Starting Off With a Bang

The New Year will be kicking off with the Darkmoon Faire this year. Hopefully this is a good omen for the coming year for pet collectors!

My plans for this month's faire are all set, and I should be ready to go. I even went out hunting for archaeology fossil fragments in preparation, and if this month's archaeology quest requires some other type of fragment, I should have enough of all of them to turn in. Except for Nerubian and Vrykul. Northrend archaeology is somewhat of a pain lol.

So I'm all set for the DMF. Then right after the faire, another holiday (or two or three)!

First up will be the Lunar Festival which will bring two new pets: the Lunar Lantern (alliance) and the Festival Lantern (horde). Both cost 50 coins of ancestry each (according to the official WoW armory) and are Bind on Equip. There's no way to test it yet, but I'm guessing that this will mean one toon will be able to learn both regardless of faction. It'll just be a matter of getting the pets across the neutral AH. I'll definitely be working towards getting both the new Lunar pets (if it's possible). I'm even leveling up a horde toon just for the occasion, heh.

As always with using any auction house, everyone be careful and wary of your precious goods! I'm sure there will be lots of players and bots alike, ready to snipe any cheap and profitable pets that pop up for sale.

Then just about mid-way through the Lunar event, TWO more events will be kicking off. Both the Valentine's Day in-game holiday AND the next DMF start on the same day. WHEW!

I'm probably going to prioritize the DMF on that day, though. Squeeze in that extra set of dailies before reset.

I pray and hope that there won't be any new additions to the 2012 V-day holiday, or at the very least no new RNG holiday loot bag dropped pets. Those that are still hunting for the Toxic Wasteling don't need anymore stress and anxiety on their plate. It will be Valentine's Day so c'mon Blizzard, have a heart. :\

Only after the V-day event is over will we get a short breather before another DMF comes around. By then it will be March and the MoP beta might possibly be out? That's a complete and total guesstimate lol.

In any case, the next few months are sure to be busy for newer pet collectors! For older collectors who have most of their pet collecting done already, there will still be stuff to do but it shouldn't be quite as hectic... hopefully.

Anyway, here's hoping for a better pet collecting year in 2012. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm tired of being disappointed heh.

Important dates (all holidays listed start at midnight server time):

- Jan 1st = DMF
- Jan 22nd = Lunar Festival
- Feb 5th = Love is in the Air + DMF

Moving On

Well, there are exactly 4 more days of Winter Veil which means 4 attempts left. At this point I've thrown all hope out and I'm doing the daily out of pure routine and stubbornness. I don't expect to receive Lumpy on my main collector this year. My gut has yet to fail me, so I suppose I just have to accept it.

I haven't lost my spirit as a pet collector, but I have lost some faith and confidence in Blizzard. Shrug. Perhaps it's just meant to be a teeter-tottering type of love/hate relationship. Whatever. That'll teach me to get any hopes up. What goes up, must come down.

Instead of dwelling any further, I'm looking to the future. The Darkmoon Faire is quickly approaching, so I've been gathering my artifacts and getting ready for the grind. I'm missing only one artifact, the Treatise. Damn its rarity. (At least I can farm for it at my own leisure, unlike the holiday pet which will be out of reach for an entire year shortly.)

If all else fails, I suppose I could try my hand at the DMF PVP chest. If I can manage to loot it 3 times during the next faire, it would make up for the Treatise artifact. Let's just call that "plan B" heh.

The next DMF pets I plan on getting are the Darkmoon Zeppelin and Darkmoon Tonk. I hear Lil' XT doesn't play so nice with them. *Insert evil cackle here* ;) After experiencing such a disappointing and depressing holiday, I'm up for some destruction.

Oh, and if I had to choose between a grind for pets like the DMF or the randomness that is the holiday loot pets, I'd choose the DMF any day. Hands. Down.

One may ask, 'What's the difference between waiting for the DMF and its pets and waiting for each holiday to come around once a year?' Well nevermind that the DMF comes every month while the holidays are a one time event (for however many varying days) per year, there are key differences that make one stomach-able while the other is absolutely detestable.

