The Look-a-Like Challenge - Part 6

I think I'm nearing the bottom of the barrel for this challenge. There are only so many things you can "turn into", and until Blizzard adds more ways/items, this Look-a-Like challenge may be coming to an end.

That being said, I did manage to find a few more fun costumes that look like our pets! One absolutely requires a friend's help and a skymirror, though. Again, I'm reaching for transformations at this point, so I've had to get creative. :P

Without further ado... to the Look-a-Likes!



Pet: Twilight Fiendling
Look-a-like: Nightmare Spawn
Notes: Rogue friend required, must have the minor glyph, Glyph of Disguise

Darker version that's easier to get than the original look-a-like suggestion.



Pet: Tiny Blue Carp
Item: Gumweed
Notes: Since there are 3 possible colors you can turn into, it might take a few attempts to get the correct color. The buff only lasts a few moments, so you'll need a friend to quickly copy your transformation to preserve the costume.



Pet: Tiny Green Carp
Item: Gumweed
Notes: Since there are 3 possible colors you can turn into, it might take a few attempts to get the correct color. The buff only lasts a few moments, so you'll need a friend to quickly copy your transformation to preserve the costume.



Pet: Fishy or Tiny Goldfish
Item: Gumweed
Notes: Since there are 3 possible colors you can turn into, it might take a few attempts to get the correct color. The buff only lasts a few moments, so you'll need a friend to quickly copy your transformation to preserve the costume.



Pet: Death Talon Whelpguard
Ability: Chromaggus' Chromatic Mutation
Notes: Friend and Ai-Li's Skymirror required

To get this costume, you'll need a friend to agro Chromaggus and kite the boss to the beginning of the supression room (where the first supression trap is), while you stand far away in the back of Vaelastrasz's room. You want to avoid getting any debuffs on you, but one or two should be ok.

Once the boss and your friend are in place, wait until your friend receives all 5 debuffs from Chromaggus, resulting in a transformation into a hostile mob. Because you are far away, the boss will not agro onto you and will immediately run back to its original starting position. Your friend, however, will be mind controlled but will take much longer to walk back to the boss.

If you have a CC that roots or stuns your friend (not polymorph or hex), use it to get a few extra moments with your friend. Inch close enough to use the skymirror while targeting your friend, but not close enough so that you agro him/her. Once you have the costume, hearth/drop group so your friend gets teleported out of the instance to the graveyard, dropping the mind control.

D3: Reaper of Souls CE Pet - Treasure Goblin!

Well, since MMO-Champion released the information on the next D3, Reaper of Souls Collector's Edition pet, I might as well share the information I have too. Now that it's on MMO-Champion and the PTR, it's pretty much public knowledge. :P

Doobjanka got a preview while at Blizzcon, and found the Treasure Goblin hiding in the WoD demo. One of the CMs working the floor requested that we not share the information yet, as it really wasn't meant to be displayed at the time. It was really exciting seeing the pictures and having an extra early preview, though! I squeed the moment I saw it lol.


Treasure Goblin's tooltip (since we all know what it looks like now).
I'm pretty excited for Reaper of Souls, not just for the pet, but I want to know what happens in the story. The first D3 was a bit unsatisfying for me, so I hope this next one is darker and more fulfilling lore-wise.

I don't believe there's an official release date yet for Reaper of Souls (is there?), so waiting, waiting for my very own Treasure Goblin. I hope his animations are neat. He's got such a large sack of gold on his back... anything could happen to it (like he could give it to me!). :P

"New" RAF System Unveiled

Blizzard released their revamped Recruit-A-Friend system today, aaaand.. well not much has changed in terms of eligibility for rewards and the process in general. Some notable changes include being able to recruit without having to log out, and more mount/pet options to pick from.

To redeem any of the new pets or mounts, you'll need to recruit four friends (or yourself four times). After they buy the starter game, if they buy 2 months of game time, you'll get one month of free game time for your main account and the choice of one pet or one mount.

