A Bit of WoW Pet Collecting History

If you played WoW during the Burning Crusade, you might remember that the Firefly pet item had its own unique flavor text. "Still flying..." it read.

It was pretty unique since it was one of VERY few pets that had any detail like flavor text added to it. This gave the pet that extra charm that made it that much more desirable. Of course the text went away once pets became trainable spells, and the pet items disappeared once learned.

Well, with the prospect of flavor text being brought back for companions in the Pet Journal in MoP, it seems only fitting that this pet receive its original flavor text, right? Unfortunately, the Firefly has a new description in the journal so far.

But! There might still be hope!

There's a suggestion thread on the MoP Beta forums to bring back the original "Still flying..." flavor text for this pet. With enough positive support maybe we can change the developers' minds about this little companion's journal description.

One thing that I'd like to clarify is that it's not just about the TV show and paying homage to it, but it's also a piece of WoW history. The pet's flavor text is a reminder of ye ol' pet collecting days when bags overflowed with pets and you had to lug them around if you wanted to summon them.

Our past is what helps shape our present and ultimately our future, so these little things are memories we should never forget. Adding the Firefly's original flavor text is not only an acknowledgement to a kick ass show but also to how far we've come as pet collectors. It's not a huge deal, but there's tons of sentimental value behind it.

It's not asking for a lot, just a little bit of nostalgia and homage to an awesome TV show. Blizzard has every right to deny our request, but it doesn't hurt to try so long as everyone maintains a mature stance on the matter. :)

So if you remember how awesome the pet was back in the day and think the Firefly should reclaim its unique and glorious flavor text, leave a supportive comment on the forum thread linked above!

Reflections

an ever-changing game such as WoW will ultimately have ever-changing items. this isn't to say they get better or worse over time. it's not the end nor is it the beginning. change is just change.

after some reflection of all the changes and possible changes to come with cataclysm, major and minor, i've come to the conclusion that i'm very grateful for my pet collecting experiences thus far (yes, even the pet peeves).

i'm particularly glad that i started early on rather than later, and i actually sort of pity those who have only just discovered this great hobby and style of gameplay that is vanity pet collecting. but not to worry since everyone eventually makes and cherishes memories for themselves. :)

one particular sentimental moment in time that i hold especially dear (amongst the many special memories lol) is when companions used to be actual items that took up bag and bank slots. i'm not saying that i wish things would go back to those days. no way. i adore the change to actually be able to learn the pet and thus freeing up my inventory space for other useless junk. but during those days when one pet meant one less slot, there was one companion that made having the actual item (vs having a trainable spell) worthwhile.

the captured firefly, while seemingly insignificant now, holds special meaning for me and probably for many other old-timers out there.