Battle Chickens CAN Fly

you're not seeing things. it's not a photoshop edit. that is my moonkin hatchling flying. :D blizzard sure snuck in a lot of surprises for this patch! this is yet another undocumented change for patch 4.0.6. whether or not it was intended... well let's just hope it stays this way! XD

it may take a moment for the moonkin hatchling to get off the ground, but once in flight mode this companion WILL fly along side your flying mount and/or flight form. when on the ground, it will proceed to waddle next to you as normal.

this makes me overjoyed to no end since it's so ridiculous it just works! who knew something so chubby and full of fluff could fly so high and so far? :P

Smolderweb Hatchling and Worg Pup

yes, these two pets are back with patch 4.0.6!

the smolderweb hatchling and worg pup are now drops from two bosses within lower blackrock spire. so far they seem to be 100% droprate and still bind on pick up. the hatchling drops from mother smolderweb, while the pup drops from quartermaster zigris.

although i'll miss the quests that ultimately rewarded these two pets, i'm glad to see that blizzard didn't forget these two wonderful, classic companions and has found homes for them in cataclysm.

the quests will just be another one of those fond memories that older collectors can talk about like aging couples sitting on the front porch with their stories of "when i was young..." :P

Happy Patch Day Collectors!

i just bought my armadillo pup and guild herald. i'm thrilled! just some things to note on both pets:


armadillo pup

- doesn't make any sound.

- its idle animation is... *drum roll* it curls up into a little ball! but don't worry, he won't be shy for too long and will gladly unfurl to chase after you if you leave its side. :P

guild herald

- this man... pet... is on the same cooldown as the guild page. the herald is on a shorter cooldown than the page (4 hours vs. 8 hours), but they still share the same cooldown lockout. interesting.

- he sells the guild rewards also like the guild page.

- the only differences i can see between the two is the clothing that they wear. on-click vocals. ...haircut?

- other than that, it's a clone of the guild page. heck, they even cost the same amount of gold.

Patch Soon, Hooray!

according to mmo-champion, patch 4.0.6 will be released this week! in addition to the change to both the armadillo pup and guild herald (will only require revered reputation with your guild to purchase after the patch goes live), here are a couple more tidbits on what's to come:

- Additional animations have been added to the Armadillo Pet guild reward.
- The Disgusting Oozeling no longer applies a debuff which reduces defense, a deprecated stat.

i'm quite excited for the armadillo pup! i'm not even sure what the original animation(s) was for this little one, but adding even more is intriguing.

unfortunately, there is still no mention of the united nations "bug" and if there will be a "fix" for it or not. it's frustrating and aggravating, but my hope is that blizzard is delaying any response on this issue to give themselves some extra time to work on the dark phoenix hatchling and make it more unique/desirable. am i being too optimistic? well, we'll see.

There Is No Loot

love is in the air... but where's the loot? what a good way to start off the event! :(

the valentine's in-game holiday just kicked off tonight. good luck to all going after peddlefeet and the toxic wasteling!

if you're having trouble finding how to get to the crown chemical co. boss (it wasn't showing up in the dungeon finder tab for me), simply head to the love is in the air NPCs and one of them should queue you for the holiday boss after speaking with him.

as far as i know there are no new valentine's event pets. which is a good and bad thing imo. good since there are still many players working on obtaining the two existing companions, and adding another may only cause more stress for them. bad for those who have already acquired both peddlefeet and the wasteling; no pets for us to collect.

there are other things to do during the event, though. personally i'm going to try for the forever-lovely rose. i missed out on it during the period when holiday bosses were farmable. i didn't realize just how awesome it was until it was too late and blizzard made the change to how vanity items and holiday bosses work.

there are also two v-day dailies offered, which DO give guild reputation. (hooray!) i'll be working on those to help my grind to exalted with my guild.

so at least there's still stuff for collectors to do, even if you've already collected both pets. or you can just sit back and watch the madness take shape. XD

Irritations

things have been relatively quiet but not exactly in a good sense. the in-game lunar festival didn't come with a pet again this year, making it THE only (major) holiday that doesn't have a corresponding companion pet. however, collectors can look forward (or dread) the next holiday which will be the valentine's event in about one week's time. good luck to everyone going after the toxic wasteling and peddlefeet!

while i still don't fully agree or like the new system of the holiday loot bag, it doesn't look as if blizzard's going to budge on this one. we will just have to take it or leave it. my only hope is that developers DON'T add more vanity pets to holidays that drop from holiday bosses, or the drop rate is increased for these pets, or collectors are given other options/ways of acquiring them during each in-game event.

i'm still waiting to hear some official word on the united nations achievement "bug". right now there are mixed messages floating around. some are saying game masters have stated it's "working as intended" while others are reporting that GMs have responded with the generic "it's a known issue, we're looking to resolve it". there still hasn't been any official statement confirming or denying that it is a bug and that it will be fixed in a future patch, which is frustrating.

