Breakfast Topic: Where do you put all of those pets?
by Nico Deyo 
Jun 17th 2011 at 8:00AM
It's really no secret that many of us WoW players are rabid pet collectors. No price on the Auction House is too high nor grind too long if we have our eyes set on something adorable or rare. But have you ever given a thought as to where your character would realistically keep all of these critters? While game mechanics defines us having just pages and pages of non-combat friends, what about if your character were real? You'd think that Azeroth would have pet grooming and boarding for miles. Stables might be a commonplace service for hunters, but I suspect those of us who rival real-life cat ladies might be in some trouble.
I've always imagined that my character, a petite and animal-loving gnome, spends a great amount of money on a pet deposit and extra housing in order to keep all of her various furry friends in check. Cages, fences and extra barns really don't seem out of place given that so many of my collection fly or wouldn't be suited to indoor life, per se. I also imagine my mage's druidic husband would help take care of some of the more calm and traditional animals.
The denizens of Azeroth must come up with some magical and inventive ways to keep their brood in check -- what would be yours? Would it be row upon row of cages, or would you just live in a giant aviary or zoo?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
MusedMoose Jun 17th 2011 8:03AM
It's a little-known fact that all banks across Azeroth have been providing boarding and kennel services for pets for years. It started way back when mounts and pets were items kept in inventory, so people had to stow them in the bank when they weren't needed.
^_^
thepiratester Jun 17th 2011 8:25AM
Same place you put all your mounts... They keep each other company :D
razion Jun 17th 2011 8:04AM
I like to think my cockroach lives in a little barred cage with a door that hangs off to the side of my belt, ala the Mulan cricket. I also like to think my little guy gets a little picky, and asks to use a little belt-pouch or a tied-on mini-bag.
fainda Jun 17th 2011 8:07AM
I like to think that since this is a universe of magic, all of the pets actually roam free, but we have a magical device (like a calling whistle) that just pulls them through the nether to your location. Takes care of the cleanup, costs, and bad feelings of keeping them locked up.
Guapa Jun 17th 2011 10:10AM
oh dear, I'm so sorry! I must have slaughtered thousands of critters all over Azeroth. Never thought they might belong to someone...
VSUReaper Jun 17th 2011 1:37PM
That's along the same lines I was thinking: the pets and mounts are hanging out in a part of the twisting nether or a tear in reality, and I have a couple stones/trinkets that hang off my armor and I think of what I want to summon as I hold the stone and **poof!** they appear.
Eirik Jun 17th 2011 2:30PM
http://www.npccomic.com/2010/07/23/bullet-hole-riddled-target/
SR Jun 17th 2011 8:11AM
Pokeballs, DUH
loop_not_defined Jun 17th 2011 9:08AM
This is a pretty scary thought, considering some of WoW's player base.
NSFW language: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/5/28/
Dez Jun 17th 2011 9:30AM
"Li' Ragnaros, I choose you!"
I need to make a new macro...
Elmo Jun 17th 2011 10:42AM
and any over your 6 favorite are stored in Bill's PC
MW Jun 17th 2011 8:13AM
Actually, ALL of my pets follow behind me at a distance, only the "favored" one for the moment is close enough to be in the camera's range. No fuss, no muss, no housing needed.
MattKrotzer Jun 17th 2011 8:16AM
Gnomish Pet Door. A small, belt-mounted device that opens a temporal rift that allows you to call a pet from a posh, well-attended pet sanctuary.
Shoikler Jun 17th 2011 8:47AM
Yeah, Matt, they've really come a long way from the scandals of ten years ago. I still remember the Gnomeregan Gnews Gnetwork exposé with all those horrific images: the filthy cages; the abusive orderlies; the pet-fighting ring. Then came the arrests, the mass reforms, and the near-constant oversight. I even remember the goblins putting out their short-lived competing service with the slogan "We're not THAT bad!" [And they weren't, right up until the explosion.]
Saz Jun 17th 2011 8:35AM
They all more or less roam free out on a farm, which is located somewhere on the outskirts of Gilneas. Only the most well trained of pets may accompany my characters during their travels through Azeroth.
Aloisgault Jun 17th 2011 8:38AM
I found myself a nice box canyon and everything stays in there. There is a nice high metal cage dome so the flyers can fly. A dwarf engineer budy and i came up with the concept- I watched his back while we gathered the mats. for it.............
mibu.work1 Jun 17th 2011 8:42AM
As a hunter, I usually take one Ferocity, one cunning, and one tenacity pet with me at all times, and leave the other two mobile stable slots free. I simply assume they all hang out there until I need them. Honestly, I could have an entire tribe of Raptor hatchlings at this point, which is why I don't go to dalaran anymore, I hear Rhonin has a *thing* about lots of raptors.
LynMars Jun 17th 2011 11:37AM
My lowbie hunter only has the one pet right now, I don't play her often enough to get others yet and am not sure what I would tame. As a RP character, she's probably not going to have a wide variety, as I don't see myself using her to raid (stick to my main 3 alts for that). But ICly, she raises worgs on her farm in Elwynn (away from all her daughter's vanity pets).
I was so upset that the Silverpine worg my roommate drove me all the way up there to get was auto-turned into one of the diseased Elwynn Forest wolves when the Shattering hit. It was fine even after the initial race change from Draenei to Human, but then Deathwing came and my pretty black worg was suddenly a scrawny dying wolf. I'd already tamed a rare white worg though, so said that older worg had died and the hunter was training up this new pup.
durandal Jun 17th 2011 8:59AM
My pets are all inflatable.
Sleutel Jun 17th 2011 9:01AM
Mallet space.