Mists of Pandaria: Pet Battles
by Alex Ziebart 
Mar 19th 2012 at 3:01AM
Each pet that you own can learn up to six abilities, but only three of them can be used in the turn-based battle, so you need to carefully assign which you plan to use. Pet Battles will have a queue system just like dungeons and Battlegrounds, with one small difference: you will never see the name of the player you're facing off against. Blizzard wanted to minimize the "shame of defeat" that tends to be a barrier to entry in PvP -- nobody likes feeling bad when they lose. You will never know who you've lost to, and they can't trash talk you during or afterwards. While your statistics page will keep track of your number of wins, it will not track your losses.
Filed under: Mists of Pandaria
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 4)
RuzGofDI Mar 19th 2012 1:40PM
They just covered pet battles briefly on the wowinsider live show. You can challenge people to duels with your pets.
ravyncat Mar 19th 2012 4:35AM
I am so glad this is definitely in the game!
But I also really want to be able to challenge my guildies. I will be disappointed if that is not possible for whatever reason.
L_fetcu Mar 19th 2012 4:38AM
I can hardly wait to try the little buggers. :))) and the prices of epic pets will go up even more ...
Dementron Mar 19th 2012 5:15AM
Please please please Blizzard let my Moonkin Hatchling be able to cast a tiny little Moonfire... That would be the cutest thing ever...
Michael Mar 19th 2012 8:10PM
From the wording of the FAQ question about pet battles...I'm doubting that your baby moonkin will be able to cast anything at all.
It sounds as though the PBS will be "limited" to 100 pets that you have to go out and catch using various tactics.
It came across as though not all vanity pets would be included in the system, which I can understand.
Tauren Fan Mar 19th 2012 5:43AM
I'm more excited to see more about this than I expected to be. With it working through a queue system it seems like this might be a chance for Blizz to offer a component to their remote AH app that would let you participate in pet battles from a phone or other device that can't handle wow in its entirety. With it being turn based, you wouldn't even have to worry about lag too much. Probably wishful thinking, but it would be great if Blizz expanded on the ability of players to participate in the game remotely to a greater extent than just the AH.
amryxx Mar 19th 2012 6:01AM
So.. which one would be more likely to get me kicked out of a raid group, not showing up because "I have to fight this pet battle" or "I can't go right now because some *bleep*-ing Horde just showed up on my farm"?
ZodiacDragons Mar 19th 2012 6:10AM
Lmao XD
ZodiacDragons Mar 19th 2012 6:21AM
Only tracking wins and the anonymous bit seems weird to me. Personally, I would like to see how many games I have played and how many of those were wins (then if I want, can subtract to see my losses). So I won't be able to see the player I'm battling and won't be able to friend them if it is an awesome game? I won't be able to chat with them with witty banter or tell them what a great match it was? Sure people can abuse the system and trash talk, but hell you might as well make dungeon and raid finder anonymous too with as much name calling goes on in there, and PvP is worse than that. Anytime the opponent scores a point in a battlegrounds, whether the team is winning or losing, someone has to point out how bad the team sucks and tell everyone who he or she thinks the worse player on the team is. If you are that worried about people getting bullied, at an option like the profanity filter where the player remains anonymous. But, personally, I want to make friends like I did playing Pokemon.
saliira Mar 19th 2012 8:16AM
I'm glad you unlock the third pet slot via an achievement -- something to work towards is always welcome. Also, I'm intrigued by the graphics on the right side of the pet list. They seem like categories, possibly that you can filter on, but the Pandaren face next to the Crawling Claw is an interesting choice.
Ixui Mar 19th 2012 8:23AM
It appears to be similar to the way mobs are categorised now.
Example, the three engineering pets all seem to be mechanical. Chuck, Hyjal Bear Cub and Curious Wolvar pup all seem to be Beast. Crawling Claw's looks more like a skull to me, so Undead maybe? Core Hound Pup seems to be fiery, and the Hyacinty Macaw seems to have a wing, so flying?
Drakkenfyre Mar 19th 2012 12:42PM
That image above looks like it's from BlizzCon. In which case, it is 100% mocked-up and fake. It was done in Photoshop, and they said last year it was just an idea of how it could look.
tkelley004 Mar 19th 2012 9:59AM
Would be nice to have a way to pet battle your real ID or battle tag friends. That way you could "fight" your friends or guildies for fame and glory! Or to settle guild issues. Oh you both want the same gear.. pet battle for it LOL
drtongue Mar 20th 2012 9:54AM
"Pet Battles will have a queue system just like dungeons and Battlegrounds"
So you have to wait in a queue? As in, you can only be in one queue at a time and cant queue for LFR if you're pet battling? Well that's a bummer - I figured the idea of pet battles was to have something to do while waiting for your lfg/bg queue to pop. Will you be kicked out of your lfr/lfg/bg queue if you pet-battle someone in person, the same way you get kicked out if you group with somebody?
evoxpisces Mar 19th 2012 10:56AM
Horde Balloon, I choose you!
Shrikesnest Mar 19th 2012 12:47PM
I think it's sort of telling that the lack of validation in the form of bragging rights is a deal breaker for some of you. That's alright, though. It's the whole point.
No offense to anybody here, but the sort of record-obsessed, bragging rights-centric, endzone dancing competitive frat jock menyality is exactly what this is supposed to be avoiding. We already have some very robust tools for proving whose skills are the most leet in heroic raiding and rated PVP. This is supposed to be a relaxing diversion, not another contest with a complex metagame that's constantly in flux every patch.
Frankly, I'm glad they're not validating that competitive urge in pet battles, because it will keep out the hardcore element that would ruin all the fun. For my part, I'm looking forward to a fun tactical combat system with no "Oh shit my record is as stake!" stress.
Shrikesnest Mar 19th 2012 12:56PM
To finish, I understand that the risk and stress is the point for some of you. Please understand that some of us (full-grown adults, even!) find that kind of experience miserable. the whole point is to give that's generally neglected part of the player base something fun to do. I would really appreciate it if you guys would let us have this one thing. And maybe keep all of your condescending bullshit about how this is clearly meant to appeal only to babies and retards to yourselves. Thanks.
Burian0 Mar 19th 2012 1:03PM
TO win, to lose and to try again/get better are what defines a "game". There's nothing wrong with wanting to know how many times you lost.
I think what people are upset the most with is the lack of the ability to see someone's name and talk to him. I understand the talking part (same thing as for the BGs really) but the part about anonymosity so you do not feel ashamed of losing? What's the shame of losing a mini-game? Will my son have to wear a mask in the next school soccer match so people won't know who he is if his team loses?
I don't agree with the standards on that.
Shrikesnest Mar 19th 2012 1:27PM
But thos is exactly my point. Your definition of game (and by extension your organized sports metaphor) are myopic. Yes, playing soccer without keeping score is asinine, but how about the weekly BS poker hame with the fellas? Obviously you count bets and chips, but a weekly record? The whole point there isn't to win amd improve your poker record, but to kill some time and chat with yoir buddies.
There are lots of reasons to play gamrs. "The whole point" for you is "the annoying horseshit" to me, and likely vice versa. It's alright for different activities on WoW to target different tastes. This one just happens to scratch my itch instead of yours, and adding records would ruin that.
As for anonymity in the random matches, well... That's its own lomgwinded post. Maybe later.
Shrikesnest Mar 19th 2012 2:50PM
Ai yi yi, look at my spelling and grammar. Three hours of sleep plus updating via itty-bitty smartphone with my fat-ass thumbs. My apologies, it makes me look like a slovenly fool (even more than usual).