On one hand, there's the fact that at least with the DMF, I'm compensated for my efforts. For every quest I turn in and each daily completed, it helps advance me to an end goal. The holiday pets, on the other hand, well there's nothing to be earned but disappointment there.

Not to mention there's no guarantee of anything no matter how long I stick to completing each holiday daily. But the DMF dailies, quests, and turn ins are all guaranteed to reward me with pets so long as I don't quit.

Yes, I'm perfectly fine with waiting for weeks on end for just 7 days' worth of time to collect maybe one or two pets, yet it's painfully brutal to wait for year after year for another chance at a holiday RNG dropped companion. One involves determination and true effort on my part, while the other is purely a gamble. It's these subtle and psychological differences that make or break a system. I see this. Many other collectors realize it. Now if only Blizzard would acknowledge it and take it into consideration so change can start in preparation for a better and more balanced future. I'm done with holding my breath, though.

Pet Stat Breakdown

MMO-Champion has an unofficial breakdown of companion pet statistics (~6.4 million level 85 character sample size, many toons are alts). The full list of pet stats can be found in the comments of the post.

According to these stats, Mr. Chilly is the most common while rarest is Poley.

What I found most amusing about this particular post was one of the comments: "Kinda surprised about the Lump of Coal. I figured that'd be something nearly everyone would've gotten after a week or so of doing the daily."

HAH, I say. HAH.

Really though, Lumpy being nearly on par with pets that require RL money... that says just how bad of a droprate it is. And yes, I realize that this is just a small sample size, plus the first year in which Lumpy is offered therefore a likely somewhat inaccurate breakdown for this specific companion. Still. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the droprate or the holiday loot system, does it?

Odds Are Against You

It's one thing coming from a biased pet collector like me, who has something to lose when it comes to completing the daily each day during this holiday. But when a guildmate tries it for the first time, one who has nothing to lose and doesn't collect pets at all, comments "how was that supposed to be fun?" and asks why anyone would do the daily/subject themselves to such disappointing rewards everyday, it really speaks volumes about this RNG holiday loot system.

Still no Lumpy, and I have a feeling I simply won't be seeing him on my main toon this year. Sorry, Pebble. You won't be seeing a new playmate any time soon. Blizzard wants you to remain lonely for a while longer.

My Gut is Always Right

If there was a competition for "most psychic", my gut would be a pretty good contender.

Did my usual round of log in, do dailies, and get disappointed this Christmas morning, except with the slight difference in disappointment.

Upon logging in, I just had this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Part of me knew that I would experience a different type of disappointment today. It was just one of those gut feelings, yenno?

It's not THE worst case scenario ("the" worst scenario would be not seeing Lumpy AT ALL), but it's still a pretty undesirable outcome: I found Lumpy... while on a non-collecting alt character.

You'd think that bit of blue text would send me into a fit of overwhelming joy and relief, except it didn't. I'm pretty bummed out still.

It would be different if Blizzard could guarantee all companions will be Bind on Account in the expansion or near future. Or perhaps more details on the new BoA system to help reinforce that this feature will really be implemented "soon". Right now I just don't have the confidence in Blizzard's claim of BoA pets, to believe that finding a companion pet on an alt is of any benefit or worth to me. And maybe I'm just too stubborn, but even with that guarantee I think I would still be disheartened about receiving Lumpy on an alt rather than my main collector.

Needless to say, I didn't learn Lumpy on my alt. I'm going to hold out until my main gets it or hope that Blizzard has a heart and makes Lumpy BoE or BoA (before MoP). For now, it's going to just sit in my bags while my main toon continues to be disappointed day after day.

There is still about one week before the end of the in-game event, which translates to 8 attempts left. I'm really discouraged at this point though, and haven't found the heart to log in to do anything else except raid during raid time and complete the Winter Veil daily.

Part of me wonders why I even bother to put myself through this type of stress and anxiety. It doesn't get any better or any easier with each new pet added for a holiday. The RNG just keeps beating you down until you're pretty much doing it out of habit or routine rather than to experience the fun.

There has to be a better way.

What would PVE players think if they were allowed only two weeks out of the year to roll ONCE per day for a chance at a piece of epic gear? I'm sure all hell would break loose on the forums and Blizzard would have no choice but to rethink and redesign their loot system.

