. as mentioned before, a new pet reward has been added to the chain, scooter the snail.

don't forget about the orphan quests available from shattrath in outlands! a new companion reward, legs, has also been added there as well. i'm not sure if there are any updates to that particular quest line, though.

and last but not least, who could forget the northrend orphans? will we finally be able to adopt our second dalaran orphan? hopefully the devastating bug that made it impossible to complete the dalaran quest chain more than once has been fixed this year!

i'm very excited for this year's children's week. don't be alarmed if there are bugs or issues, though. with large changes being made left and right there are bound to be glitches. i'm going to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Call to Arms Pet Rewards

well after looking at the many comments filed under the satchel of exotic mysteries, it appears that MANY companions were added to the call to arms loot list. so far the list seems to be made up of:

- the argent tournament companions (both horde and alliance pets)
- alliance and horde favored vendor pets (such as the many cat pets sold by an alliance NPC or the cockroach sold by a horde NPC)
- rare drops from zones and mobs (such as the dragon whelpings, but minus the onyxian whelpling)
- "specialty" pets (such as boss dropped companions like the phoenix hatchling, or the giant sewer rat which is fished up from dalaran sewers)

the list is possibly quite long.

other than the obvious questions on my mind ('are there NEW pets on this loot list?' and 'what is the average droprate of a companion through call to arms?'), another burning question is... just which pets CANNOT be found within the satchel of exotic mysteries? because right now it almost feels as if nearly all vanity pets have a chance to drop from the call to arms' goodie bag. either that or many of the comments are reporting inaccurate information (this is something that will take time to confirm/deny).

i'm all for multiple ways to obtain certain pets. this seems a bit... ridiculous, however. it's almost as if blizzard decided to just dump ALL companions that are not quest rewards, TCG-related, or otherwise no longer available into the satchel of exotic mysteries. even vanity pets that originally required a certain reputation or special currency to purchase were not spared and seem to have found their way into the call to arms goodie bag. it's really quite bewildering.

let's not jump to too many conclusions yet, though. we won't know the accuracy of all the comments left on wowhead until more data has been gathered on the drops and droprates of the companions found within the satchel.

i'm definitely taken aback by this and i don't know whether to praise it, condemn it, turn a blind eye, or simply shrug and move on.

UPDATE: april 29 official hotfix notes - "The Satchel of Exotic Mysteries given to the member(s) of a class role eligible for Dungeon Finder: Call to Arms rewards now has an increased chance of containing a non-combat pet."

"Solo" Obtaining Lashtail Hatchling.. Or Not

alright, well after finding a guildie with a cleared ZG instance ID, i decided to test out whether or not i could zone into the dungeon and acquire the lashtail hatchling without having been present for the bloodlord mandokir kill.

the definite answer is... NO.

this may be a large "duh", but i had to see for myself.

even though the bosses were dead, trash had respawned. after a few attempts of running the gauntlet and getting mercilessly killed over and over, i managed to get past all the respawned trash up to mandokir's area.

i was even able to get into his room far enough to see the tied up lashtail hatchling and target it. however, it did NOT have an exclamation over its head or a quest for me to turn in, despite bloodlord mandokir being long dead in that particular dungeon ID. i have completed the lower level lashtail quest chain, have not completed the level 85 quest yet, so i'm still entirely eligible to receive the pet. the main thing is that i was not present for the boss fight or kill.


so my conclusion is that in order for players who have completed the pre-requisite quest line to be eligible for the pet, said players must be present for the bloodlord mandokir fight and kill. only then will the baby raptor quest be unlocked and you can obtain the pet.

or if someone else wants to take it step further, perhaps you just need to find an instance ID with a much fresher mandokir kill. like, within a few minutes of his death? the zone ID that i entered into had been cleared for many, many hours already. i'm not sure, and i highly doubt it, but perhaps time plays a part in whether or not the lashtail will offer the final storyline quest to you?