Honestly, I can't say I'm all that impressed with the changes. I was hoping for some changes in pricing to accommodate a little bit for collectors who will probably only be doing this for the pets and mounts, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Here's an estimate of what you'll be spending to collect all four pets:

Purchasing battlechests not on sale -

$20 x 4 (starter game)
+ $30 x 4 (two months game time)
$200
- $15 x 4 (one month free game time for you)
$140

OR

Purchasing battlechests on sale -

$5 x 4 (starter game)
+ $30 x 4 (two months game time)
$140
- $15 x 4 (one month free game time for you)
$80

Regardless if you purchase during the sale or not, these are PRICEY pets. Compared to the Blizzard Pet Store companions, RAF pets cost 3-5 times (depending on when you buy) more. It's quite a jump.

On the one hand, I can understand that these pets were originally special pets, even in the Asian regions. To offer them to (nearly) everyone, it's a major decision. So it's somewhat reasonable to put a larger price-tag on these pets.

On the other hand, it makes me a little irritated. Collectors have been requesting for these pets for years, so Blizzard knows that they are hot items and mainly collectors will be going after them. Yet they chose to hand them out in such a capitalistic way, that seems to take advantage of that collector mentality. You want this? Ok, we know how much you've been longing for it, but still pay this huge price. The cost may still mean these pets are out of reach for many people. So does the system accomplish the goal? I don't know since I don't know what the intent was for adding these pets to a (not-really) revamped RAF program.

Even if the prices hadn't changed, if these pets were made giftable or something similar, perhaps it would be more acceptable. Some countries don't allow the RAF system, so how are those collectors supposed to obtain these pets? On top of that, if the pets were giftable, it might also be an incentive for some players (who were recruited back into the game) to start collecting again. Come join me in Azeroth, and here's a neat pet to get you started! Or something like that...

In the end, I'm not all that jazzed about the whole thing. I have mixed feelings of frustration yet gratitude. Thankful, yes, that Blizzard has given us the opportunity to collect (if we have the means to) these "rare" pets. But a little upset with the way they chose to implement it.

It's not just the price of these pets, but the seemingly uncaring mentality behind it. Rather than taking into consideration who exactly has been requesting the pets, and finding a compromise so that the target community doesn't feel like they're being taken advantage of, Blizzard instead puts the pets behind a wall that only a large sum of money will allow access through. I give Blizzard the benefit of the doubt many times, but right now I can't shake the feeling that this is all money driven. (Well, everything is money-driven, but not everything Blizzard has done is as blatantly so.)

There's also this sense of self-contempt that I have since I will be purchasing the battlechests when they go on sale. It feels hypocritical of me since I don't necessarily agree with how the pets were implemented, yet I'm seemingly supporting it by buying into the system. But that's the nature of a collector/completionists. You are literally compelled to collect, no matter the price (in most cases). This mentality is what I feel Blizzard is taking advantage of. They KNOW that many will invest in the RAF program just for the pets. And yet there's no compromise to maybe ease up on those that must collect them all.

Anyway, that's just me ranting a bit about this "new" RAF system. It's not really new; sure there are new pets and you can do it all from within the game itself. But the process is still the same. The price is still the same. There are no other changes other than the formerly mentioned points.

The collector in me squees at the thought of new pets to collect, but every other part of me groans discontently because it just doesn't feel good to think that that side of you that's compelled to collect is being taken advantage of. It may not have been Blizzard's intent, but that's the resulting feeling of it all.

Day Two of Blizzcon 2013 & Closing Thoughts

Blizzcon 2013 has come to an end, and WOW! What an end it was! That was the BEST Closing Ceremony I've seen to date, and it made me wish so badly that I was there in person lol.

Pets?
On the pet front, day two of Blizzcon didn't reveal too much more on the future of pet battles or pet collecting. However, Mumper did hint at a unique trainer NPC being available to battle at the Pet Stables in a player's garrison, and there was unofficial talk on pet breeding. We can probably expect more information on these topics and more as the weeks/months come. The gears are in motion so hopefully we won't have to wait too long for details!