The excuse with continuing this holiday RNG monstrosity of a system is that it's "optional" and it doesn't really impact gameplay (a vanity). Well the term optional is relative and gameplay is subjective. To a PVP'er, RP clothes is optional and getting that last cloth piece for a "fun" set doesn't have much effect on their gameplay. Yet for a RP'er to NOT complete their costume would be unacceptable and would have a large effect on their gameplay. It's the same thing for a pet collector. One pet out of many actually does make a difference, and whenever possible or wherever applicable, collecting a pet is NOT optional and IS the gameplay.

Anyway, another rant for the end of the year. If I had to find the silver lining in this it would be that my gut has yet to fail me when it comes to predicting things. So cheers to that at least. Heh.

Have a Good One

Despite being a grumpster this in-game season, Lumpy still has not graced me with its presence. Sigh.

Regardless, I wish everyone a safe and merry holiday! Here's looking ahead and hoping for a bright and shining future for pet collecting and pet collectors. May there be many awesome little friends waiting for you just over the horizon. :)

The Fun - Stop Killing It

I don't know if you've noticed this... but I'm not having fun hoping for Lumpy. Note the use of "hoping" instead of "hunting". Yes, that's pretty much what I and many other collectors have been reduced to when it comes this companion as well as the other holiday loot-bag dropped pets. Rather than working hard and being rewarded for our efforts, all that can be done is pray, hope, and agonize for those few weeks out of the year.

The determination? The persistence? The patience? And all those other awesome, POSITIVE qualities that MOST other pets bring out in a pet collector? They mean NOTHING when it comes to certain RNG based holiday pets. Instead it's all left up to chance.

In all fairness, some players may find this type of random system "fun" and "exciting", but many members of the pet collecting community do not. Can there be no compromise? Where is our small slice of the fun-pie?


Yes, it's time for that angry tree macro.

Soul of the Aspects Updated Animations

MMO-Champion has a new video preview of the Soul of the Aspects (datamined from the 4.3 PTR but wasn't released onto live servers... yet?).

At first I thought it was just the same animation as the Celestial Dragon companion. There are definitely some similarities (such as the star formation it outlines), but to my surprise the Soul of the Aspect has some other pretty cool animations. :D

There's still no information on how this pet will be obtained but hopefully some details will come soon!

Unsettled Mind

Now that the hunt for Lumpy is on, I've been hearing and reading a lot about other collectors trying for this pet on multiple toons and many hoping for it on an alt. That makes sense given that Blizzard recently announced that they plan on making most (if not all) companions Bind on Account. Unfortunately for me, this notion still doesn't ease any anxiety or nervousness about getting this pet.

Although Blizzard has said they plan on making companions BoA in the next expansion, there is no guarantee that this feature will go live. Things could change at any moment between now and the release of MoP, including the implementation (or exclusion) of any new systems/features.

There are also a lot of unknowns, such as what exactly does "Bind on Account" entail? BoA as in bound to all toons in a single Battle.net account? BoA as in only accessible by toons on a server on a single WoW license? What about servers with multiple characters across both factions? Will pets be sharable between them too?

In the end, there are just too many unanswered questions for me to feel as though I can take it easy this holiday season. Not to mention that I'm more of a completionist and would MUCH rather collect any and all pets on a single toon, regardless if the companions become BoA. But as Ritsuka said on the WarcraftPets Forums: "Desperate times." Pretty much sums it up.

Don't get me wrong, I do plan on trying for the pet on multiple toons "just in case", but I will still be pretty disappointed even if I do manage to snag Lumpy on an alt rather than my main. Perhaps I'm just too uncompromising in this sort of situation.

All that said, I'm not exactly feeling that much excitement or enthusiasm about this year's Feast of Winter Veil like I thought I would. I'm actually experiencing a heavy, sinking feeling in my gut that feels more prominent than previous in-game events. It's unclear why this event is so different than others, but it's definitely discouraging to say the least. I'm wondering if it has to do with the repeated exposure to this type of situation during each holiday season.

