Blizzard introduces tradable "Guardian Cub" companion pet, purchasable through the Blizzard Store
by Adam Holisky 
Oct 10th 2011 at 12:11PM
Yes, you heard that right.
The pet will cost $10, and you can trade it to other people in game for whatever in-game currency or items you want.
The full Blizzard FAQ after the break.
Guardian Cub FAQ
Q: How does the Guardian Cub pet work? How is it different from other Pet Store pets?
Unlike the other Pet Store companions, the Guardian Cub is a tradable, one-time-use pet that permanently binds to a single character upon use. When you purchase the Guardian Cub from the online store, the character you designate will receive a bind-on-use item to carry in his or her inventory. You can either use the item yourself to permanently add the pet to your character's collection (consuming the item in the process), or -- after a brief initial cooldown period -- you can trade the item to another player so he or she can add it to one of their character's collections. Note that once the pet has been added to a character's Companions list, it can no longer be traded, so make sure you're giving the cub a happy home.
Q: Will I be able to carry more than one Guardian Cub at a time?
While a character can only have one Guardian Cub in his or her Companions list, you can have as many in your inventory as you like. Please note that Guardian Cub items do not stack, so each one will take up a bag or bank slot.
Q: How much will the Guardian Cub cost in the Pet Store?
The Guardian Cub will be priced the same as the other Pet Store pets ($10 USD). All sales of the Guardian Cub are final -- no refunds will be given once a purchase is made.
Q: Why did you decide to make the Guardian Cub tradable?
Since the introduction of the Pet Store, many players have been asking for ways to get the companions we offer there without having to spend real-world cash. By making the Guardian Cub tradable (much like the BoE mounts from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game), players interested in the new pet will have fun, alternative in-game ways to get one. In addition to trading the pet, players can give the Guardian Cub as a gift to another character for a special occasion; guild leaders can use them to reward members for a job well done; and so on. We also hope this change will help reduce the number of incidents of scamming via trading for invalid pet codes.
Q: Could I put the Guardian Cub up on the auction house to try to make some gold if I wanted to?
While our goal is to offer players alternative ways to add a Pet Store pet to their collection, we're ok with it if some players choose to use the Guardian Cub as a safe and secure way to try to acquire a little extra in-game gold without turning to third-party gold-selling services. However, please keep in mind that there's never any guarantee that someone will purchase what you put up for sale in the auction house, or how much they'll pay for it. Also, it's important to note that we take a firm stance against buying gold from outside sources because in most cases, the gold these companies offer has been stolen from compromised accounts. (You can read more about our stance here.) While some players might be able to acquire some extra gold by putting the Guardian Cub in the auction house, that's preferable to players contributing to the gold-selling "black market" and account theft.
Q: Are you changing the other available Pet Store pets (e.g. Lil' Ragnaros, the Pandaren Monk) to work this way?
No, the other available Pet Store pets will continue to work as they always have.
Q: What about future Pet Store pets?
It's too early to say how we'll handle future Pet Store pets. We made this change in response to feedback from players looking for alternate ways to get the Pet Store pets, and we're always looking into other opportunities for improvement. We're interested in hearing what players think of the Guardian Cub when it launches, and we hope you'll have fun with this new flying friend.
Unlike the other Pet Store companions, the Guardian Cub is a tradable, one-time-use pet that permanently binds to a single character upon use. When you purchase the Guardian Cub from the online store, the character you designate will receive a bind-on-use item to carry in his or her inventory. You can either use the item yourself to permanently add the pet to your character's collection (consuming the item in the process), or -- after a brief initial cooldown period -- you can trade the item to another player so he or she can add it to one of their character's collections. Note that once the pet has been added to a character's Companions list, it can no longer be traded, so make sure you're giving the cub a happy home.
Q: Will I be able to carry more than one Guardian Cub at a time?
While a character can only have one Guardian Cub in his or her Companions list, you can have as many in your inventory as you like. Please note that Guardian Cub items do not stack, so each one will take up a bag or bank slot.
Q: How much will the Guardian Cub cost in the Pet Store?
The Guardian Cub will be priced the same as the other Pet Store pets ($10 USD). All sales of the Guardian Cub are final -- no refunds will be given once a purchase is made.
Q: Why did you decide to make the Guardian Cub tradable?
Since the introduction of the Pet Store, many players have been asking for ways to get the companions we offer there without having to spend real-world cash. By making the Guardian Cub tradable (much like the BoE mounts from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game), players interested in the new pet will have fun, alternative in-game ways to get one. In addition to trading the pet, players can give the Guardian Cub as a gift to another character for a special occasion; guild leaders can use them to reward members for a job well done; and so on. We also hope this change will help reduce the number of incidents of scamming via trading for invalid pet codes.
