Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsAround Azeroth: In loving memory
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Aug 4th 2009 at 10:00AM
"After doing so I found a Black Tabby Cat in my mailbox. The mail I got said that "Since you have been such a loyal customer and have not requested anything of us in the past we have decided to provide you with the requested item at this time. " The letter even had a special message at the front that read " Item Restoration (In Memory of [My Cat])". Here' s the pic of my now immortalized (at least till the servers are shut off in the year 3000 by Bender himself) cat in game." Awww.
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Reader Comments (Page 4 of 6)
LandMineHare Aug 4th 2009 11:43AM
I had to uprate impurezero
Frank Aug 4th 2009 11:54AM
i stand corrected. from what i have experienced so far, they definitely ARE combat pets!
: D
sapphirecat Aug 4th 2009 2:16PM
I'm glad you updated us, Frank. I was a bit worried about any kittens that could be classified as non-combat! Some of them never grow out of it, either.../stare at one of my cats.
On topic, though, this is a great story, it actually brought tears to my eyes remembering the furry family members I've lost. My deepest sympathies to the person who inspired the story and the others who have lost beloved pets.
I really hope that people don't flood the GM's with spurious stories trying to get free pets. Yes, I understand that many of the posts here are jokes! But there are those who would try to take advantage.
Noddegamra Aug 4th 2009 11:00AM
Great story. A nice gift from a GM. I hope they don't get spammed now because of it.
Seaborn Aug 4th 2009 11:01AM
Good story, but it just goes to show that they can just give items out. I get so tired of hearing "there's nothing we can do" when in reality they should say "we are not going to do anything about it."
Solanum Aug 4th 2009 12:17PM
What they have and what they can do are two wildly different things.
This was very clearly a special case and I wouldn't be shocked if that lovely GM went begging to a supervisor and put his own butt on the line for this.
I'm about 100% sure they CAN'T do this, even if they have black kittens falling out of the sky.
salaam.dune Aug 4th 2009 11:06AM
What a touching story. Thanks for sharing, and kudos to the men(and women!) behind the curtains.
Woolwort Aug 4th 2009 11:06AM
My deepest sympathy @ the loss of your cat.
TypicalJeff Aug 4th 2009 11:08AM
What a great story. Kudos to Blizz.
lidstrom Aug 4th 2009 11:09AM
that was nice of bliz. and i can totally relate.
just a couple of weeks ago, my cat died. she was 19 years and 6 weeks old, and despite her age, she was very active and healthy and died suddenly.
when i started playing wow, i created a hunter and my first pet was a cat, which i named after my own RL pet. now that my cat's gone, it's still tough to log in and see her namesake running around with my hunter (i've had to tame another pet for the time being so i don't see the kitty every day). i only wish i had tamed a black cat (the one i have is a snow leopard) because my cat was black.
maybe bliz can re-skin her as a tribute to my kitty, too.
Arlys Aug 4th 2009 1:59PM
lidstrom, you can tame a cat with a skin that more closely matches your recently lost cat. You can even choose an extremely low-level one; it will automagically level to your level minus 5.
lidstrom Aug 4th 2009 2:54PM
yes, i know i can tame another.
but the cat i have is my original pet... and has been with me from lvl8 through 80, and was named after my RL pet. there's sentimental value in that, with 72 levels of questing, exploration, etc.
taming another cat just would't be the same.
Fuzzbutt Aug 4th 2009 11:11AM
Notice that there were some very specific circumstances here.
(1) The player only ticketed to ask if there was another mob that dropped the item because they really, really wanted it and were aware that it would be a tough grind but didn't want to buy it on the AH. The player didn't ASK for anything for free and was obviously not looking for a free handout.
(2)The GM said the player also had NEVER asked for anything from Blizzard on that account and (3) has apparently had that account for quite some time.
Odds are that most of the people QQing about handouts don't meet at least one of those 3 requirements.
I'm glad the GM decided to do something nice for this player and I hope the idiots that ticket them today after seeing this post get denied over and over and over again.
Arlys Aug 4th 2009 2:16PM
Fuzzbutt, I can attest that you are absolutely right, as I had a similar experience a few months ago. I'm not going to advertise all the details, but I will say that I, too, have had my account for many years, have never been actioned, have never asked for an item restoration, and was just asking nicely if the matter could be looked into.
Yes, there'll be would-be con artists trying to exploit Blizzard's kindness. Happily, few of them will have the track record that would qualify them for such consideration.
kidjudas Aug 4th 2009 11:17AM
I had a giant rocket when I was a kid that had wheels and I could ride it around. Well, one day, the house burned down and I was the only one that made it out alive. During a family reunion. For both parents. Anyway, getting a giant red rocket mount would help ease my PTS. I'm going to check. Brb.
Elilara Aug 4th 2009 11:29AM
Aww! That's a lovely story- Thank you for sharing it (both to the site and to the person who sent in the story originally). Very sweet :)
VegetaPrime Aug 4th 2009 11:30AM
As an owner of multiple animals that are more family members than pets, this warms my heart and puts a tear in my eye. My condolences to the player for the loss of his cat, and kudos to the GM for having a heart and going above and beyond.
Now, I just hope every it out there doesn't try to take advantage of one GM's kindness by flooding fake sob stories.
Shadamehr Aug 4th 2009 11:31AM
Condolences on your loss, I feel for you as my cat Indy also passed away recently, very nice of the GM to do that for you :)
ocskunk714 Aug 4th 2009 11:49AM
I'm sorry to hear of her loss. I lost my cat after 18 years a year and a half ago he was a huge black and white long hair. In game when they first introduced the skunk as a pet I had to get him in memory of my cat. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has done this, it makes me feel better. /HUG
Gimmlette Aug 4th 2009 11:52AM
I lost a cat recently that bears a resemblance to the black tabby cat. One of my guild mates got me a scroll to rename one of my pets and, as I have a cat in my stable, have considered renaming the cat in honor of the one who passed away.
It's little things like this that remind us that it's not just a computer and pixels. It's also people on the other side of their computers. I'd be willing to wager the GM also has cats and the story hit close to home.