Normally I give Blizzard the benefit of the doubt and try to maintain an open mind when it comes to their systems and implementation of companions, but I still can't say that I'm for this whole idea of a one chance per day, entirely RNG based, holiday loot bag theme they have going on. I've spoken numerous times about why, so I won't go into detail this time around. Not that it matters much, though, since it doesn't appear that the developers have any plans of changing how this system works.

What would be a lovely holiday surprise would be collectors who were unlucky in finding Lumpy within the Stolen Gift, under the holiday tree at the end of the in-game event. Those that managed to nab the pet would receive an alternate gift instead of Lumpy. This way nearly everyone will get theirs' and all the time and emotions invested in collecting the vanity pet will not have been for naught.

Anyway, there's still hope (there's always hope, even if it's just a glimmer) and there's still lots of time to find that (seemingly very) elusive Lumpy. I just needed to get all of these downer thoughts out before they consume me entirely.

More Panda Love

Looks like the EU Blizzard PetStore is getting a holiday discount as well as the NA PetStore. Until January 2, the Pandaren Monk is now half off in the EU store! For the NA store, this pet sale still ends on December 19.

I've Been Very Bad, Promise!

Well, day 1 of Winter Veil yielded no Lumpy. At least the new daily was quick and painless (hooray for riding on another group's Greench kill? lol).

One day down, 18 more chances left. Despite this being one of the longer in-game holiday events, one chance per day where it's completely out of my control whether or not I randomly receive the new pet... let's just say it doesn't induce very festive feelings in me. Hopefully Great Father Winter hears my plea and decides to give me a "Lump of Coal" before the event ends. Sigh.

But in more lighthearted news, we finally get to see what the updated Winter Veil companions do when the holiday is actually in full swing! Both the Winter Helpers summon and ride their own miniature reindeer when you mount up on a ground mount. Pretty cute!




The Tiny Snowman also gets a holiday upgrade, and he's MUCH larger when brought out during the Feast of Winter Veil. Not to mention he doesn't instantly topple over when summoned. Yay :)

So here's to many more dailies in my near future, but hopefully not TOO many more before Lumpy graces me with an appearance in my Stolen Present...

Stolen Present Surprise?

According to a tweet from Atlasloot and a Wowhead comment, there may be a chance that players will be able to loot the old and original bot pet from 2007, the Clockwork Rocket Bot, from this year's daily reward, the Stolen Present. Currently no one's sure if this is a bug or if this is an intended drop (along with Lumpy), so we'll have to wait and see how things play out. I'm curious to find out if the Clockwork Rocket Bot is still BoP or BoE if looted from the Stolen Present!

Edit: Atlasloot says it's still BoP even if looted from the Stolen Present. Sadness. :( Guess that means I'll be destroying bots on the toons that already have it. Poor pets... I delete you with love, promise!

Update: Wowhead comments are reporting that the Greench now has 3.4m hp, and the quest objectives can be completed even if you're not part of the kill. The Stolen Treats can be looted and Metzen can be freed by anyone for a few minutes after the Greench dies. So it would seem that the mob is not instanced and is more like a world "boss" now, but the quest objectives aren't exclusive to the party that kills him. *sigh of relief*

Fetish Shaman Video Preview

In case you missed it, MMO-Champion has a video preview of the D3 CE WoW pet, the Fetish Shaman. It's pretty wicked and even has an awesome idle animation (D3 inspired of course!) :D

Can't wait to add this companion to my collection. I wonder how big it will be relative to my character. Right now it looks pretty big but looks can be deceiving when there's nothing to compare it to!

Where One Ends, A New One Begins

The title of this post says it all. DMF may be over but another in-game event is about to begin: The Feast of Winter Veil (coming soon to a major in-game city near you - this Thursday, December 15)!

For this holiday, instead of an instanced dungeon boss, it sounds as though players will have to team up with a group to kill an outdoor boss for a holiday loot bag each day. I'm not entirely sure how this will work, but the idea behind it sounds the same as a holiday dungeon boss. You get one shot per day, one holiday loot bag per day, and one chance for a holiday vanity item per day.

