Breakfast Topic: Virtual Pets
by Lesley Smith 
Apr 13th 2009 at 8:00AM
3.1 
is looming ever closer and most of the players who aren't storming Ulduar are probably going to be hitting Icecrown for the Argent Tournament thanks to the promise of new mounts and, of course, the zone-specific pets!
Now I love pets, I once gave a guildmate all my gold and asked him to go all the way to Netherstorm to get me a Blue Dragonhawk Hatching. Admittedly, I don't have that many and while I normally whip out Frosty or Mini Tyrael when we're in instances, I'm usually found exploring Azeroth with a much simpler pet, my Orange Tabby Cat.
It seems like most of the WoW Insider staff - bar Alex and his roomba thingy - have pets and until two months ago, I had an ancient orange kitty called Jerry (known universally and beloved as The Ginger One). Sadly I had to put him to sleep but being followed by a virtual cat makes me wish we had more personalisation options in game.
Hunters can name and feed their pets but why can't we do the same with our non combat ones? Yes we can brush them, put them on leads and play ball but it's not really the same thing is it? At the same time because I now have a pair of cats, I'd love to be able to summon several kitty minions who would follow me into battle.
Anyway, here's a morning question for you: do you have virtual forms of your real world pets? If yes, do you have a particular one? If you don't, is there a particular non-combat pet you'd like to have? Would you like just one? How about many?
is looming ever closer and most of the players who aren't storming Ulduar are probably going to be hitting Icecrown for the Argent Tournament thanks to the promise of new mounts and, of course, the zone-specific pets! Now I love pets, I once gave a guildmate all my gold and asked him to go all the way to Netherstorm to get me a Blue Dragonhawk Hatching. Admittedly, I don't have that many and while I normally whip out Frosty or Mini Tyrael when we're in instances, I'm usually found exploring Azeroth with a much simpler pet, my Orange Tabby Cat.
It seems like most of the WoW Insider staff - bar Alex and his roomba thingy - have pets and until two months ago, I had an ancient orange kitty called Jerry (known universally and beloved as The Ginger One). Sadly I had to put him to sleep but being followed by a virtual cat makes me wish we had more personalisation options in game.
Hunters can name and feed their pets but why can't we do the same with our non combat ones? Yes we can brush them, put them on leads and play ball but it's not really the same thing is it? At the same time because I now have a pair of cats, I'd love to be able to summon several kitty minions who would follow me into battle.
Anyway, here's a morning question for you: do you have virtual forms of your real world pets? If yes, do you have a particular one? If you don't, is there a particular non-combat pet you'd like to have? Would you like just one? How about many?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Okabe Apr 13th 2009 8:10AM
Nah, Frosty is all I need.
I
Lorisa Apr 13th 2009 9:13AM
I have an orange tabby in game, he reminds me of my RL kitty I had once, I had to put him up for adoption because he had lots of health problems and at the time I couldn't spend enough time taking care of him. I miss him.
Alkaios Apr 13th 2009 12:18PM
Forget the dragon.
I want a DOG vanity pet!
Like a wiener dog or a golden retriever....
Why aren't there any in the game atm? There's only wolves >
ari Apr 19th 2009 4:56PM
a mini lion pet with the mane would be great!
FantomRedux Apr 13th 2009 8:11AM
I wouldn't mind having a domestic style dog. The closest we can get is a worg as far as I know, which sucks considering how many options cat lovers have. Don't get me wrong, I've got most of the cats myself apart from the black tabby, and that's just because I can't be arsed farming it, but when my only option for dog pet is a mangy looking wolf, there's something wrong there.
Ozmodius Apr 13th 2009 8:31AM
I've often thought this as well. Where are the dogs? I find it kind of hard to believe that there are no domesticated canines be sides the worg. Blizzard's reluctance may be due to the fact that to change cat breed only requires a change of color and pattern. For dogs it would require a different shape for each breed.
Calophi Apr 13th 2009 8:37AM
Still, though, even though to do specific breeds they'd have to change the model, at the very least they could do a few mutts. You know, like "brown down", "black dog", "white dog". That would be a good start.
Karilyn Apr 13th 2009 8:18AM
"Anyway, here's a morning question for you: do you have virtual forms of your real world pets? If yes, do you have a particular one?"
Yes I do actually, people always wonder why I /always/ have Stinker following me ingame.
Amelia is such a sweetheart
Karilyn Apr 13th 2009 10:08AM
I'm mildly disappointed that nobody was like "OMG you have a pet skunk?"
:(
Still heart Amelia.
Eric Apr 13th 2009 11:19AM
Thats likely because when people first read your comment its more like you named your in game skunk. Thats what I first drew up when I read it anyways.
That is a strange house pet though, smelly things.
Heilig Apr 13th 2009 11:29AM
If you have them de-musked and spayed/neutered, they are very docile and not smelly at all. They are actually quite intelligent and will learn very quickly to use a litter box and can even be crate-trained. My uncle had skunks for years while I was growing up and I would say they make better house pets than cats do.
Caustik Apr 13th 2009 8:23AM
I'm a pet collector... but the only non combat pet I'd like to have is a murloc ><
Gimme gimme gimme !
Woif Apr 13th 2009 11:04AM
build a time machine and go back in time to 2005? blizz con.
Amaxe Apr 13th 2009 10:21AM
To be precise, BABY murloc would be sweet
Shionia Apr 13th 2009 11:26AM
Oh yes, Baby Murloc NOW. With burbly noises.
If not that, birds that perch on your shoulder when idle.
dawnseven Apr 13th 2009 8:24AM
I second the dog option. And if there were a couple choices that included different sizes, that would be great. I'd run around with just about any kind of spaniel. A bulldog would be another popular choice I bet, and I'd buy our big Tauren main tank a toy poodle in a heartbeat.
VSUReaper Apr 13th 2009 2:33PM
I kinda like the worg pup, I just wish he wasnt always black (I prefer the brown and white version), but I agree it would be kinda cool to have other dogs running around with us.
The other pet I use the most often is the sewer rat, but only b/c with a biscuit, he turns into a german shepherd sized rat and it makes my friends uber jealous.
I used to summon Frosty, but since hes shrunk so much since release, I have summoned him less and less.
My guild teases me about not having my worg out:
"ZOMG! Bull has the (insert random pet that livestock summoned here) out, were gonna wipe!"
Its almost become a rule - if I'm tanking, worg pup + papa hummel biscuit = immortal run.
Dementron Apr 14th 2009 12:07AM
Actually, the worg pup will be randomly black or brown each time you summon it
KJP Apr 13th 2009 8:24AM
Actually, I think the next engineering-based vanity pet ought to be some sort of takeoff on the Roomba. Make it sort of a floor polisher that leaves a trail of sparklies behind it. Or have other mini-pets react to it in typical fashion, with "what is THAT?" curiosity giving way to instant terror the moment the Roomba scoots towards it.
TokenChick Apr 13th 2009 8:30AM
I made an alt on a friend's server after he found out I finally picked up the game and named my character after my little siamese cat. Wanting me to level faster, he ran me through dungeons for gear, and the Siamese cat (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=8490) dropped from Cookie in Deadmines. I always thought it was awesome that I had a character named after my cat that was always followed by an in-game pet that looked just like her. :)