Macabre Marionette Finally a True Pet In the (Near?) Future

AWESOME new came from Twitter today. Game designer, Dave Maldonado, Tweeted this image with the text, "It's about time, right?"

Damn straight it's about time! XD Even better would be if he does a little dance with his maracas when you emote dance at him. :D Looking at the screenshot, he may do just that!

For those that don't know, collectors have been requesting that the Macabre Marionette be turned into a true companion pet for years. Ever since it first appeared as a temporary pet in 2009, I've been pining over this little skeleton, wishing that I could add it to my collection. So the news that we will finally be able to has made me ridiculously happy! I literally jumped up and said "eeeee!" when I read the Tweet lol.

We'll have to wait and see when we'll be able to obtain a Macabre Marionette, but Day of the Dead (November 1st - 2nd) is probably our best guess. I just hope that the event won't be buggy, as it has been in previous years. So here's crossing my fingers that everything goes smoothly and I'll finally be a proud owner of a Macabre Marionette this year!

Shake Your Maraca

Hallow's End is over, but there's still one more holiday to celebrate before Pilgrim's Bounty. Day of the Dead!

This holiday awards you with the TEMPORARY pet, Macabre Marionette. Of course this means that this companion is not a true vanity pet, but it's absolutely adorable all the same. I certainly wish it was a true pet that I could add to my collection. :3

BTW, it looks as though the bug of previous years has been fixed, and you should be able to complete the quest that rewards the Macabre Marionette even if you've completed the quest a previous year.

Remember, in order to access the quest you must have your Bouquet of Orange Marigolds equipped. Use it to see the ghostly NPC of your race that hands out the quest. You can purchase a bouquet from the Day of the Dead vendor located next to Catrina.

Note: The event for humans (Stormwind) has MOVED from outside the major city to inside. A map of where Catrina and her festivities can be found here. A very fitting place, indeed. :)

A definite place to complete the quest is Dalaran if you're having trouble locating a spirit to give you the quest.

Day of the Dud

yes, this calls for the angry tree macro.
much like the northrend orphan quests, it would seem as if the day of the dead quest is similarly bugged. if you completed it last year, the NPCs will not offer it to you this year. what does it matter? this ONE and only quest offered during this 2 day in-game event is the only way to obtain the limited duration macabre marionette. once the holiday is over the pet item will disappear.

this is extremely disappointing. not only was the event bugged last year and many players didn't even receive a marionette before the event was over or had their pet item disappear early, now many of us won't be able to enjoy the marionette this year either.

i was really looking forward to hanging out with a little skeleton, maraca wielding, sombrero friend too.

at least they fixed the issue where your 12 hour costume would disappear once you got onto a flying mount. some sort of consolation i guess... sorta. not really.

hopefully all those who did not complete the quest last year enjoy their macabre marionette this year. treasure it while you can! :(

note: logging and zoning may cause the pet item to disappear earlier than it's supposed to. this was a common issue during last year's day of the dead event. there are already reports from players on the official forums that the issue may not have been resolved for this year's event. so again... treasure the little skeleton while you can!!

Day of the Dead 2010

the in-game halloween festivities are coming to a close soon, and then the short two day in-game celebration of day of the dead will begin! it will be interesting to see if an actual companion pet will be released with this year's day of the dead.

last year's event was heavily bugged which was frustrating. many collectors were upset that they were unable to enjoy the company of the on use companion, the macabre marionette, because of the bug and therefore had no other opportunity to play with the pet due to the short duration of the event. what came as the biggest shock and disappointment for pet collectors was when it was discovered that the marionette wasn't a true vanity pet and would disappear once the in-game holiday was over.

hopefully the day of the dead glitches have been resolved in time for this year's version. that, and i'm hoping for an actual companion pet version of the macabre marionette! but i won't hold my breath :P

Fare-Thee-Well

alas, it has come to pass that this "minor tool patch" implemented today has taken away my little skeleton friend. you will be missed and never forgotten. /salute.

too RP? lol. well what's done is done, and the macabre marionette's lifespan is done. it's for sure this time. there will be no more restorations, no more chances to /dance with this companion this year, and it will NOT be made into or considered a true vanity pet this time around.

i'm glad that i had the chance to enjoy this pet for a little longer than intended. our escapades consisted of playing fetch (ball head!), taking a bath to get all shiny clean, and exploring instances which i'm sure the marionette's never experienced before.

i do feel for those who didn't get the extra time to enjoy the little guy. some got shafted and shafted hard, while others were given a second chance. is it fair? no. but what's done is done, and hopefully blizzard will learn from this fiasco and make plans to prevent something like this from happening again next year.

so we will just have to wait patiently until next year's Day of the Dead, and hope that blizzard will be generous enough to offer the marionette up as a true vanity pet.

goodbye for now, macabre marionette. i'll be awaiting your return next year. /teary wave.

Squish the BUG

i've found my first possible confirmation that the macabre marionette item is indeed bugged.

Greetings,

Thank you for contacting the World of Warcraft Game Master Department.

The Macabre Marionette is a temporary item meant to be removed once the Day of the Dead holiday was over. There is currently an issue where the pet will remain on a character after the holiday.

Once this issue is resolved, all players will no longer have the Macabre Marionette.

