WoW Rookie: How to buy someone a gift from the pet store

The Blizzard pet store was introduced nearly two years ago, giving players the opportunity to drop a handful of dollars on fun, interesting in-game pets. Yet the pet store has always been fairly controversial. Paying for in-game content, no matter how little effect that content might have on gameplay itself, simply runs counter to the beliefs of many long-time WoW players.

To me, however, the pet store seems like a exciting new opportunity for gift giving. After all, noncombat pets are only $10, and even mounts are only $25. That's a perfect price range for a "thinking of you" gift, making pets and mounts wonderful little nothings to give to a loved one.

If you've not given a gift from the Blizzard Store before, the process can seem a little intimidating. Here's a simple guide on how to buy someone a gift from the pet store.

1. Go to the store and choose the gift. This might sound obvious, but the first step is to go to the pet store itself and pick out the pet you'd like to give. In this example, I'm giving my wife a Lil' Ragnaros. He's cute, doubles as a cooking fire, and is totally appropriate as we storm the gates of the Firelands. Pick out which pet or mount you'd like to give, and select Add to Cart.

2. Check out. Once you've filled your cart appropriately, choose Checkout from the sidebar on the right. At this point, you'll need to log in to the store using your Battle.net account. (You should have one already if you're playing WoW.) If you use an authenticator (and you should), you will be asked to enter the authenticator code.

3. Fill out your payment information. Next, you'll be asked to fill out your billing information. This won't be terribly onerous for most of us, since the store knows your Battle.net account already and will populate most of the fields with your existing information. If you're switching cards, though, you'll have to re-enter the numbers. Even if your credit card is already on file, you'll have to enter the CVV or CVC from the back of your card.

4. Make the order a gift. It's a little counterintuitive, but you actually make your order a gift after you've confirmed your order. In the lower right of the final confirmation screen, you'll see a little wrapped gift box. Click that.

A pop-up screen will appear asking if you're certain that you wish to make a gift of this purchase. Enter the email address of the person receiving the pet. As soon as you do that, the store will automatically send an email with the necessary redemption information to the recipient.

5. Send your own email. The bummer here is that you can't customize the email sent to the recipient, so if you want to add your own special touch, now's the time to do it. Open up your own email and send your gift recipient a note. Here's my little love letter for my wife:

And that's all there is to it.

Currently available mounts at the pet store include the Winged Guardian and Celestial Steed. Available noncombat pets are Lil' Ragnaros, Moonkin Hatchling, Lil' K.T., Pandaren Monk, and Lil' XT. There are also two plush dolls, a Gryphon and a Windrider, that come with an additional in-game pet.

Embrace the pet store gift opportunity for what it is, and give a gift to your loved ones. Regardless of how you feel about microtransactions, these little pets are really a great opportunity to show someone you care.

Visit the WoW Rookie Guide for links to everything you need to get started as a new player, from how to control your character and camera angles when you're just starting out, to learning how to tank, getting up to speed for heroics and even how to win Tol Barad.