well, in any case, the trash alone is enough to deter me from attempting to go back in and "solo" the instance for the pet. gone are the days where a max level player could stealth in and run effortlessly around ZG to explore and do various fun/amusing things. :P it was quite interesting figuring out how to navigate amongst level 85 elites, though. haha.

if there are players who want to test out other theories or possibilities, feel free to do so at your own risk lol. ZG is not a friendly place! if someone does manage to figure out how to acquire this pet "solo", i'd love to hear how it's done. i won't be solo'ing ZG any time soon though.

now that my curiosity has been settled, i will have to wait for my instance lockouts to reset and find an actual ZG group to clear bloodlord mandokir for my shot at saving quintessence'aka!

Patch 4.2 - "Legendary" Pet

blizzard is pumping out previews of 4.2 already. there's already talk about a legendary staff, mainly because upon completion, the entire guild will be awarded a non-combat pet.

"Patch 4.2 introduces an epic quest that will challenge those daring enough to complete the legendary staff Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest. The great staff duplicates destructive magics, and also bestows upon its wielder the ability to transform into a member of the Blue Dragonflight. Those who complete the staff won’t be the only ones to receive a reward, though. As this task requires the dedication of an entire guild, upon completion of the staff all guild members will receive a unique non-combat pet to call their own."

i must say... i am shocked. my first knee-jerk reaction to this was: no. No. NO. DOES NOT WANT. DOES NOT INDUCE FLUFFY FEELINGS.

after calming down a bit and rethinking things, i've come to the conclusion that i want more information and details before i can pass complete judgement.

specifically, for everyone's sake, some things need to be cleared up:

1.) how long will the quest chain be to complete the legendary?
2.) will the guild be required to take on a full tier of raiding (either 10 or 25 man)?
3.) will it be necessary to take on heroic raid content?
4.) will it be costly to "build" the staff (outside of repairs and other raid-like necessities)?
5.) should a person acquire the legendary staff transfer to a new guild, will that new guild also receive the "legendary" companion? or will only those who assisted in creation of the staff (original guild) be eligible?

these questions as well as many others are vital, and the pet collecting community is anxiously awaiting answers and details, i'm sure. this quite possibly could be game breaking for many collectors, and i don't mean that in a good sense.

this is an entirely new direction, one that i never thought blizzard would take, for vanity pets. the guild achievement companions were one thing. they required only some guild participation. while some PVP was necessary, it was still within most players' reach (as long as their guild had at least a few members who enjoy and actively PVP). however, this "legendary" pet... well it almost feels like an abomination (and i don't mean a cute little zombie pet or actual abomination creature).

as i mentioned before, i would like more information before i can formulate a concrete opinion on this, but at the moment i can definitely say that the news of this new legendary companion did not overwhelm me with excitement as it should have.

although i'm currently in an actively raiding guild and we will very likely seek to craft the new legendary, this new pet still worries me and how it will affect the pet collecting community as a whole.

It's a Pet Party

being the absolutely stubborn pet collector that i am, i stayed up way past my desired sleep time just so i could discover at least one of the new archaeology companions. well, sleep depriving myself was a success! the voodoo figurine is now part of my miniature army. i think it will find itself at home amongst the others that recently had a grand old time with many other guildmates' pets.

i don't know about everyone else, but i'm loving the persisting pets change! many of my guildies, who unwittingly summoned a pet and magically had them re-appear whenever logging/zoning, had their own companions out during tonight's 25 man raid. now that having a pet out is pretty much effortless (as long as you summon one before zoning or logging out), most people seem to have a vanity pet out the majority of the time. it just *poof* appears! :) it really adds some fun to the environment (although i'm sure it's quite irritating for PVP'ers who want to remain hidden heh).

well, that's three new pets with more to go. hopefully i can acquire most, if not all, before children's week when two more new ones become available through the orphan quests.

oh, and again, if anyone has any information on the cenarion hatchling, please leave a comment and let me know the details!

also, since i have yet to test out the lashtail hatchling finale for myself, those who have saved their little *player name*'aka, was the quest "an old friend" available to players who did not complete the lower level quests? if there are multiple people in a ZG run who have completed the lashtail quest chain, will all those eligible be able to receive a baby raptor of their own? or is it only one per instance lockout? the information would be much appreciated. :)

time to get some shuteye before i go back to digging!

