Patch 4.1 "Soon"

mmo-champion announced that a "release candidate" patch was launched on the PTR recently. this may indicate that patch 4.1 will be here soon (hopefully in time for children's week!)

as a reminder for myself and a few others, here is a list of the notable vanity pet-related changes, updates, and additions for the upcoming patch: 4.1 overview.

a couple extra things to note - the whereabouts of mojo after the zul'aman changes are still unclear. while blizzard has made it apparent in the past that they will do their best to re-include any displaced companions due to zone changes, i would recommend farming for mojo now if you have not done so already and would like to add him to your collection.

UPDATE: as detailed in this post's comments, the hex sticks still drop from ZA post-patch 4.1. however, due to the change of the dungeon, a lot of the trash packs have been removed or cut down in size, making the hex sticks a rarer drop. i would still recommend players farm for mojo ASAP for this reason. also, once the instance has been transformed, it will be unlikely that players will be able to solo-farm for mojo after the patch (at least for a few gear tiers or so) due to the increased level and difficulty of the mobs.

in preparation for the two new archaeology companion pets, i suggest that players max out their fossil and troll fragments now (cap is 200). then once the patch is released, you'll be ready to solve at least a few items and hopefully one of the new pets pops up for you to complete!

for those wondering about the lashtail hatchling... possible spoilers behind the break!

Call to Arms: More Details

mmo-champion has a couple more details about the call to arms feature coming in 4.1:

- Call to Arms for more than one role can be active at a time.
- If everything seems balanced, there isn't any Call to Arms.

having more than one role being "called to arms" at any given time is definitely good news. somewhat. again, it's likely healers and tanks will be the least represented the majority of the time which will leave DPS out, but at least players may get a choice between healing or tanking (IF both roles are being called upon at the same time).

the second detail is a bit troubling, especially as a pet collector. the entire goal of this new system is to attempt to balance out the random dungeon finder roles, which would result in the shortening of queue times, yes?

so in the event that the call to arms feature is successful (i'm not saying there's a guarantee that it will be, there's no certainty that it will even work as intended), and soon there will be very few times when any role is ever called upon, what of the new pets on the satchel of exotic mysteries' loot table? (that is, IF any are even added to the new system's reward. currently, there is no official confirmation that a new pet has been added to the call to arms loot table.) will they just sit and go unobtainable due to the lack of any roles being called to arms?

Call to Arms - Clarifications

a clarification post has been made regarding some of the issues brought up about the new call to arms feature (coming in 4.1).

for pet collectors and collectors in general, one point stands out the most:

"The additional reward for completing the Dungeon Finder Call to Arms (called the Satchel of Exotic Mysteries) will be Bind on Account; able to be freely sent to other characters on your account once you receive it."

this will give collectors that play pure DPS classes at least a small chance at the vanity pets, but only if they have and play an alt tank and/or healer. (and if they don't accidentally autoloot the bag's contents before sending it to their desired character, heh.)

it's a small move in a fairer and less stinging direction for companion collectors, but more details about which pets have the potential to be in the satchel of exotic mysteries as well as their droprates need to be announced/looked into. plus there is still the issue of reputation companions. will the pets that normally require a rep grind to purchase or learn still have the reputation prerequisite even if they come from the call to arms satchel?

in any case, i highly urge blizzard to consider not adding new companions to the goodie bag's loot table UNLESS there is another method of acquiring said pet(s) (other than the call to arms reward). placing a new pet in this system and making call to arms the absolute only way to obtain it could be disastrous for everyone.

Call to Arms - New Pet?

as of the latest PTR build, a new pet popped up: the cenarion hatchling.

while i do not have any personal or official confirmation of where this pet is from or how it's obtained yet, there is a comment on wowhead's PTR site stating that it will be one of the possible companions available from the new call to arms feature. the comment may or may not be accurate.

nonetheless it is... interesting. IF it's true, i think MANY will be quite upset.

from the summoning spell description, the cenarion hatchling sounds very similar to the hippogryph hatchling, which can be acquired only through the trading card game loot cards. these loot cards are rare and normally go for about $100+ on ebay, making them somewhat inaccessible to most players.

what does this mean? a pet such as this being added to the call to arms goodie bag loot table will mean quite a few players will want in on the reward. however, as i mentioned before, because tanks and healers will be the "least represented" in the random dungeon finder the majority of the time, this completely cuts pure DPS out of the picture and unable to try for this highly sought after companion. at least on their main collecting character, that is.

it also means that many hybrid classes may take on pivotal roles such as tanking and healing, even if they may not be qualified to do so. this will lead to an increase of potentially failing pug groups and player frustration. and for what? a shot at a rare (and new) companion.

it should also be noted that the tiny sporebat that was officially announced as a possible vanity pet reward from the call to arms goodie bag does NOT have a reputation requirement. the original tiny sporebat requires players to be exalted with sporeggar. although both items teach the same companion summoning spell (same spell ID), the two items are different and have unique item IDs. this indicates that players who receive the tiny sporebat via the call to arms system will not have to grind the sporeggar reputation to learn the pet.

overall if the above turns out to be true, i will have to side with the many who already disagree and are dissatisfied with the call to arms feature. not only does this have the high potential to negatively affect the PVE community, it also impacts the collecting community in an especially unfavorable way.

i'm hoping that at the very least, no new pets (such as the cenarion hatchling) will be added to the call to arms feature and the comment on wowhead was a premature one or is only applicable to the PTR. otherwise i may have to break out my angry tree macro again.

