UPDATE: A
June 24 hotfix was applied to increase the spawn rate of the Qiraji Guardling. Blizzard does listen! :)
The Qiraji Guardling is
stirring up the community lately, and some players are unhappy with how this pet was implemented. I haven't heard/seen this much dissatisfaction in a while, not even about the Minfernal or Unborn Val'kyr.
With low spawn timers, CRZ, limited amount of time to capture one, and griefing from other players, it's only understandable that some are frustrated. On one hand, this pet could have been implemented differently to help reduce the amount of stress on collectors, but on the other hand, we as players need to remember that good things come in time.
Blizzard's infatuation with "rarity" goes a little too far sometimes, as I've mentioned many times before, and the balance between keeping things rare and actual fun gameplay can often be overlooked. A player on the WoW forums
sums it up nicely:
"There's a difference between "supposed to be rare" and frustrating game design. Frustrating game design is saying we're ok with having 100's of people farming the same location for hours, days, months, years...etc...because...we want it to be rare."
In the case of the Qiraji Guardling, there should have been many factors to consider before its implmentation, not just that the pet needed to be hard to obtain.
First off, this pet is the last pet for many players to collect in order to earn the "Zookeeper" title. I know many players are very achievement oriented, and a title is something that they can show off 100% of the time (whereas a pet doesn't passively stick to you like a title does). Blizzard should have recognized that because of this, and on top of the pet being highly desirable for collectors in general, that making this pet spawn so little and so few would aggravate people. The psychological effect of being unable to finish or complete something can be pretty intense, and it's only natural that players would feel angry that there's a roadblock in their progress. Not just any roadblock, either. A purely RNG roadblock in which they have little to no control over.
Secondly, I think a lot of the anxiety over this pet is due to the fact that it will only be around for a limited time. "Summer" may last for a few months, and although many collectors understand that there will be time to capture one, it's only human to feel pressured to get it as soon as possible "before it's too late". Missed chances are incredibly discouraging, so people will do almost anything avoid this, be it getting it on day one or getting it as soon as possible. Not to mention it requires players to go out of their way to wait for the pet to spawn. It's incredibly time consuming and leaves players feeling unproductive. So to get it ASAP means having more free time to do other, more productive activities (in-game or IRL).
On top of a limited time frame in which the guardling can be caught, there's the incredibly low spawn rate and limited number of spawns that players must face. Under normal circumstances, if this pet was available all year round, I don't think there would be as much fuss about it. Again, I didn't read/hear nearly as much outcry about the Minfernal or the Unborn Val'kyr, and I can only guess that it's due to the fact that players have some control over when they capture it. They can choose to go out at any moment in time to hunt for one. Even if there are only a few spawns and the pets only show up every few hours, there's still room for player choice.
But the Qiraji Guardling? There's less room for player control because of the limiting factors. Few spawns, slow spawn timer, and limited time to catch one. Add to that the increased desire to obtain a guardling to complete a collection or achievement. All these things just to make the pet "rare" leaves players with a really unfavorable experience. There has to be some sort of balance between making a pet hard to get and the act to get that "rare" pet fun. Unfortunately for the Qiraji Guardling, there are just too many factors that leaves it unbalanced and not very fun.
What's even worse is that even if players are willing to withstand all the forces working against them, it's still open for other players to ruin their chances. There have been
reports of players griefing those attempting to catch a Qiraji Guardling, by killing both players and the battle pet. This just adds to everyone's frustration, and makes it a headache to capture a pet on any type of server, PVP, PVE, or RP. Because of CRZ, mean spirited players have free reign over all servers and can be a nuisance anywhere.
All of these things combined, it's only natural that anxiety levels are extremely high. It would be insensitive to simply brush off players who are upset with the implementation of the guardling, and discount their voiced issues as merely complaints of an impatient person. There are valid concerns that Blizzard really needs to take a closer look at and keep in mind when implementing the next "rare" pet.
On the flip side, though, we have to remember that many of us will get this pet, but it's just a matter of time. As some have already pointed out on numerous forums, come July/August there will probably be many Qiraji Guardlings at the gates of AQ just waiting for someone to pay attention to them.
The stress and irritation that arises from anxiety over collecting the pet is natural and I don't think anyone should be condemned if they feel upset as long as they can maturely articulate it and keep in mind that they will get their chance eventually. We all need to vent our worries at times, and this situation is no exception. As long as we think of the bigger picture and remember that anything is possible in this world (of warcraft), even the act of collecting a very hard to find pet, we can shoulder each others' anxiety and help each other get through it.
Does that sound a little too family-friendly TV sitcom-ish? In the end it's true, though. This is what the community is meant for. We exchange ideas and sometimes worries with those of like-mind. In some cases we can also share hope and optimism that others will succeed in their adventures too, and give them hope that their pet will come eventually.
It's frustrating and it's maddening, and we don't have to agree with it or find it enjoyable. But if it's something that you really want/want to do, it will come in time. As a community we must remind each other that and empathize with our fellow collectors.
So to sum it all up, I hope Blizzard finds a more balanced way of implementing "rare" pets or at least consider it. And we as players need to remain patient with not only the mechanics but also each other, and remember that we're all at the mercy of the RNG gods.
Sidenote: Although I touch on CRZ being an issue, I don't include it as a main factor in the unbalanced implementation. I don't agree with or like CRZ, but the competition for pets will always be there, CRZ or not. I've pretty much resigned myself to this fact, and even though I rolled an alt on a low pop server, I don't have any expectations that there will be less people looking for pets on that server than my main toon's high pop server. In the end I just pretend that everyone from different servers just has really long and elaborate name tags, but are still from my server. Delusional and in denial? Probably. But if I don't force myself to think this way, I would just get even more upset over pet spawning mechanics, and I don't need that added stress.