Finally, Some Closure

I've already read a few reports that upon killing Bloodlord Mandokir in the new heroic 5-man ZG, the quest "An Old Friend" becomes available within the instance and players who have completed the lower level Lashtail Hatchling quest chain may obtain their very own baby raptor. :)

If you have not completed this prerequisite quest chain, though, you will probably not be eligible to save the baby raptor. feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. :)

To start the chain, you will need to be STV level-appropriate or higher (so about level 20+). Note: although the quest chain can be started and completed at lower levels, you must be level 85 to enter the instance and finally conclude this baby raptor's storyline.

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. Be sure to turn on your "track lower level quests" option, as some of the quests in the lashtail chain only unlock while doing other side/unrelated quests available from the quest hub NPCs.

NOTE: I HIGHLY recommend players pick up and complete the lashtail hatchling quest chain BEFORE picking up any part of the panther cub quest chain. Starting the panther quests will place you in a phased STV, and you will be unable to complete the lashtail hatchling quest until you've completed the full ZG quest.

I had this trouble while on the PTR and was unable to finish the lashtail quests, even after zoning into ZG. To be on the safe side, if you've already started the panther cub quests, complete the FULL chain. This means all quests up to an including the last part of the chain ("Booty Bay's Interests" and ends with "A Shiny Reward"). If at that point you are still unable to get back into the proper phase necessary to complete the lashtail quest chain, I would open up a ticket to a gamemaster to ask for assistance.

I can't wait to finally finish off this lengthy and long awaited quest chain! I must save Quintessence'aka! Blizzard did an especially great job with this companion. :)

The Ins and Outs of 4.1

it's been just a few hours since patch 4.1 went live. obviously, there are still bugs and issues, but hopefully they will be addressed and fixed soon.

WarcraftPets has an official "what's new" post, that will be continually updated throughout the day if there are any changes or corrections to pet-related news about 4.1. go check that out! :D

if you read through it, you'll also find details about a loot giveaway contest held by drrum to celebrate her in-game NPC namesake!

i'm currently working on the two new archaeology pets, but haven't had much luck so far. i did, however, discover the other new troll rare artifact (war drum). i'm also still wondering what the mysterious 7th new rare could be! hopefully an overlooked pet? :P

unfortunately, despite earlier confirmation from the PTR notes that blizzard would be fixing the united nations achievement bug with this patch... it has not been fixed. i believe it was intended to be ready in time for 4.1, but for whatever reason, it did not make it through. :( for some guilds, it looks like it's back to grinding or patiently waiting for a fix to come.

i have yet to try out the new call to arms feature since there hasn't been any "call to arms" for my role yet. dungeons have also been acting up, so i'm going to stay away from queuing for a bit until things have calmed down. hopefully we'll see some accurate pet droprates and the entire possible pet list from the satchel of exotic mysteries soon.

if anyone discovers the whereabouts of the lashtail hatchling and cenarion hatchling, please let me know! i'm very eager to find out if there will finally be a conclusion the the former's quest chain, and if the latter is even available to players. (edit: lashtail hatchling has been spotted within ZG ;P)

One More Thing...

i'm 90% sure i'm all set to go for patch 4.1 that will (hopefully) come out tomorrow! i can't wait to get my hands on the new pets and take a look at all the officially released content. it's one thing to test it out on the PTR, it's another to experience it on live servers, potential bugs and all.

one last small thing... earlier this month, when the call to arms feature was announced, there was a short official list of possible pets that eligible characters might receive from the satchel of exotic mysteries. shortly after that announcement, a new pet popped up on wowhead's PTR site. this new pet, cenarion hatchling, almost instantly had a comment stating that it would be on the call to arms reward loot list. this was never confirmed, though.

