June 2008   « Archives | Current News »

WarcraftPets.com went offline Saturday afternoon due to a transformer explosion where the server is housed. Luckily, there was no permanent damage, but the site was forced offline due to power restrictions in the surrounding area. Crews had been working diligently since Saturday evening to restore power and to bring all of the effected servers back online.

I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

Two more minipets are rumored to be released in Wrath of the Lich King. As many people hoped, there will indeed be pet penguins to collect. At least two different types of penguins have appeared so far—one pictured at right. Additionally, there are rumors of a scarab beetle pet, similar to the scarab minions created by the Crypt Lord hero-unit from Warcraft III.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm stoked for this next expansion.

Patch 2.4.3 offers a variety of treats for pet collectors. In addition to three new pets (see above), here's what we can expect regarding small pets:

• Numerous flying non-combat pets have had their flight height modified to no longer skim along the ground: captured firefly, dragonhawk hatchlings, moths, owls, parrots, phoenix hatchling, spirit of summer, sprite darter, and tiny sporebat.
• Clockwork Robot Bots fight amongst themselves again...without attacking people in the arena. Well... they'll blow up other Bots in the arena, but you know what we mean.

Patch 2.4.3 has hit the test realm, and since it doesn't appear to be a huge patch, it could be be out as early as mid-July or sooner.

TWO THREE NEW PETS! The next patch will give us collectors a whopping three new pets! The first is the Nether Ray Fry (pictured), which requires "exalted" with the Sha'tari Skyguard (and 38 gold) to purchase.

The second new companion brings several new concepts to what a small pet can be. The Ethereal Soul-Trader is a nearly life-size traveling buddy who doubles as a specialized vendor, allowing its owner to purchase neat cosmetic items. One such item even allows you to change your other small pets into ravenous Flesh Beasts.

The third new pet follows the trend of "life-sizing" companions. This one is a Coyote Spirit which, oddly enough, is summoned by a hat, much like our old Bloodsail Parrot. Earning this pet will require doing a new quest in Old Hillsbrad on heroic.

Tim Howgego, better known in the WoW community as El of El's Extreme Anglin', has put together an impressive map of WoW's most established online communities. This fascinating visual study includes database sites like Thottbot and Wowhead, blog favorites such as WoW Insider and World of Raids, and it even includes an axis of evil in the form of gold sellers and botters. Nestled to the southwest is a small group of islands that represent niche fansites. Breanni Island (woot!) has the honor of being situated right between Mania Island (Petopia and Warcraft Mounts) and Tim's own El Island.

My thanks to Tim for giving this site its own island. Let's hope it's big enough for me, the WarcraftPets community, and our combined total of 100,000+ collected minipets.