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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBlizzard 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 11 of 11)
Cricket Oct 10th 2011 7:03PM
rHuh, you know, I think it could actually work. I'd much rather buy it for gold than for real money and I'd be willing to pay something like 10-12k - a little less than the gold seller exchange rate, but enough to satisfy. In fact, because it is bound to each character, I might buy it twice, or give one as a gift. Now I just need to wait and see if people are going to be reasonable about the prices.
Iirdan Oct 10th 2011 7:36PM
The amount of doomspeaking I have seen regarding this news... is shockingly low.
I am proud of you, WoW community. You have finally mellowed out.
Antt Oct 10th 2011 8:12PM
I am neither for or against this - but one thing i think should be considered (or remembered) is all the concerns that are raised when Blizz releases a new pet on the pet store from all the players who don't have access to a credit card and/or a spare $10 I am sure there are alot out there - the players who are under 18, asking mum and dad for $10 for a virtual pet and getting laughed at (or yelled at)...
Blizz mentions in the post that "many players have been asking for ways to get the companions we offer there without having to spend real-world cash." So they respond to those players.
Good on 'em for listening and doing something about it.
DBriggs304 Oct 10th 2011 8:13PM
Wow...not a fan of this one. I don't like to use the word greedy...but.
I always thought the whole gold selling idea was supposed to be bad bad bad....Now the ones who warned me against doing it is basically doing it themselves?
Don't know about this one.
amryxx Oct 10th 2011 8:38PM
Some people will say, "Activision-Blizzard is being greedy / milking their customers". To which I say, "your point being?". Corporations are supposed to be making a profit; the question is not "are they greedy?", but "are their actions ethical?". And I would say that in this case, I don't see a reason why the answer is "no".
The current theory is, people will trade these cubs for gold to buy BoEs. Fair enough, works in theory; but seriously though, how many people actually care to get these things? It's not like they can help you in combat, PvP or PvE. I feel people are seriously overestimating the popularity of something that is essentially useless.
tadedra Oct 10th 2011 9:21PM
I'm not quite sure why people believe this is new. Any item from the TCG that can be sold on the auction house, Nightsabre, Raptor mount, Striders, Rhinos. They have been "doing" this for a long while. Its now just more accessible and as mentioned by others, its not adding more gold into the market, it's transferring existing wealth.
I do wonder how much $10 will be worth per server. Plus the high pop vs low pop RP vs PvP, AH spy and Undermine journal are going to be two hopping websites.
tadedra Oct 10th 2011 9:22PM
more importantly they should have said "Gold Sellers suck it".
Bobby Earl Oct 10th 2011 10:08PM
I seriously doubt that this item is a last-ditch effort to make money from a dying game as many here have opined. The constant stream of patches and hotfixes that Blizzard implements shows that the company cares more about customer satisfaction (and the steady revenue that ensures) than the relatively small amount of money they'll make off of this thing. Also, I don't see Blizzard believing this measure will make more than a dent in the gold selling market. Considering that they have historically shown great interest in player feedback through forums and surveys, I tend to think that the growing disparity between the extremely gold-wealthy customer and those with little in-game resources may be a motivator here as well. Being a fairly avid follower of multiple WoW related forums myself I've noticed of late the increase in posts concerning the polarizing subject of gold sinks in the game. The camps seem pretty well divided between "Gimme something to spend all this damned gold on" and "Exactly what gold am I supposed to be sinking into this new awesome thing?". It's quite realistic to think that Blizzard has been reading these same arguments and this is an experimental attempt to implement some, albeit limited, form of wealth equality. I may just be guessing here but I'd bet that the overlap between players who have so much gold that they'd never consider purchasing for real money something they could obtain through game resources and the players who could never afford the gold for something like that in the AH but could definitely throw a couple extra on the credit card must be sizable enough to create SOME parity in overall server wealth distribution. That would be an interesting Venn diagram at any rate. With this as even a partial rationale behind the new pet, it makes the BoU-only status a lot more understandable from Blizzard's point of view.
Al Oct 11th 2011 1:50AM
They're clearly testing the water for something.
Maybe it's just the D3 money-grab, maybe they're seeing how gradually to RMT WoW without being too obvious.. either way, I hope it sinks like a stone.
Lizenz Oct 11th 2011 11:53AM
D3 money-grab? Diablo III will have a cash Auction House for the security of the players. Any money Blizzard makes off of it will be laughable and at its best a little bit of financial help to support patches and avoid subscription fees. Most of the money made on the Auction House will be made by the players. I don't know about you, but I'd love to one day earn back my $(50) I'll be dropping on Diablo, essentially making playing it free for me. And IF I do make $50 over my span playing the game, Blizzard would make (rough estimate) $2.50 (assuming I sell 50 items at $1.00 each, with Blizzard taking $0.05 per auction).
Also remember, auction posting will be a flat fee. So whether I sell an item for $1 or $10, Blizzard still only gets (as per my guess) $0.05.
Al Oct 11th 2011 2:47PM
Security of the players? No offense to you, but that's a crock.
Given how many accounts are cracked for imaginary gold, does anyone really think involving actual money will improve that? "Security" is just their catch-call, as they said the same thing about their always-online DRM.