well, there's a new idea that's been floating around: maybe this new baby hippogryph could be an archaeology discovery instead? possibly found within the night elf branch? needless to say, i would MUCH prefer this than the call to arms rumor.

unlike the call to arms pet rewards, where i would have to combat not only RNG but also the fact that the reward relies heavily on whether or not the pug group is actually CAPABLE of completing the random heroic dungeon, archaeology depends almost solely on the individual. i may still have to fight against RNG odds since it's random when a rare artifact will pop up for me to solve as well as randomized dig sites, but overall, i'm in more control over when i want to solve it, how i go about solving it, etc. i can go entirely at my own pace without having to depend on complete strangers. this just fits my style of companion farming/grinding more than anything else.

so i'm definitely hoping that if the cenarion hatchling is even be available to players on live servers, that it's part of archaeology rather than the call to arms feature.

that being said, though, it's ALL just speculation for now. i don't think anyone's discovered where this pet officially comes from yet, and we won't know until 4.1 is released.

Bidding For Good, Again!

if you recall, almost exactly 1 year ago blizzard donated a bunch of goodies that included a mount, collector's editions, and many vanity pets to a biddingforgood.com auction.

well, blizzard has donated another large lump of awesome loot to the auction again this year! much like last year, the auction is to help support the Peninsula Education Foundation. to view the auction, see this link here.

here's a list of the bundle of items:

- StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Collector’s Edition (autographed by development team)
- World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Collector’s Edition (autographed by development team)
- World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Edition (autographed by development team)
- World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Collector’s Edition (autographed by development team)
- World of Warcraft TCG Loot Card – “X-51 Nether Rocket”
- World of Warcraft TCG Loot Card – “Blazing Hippogryph”
- World of Warcraft TCG Loot Card – “Savage Raptor”
- World of Warcraft TCG Loot Card – “El Pollo Grande”
- World of Warcraft One Year Subscription Card
- Murky Baby Blue Murloc WoW Pet Loot Card
- Murky Plush Pet (Entire Set of 4)

that's 5 non-combat pets, 4 mounts, one year subscription to WoW, and 4 murloc plushies to the winning bid! the one that stands out for me is murky, the holy grail of vanity pets (in my opinion :P)!

at the moment, it seems as though the auction just opened up. there are 0 bids and only 1 day, 8 hours, and 58 minutes left. the opening bid is $3,000. if you're interested, be sure to read over the entire page first, and if you have questions or concerns there's a contact link towards the bottom of the auction page.

so for those who have been contemplating dropping a large sum of money on murky or any of the other items listed above, why not take a shot at this auction? it's a gamble if your bid will actually be the winning bid, but if you do win, not only will you get a whole batch of goodies, you'll also be helping out schools in southern california. it's win/win! i'm sure murky thinks so too. :P

Patch 4.1 Imminent

if all goes well, we can expect to see patch 4.1 go live next tuesday (april 26)! blizzard has released an official recap of 4.1 notes and features. there are many notable new additions as well as fixes and changes, however, much of the vanity pet-related news seems to be undocumented. thankfully, for my sake and sanity, i've kept track of what's likely in store for pet collectors in 4.1 here. (oh, compulsion to keep track of things, you haven't failed me yet!)

one thing that the official post on 4.1 does hint at relates to the companions that might be found in the new call to arms goodie bag reward:

"...you'll receive a goodie bag that will contain some gold, a chance at a rare gem, a chance at a flask/potion, a good chance of receiving a non-combat pet (including cross faction pets), and a very rare chance at receiving a mount."

this caught my attention because now i'm curious as to what blizzard's definition of "good chance" is. not to mention which cross faction pets will be included on this loot list (argent tournament companions? or mainly the horde/alliance favored vendor pets?) we'll have to wait and see what the droprates are like and which pets will actually be available through the new system.

overall, i'm pretty anxious to see the patch go live. new pets being released simultaneously with new features/new-ish content. not to mention the in-game holidays (nobelgarden and then children's week)! there's a lot of potential for bugs and problems, but there's also a lot of potential for much WINNING! (hint: pets are "WIN!" in my book :P)