Q: Could I put the Guardian Cub up on the auction house to try to make some gold if I wanted to?
While our goal is to offer players alternative ways to add a Pet Store pet to their collection, we're ok with it if some players choose to use the Guardian Cub as a safe and secure way to try to acquire a little extra in-game gold without turning to third-party gold-selling services. However, please keep in mind that there's never any guarantee that someone will purchase what you put up for sale in the auction house, or how much they'll pay for it. Also, it's important to note that we take a firm stance against buying gold from outside sources because in most cases, the gold these companies offer has been stolen from compromised accounts. (You can read more about our stance here.) While some players might be able to acquire some extra gold by putting the Guardian Cub in the auction house, that's preferable to players contributing to the gold-selling "black market" and account theft.
Q: Are you changing the other available Pet Store pets (e.g. Lil' Ragnaros, the Pandaren Monk) to work this way?
No, the other available Pet Store pets will continue to work as they always have.
Q: What about future Pet Store pets?
It's too early to say how we'll handle future Pet Store pets. We made this change in response to feedback from players looking for alternate ways to get the Pet Store pets, and we're always looking into other opportunities for improvement. We're interested in hearing what players think of the Guardian Cub when it launches, and we hope you'll have fun with this new flying friend.
Filed under: News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 11)
Peebers Oct 10th 2011 12:17PM
o.O
Jamie Oct 10th 2011 6:18PM
Indeed, Blizzard should have set it up so that it's initially BoE then once used it's BoA.
But hey, you know they're gonna love the extra income this novelty might bring!
vegemite Oct 10th 2011 5:14PM
If it decreases the amount of hacking and gold selling in game im all for it.
also same as everything else on the store...... if you dont like it dont buy it.
it is not the end of the world and the sky is not falling
Antropine Oct 10th 2011 8:06PM
First, I would like to say I love this game, and have had a great time over the years supporting and enjoying it. But I feel like people are missing the point in the anger over the new pet to be sold.
This game started with set lines, as to what was acceptable, and what was not. Blizzard was consistent with its message to the player base. "We will not sell power, nor Gold. If you pay your subscription fee, you are on a level playing field with everyone else." This was great, because it showed a great level of respect to the player base. And in return, we flocked to a great game, and made it the success it is today.
However over time this has changed, things that Blizzard had been so sure about, (PVE to PVP transfers, Not selling leveling speed, Not putting items in the game that can be bought for real life money, and then sold for gold, not adding expensive features like race/faction change, respecting that if someone pays a subscription fee, all of the content should be available to them if they are willing to work for it.)
Now hear me out. I'm not saying Blizzard is evil because of RAF, or the Pet Store, or the Mobile AH. I'm saying that the level of respect Blizzard showed the customer base has changed over the years. Not necessarily in a bad way, take for example Authenticators, they are a great and helpful addition to the game. But when other games, like Rift don't sell Gold, Leveling speed, or Pets/Mounts for real life money, and even provide services like Realm Transfers for free. It makes me wonder why Blizzard is taking its player base for granted.
I love your games Blizzard, and I am proud to have been a long time supporter of a company I feel produces a quality product. But I for one am moving on, to a producer who respects its consumer base more, and sticks to what it has originally laid out as an acceptable business model. I'll be playing Rift until things go back to how they used to be, hopefully they will sooner then later. Until then.
Goodnight And Good luck, its been a fun few years.
Peebers Oct 10th 2011 10:10PM
uh huh i see what y'all are doin. get off my post.
WrecklessMEDIC Oct 11th 2011 9:20AM
@ Antropine
I guarantee if RIFT wants to be successful they will adopt many more WoW features including things like RaF and real currency mounts. You might try to move on to a different platform but if it works other games will use the same features.
Of course RIFT is still to new to warrant a RaF feature but give it a few more years and it will become standard. Assuming RIFT even lasts that long that is. ;)
Curzen Oct 11th 2011 9:46AM
I'm glad I jumped ship half a year ago. They are just milking this game for money in any way possible, having discarded all principles they had set themselves in the past.
Peebers Oct 11th 2011 10:05AM
fanboy down vote activate!
Kunikenwad! Oct 11th 2011 10:31AM
@ Atropine
Perfectly stated. They have violated their own rules too many times.
wrendil Oct 11th 2011 11:26AM
@ Antropine
When I bought Rift, I paid extra to get a mount, and a bigger bag, and a pet, right when I started. They have been selling the same "advantage" right from the start.
Lizenz Oct 11th 2011 11:29AM
FIRST: Sorry Peebers, I hope I'll be the last to piggy-back your post :-/
SECOND: Regardless of whether I agree or not with what Blizzard has done since its launch, it's undeniable that World of Warcraft has remained so successful for so many years because Blizzard is willing to eat their own words and adapt to the market as it continuously evolves.