i can't speak for everyone else, but i feel as though i'm in the dark about this and it's not very comforting. if it is working as intended, i'm not going to take up arms and set fire to the forums with anger and hate. no, instead i'll (grudgingly) just set up a reputation farming group to assist our highest exalted reputation earner in completing those last few reps to complete the united nations achievement. that's IF it's working as intended. if there were some sort of official confirmation that it's a bug, i'd gladly be patient and wait for the fix since at the moment, we have the achievement in the bag... except the bag has a hole in it and isn't exactly working right.

it really would be nice to know sooner rather than later if it's "working as intended" or not, though. the earlier things are settled, the sooner i can set to work if need be. right now, i'm just twiddling my thumbs and unsure of what action to take since blizzard is unable or unwilling to clarify things.

- if i go ahead and set up to grind out the last reputations to exalted and it turns out the achievement was bugged and is fixed in the near future, that's time wasted.

- if i don't go ahead and set up to grind out the last reputations to exalted and it turns out the achievement is working as intended, that's also time wasted.

it's one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't situations. am i pointing fingers at blizzard? pretty much. this could easily be temporarily resolved with a simple blue poster clarifying one way or another. bugged or not bugged, that is the question.

things haven't been all downers. i'm definitely loving the new pets and enjoying my time with some older ones too. i can't wait for patch 4.0.6 which i'm hoping will be released soon. armadillo pup and guild herald... get ready to join my army!

Another PTR Patch 4.0.6 Update

well it looks like another guild rewarded pet will be receiving a change in the next patch. there was already an announcement that the armadillo pup will only require a revered reputation (down from exalted) with your guild to purchase, but now it seems the guild herald will also be following suit.

The guild faction requirement on the Guild Herald has been lowered to Revered reputation. - source

however, with no hint as to when patch 4.0.6 will be released onto live servers, if you've been maxing out your guild reputation each week (from day one of cataclysm) and/or if you're human, you should be reaching exalted status in about 3 weeks or so anyway. in the end the reduced amount of rep required for these two companions may not even affect some players (so long as the patch isn't released any time soon).

i think most can rejoice in the changes, though. with these two pets needing revered in the next patch, that leaves only the dark phoenix hatchling requiring exalted, which seems pretty fitting.

i'm really excited for the armadillo pup, though. possibly more so than the dark phoenix hatchling. why? well the phoenix is still a phoenix, despite it being a dark purple instead of a fiery orange. it's basically a color change of an existing model. the armadillo pup, though? it's an entirely new critter, and an adorable one at that if the beasts wandering around in uldum are any example or hint as to how the vanity pet will look like. new doesn't always equal better, but it's certainly an exciting prospect! :D

Next TCG Expansion Pet

"News has started trickling in on the next WoW TCG expansion, War of the Elements. This second expansion of the "WorldBreaker" block is due for release late March and as usual we have loot information to report. As promised by Cryptozoic, the common loot is another re-skinned pet, this time the Lil' Phylactory is getting a makeover < The Black Flame > style..." - WoWTCG Loot

interesting. it would seem that the next common TCG loot card will be yet another copy of a pre-existing blizzard pet store companion (the phylactory teaches lil' k.t.). we'll have to wait and see whether or not it will be reskinned, changed, or follow in the same vein as the whole landro's lil' xt / lil' xt situation.

it would seem that the days of unique and highly sought after TCG pets are over. at least for the time being. being that they're the new common loot card, though, it wouldn't surprise me if this trend of mini-pet cloning continues.

is this a good thing? bad thing? only time will tell. for now, we'll just have to sit back and wait for the upcoming expansion and its lil'... to be announced pet. :P

Lost No More

finally! my plan to entice pebble with shiny rocks and crystals inside the crumbling depths worked, and he was lost once again today. :P

this mini-mental was well worth the wait and the 10 dailies. despite blizzard using the same model as the frigid frostling and many other larger elementals, the prerequisite quests involving pebble is what makes this pet just so damn lovable. that attention to detail and sentimental value is what can make such a seemingly boring pet into an absolutely endearing one. imho it's a tactic that, if not over-used, comes in handy for the "free" in-game companions that may not have all the bells and whistles that the blizzard pet store or tcg pets receive.

anyway, although i've finally acquired my very own pebble i'll still be heading in to save him whenever i get the chance. i have to earn that guild reputation somehow, right? lol.

Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay

sometimes we all need a moment of peace between all the busy moments in life. turn off trade chat, general, guild and officer channels. put all whispers on hold. just me, my gull, a picnic, and every now and then a guildmate.


best viewed when listening to a 'dock of the bay' cover. :)