Landro's Lichling Pre-sale

wowtcgloot is doing another pet pre-sale! this time it's for landro's lichling. not only will you be ahead in line to receive the new companion, you will also have a chance at being randomly selected to receive an extra prize! these prizes include:

- Mottled Drake
- Soul-Trader Beacon
- Spectral Tiger Cub
- Banana Charm
- Landro's Pet Box (x3)

for more info, check out the links posted above. good luck to everyone participating! note: a portion of every pre-order goes to WarcraftPets.com :)

Landro's Lichling

wowtcg.com has a couple previews of what landro's lichling will look like. unfortunately, the skin and model are still identical to lil' k.t. according to the website, landro's lichling will also have the same animations ("Occasionally Ice Blocks critters around him and kills them" and "Laughs maniacally whenever you kill a player or he kills a critter").

is this all intentional? i really don't know. there was a blue post a while back in response to lil' xt vs landro's lil' xt's model/skin, hinting that the carbon copy may be unintentional, but we have yet to see any change or update to either pet. the new twin companions may also be in a similar situation.

for now we'll have to wait and see. landro sure has gotten pretty uncreative lately, though, that's for sure. :P

Call to Arms - Another Possible Pet

so far the only officially confirmed pets on the satchel of exotic mysteries loot table are the razzashi hatchling, cockatiel, and tiny sporebat. (note: even then, this may change once the patch is deployed.)

a speculated pet that may or may not be available through the call to arms feature is the cenarian hatchling.

after a quick scan of wowhead's PTR site, another pet that might be on the list of possible companions available from the goodie bag in 4.1 is the shimmering wyrmling.

not only is there a comment on wowhead suggesting that it is one of the pets obtainable through the new dungeon system, much like the tiny sporebat there is a new shimmering wyrmling item that does not have a reputation requirement on it, yet it teaches the same pet summoning spell (same ID) as the original shimmering wyrmling.

i still don't know whether or not the reputation necessary for the original versions of the pets will also be mandatory to use the new companion items. my guess is the answer is no, though, otherwise why not simply add the original pet items instead of implementing new ones with unique item IDs?

i have mixed feelings about the addition of rep-related companions to the satchel, just like i mixed feelings about the call to arms feature. part of me would like to see the reputation necessary continue to be mandatory before being able to learn the pet, but another part understands the tediousness of this idea. while on one hand adding these vanity pets to the goodie bag will completely devalue the original rep grind, multiple sources for (certain) pets is something that i do support. i guess pets that are probably not well-suited for this category just never crossed my mind. well, you can't have your cake and eat it too.

anyway, i've said it before, and i'll say it again, the simplest compromise in my eyes would be to just not add reputation pets to the loot table. blizzard has different ideas, though. it's something that will either work out or cause more upset.

initially the change to the bop engineering pets caused quite a stir, but over time i think people have generally either gotten used to it or have let the issue go as another one of those things that just cannot be reverted. have many forgotten? most likely not. but in an expansion like cataclysm where things are constantly being updated, changed, added and removed, you have to pick and choose your battles carefully to prevent yourself from getting burnt out.

we'll see which pets are actually in the call to arms reward bag once patch 4.1 is released, as well as their droprates. only then will i be able to solidify my opinion about the new feature.

Mojo In 4.1

after many internet disconnects, a technician visit that (hopefully) fixed my connection, and PTR patching issues, i was finally able to log back in and test zul'aman. specifically: hunt for the whereabouts of mojo.

luckily after just a few trash pulls, a hex stick dropped for me! while it didn't yield the pet from the transformed forest frog within the dungeon, just the hex stick itself continuing to drop in the zone is a strong indicator that mojo will still be acquired from ZA in the same fashion after the release of patch 4.1.