The MMO business is unlike any other in the gaming industry in that if you launch a game and leave it unchanged (save for extra levels/dungeons/whatever) you will quickly fall by the wayside as others add new innovations.
THIRD: Mention was made to RIFT giving free Realm Transfers. Many of Blizzard's paid services are for the game's benefit moreso than for extra revenue. Blizzard cares about the immersion of WoW and each server's community. Realm transfers cost $25 USD not because it's hard for Blizzard to do it nor because they are greedy. They cost so much because if not for the charge a good number of people would jump around servers all willy-nilly whether it be because your guild on one server is stuck on say Ragnaros one week so you go to your friend's server to down Rag then go back or to buy something cheap on one auction house and go back to your home server and sell it high. MMO economies are hard enough to properly maintain without the latter example.
Specifically as to this pet, whether we agree or disagree it can at least be said they have a reason for doing it. When World of Warcraft launched the MMO genre was still in infancy, as was gold selling. Years have been spent combating gold/item selling. If you can think of it, it has probably been tried. Then a few Free-2-Play games said "hey, why don't we just ALLOW people to buy gold?" But they did it via usable in-game items. MMO game items are alcohol, and gold sellers are the mob in the 1930s. How did we stop the mob? We made their businesses legal. When an MMO expects gold to be bought they can control it, when they can control it economies improve.
Diablo III is pioneering this new outlook and me thinks that's how all online games are going to end up being. Whether right or wrong, this is what works and I don't blame Blizzard for all they do, if they hadn't implemented all these things WoW would have fallen from top dog a long time ago.
Peebers Oct 11th 2011 11:43AM
hahaha nah all's fair in love and FIRSTS!
musicchan Oct 11th 2011 3:27PM
@Antropine
Having played other MMOs, some of which have not been nearly so successful, I don't believe Blizzard has stopped respecting us. They continue to push forward with the game, giving us content-filled updates. They listen to our feedback and try to provide things we want without compromising their quality. When the community speaks out against certain features or changes, they re-think and re-plan to listen to us.
I don't believe a company selling services means they're just in it for the money. When a company interacts with their customers as regularly as Blizzard does and tries hard to make a game so many people will enjoy, they are obviously in the business for more than just money. They want people to enjoy what they do and it will take a lot more than some non-combat pets or mounts to make me think Blizzard has completely sold out.
I, for one, am still enjoying the game. Maybe I don't play as much as I used to, but I still have things I want to do and stuff to accomplish. The game is still fun and is still growing. I can't wait to see what comes next.
Daedalus Oct 10th 2011 12:17PM
Hmm... sounds like Blizzard's dipping their toes in the gold selling market. On the one hand, I'm not sure I like the idea. On the other, if it drives out the illicit sellers, I'm all for it.
Krz Oct 10th 2011 12:20PM
Exactly my point of view.. reminds me of the ISK selling in Eve
Amaxe Oct 10th 2011 12:36PM
My thought too, though not playing EVE, I didn't know if things were similar or not.
I don't plan to do this, but I am curious as to what the rate of exchange might turn out to be for Money:Gold once things even out.
The Dewd Oct 10th 2011 12:51PM
@Amaxe - I do wonder if it'll start out at 99% of the current in-game value of $10 worth of gold is. Also, will we see people offering to trade pets for epics, too? People already trade BoE drops from T11/T12 raids to try to get one that they can use. Is a single pet worth one epic or two?
Poor Basil's head must be spinning right now as he tries to analyze all the possibilities of this.
Homeschool Oct 10th 2011 12:44PM
I appreciate that they're at least not creating new gold - it's the Pet Store version of the card game items.
On the other front, I'm quite anxious to see how this will play in the illicit gold market. History suggests that providing a legal equivalent to an illegal activity will draw away the consumers, but will also drive the instigators to desperate acts. The unique factor in this equation is that WoW is not their only market. With any luck, they'll write off WoW as unprofitable, drop out of the account-stealing business, and move onto some other game. If not, they're going to get quite a bit more aggressive about it, and I don't think that will end well for anyone.
Daedalus Oct 10th 2011 12:59PM
My guess is the amount of gold you get for your money is going to be a bit worse than what gold sellers are currently doing. People are going to be willing to pay a little more per gold in exchange for knowing that it's not going to get their account banned, and not having to deal with the scummy gold selling outfits.
I'm betting that peace of mind is worth paying for to most players interested in this.
Noyou Oct 10th 2011 1:21PM
This ^^^^^ is bad. I sense a large disturbance in the force. As if a million people screamed out at once. Wow. I never thought they would do anything like this. Sad, sad day.