I'm starting to get used to the whole "YOU'RE UP AGAINST LMNOPXYZ FACTORS, DEAL WITH IT" holiday thing that Blizzard seems to be so fond of, but depending on how they pull off this year's Winter Veil loot bag... I may just rage a bit.

Before I get into that, though, here's a reminder of the new holiday daily/loot bag:

- New Winter Veil daily: You're a Mean One...

- requires level 80
- group daily
- rewards Stolen Present once per day

- Found within a Stolen Present: Lump of Coal!

Alright, so why will I possibly come to detest this new daily? Like I mentioned earlier, it all depends on how it's implemented. There are a few unknowns, so I can't form a complete opinion about it yet.

First things first: the droprate of Lumpy. Because this isn't a one time quest and it's a daily, my best guess is that the corresponding companion pet will NOT be 100% droprate. If it is a 100% droprate, then my mistake, thank you Blizzard for leaving out the RNG factor! ....But I don't plan on holding my breath.

Secondly, will the objective for this new daily be a phased group quest? Or are we going to have to world PVP and fight with other players over the spawn of this outdoor "boss" (Abominable Greench)? In previous years, the greench has been an outdoor spawn, and it was pretty much whoever tagged it first got the kill. I can't remember the spawn rate, but if it's a slow and low one, there are going to be many groups of 5 just camping the area (not to mention other players' bodies on PVP servers).

Here's what I'm looking at in a worst case scenario:

- extremely low droprate on Lumpy (RNG)
- limited number of attempts for the pet
- limited amount of time for the pet
- BoP pet, so the "wrong" toon could get it
- outdoor group boss, with lots of fighting over the spawn

So worst case scenario would mean that on top of the first 4 factors that pet collectors already have to contend with during holidays (where companions come purely from holiday loot bags), we may also have to "fight" with each other over the quest objective. Sigh. It's easy to see why I might end up raging this Feast of Winter Veil, right?

But like I said before, there are a few unknowns and it may not turn out to be a worst case scenario. Hopefully the droprate won't be THAT low, or the greench will be a phased spawn for each group looking to kill him and complete the daily.

This is another one of those cases where I'm excited and anxious yet extremely disillusioned at the same time. While I enjoy each holiday season and in-game event (hell, I'm even starting to get used to being on the short end of the stick as a pet collector during the holidays where a pet comes from only a loot bag), I still can't say I approve entirely.

Anyway, despite my somewhat pessimistic and cynical outlook on the upcoming Feast of Winter Veil, I am looking forward to the in-game event. I may not be ready for the holidays IRL (getting gifts for friends and family is brutal for someone like me who doesn't have a clue where to begin most of the time!), but I'm ready to face whatever Blizzard has in store for us in-game.

Until Next Month

The Darkmoon Faire ends tonight, but I managed to find all the artifacts, turn them in, and buy my first new pet. I didn't bother with the deathmatch since I'm not a fan of PVP in the slightest, but I still have 60 prize tickets ready and waiting for next month's faire. :D So when the next DMF comes around, I should be able to gather enough tickets for two pets. YAY! I think I'll go for the Darkmoon Zeppelin and the Darkmoon Tonk. What can I say? I'm a sucker for possible pet interactions. :P

There still seems to be some confusion as to how some players are buying more than one pet this month. Although a blue did confirm that 145 tickets each month is the amount of prize tickets that can be earned, it's entirely possible to earn EVEN MORE through the Darkmoon Deathmatch. By looting the chest, a player can earn up to 5 extra tickets each time! Only one player can grab the goodies from inside the chest though, so it's every man/woman/child/animorph/blob for themselves. Be ready for some do or die competition.

If PVP isn't your thing, though, I wouldn't worry about it. In fact, I wouldn't worry about who's collecting what when at all. Just go at your own pace. These pets aren't going away, and everyone who makes even the smallest of attempts each month will eventually get them. They are guaranteed so long as you make a tiny effort each DMF. No RNG involved, there's no competition with other players, etc. Unlike holiday pets where there's only a limited amount of time once per year, because the DMF is guaranteed some show up each month, the anxiety and stress to rush to the finish line isn't as prominent. You can go as fast or as slowly as you want. No mess. No stress. Enjoy what you can for now imo. :)

Personally, I'm a bit glad that I can't buy all the pets all in one go. I actually have a reason to log on outside of raiding, farming for mats for raid consumables, and hunting for that odd transmog piece that may complete a set. Now I need to hunt for those artifacts before each DMF so I'm well prepared once it does come around again. It's not such a terrible farm/grind either because I'm doing it for something I'm passionate about: vanity pets.