The Pet Business

wowinsider featured a player that deals in the vendor pets trade in their recent 15 minutes of fame article.

healthypets on the server cenarion circle (alliance) has a unique business that sounds pretty successful. it's not unusual to purchase vendor items and reselling them on the AH, however, healthypets manages to maintain a happy and loyal customer base due to his great customer service. for larger priced purchases and new customers, he will send out thank you gifts through the in-game mail. what a great way to encourage repeat-sales as well as pet collecting! :)

it looks like breanni has some sales competition! :P

Withers to Look Withered Again

this is just a small observation from the 4.1 PTR, but a bug that currently gives both withers and the teldrassil sproutling the same model skin as a moonkin treant will be addressed and fixed in 4.1. if this is indeed a fix on the PTR, both pets should return to their normal and intended looks after the release of the patch.

those who were sad to see withers lose its unique look can rejoice! this thirsty little one should look thirsty again soon.

those who will be sad to see withers lose its more lively look, don't worry. buddy up with a restoration druid and kindly gift them a glyph of the treant. add some baby spice or even a small feast and ta-da! you've got yourself a cute little treant... erm... "pet" lol. :P

on a more serious note, if you enjoy both companions as they are in their current bugged state, be sure to take your screenshots and play with them now. there's no guarantee they will remain bugged for very much longer!

4.1 Call to Arms - Pet Incentives

blizzard is releasing another new feature in patch 4.1: call to arms.

what it is: basically a bribe for players to take on the tanking/healer role in random lvl 85 heroic dungeons to help cut down on DPS queue times. the reward for being eligible may include a vanity pet.

"To be eligible for the additional rewards you must solo queue for a random level-85 Heroic in the role that is currently being Called to Arms, and complete the dungeon by killing the final boss."

the pets that players have a chance of receiving include the razzashi hatchling, cockatiel, and tiny sporebat, but there may be others. rare 5 man mounts will may also drop from the call to arms reward.

to sum up this new system:

- the random dungeon finder will list which role is currently least represented for each day (likely either tanks or healers).
- any player that takes on the role that is least represented in a lvl 85 random heroic and kills the final boss will be awarded a goodie bag.
- this bag will contain gold, gems, and has a chance of dropping a vanity pet/mount.
- there is currently no limit on how many times a player can qualify for the goodie bag.

at the moment i have mixed feelings about this new feature.

Happy Birthday WarcraftPets!

WarcraftPets turns 4 years old! just thinking about all those years of companion pet goodies and information that the site has brought everyone... it's amazing. i can still remember when i nervously signed up for the website back in 2008.

when i first discovered the website i was thrilled! finally! a no fuss, no hassle way to track my ever-growing obsession pet collection. it was a dream come true for someone like me. *cough*addicted to lists and organization*cough* ;)

it's an honor to be apart of the wonderful community that WarcraftPets houses, and i hope there will be many more years of vanity pet collecting awesomeness to come!

Upcoming Holidays

children's week is a little under one month away (may 1st), but before then comes nobelgarden (last week of april)!

after going through some of the new items/spells in 4.1, as far as i can tell there will still only be one pet available from the upcoming in-game event, the spring rabbit. who knows, though. perhaps this year's nobelgarden will bring us a new companion. will the hardboiled egg finally make an appearance? we'll have to wait and see. i'm just crossing my fingers that if there is a new vanity pet, it won't come from a holiday boss or there will be multiple ways in which players can acquire it.

immediately after nobelgarden will come the much anticipated children's week. it's likely that patch 4.1 will have come before then, so pet collectors roll up your sleeves and prepare for the collecting spree! with 4.1 possibly hitting before/during two in-game holidays, things will be interesting. there will certainly be quite a bit of collecting to do! hopefully the major bugs will have been worked out and everything goes smoothly. (everyone focus your brainwaves to remind developers that we're still waiting for a northrend orphan quest chain fix! :P)

one last thing to note for now... it's still quite a ways away, but the 4.1 PTR introduced something interesting for the halloween in-game holiday: candy coin. does this new hallow's end currency mean we'll be able to purchase holiday specific items (possibly pets)? just something to chew on for now. erm, pun not intended? lol.

Bind On Battlet.net Pets

despite the date, this IS NOT an attempt at an april fool's day joke. k? :)

doh! i missed this in the march 30th PTR patch notes. i must have been too excited about the united nations achievement fix. lol.

"Many "Account Bound" heirlooms are now labeled as "Battle.net Account Bound", meaning that they can also be traded or mailed to characters that are on different World of Warcraft accounts under the same Battle.net account."

what will this mean for pet collectors? some pets that were previously bound to account will change to bind on battle.net, making it more convenient for players to mail and learn a few of the rarer pets on multiple accounts under the same battle.net account.

the list of battle.net bound pets isn't very long at the moment. a user from twitter took a screenshot showing which ones changed and compared "BoA" to "BoBattle.net".

note: unless proven otherwise, this change does not seem to indicate that pets will be mailable to characters on different servers on a single account. to transfer companions between servers on an account, players will probably still need to pay to move one toon (holding the BoA items) to another server.

something else that's interesting to note is that the crawling claw is no longer bind on account on the PTR. it's possible that with patch 4.1, this archaeology pet will turn into a bind on pick up pet.