Bossy Oct 12th 2011 6:07AM
Seriously if you can't see the next big thing in MMO land is the real money Auction House, then you know nothing about human behaviour.
FACT one: the MOST successful mechanic in a video game from the last 20 years was: ... progression of the avatar you play with. Be that level based, gear based, stats based, avhievements based.
The basis of WOW's success is basicly one thing: gear chase to better the avatar.
Now they are going to add real money value to that already crazy gear chase mechanic..
You'll no longer yell "WOW, I got me the Quel'delar mace item, look ,look it is EPIC !" (or similar thing)
Next time in Diablo 3 you'll yell "WOW, I got me the Queldelar item (5th from 6 pieces) to make me an epic. That's worth at least 20 dollars ! You'll be happy to sell it for 10...
Hastely going to the club and bragging that you found that piece and sold it for 100 bucks.
That's how poker works and Blizzard just put an extremely good gear chase game on top.
Go figure why the Activison Blizzard stock rose 20 % in 2 months despit everything else dropped ....
vegemite Oct 11th 2011 3:10AM
A fair point but just because you pay your $15 a month doesn't mean you get to dictate what happens in the game.
Warcraft players have a ridiculous sense of entitlement towards blizzard.
There are 11 million people playing this game and if blizzard tried to please everyone they would get nothing done.
This sort of argument is like two people arguing if coke or Pepsi is better. Why are they bothering arguing, just drink the one they like.
Kunikenwad! Oct 11th 2011 11:38AM
No, this is an argument about a company going back on its principles. They have sacrificed integrity for profit.
PeeWee Oct 11th 2011 12:15PM
Introducing more gold sinks inevitably leads to more people buying gold from websites.
10K gold is roughly 2 EU according to the gold spam on my main EU realm, and I doubt people will pay 50K for the pet, so it's cheaper to buy the gold and get the pet from the AH than buying the pet from Blizz. Guess what? People WILL go for the cheaper, if it's available on AH. And there WILL be pets on the AH.
Blizzard might as well sell gold directly. That's the only way for them to properly reduce goldselling from dusky websites. Well there is that, and removing gold and trade from teh game completely.
Lizenz Oct 11th 2011 1:01PM
Everyone keeps sitting around and speculating thinking "OH it may do this, but it may do THAT!" when the fact is we KNOW what it will do because its effect has been proven in many other games (Perfect World being one I played that did this).
This one pet will probably do virtually nothing than help a few people that are severely lacking in gold and don't have the time to farm it. If they continue this, though, as people get more ways to legally turn real money into gold goes up, gold selling goes down. Sure gold farmers will always be cheaper, but they are also notorious for screwing you over later.
And we all forget one thing: most everyone playing this game WANTS to support a healthy economy, I'm sure lots of people that buy gold will be willing to get a little less gold per dollar in order to support other players rather than account theft.
Josh Oct 11th 2011 1:01PM
I just feel like, in the end, this will be a way for people to buy power, which is something I'm not cool with. It's not likely to change the game in any enormous way but I don't like the idea of someone being able to spend real money, get ingame money out of it, and use that to buy epics and whatnot. Sure people did that before in various ways but at least Blizz frowned upon those ways instead of endorsing it as they do with this feature. Just my opinion.
Bossy Oct 12th 2011 5:58AM
The next big thing in On line play will be DIablo 3 and its Real Money Auction House.
Earn money by playing a video game without even paying subscriptions. This is just the testing out fwithin WOW.
Estimated long term investment for D3: at least 5- 7 years if they are smart enough to upgrade the loot every 12 months or so.
By the time Diablo 3 will hit the street: expect a HUGE drop in every MMORPG, be that subscription based, free to play, Buy to play etc...
Only WOW will stand against this mechanism since the profits you make can flood back to Blizzard by paying the WOW subscriptions.
Oh and btw: expect the next real money Auction House in WOW by 2013 at the latest and of course they'll drop the subscriptions to a bare minimum by then.
I already pity SW and GW2.
Who wants to play poker with fake chips anyway....
Snipee Oct 16th 2011 4:47PM
@ Antropine
Hmm, so I take it you've never had a gold farmer hack you, or spam the hell out of you. Blizz is using this as a way to purchase a pet much like people do for WoWTCG so instead of going to a gold farmer site to purchase stolen gold, probably from other peoples accounts, and compromising your own account, now you can buy a pet and sell it if you like for gold, if it doesn't hurt the ingame economy then why would it break any rules. It's mainly trying to attack gold farmers making it easier for lazy people to get gold. The pet doesn't help you in game, it doesn't make you any better in proffessions or skill, it doesn't level you or in any way make the game any better for you aside from maybe if your lucky selling it for gold. So go QQ your way to Rift, all the misfits from WoW seem to travel there any way, no offence really but have fun. It will be nice to see the gold farmer economy collapse for once, does make you wonder if the people complaining are nothing but gold farmers afraid of this and retaliating the only way they know how Rift. Now I like Rift and all but seriously, people have complained about gold farmers and there hacked accounts since day 1 and now that Blizz tries to attack back all people can do is complain. Blizz cares come back to WoW soon we love you, yes we do.