So farewell DMF, until we meet again. It will be sooner than you think!

I Think I Broke It

UPDATE: Confirmed! Lil' XT will interact (and ultimately destroy) the Darkmoon Zeppelin. Thanks Neuropathy for testing this! I'm still not sure about the Darkmoon Tonk.

I've read a couple reports that the Darkmoon Zeppelin is destroyed by any nearby Lil' XTs and Landro's Lil' XTs.

Unfortunately, I didn't purchase the zeppelin as my first pet this month, so I'll have to wait until next month to test this out myself. If anyone who did buy the zeppelin could test it out and confirm/deny this for me, that'd be very helpful! For those that bought the Darkmoon Tonk, I would also bring it out for Lil' XT to "play" with and see how they get along.

The other Darkmoon companions, while they are adorable and all, haven't proven to be very animated and don't do much of anything outside of the norm. So I'm pretty eager to find out if this interaction between Lil' XT and the zeppelin and/or tonk is true or not. It would be the first Darkmoon pet(s) with a unique animation.

Needless to say, Lil' XT needs to learn to take care of his toys better! :P

All About the Pandas

I guess in celebration and anticipation of the next WoW expansion, MoP, Blizzard's cutting the price of the Pandaren Monk in half! Normally this martial arts, beer drinking bundle of fluff is sold for $10 (USD) from the official Blizzard PetStore, but from now until December 19 you can purchase the monk pet for $5.

Time to spread the panda love this holiday season? Here's a monk for your monk so you can monk! :P

DMF Aritfact and Ticket Details

Here are summaries of the blue responses to the inquiries about the DMF artifacts:

- Players with the Darkmoon Adventurer's Guide in their inventory WILL be able to collect artifacts even when the faire is not in town. (source)

- The total number of tickets that can be acquired each month in an ideal situation (NOT including the extra day if you do the dailies before they reset on Sunday) = 145. (source)

NOTE: As noted on my Darkmoon Prize Tickets page, completing the dailies before they reset will net you an extra days' worth of tickets (5), bringing your monthly total to 150 in an ideal situation.

Being able to collect artifacts even when the event is over is GREAT news for collectors! This means we'll be able to make the most of our time and be sufficiently ready for the next DMF. Not to mention we won't have to grind in a panic when the faire is in town for extra artifacts in preparation next month's faire.

Although Bashiok did not specify that artifact turn ins would indeed be repeatable each month, the total tally that he provides indicates and implies that they will be "monthlies".

I'd also like to note that the Bind on Pick Up nature of the dungeon dropped artifacts (so long as you don't right click and accept the quest given by the artifacts) that was officially stated by Blizzard doesn't seem to be true (at least last I checked). Perhaps this will change in the future, but for now farm your heart out and check the AH for any artifacts that might be especially tough for you to find.

Taking all of this into consideration, though, the minimum amount of time to purchase all 6 companion pets will still be roughly 4 months at the very least. Results may vary from player to player, but I wouldn't concern yourself or worry if someone else has collected one or two more pets sooner than you. Go at your own pace imo, and enjoy the content! :)

This Shhh Is Bananas

I just bought my first Darkmoon Faire pet, the Darkmoon Monkey! What a cutie, but I still wish he had a unique idle animation or interaction with the environment, players or other pets. I can just see him throwing a banana peel at someone, causing a slip and fall animation (that doesn't actually stun or impair the player, of course). Oh well. Even without an animation, I'm happy to add him to my collection!

For those who are wondering how it is even possible to have enough tickets already, if you find and turn in enough artifacts, you can gather enough tickets to purchase one pet.