i'd still recommend players who want to solo-farm for mojo to head out and try their luck in the unchanged instance NOW. once patch 4.1 goes live, there will be significantly less trash to clear in the zone, meaning the hex sticks could become a much rarer drop. also, the trash within the dungeon will be transformed into level 85 elites, and i highly doubt most will be able to solo-clear them efficiently or effectively.

one interesting thing to note is that, unlike before, the hex sticks on the PTR persisted within my inventory even after zoning out of ZA. this plus the fact that they can be traded with other players could mean that we may start to see them pop up on the auction house in 4.1...?? i haven't tested it yet on the PTR, and i'm not entirely sure i'll have time to before the patch is released, but it's a possibility. as always, this change may not go live and may just be bug on the test realms.

anyway, pet collectors and frog lovers can breathe somewhat easier now! :)

New Achievements - There Is No Pet

the upcoming 100 and 125 pet achievements will not reward any pets:

"Patch 4.1 has achievements for 100 and 125 companions. Those particular achievements don’t reward pets, but we’ll probably do another reward at some tier in the future, perhaps 150 or 200 pets."

while it's disheartening to hear that these new companion-related achievements won't have any pet rewards, it's great to hear that blizzard is planning on adding future pet achievement tiers with possible rewards.

Patch 4.1 "Soon"

mmo-champion announced that a "release candidate" patch was launched on the PTR recently. this may indicate that patch 4.1 will be here soon (hopefully in time for children's week!)

as a reminder for myself and a few others, here is a list of the notable vanity pet-related changes, updates, and additions for the upcoming patch: 4.1 overview.

a couple extra things to note - the whereabouts of mojo after the zul'aman changes are still unclear. while blizzard has made it apparent in the past that they will do their best to re-include any displaced companions due to zone changes, i would recommend farming for mojo now if you have not done so already and would like to add him to your collection.

UPDATE: as detailed in this post's comments, the hex sticks still drop from ZA post-patch 4.1. however, due to the change of the dungeon, a lot of the trash packs have been removed or cut down in size, making the hex sticks a rarer drop. i would still recommend players farm for mojo ASAP for this reason. also, once the instance has been transformed, it will be unlikely that players will be able to solo-farm for mojo after the patch (at least for a few gear tiers or so) due to the increased level and difficulty of the mobs.

in preparation for the two new archaeology companion pets, i suggest that players max out their fossil and troll fragments now (cap is 200). then once the patch is released, you'll be ready to solve at least a few items and hopefully one of the new pets pops up for you to complete!

for those wondering about the lashtail hatchling... possible spoilers behind the break!

Call to Arms: More Details

mmo-champion has a couple more details about the call to arms feature coming in 4.1:

- Call to Arms for more than one role can be active at a time.
- If everything seems balanced, there isn't any Call to Arms.

having more than one role being "called to arms" at any given time is definitely good news. somewhat. again, it's likely healers and tanks will be the least represented the majority of the time which will leave DPS out, but at least players may get a choice between healing or tanking (IF both roles are being called upon at the same time).

the second detail is a bit troubling, especially as a pet collector. the entire goal of this new system is to attempt to balance out the random dungeon finder roles, which would result in the shortening of queue times, yes?

so in the event that the call to arms feature is successful (i'm not saying there's a guarantee that it will be, there's no certainty that it will even work as intended), and soon there will be very few times when any role is ever called upon, what of the new pets on the satchel of exotic mysteries' loot table? (that is, IF any are even added to the new system's reward. currently, there is no official confirmation that a new pet has been added to the call to arms loot table.) will they just sit and go unobtainable due to the lack of any roles being called to arms?