It's a little disappointing that the issue of players out-leveling LFR and losing access to the items/pets that can only be obtained in LFR wasn't touched on/asked during the Q&A. But hopefully we'll get some sort of definite answer prior to the expansion releasing.

I'm especially interested in the idea of epic pets becoming a reality. Will their stats change by a significant amount, if at all? Will ALL pets be available as epic quality? How will increasing the quality cap impact collectors and completionists? What will the effects be on the battling (PVP and PVE) side of things? All these questions and more float through my head whenever I think about the possibility of epic pets.

Overall Blizzcon Impressions
Even though there wasn't a lot of pet-related stuff to gush about this year (what little there was, was quite interesting though; Doobjanka saw some cool stuff, TBA!), Blizzcon was amazing this year. So many new games and announcements - the excitement and enthusiasm could be felt through the livestream.

I'm excited about many of the games: Hearthstone looks like fun, the Reaper of Souls storyline has me intrigued and eager to play, and although I'm not a MOBA fan, the Heroes of the Storm announcement trailer was really cool and well done.

Everything was so lively this year. From the panels to the live raid, I was into it all. Heck, I was even on the edge of my seat watching the SC2 finals (and I don't normally watch ESports)!

And the closing ceremony? I know Blink 182 probably isn't everyone's cup of tea, but man oh man, it was KICK ASS for me. The ending concert really made me nostalgic, hearing so many old favorites. It was awesome to see the crowd getting into it too. Crowd surfing and mini-mosh pits lol. The end of Blizzcon really closed with a bang. Perfect ending.

Many thanks to everyone working at Blizzcon and Blizzard for bringing us such awesomeness. Even though I wasn't at the convention in person, I enjoyed every moment of it while watching the livestream. Also many thanks to Blizzard for listening to the community and actually acting on some of the suggestions made. You rock and I can't wait to see what you have in store for us in the future.

MOAR PET STUFF PLEASE! ;P

Blizzcon 2013 Informal News

UPDATE: Mumper clarified a little on what "breeding" will entail:

"current plan is you can merge two pets of the same family and pick the breed. Doing this gives chance at epic."

Blizzcon attendee gloriaboboria Tweeted some interesting tid-bits about pet battles in the next expansion. Most of this is unconfirmed, unofficial news from a chat with Mumper (developer, Cory Stockton):

"Breeding pets is coming, will be a building in the new garrisons. Doing this is how you will get epic pets." - gloriaboboria

"It will also allow you to get better breeds. No increase to pet level cap so ccurrent pet battles stay relevant contet. (Good idea imo)" - gloriaboboria

"The idea of gemming pet stats is scrapped, breeding replaces it." - gloriaboboria

Again, none of this has been officially announced yet (save for Pet Stables in player garrisons), so we'll have to wait for additional confirmation and details. But it is interesting to hear the plans that devs have for the future of pet battles. I'll be eagerly waiting for more information on the Pet Stables!

Day One of Blizzcon 2013: No Pet News Yet

Blizzcon is still underway, but the WoW related panels are finished for today. So far there hasn't been any new pet related news or discussion. There are still many panels to watch tomorrow, though. Here's hoping for something pet-centric, however big or small!

With the announcement of the next expansion, Warlords of Draenor, we can start speculating what kind of pets we might find there. There are bound to be new wild pets to capture, as well as reputation earned companions and dropped pets.

Will any of the new orc sub-factions have some pets for us? Some adorable animal that we have to rescue from the Iron Horde? What about the Draenei? Will they finally allow us to adopt a little Naaru pet? There are so many possibilities!

During the art panel, two concept art slides caught my eye. The first being only what I can describe as an armless-rat-thing, and the second is some sort of mutated cross between an aquatic murloc and flower lol.




Are these going to be neutral creatures in the world or mobs that we fight? Perhaps they are "pet worthy" for collectors?