I made it a point to gather at least one of each artifact and turn them in. I'm just missing A Treatise on Strategy which sounds like a classic Cata 5 man Heroic drop (not from the new Hour of Twilight heroics), and the Soothsayer's Runes which is a 10 or 25 man raid drop.

The artifacts are surprisingly easier to obtain than previously thought, so long as you have the time and energy to farm for them. Although the dungeon artifacts are not 100% drop rate off of bosses, they can come from lower level instances. This means a max level toon such as myself can solo older content over and over again until an artifact drops. Whether or not this is a bug, I don't know. Seeing as how most of the artifact quests only require level 15 to begin, this may be intentional. Only the classic Cata 5 man Heroic and raid artifacts require level 85.

The battleground artifacts are pretty straight forward, so it was just a matter of running bgs until all three dropped for me. I found the biggest challenge was staying alive long enough to loot any slain opponent's bodies! Healers have it rough, especially if they don't actively PVP or have any PVP gear! :P

Now that I have my first DMF pet, the rest of my week will be spent on finishing up dailies each day and hoping for those last two artifacts to drop for me. Unfortunately, because of the reduced ticket reward change, I'll only be able to purchase one pet this month. Next month, though, if all goes well, I should have enough to purchase two. Hopefully the artifacts will be repeatable next month. We'll see!

Welcome to the Faire!

It's finally here! The Darkmoon Faire! First night and guess who I found enjoying the petting zoo area? XD


I gave Breanni a hug and made sure to pet the little penguins wandering around the area. :) Such nice and cute details are what makes events like the DMF so neat.

The Sea Pony was a quick catch for me as well as many of my guildies. Only 10 casts and I reeled mine in! I'm not sure if Blizzard will nerf the droprate or not (I've heard some players are having far less luck with fishing up this pet). We'll see.

I've completed all my dailies and profession quests, so now I'm just working on the miscellaneous quest to collect 250 trophies. It seems as though you need to have the killing blow for it to count and give you the ear. This is unfortunate for healers in 5 man dungeons and battlegrounds, and I guess that means I'll be heading out to grind out trophies on my own.

I'm also on the hunt for all the DMF artifacts. So far I've found two from the new 5 man dungeons, the Imbued Crystal and Mysterious Grimoire. Two out of five artifacts, not a bad start! I haven't been brave enough to wander into bgs yet, though. :P

So with artifact hunting, trophy grinding, and daily completing, I'll be keeping busy for a bit! My goal is to purchase at least one pet this week, but we'll see. With the reduced number of tickets rewarded for completing the dailies, I'll definitely need to find more artifacts to turn in to collect enough tickets to buy a pet.

Biggest dilemma? Which pet to buy first! :P

DMF Pets Will Take Longer

Just confirmed on an oceanic realm that the number of tickets rewarded for dailies has been reduced. Unlike on the PTR where the dailies awarded 5 tickets, they only award 1 ticket on live servers.

This drastically reduces the number of tickets earned each month, and will change the number of pets that can be purchased. It also means it's going to take longer than 3 faires before all six pets can be acquired.

Bummer! I'll have to redo my calculations on my Darkmoon Prize Tickets page.

If my calculations are correct, in an ideal situation (that means 8 days worth of dailies PLUS turning in all of the profession quests, misc quest, and artifacts) it will take AT LEAST 4 months for players to acquire all six DMF companions.

Completing the dailies for all 7 days, the profession quests, and the one misc quest would mean it would take at least 5 months to collect all the new pets. This calculation doesn't include turning in any of the artifacts.

So while it's not a huuuu~uge change, going from 3 months to a minimum of 4 or 5 is a bit of a downer. Not to mention that there's no guarantee on finding or winning any of the DMF artifacts. Oh, that and the change so that some of the artifacts are Bind on Pick Up instead of Bind on Use. I guess it just means pet collectors will be grinding on dailies for longer than first anticipated.

Note: Although Blizzard has officially stated that any artifacts found within dungeons are BoP, I can place them on the AH and mail them. This might also mean they're tradable. I'm not sure if this is intended or a bug.

The Re-Haunting of Pengu

Many may remember Pengu, the lovable penguin pet that was once known for his red, demonic-looking eyes. Shortly after his release, Blizzard changed his skin slightly so that he lost his red eyes. "Exorcised" him, even. :P

Well as of 4.3, it looks as though Pengu's been taken over by an eerie spirit again!