Please accept our apologies for any frustration this may have caused.
-source (towards the very bottom of the comment page)

there's even a nifty screenshot of the GM response.

until blizzard releases an official statement, though, there is still hope that the marionette will be made into a real vanity pet (i'm getting flashbacks of Pinocchio - 'you're a real boy, now! you're a real boy, now!').

two new pets, the lich and the panda, were just released. and as cool and awesome as they are, i think i'll be spending more time with my cute skeleton friend. gotta enjoy it while it lasts.

Ball Head

just a small note on the Macabre Marionette: when you play "fetch ball" with this pet, the skeleton effectively turns into mr. ball head.

try it and you'll see what i mean ^_~

Beating the Dead Horse Bloody

"well i mean, they couldn't get it right the first time, what makes you think they'll get it right trying to remove him."

yes, we are talking about the infamous macabre marionette; the one and only pet that has caused more trouble than any other companion in recent memory.

it's now day 3 of the marionette fiasco. while in-game support sent that wonderful message along with the pet item restoration (see post below), the item is still in my bags, and the cute little skeleton? it's happily following me around, without a care in the world or any sense of impending doom to come.

this raises the question: will it come? the impending doom that is.

blizzard has yet to announce whether or not they will be removing the item/pet from inventories and banks. it was speculated that the mass purging would be happening over night, during the tuesday maintenance. upon logging in, though, the little guy is still around, and the text on the item still reads "requires day of the dead" despite owners being able to summon it even though the event is over.

so we'll just have to wait and see what they intend on doing with this little guy. one theory is that blizzard is giving everyone a chance to thoroughly enjoy the macabre marionette (before removing it) since many had their pet disappear on them during the actual event.

or.. perhaps make it a permanent vanity pet, maraca dance included? one can only hope.

Macabre Marionette - Update Part 2

**9:47 PM UPDATE**
this msg was sent to me along with the pet restoration in game:

"greetings!

the issue you experienced with your macabre marionette disappearing should now be resolved. we apologize for the inconvenience and will continue to monitor the situation. you will find a new marionette attached, and we hope that you continue to enjoy the day of the dead. please note that the item will disappear at the end of the holiday event.

thank you for your patience while we worked to resolve this issue."

so it looks like even the item will not be permanent, nevermind the pet. wish they had mentioned that sooner. >:T

--------------------------------------

wow, i really feel like i'm beating a dead horse with this.

a blue post wrote:

"It looks as if the Macabre Marionette will begin appearing in your inventories and mailboxes soon, everyone. If you are still missing a marionette, please post the name and realm of the character in question so that we can look further into this.

Thanks!"

so it seems like they are restoring the pets to those that have either submitted a ticket (although they specifically told us NOT to submit one) and those that have posted on that thread.

can't say that this really resolves anything. it's a nice touch that at least they are responding to the community's outcries, but at the same time we are still left with a pet/item that's only usable for the next 4 hours, when we should have had it for the entire event. or even better, the entire year.

even if i may not get my pet restored in time to use it before the event is over, my hope is that in the near future they will make it a permanent, learnable companion. that, and i worry that because i completed the quest this year, i may not be able to next year and receive another one. =\ better get it restored now.

Macabre Marionette, In Depth

there has been much talk about the bugs, annoyances, and grievances circling around this pet, but not much talk about the why.

why would blizzard choose to make this pet "event-specific" rather than a permanent pet, learnable and usable all year round?

i've been wracking my brain trying to come up with possible explanations. a couple of them are a stretch. i was honestly trying to give blizzard the benefit of the doubt and think of something other than the obvious and most likely (it's up to personal opinion as to which is "most likely" :P).

Day of the Fail

**4:30 PM Update**
This post states that there has been a hotfix for some of the Day of the Dead zoning, logging, hearthing issues. however, no news on whether or not the pet will be reimbursed to those that obtained it before the hotfix.

consider the following: there's only one more day of the event, the pet is still event-specific, the disappearing act happened to nearly all who participated in the event before the hotfix. add these things together on top of "the Game Master staff will be unable to provide immediate assistance as these issues also affect our ability to provide reimbursement", and it's sounding very much like we won't be seeing our marionette pet until next time around.

"Pretty much, those who cared about the pet, got it, lost it, and won't be getting it back. That's the stupidest thing I've heard in my life."

QFT >:O

-----------------------------------------

day of the dead in game event is here!

and.... it sucks.

i'm at a loss of what to say about this event. are there any positives? i managed to snag myself another flower offhand (i have a habit of collecting flowers as well as pets). but other than that, day of the dead is a HUGE let down.

in my previous post i mentioned that i didn't mind the pet being event-specific. i still don't. what i DO mind is the fact that it, as well as many other aspects of this seasonal event, are bugged to hell.

oh by, the way, the official day of the dead information page is slightly misleading. yes, "festivities" are located at the graveyard in most major cities, however the quest to obtain the pet can only be found at YOUR race's home city (or in dalaran if you can get there).

Upcoming Holiday Pets

WarcraftPets has brought us the disappointing announcement that the Macabre Marionette will NOT be a true vanity pet.

"This pet can only be used during the Day of the Dead event - it cannot be learned and kept like other small pets." - source

i've read mixed reactions on this. some are disappointed, but not surprised by blizzard's decision, while others are seemingly heartbroken. me? considering there are many more pets to come, i will just have to sigh and concentrate on the next upcoming pet.

speaking of next upcoming pet... it's almost Turkey Time!