Hopefully tomorrow's WoW panels will reveal a little more about pet battles and pet collecting in the next expansion. But if not, there's still the WoD beta/PTR that will eventually open up. Then we can dig deep into discovering the new goodies that's hiding in Warlords of Draenor!

Muraklot Arrives Early and Shakes Up Pet PVP

UPDATE: Developers are likely going to keep an eye on Murkalot and are accepting feedback on this pet. There are a number of threads on the official Pet Battle forums that you can also respond to/leave feedback in.


Blizzard started mailing out the Blizzcon 2013 pet to Virtual Ticket holders yesterday! So awesome :D

Convention attendees will probably have to wait until they receive their goodie bag to redeem their own Murkalot, but unlike Virtual Ticket holders, they can trade/sell the pet card that contains the Murkalot code. So it balances out in the end. Some receive the pet early but cannot exchange the pet at all, while others who receive it later and retain the option to sell it.

Speaking of balance...

There's some discussion on the WarcraftPets forums on Murkalot's battling ability. So far, it appears that his attacks and moveset leans toward being "overpowered". That isn't to say, though, that there aren't any ways or pets to counter Murkalot. I'm sure people will find ways around this pet. However, one can already tell that this will be a popular pet in PVP for a while, and may make the game frustrating for many players. Heck, simply leveling this pet has shown its many, MANY strengths.

On top of that, if this pet is truly "too good" in PVP, there will be the issue of "paying to win" that will need to be addressed. Once the majority of the PVP endgame is filled with Murkalots, it will be the new status quo to have one on your team, or risk being at a disadvantage. This pet costs $40, so although some may want to keep up with the rest, they might be unable to or unwilling to shell out the money to do so. I can see this causing a lot of friction in the community.

On the other hand, now that Murkalot has been released, IF its abilities get nerfed there will be some who are upset that they paid for the pet, expecting an overpowered contender in pet PVP. Again, the trouble of "paying to win" situations.

We'll see how things go for Murkalot, but there are really only two ways this can go: the pet gets nerfed, and some are upset that they paid for it to use in endgame PVP OR the pet doesn't get nerfed, and pet PVP becomes a game of who can play Murkalot best or pair him with the best team. One option will cause a ripple for a while before things cooldown, and the other will cause frustration until the next "OP" pet is released. My best guess is that Murkalot will get an update to his abilities and won't be a "must have" in pet PVP in the near future.

Argent Gruntling Get! ...Finally!

FINALLY! After how many patches since the Argent Tournament was released, I finally collected the Argent Gruntling this past weekend. About time, huh?

The main obstacle that I took my damn time in overcoming was getting a horde character up to the appropriate level. The Argent Tournie quests can be started at level 77, but for the longest time, I didn't have it in me to level a toon that high. I did manage to make a horde DK and get her out of the starting zone, but up until about a month or so ago, I hadn't touched her (as evident by her heirloom and starter-zone gear XD).

Recently, I decided to tunnel vision my collection and finally reach that milestone of getting all pets to max level, so I figured why not kill two birds with one stone. I used my lowbie DK and took her out to Uldum (since she didn't have access to any other high level pet zone) where the pet level was high enough for her to earn decent pet experience as well as player experience. She battled like mad until she was eligible for the tournie.

It was a long grindy process, filled with danger (yikes at being really low level in a high level zone on a PVP server), but completely worth it in the end. I managed to level MANY pets up, even duplicates, got a few battlestones for my trouble, and was finally able to start the Argent Tournie quests.

Now I can finally check off another pet from my list, so even though it took me AGES to do it, I feel pretty satisfied with this accomplishment.

Next on the to-do list... "PVP" (but it's really just killing one person over and over) for the Vengeful Porcupette? lol

WarcraftPets Meet-Up at Blizzcon 2013

WarcraftPets will be holding another meet-up at Blizzcon this year. Unfortunately I won't be attending (T_T) but I'll be there in spirit! And watching the Live Feed of the convention, of course. :P

This year the meet-up won't be held in the "realm area" but at the Meeting Stone. Blizzard designated this spot for group meet-and-greets and the like. I don't have a clue what it looks like there, so all I can say is look for Doobjanka and the WarcraftPets logo. Hopefully no one will get lost!


