Micronax + Magic Pet Mirror + Pepe
Normally I don't go for raid achievements, but I had to make an exception for a pet lol. My guild generally doesn't focus on raid achievements either, but they were kind enough to help out and a handful of them completed the full achievement/got the pet too. Big thank you to all those that took part and helped out. :)
I would say it took about 3-4 weeks of maybe 1 night a week (2-4 hours each) on Normal to complete the entire thing. Some nights we knocked out more than a few, while other nights we were only able to complete 1 or 2. Yesterday was dedicated to the very last one, Dark Souls, quite possibly the toughest of the bunch.
Micronax flies alongside you and has an interaction with nearby critters - it will shoot a fel-fireball at them. I love battle pets that have an interactivity! :3
The adventure of collecting this pet, however... I was and still am less than enthusiastic about it. Relieved that I've completed it, yes. But I wouldn't say that being relieved equates to enjoying the journey, yenno?
After undergoing the experience, I still stand by my opinion that "Glory" type raid achievements shouldn't award battle pets. Pets are such a niche part of the game, not as widely desirable as a mount or a title, that tacking on a pet reward just puts extra strain on collectors and possibly even guildmates/friends.
I can't tell you how troublesome it was just trying to get guildmates on for attempts at X achievement or coordinating schedules. We're an average guild and largely casual in this expansion, so our dedicated raid nights are spent on just clearing current content. Achievement runs usually do not qualify as content for official raid nights.
On top of that, the interest was as you would expect from a group that mostly doesn't concern themselves with achievements, much less battle pets. I could see Glory being easier in a guild that's heavily achievement-oriented, but for a casual guild like mine, it's tougher to drum up the motivation and momentum for it. For those that don't run with a guild or consistent group of friends, I completely understand why they would feel discouraged about collecting Micronax. (Should note that there ARE groups out there willing to help out collectors earn their own spaceship pet though.)
Would there have been more interest had Glory of ToS rewarded a mount? My past experiences with my guild say yes. Not all are achievement-hunters but nearly all wouldn't turn down a shiny new mount, heh.
I admit I'm completely biased in my preference for no future raid achievement pet rewards. However, it should be noted I'm not against ALL raid pets.
I'm ok with pets that drop from raid bosses, as that doesn't require much other than being present for a boss kill and RNG rolling in your favor. Or, in the case of BoE or cageable pets, getting lucky and snagging one off the AH for a decent price. With enough time, raids turn into legacy raids and become solo-able, essentially turning current content raid dropped pets into RWL-type pets. And we've had PLENTY of experience with RWL pets. ;P
Raid achievement pets, however, normally require a group to complete X mechanics. Further down the road you might not need 10 people, but I could see more than a few of these achievement still requiring a group of at least 2-5.
I think the best example of a solid way to implement raid pets is the Dream Whelpling. It has a unique spawn mechanic where you need to defeat the last boss of the Emerald Nightmare raid, and then little green whelplings pop up as wild pets you can capture.
It's a fantastic idea that's relatively balanced and interesting. It passively incorporates group effort/participation with collecting, removes a lot of the RNG, and really fits in with the overall environment/atmosphere of the raid. As far as I remember, you don't even really need to be there to complete the raid, just find someone with the lockout (the whelplings respawn).
But if they wanted to make a wild pet that only spawns after defeating a raid boss even more exclusive, perhaps add a required buff that you can only obtain if you were present (dead or alive) for the boss kill. Boom. There you go, a more exclusive raid pet! :P
Anyway, I'm glad I collected Micronax while it's still considered current content. I honestly didn't think it would happen until an expansion or two down the line. Would I advocate future raid pets to be obtained in the same fashion? No. I think there are better, more balanced, and more interesting ways to add battle pets into raid content. Just my two cents!