Call to Arms - Clarifications

a clarification post has been made regarding some of the issues brought up about the new call to arms feature (coming in 4.1).

for pet collectors and collectors in general, one point stands out the most:

"The additional reward for completing the Dungeon Finder Call to Arms (called the Satchel of Exotic Mysteries) will be Bind on Account; able to be freely sent to other characters on your account once you receive it."

this will give collectors that play pure DPS classes at least a small chance at the vanity pets, but only if they have and play an alt tank and/or healer. (and if they don't accidentally autoloot the bag's contents before sending it to their desired character, heh.)

it's a small move in a fairer and less stinging direction for companion collectors, but more details about which pets have the potential to be in the satchel of exotic mysteries as well as their droprates need to be announced/looked into. plus there is still the issue of reputation companions. will the pets that normally require a rep grind to purchase or learn still have the reputation prerequisite even if they come from the call to arms satchel?

in any case, i highly urge blizzard to consider not adding new companions to the goodie bag's loot table UNLESS there is another method of acquiring said pet(s) (other than the call to arms reward). placing a new pet in this system and making call to arms the absolute only way to obtain it could be disastrous for everyone.

Call to Arms - New Pet?

as of the latest PTR build, a new pet popped up: the cenarion hatchling.

while i do not have any personal or official confirmation of where this pet is from or how it's obtained yet, there is a comment on wowhead's PTR site stating that it will be one of the possible companions available from the new call to arms feature. the comment may or may not be accurate.

nonetheless it is... interesting. IF it's true, i think MANY will be quite upset.

from the summoning spell description, the cenarion hatchling sounds very similar to the hippogryph hatchling, which can be acquired only through the trading card game loot cards. these loot cards are rare and normally go for about $100+ on ebay, making them somewhat inaccessible to most players.

what does this mean? a pet such as this being added to the call to arms goodie bag loot table will mean quite a few players will want in on the reward. however, as i mentioned before, because tanks and healers will be the "least represented" in the random dungeon finder the majority of the time, this completely cuts pure DPS out of the picture and unable to try for this highly sought after companion. at least on their main collecting character, that is.

it also means that many hybrid classes may take on pivotal roles such as tanking and healing, even if they may not be qualified to do so. this will lead to an increase of potentially failing pug groups and player frustration. and for what? a shot at a rare (and new) companion.

it should also be noted that the tiny sporebat that was officially announced as a possible vanity pet reward from the call to arms goodie bag does NOT have a reputation requirement. the original tiny sporebat requires players to be exalted with sporeggar. although both items teach the same companion summoning spell (same spell ID), the two items are different and have unique item IDs. this indicates that players who receive the tiny sporebat via the call to arms system will not have to grind the sporeggar reputation to learn the pet.

overall if the above turns out to be true, i will have to side with the many who already disagree and are dissatisfied with the call to arms feature. not only does this have the high potential to negatively affect the PVE community, it also impacts the collecting community in an especially unfavorable way.

i'm hoping that at the very least, no new pets (such as the cenarion hatchling) will be added to the call to arms feature and the comment on wowhead was a premature one or is only applicable to the PTR. otherwise i may have to break out my angry tree macro again.

The Pet Business

wowinsider featured a player that deals in the vendor pets trade in their recent 15 minutes of fame article.

healthypets on the server cenarion circle (alliance) has a unique business that sounds pretty successful. it's not unusual to purchase vendor items and reselling them on the AH, however, healthypets manages to maintain a happy and loyal customer base due to his great customer service. for larger priced purchases and new customers, he will send out thank you gifts through the in-game mail. what a great way to encourage repeat-sales as well as pet collecting! :)

it looks like breanni has some sales competition! :P

Withers to Look Withered Again

this is just a small observation from the 4.1 PTR, but a bug that currently gives both withers and the teldrassil sproutling the same model skin as a moonkin treant will be addressed and fixed in 4.1. if this is indeed a fix on the PTR, both pets should return to their normal and intended looks after the release of the patch.

those who were sad to see withers lose its unique look can rejoice! this thirsty little one should look thirsty again soon.

those who will be sad to see withers lose its more lively look, don't worry. buddy up with a restoration druid and kindly gift them a glyph of the treant. add some baby spice or even a small feast and ta-da! you've got yourself a cute little treant... erm... "pet" lol. :P

on a more serious note, if you enjoy both companions as they are in their current bugged state, be sure to take your screenshots and play with them now. there's no guarantee they will remain bugged for very much longer!