Pengu has his awesome unique crimson eyes back as of the latest patch. Whether or not this was an intentional change, I'm not sure. It's also unclear if the re-haunting of Pengu will stay this way or if developers will find him another priest to exorcise his demons out lol.

Either way, I'm glad he has his iconic eyes back! It really sets him apart from Mr. Chilly, however creepy it may seem.

Tonight, Tonight

The Darkmoon Faire comes to town tonight! For Oceanic realms, it's already up and running, so don't be surprised if some players are reporting that they've fished up the Sea Pony already. I know I got way too excited and thought Blizzard had made it available outside of the faire event, but El reminded me about the whole time difference thing lol.

It's likely you'll still only be able to fish up the Sea Pony while on the Darkmoon Island (which is accessible only when the DMF is in town). But please correct me if you find out otherwise!

Also, tonight WarcraftPets.com reveals the updated website. Follow their Twitter and Facebook page for updates on how the site maintenance is going and any extended maintenance that might occur.

I'm testing the updated website right now and the new features are neat! I can't wait to see how other users will respond and receive them. Hopefully everyone enjoys all the new doodads and it helps the pet collecting community continue to thrive and grow in a positive direction. :)

Tonight's going to prove to be a hopefully productive night!

But I'm Not a Greench!

Blizzard released their official guide to the new 4.3 pets, and have confirmed another new holiday pet, Lumpy! It can be found within a Stolen Present, which is rewarded for completing the new Feast of Winter Veil level 80 daily quest You're a Mean One....

Since this is a daily quest, I'm wondering if it's supposed to act like the other holiday loot bag companions, and Lumpy will not have a 100% droprate. One try per day throughout the in-game event, except the "holiday boss" isn't in a 5 man dungeon this time. Hmmm! We'll have to wait and see.

Although Lumpy will probably share the same model as Pebble and other rocky elementals, I think it's kind of cute that he's a piece of coal. Who says receiving a lump of coal during the holidays has to be a bad thing? Not I, especially if it comes in mini-pet form in-game! :P I wonder if it will have any idle animations. Being coal... will it be flammable? lol!

Darkmoon Faire Artifacts Update

Just a small update on the artifacts that can be found once you have your Darkmoon Adventurer's Guide safely stored in your inventory (not available until the faire comes to town, which will be on December 4th):

According to an official Blizzard customer support statement, artifacts found within dungeons are now Bind on Pick up (previously not BoP on the PTR).

"However, as any of the carnival folk will tell you, it’s every man for himself out there. Quest items acquired from dungeons are Bind-on-Pickup, and once the quest has been accepted, the item will no longer be able to be traded."
- source

I'm not sure if the artifacts found in battlegrounds are still Bind on Use, or if they will also fall in line with the change to the dungeon artifacts. BG artifacts cannot be rolled on by other players, though, and can be picked up only by the person that is looting a slain opponent's corpse. Artifacts found in 5 man instances may be rolled by all players that can see the item (in other words, those with the Adventurer's Guide in their inventory).

While this change to the artifacts may not impact many pet collectors, it's still something to keep in mind when collecting tickets for the new Darkmoon Faire pets.

Lunar Festival Gets Pet Love

According to Atlasloot's tweet, the datamined Lunar Lantern and Festival Lantern will be from the in-game holiday Lunar Festival event for 50 coins of ancestry each lantern.

Last I checked on the PTR databases, the Lunar Lantern is the alliance version while the Festival Lantern is the horde version of the pet. This may have changed since then, but we'll have to wait for the holiday to come around to find out for sure. Note that both are Bind on Use, though, so it's likely that players will be able to acquire both on a single toon for their collections either way. :D How players manage to get both on one toon if there are horde and alliance versions... well that's up to each person to sort out. :P I know I'll probably need to level a horde or bug a few horde acquaintances for a pet trade!

The Lunar Festival was the last seasonal event that didn't have any companions associated with it, so with the implementation of these two pets, all holidays are covered! Yay lol. :)