noncombatpets
Latest
Pet Wars and other minigame ideas
If the response to new hairstyles at BlizzCon means anything to the developers (Frank Pierce told me that he almost didn't even bother mentioning the new hairstyles at the keynote, and was amazed that it got one of the biggest cheers), it's that you can't ignore the little changes. New raid bosses, and bigtime lore storylines are cool, but sometimes people just want to relax and have a little fun with their characters.So Karvoth has a great idea: turn noncombat pets into combat pets (of a sort), and make them into a fun little minigame. Just like the Tonk wars (and doggone it, if anyone on Thunderhorn's Horde side has a Tonk left, come see my Shaman, because he has one and no one to fight with!), setting up a little mode for dueling minipets would create endless fun, and fill in all those hours of group waiting and guild setup pretty easily.Of course, that's not the only game they could implement-- ever since the Darkmoon cards were implemented, I always thought it would be awesome to have an ingame card game. I probably doubled my time playing FFIX just because of Tetra Master, and putting a simple but addictive card game inside of WoW would give me a whole new reason to play even more.Unfortunately, neither of these ideas are likely, because Blizzard has made it pretty clear with WotLK that WoW is some serious high-level business. But just like the new hairstyles, players will always jump at the chance to have more simple fun with all the time they spend in Azeroth.
Broken CE pet for EU players, but Blizzard makes up for it double
So Burning Crusade is now live on the European servers, and one mistake has already been made. It's also been fixed, however, and the fix is pretty darn sweet.A few players opened up their expansion packs to find that their code for the Netherwhelp pet didn't work, and they weren't able to get their pet ingame. But Blizzard wasted no time in fixing things: they put up new instructions to get the pet, and they compensated players with not only the Netherwhelp pet, but another pet named Lurky the Murloc (brother, we assume, to Murky, the Murloc pet available at Blizzcon, and Gurky, the pet Blizzard has been giving away in a few places). In addition, they gave 2 free days of play to people affected.On one hand, I'm impressed that Blizzard fixed things so quickly, and was so generous in doing so. But on the other hand, I'm wondering: maybe my expansion could be broken somehow? Please?
Breakfast Topic: The season of giving
I was in the process of doing a little Christmas shopping this weekend, and as I hurried home to catch an Onyxia attempt, the thought occurred to me: am I going to get my favorite guildies anything?I only play with a few real life friends-- most of the people I know well in my guild I've only known online through Warcraft. But we've had a lot of fun, and I've gotten to know some of them pretty well. Considering Blizzard has included giftwrap in the game, it's no stretch that I might want to grab them something during the holiday season as a gesture of goodwill.The only question, then, is what? RazorbladeKiss asks the same question over on Livejournal, and people suggest quite a few good things, from Snowshoe Rabbits to other faction specific cosmetic items. Almost anyone would love a good potion, or a few farmed mats you know they've been waiting for. But some things that would be really cool to give, like mounts or crafted items, are soulbound, or so common that every 60 has them. So are you getting your guildies anything in-game for the holidays? And if so, what?
Phat Loot Phriday: Smoulderweb Hatchling
Technically today's item is called the "Smolderweb Carrier." But this item is most useful not for what it is, but for what it summons-- one of the best coolness factor-to-effort noncombat pets in the game.Name: Smolderweb CarrierType: Noncombat PetDamage/Speed: N/AAbilities: Truthfully, there ain't much to this thing. It doesn't grant any abilities, it doesn't affect your playing style. All it does is summon a little spider that follows you around, from Menethil to Molten Core. On the other hand, it summons a little spider that follows you around, and that's pretty cool. You could even name him if you wanted to! I call mine Peter Parker. How to Get It: But the reason why this noncombat pet is so phat is the relatively small amount of effort involved to get it. For most cool noncombat pets, you've got to pay money, or gold, or be really lucky on a drop, or have bought the collector's edition. To get this one, though, all you have to do is a quest: "En-Ay-Es-Tee-Why," given by Kibler in the Burning Steppes. It requires you to go into Lower Blackrock Spire, and crack open a few spider eggs there. It's not hard at all if you've got a careful party-- you'll need to clear out lots of spiders first, and then opening each egg gives a chance of more spiders, but with enough AoE and healing you'll be dandy. Run your spider eggs back to Kibler and you've got this baby.In fact, Kibler also gives "Kibler's Exotic Pets," which is another easy-to-do LBRS quest that will give you your very own Worg Pup, another cool looking noncombat pet. Personally I like the spider better, but considering how easy the quests are, there's no reason to have both. And if you're a druid or a rogue, Dianius on Terenas-EU has written up a comprehensive guide to how to do both quests solo using stealth. It's got pictures and everything (and check out the last picture on the page of all his pets!).Getting Rid of It: Peter Parker sells for 15s to vendors. But you know what happens when you sell your spider pet, right? Let's just say your spider ends up in noncombat pet heaven.
TCG items will come with Burning Crusade Collector's Edition
WorldofWar.net has a pointer to an article on the new Escapist, in which they talk about all the extra trinkets and junk that comes with Collectors Editions of games. I still have one of those old full color cloth maps of Britannia laying around somewhere, and working at a game store a few years ago got me a few of those Jedi Knight 2 keychains.But even more interesting, WorldofWar also points out "a comment from Upper Deck" that says what'll be in the box with the Burning Crusade Collector's Edition. If you can get your hands on one of those (and don't worry-- there's supposed to be plenty to go around), Blizz will hook you up with "2 starter decks, a full-size color rulebook and 3 foil promo cards." Pretty nice, even if you're not a TCG fan.And considering how much Blizzard pimped out the original WoW Collector's Edition-- that's where the MiniDiablo, Zergling, and Panda non-combat pets all came from-- it's not too much of a stretch to think those cards (or something else in the Collector's Edition) will end up conveying some pretty cool stuff in-game. If you're planning to buy the expansion anyway and don't mind shelling out for the extra cash, Blizzard might have some neat stuff in store for collectors.
Breakfast Topic: Non-combat pets
There are a variety of non-combat pets available throughout Azeroth--ranging from easily purchased pets to those which can only be obtained through cross-faction co-operation. While some people see them as annoyances, others are hastily trying to collect as many as they can; after all, it passes the time.I have a few of these pets, including the Sprite Darter Hatchling pictured right. However, I'm not very attached to them--the fact I can only have one out at a time doesn't help. I generally send any rare treats I find to the Auction House--especially on low alts, finding Little Timmy in Stormwind is a great way of making some quick cash.What's your stance on non-combat pets? Take them or leave them? Gotta catch them all?