4.1 Call to Arms - Pet Incentives

blizzard is releasing another new feature in patch 4.1: call to arms.

what it is: basically a bribe for players to take on the tanking/healer role in random lvl 85 heroic dungeons to help cut down on DPS queue times. the reward for being eligible may include a vanity pet.

"To be eligible for the additional rewards you must solo queue for a random level-85 Heroic in the role that is currently being Called to Arms, and complete the dungeon by killing the final boss."

the pets that players have a chance of receiving include the razzashi hatchling, cockatiel, and tiny sporebat, but there may be others. rare 5 man mounts will may also drop from the call to arms reward.

to sum up this new system:

- the random dungeon finder will list which role is currently least represented for each day (likely either tanks or healers).
- any player that takes on the role that is least represented in a lvl 85 random heroic and kills the final boss will be awarded a goodie bag.
- this bag will contain gold, gems, and has a chance of dropping a vanity pet/mount.
- there is currently no limit on how many times a player can qualify for the goodie bag.

at the moment i have mixed feelings about this new feature.

Happy Birthday WarcraftPets!

WarcraftPets turns 4 years old! just thinking about all those years of companion pet goodies and information that the site has brought everyone... it's amazing. i can still remember when i nervously signed up for the website back in 2008.

when i first discovered the website i was thrilled! finally! a no fuss, no hassle way to track my ever-growing obsession pet collection. it was a dream come true for someone like me. *cough*addicted to lists and organization*cough* ;)

it's an honor to be apart of the wonderful community that WarcraftPets houses, and i hope there will be many more years of vanity pet collecting awesomeness to come!

Upcoming Holidays

children's week is a little under one month away (may 1st), but before then comes nobelgarden (last week of april)!

after going through some of the new items/spells in 4.1, as far as i can tell there will still only be one pet available from the upcoming in-game event, the spring rabbit. who knows, though. perhaps this year's nobelgarden will bring us a new companion. will the hardboiled egg finally make an appearance? we'll have to wait and see. i'm just crossing my fingers that if there is a new vanity pet, it won't come from a holiday boss or there will be multiple ways in which players can acquire it.

immediately after nobelgarden will come the much anticipated children's week. it's likely that patch 4.1 will have come before then, so pet collectors roll up your sleeves and prepare for the collecting spree! with 4.1 possibly hitting before/during two in-game holidays, things will be interesting. there will certainly be quite a bit of collecting to do! hopefully the major bugs will have been worked out and everything goes smoothly. (everyone focus your brainwaves to remind developers that we're still waiting for a northrend orphan quest chain fix! :P)

one last thing to note for now... it's still quite a ways away, but the 4.1 PTR introduced something interesting for the halloween in-game holiday: candy coin. does this new hallow's end currency mean we'll be able to purchase holiday specific items (possibly pets)? just something to chew on for now. erm, pun not intended? lol.

Bind On Battlet.net Pets

despite the date, this IS NOT an attempt at an april fool's day joke. k? :)

doh! i missed this in the march 30th PTR patch notes. i must have been too excited about the united nations achievement fix. lol.

"Many "Account Bound" heirlooms are now labeled as "Battle.net Account Bound", meaning that they can also be traded or mailed to characters that are on different World of Warcraft accounts under the same Battle.net account."

what will this mean for pet collectors? some pets that were previously bound to account will change to bind on battle.net, making it more convenient for players to mail and learn a few of the rarer pets on multiple accounts under the same battle.net account.

the list of battle.net bound pets isn't very long at the moment. a user from twitter took a screenshot showing which ones changed and compared "BoA" to "BoBattle.net".

note: unless proven otherwise, this change does not seem to indicate that pets will be mailable to characters on different servers on a single account. to transfer companions between servers on an account, players will probably still need to pay to move one toon (holding the BoA items) to another server.

something else that's interesting to note is that the crawling claw is no longer bind on account on the PTR. it's possible that with patch 4.1, this archaeology pet will turn into a bind on pick up pet.