Click to see a larger version of the map.
Meeting Stone area highlighted in the red circle.
Doob will be at the Meeting Stone both days of the convention:

Friday, 2-3 PM (Pacific Standard Time)
Saturday, 6-7 PM (Pacific Standard Time)

The first 50 attendees of the meet-up will get a nifty common TCG loot card. And registered users that sign the meet-and-greet roster will be entered into a raffle for a Rocket Chicken (raffle will be done AFTER the convention). So come for the pets, stay for the awesome company! :)

I'm pretty bummed that I won't be able to attend and meet our great community. The gathering in 2011 was pretty neat and I got to meet some cool people from the community. Even a couple pet collectors from my own realm!

I expect this year there will be an even greater turn-out now that pets are more "mainstream" and the interest has risen significantly with the implementation of Pet Battles. Hmm, now that I think about it, perhaps it's better if I'm not attending this year... I don't do well in large groups. :P

Oh well, maybe next year! I hope everyone has a blast at Blizzcon; go say hi to Doob for me. XD

Macabre Marionette and Reaching Collecting Goals

Today is a fairly momentous day for me. Not only have I added another new pet to my collection, but I've reached another milestone in my collecting goals. :D


After many years of waiting, I can finally say that I'm now a proud owner of the Macabre Marionette. This little guy is absolutely ADORABLE! He dances nonstop, even when in a pet battle.

Since you only need one quest item, but crafting can generate 5, I sent 3 of my alts and a guildmate the materials to make their own Bread of the Dead. Unfortunately, you can't mail the actual bread since there's a limited time duration on it. Now I have a total of 4 Macabre Marionettes, one of which I upgraded to rare with a stone.

The other three remain uncommon and on a bank alt. They're cageable so I suppose it's only a matter of time before I try finding homes for these little guys. Day of the Dead is only around for this weekend, so there are bound to be people who miss it and are looking to acquire the pet.

Needless to say, I immediately began to level this pet up once I got my hands on it. It was the very last pet in my collection (for now) that needed experience and levels.


And with that, I can finally say that all of my pets are rare quality AND level 25! Can I join the Elite Four now? :P

It's a huge achievement for me since it's been one of my goals to get all of my current pets to level 25 before the end of this expansion. Seems like I made it just in time!

There are still some pets for me to collect, so I'm not quite done with everything yet. I'm working on my horde toon to finally earn the Argent Gruntling, and I've been running SoO LFR and normals each week on different characters for a chance at the pets. A few pets will have to wait, since they're not out yet, but there are others that I can work on getting. A friend has graciously offered to let me kill him 85 times to gather the rest of the Bloody Coins necessary to purchase the Vengeful Porcupette. Meep.

One pet that I'm starting to lose hope in ever collecting is the Stunted Direhorn. I honestly hate pet PVP. I've tried it and found it extremely stressful and not enjoyable in the least bit. It's definitely a psychological thing, much like player PVP. The "randomness", although not really random, gets to me and I end up feeling too anxious to make sound choices in my next move.

My total queued matches completed is 4, and out of those I won 2 games. Despite having the pets to make potentially strong PVP teams, I just can't bring myself to do it. At this rate, I'll never be able to add the last direhorn to my collection. Sigh.

For now, though, I'm going to concentrate on getting the pets that I do stand a chance of collecting. RNG is still a bitch, but compared to doing something that causes extreme emotional distress, I'll gladly take on the RNG gods any day. Not saying that RNG doesn't play havoc with my emotions, but it's something that I've grown somewhat accustomed to.

There are 10 pets left for me to add to my pet family (9 if you don't count the direhorn), and hopefully I'll be able to finish collecting and leveling them before the next expansion is released. It's a challenge that I'm willing to take on, all for the sake of my obsession hobby. :P