April 2010   « Archives | Current News »

Ever wish your in-game pets were a little more realistic? Well, we've got news for you! WarcraftPets has obtained exclusive information regarding a new vanity pet innovation slated for Cataclysm.

After rave reviews for Perky Pug's rather unorthodox "butt scooting" idle animation, companion pets are being given the ability to, well... relieve themselves in the expansion. I know, I know. It sounds disgusting. But believe it or not, even defecation can be cute...

Disgustingly Cute
If the prospect of companions messing the landscape isn't very appealing to you, fear not... cuteness prevails! True, some pets will leave a pile of poo at their owners' feet, but not all. For example, the oozling pets will leave behind tiny green globules. Meanwhile our mechanical pets will deposit a pile of gears. And some birds will even bombard players from above with "good luck" droppings!

Clean-Up-After-Your-Pet Accessories
Sometimes pets will receive the Stanky debuff after doing their business. No problem—just pick up a Pet Grooming Kit from my counterpart in Dalaran. Heck, she might even sell a pooper scooper in the expansion.

More Info:  List of Pets and Pet Droppings »

Today WarcraftPets turns three! That's right, it was three years ago today that a quirky Gnome named Breanni began hosting this little hideaway, bringing pet-related news and tracking tools to pet collectors throughout the World of Warcraft.

A lot's happened since our last birthday. We hosted our first meet-and-greet at BlizzCon 2009 and we were even featured in the very first issue of WoW's official magazine. But most importantly, we've developed new ways to support all of you wonderful folks in the pet collecting community:

• Our first contests
• Realm and Faction Search
• FigurePets Gallery
• Pet Commenting
• New guides
• Pets by Zone
• Improvements to pet filters

As always, we'd like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our fans, giving extra special props to our MVPs, who've gone above and beyond to support our efforts. Over the next year, we've got even more tweaks in store for the site, including the launch of an addon that will make it easier than ever to track your pet collection online.

We wish each of you our quintessential tiding: Happy Collecting!

One of our members, Alunora, contacted me earlier this week with an exciting new addon to post. Usually I add the new mod to our list of pet addons after I've had the chance to evaluate it. But in this case, I wanted to go a step further and post about it here. Why? Because this addon is so original and innovative that it deserved nothing less.

What's it do?
Essentially, PetsPlus makes your companions more interactive by adding a happiness indicator and reputation to each pet in your collection. Pet owners can create new levels of relationships with their pets as they respond to certain emotes and actions. Emote responses for each pet can be further customized and "trained" by the player.

For example, if you /cry while one of your companions is at your side, it may try to comfort you. If you /pet it, it may purr in response and you'll increase its happiness as well as your reputation with it. Feed it a treat and see how it responds! This is a must-have addon for anyone who enjoys role playing (or anyone who just wants a little more interactivity from their little friends).

Beta Version
PetsPlus is in its beta version. Main functionality is complete, however the database of emote responses is not even close to being finished. Alunora's goal is to give certain pets unique responses and personalities as portrayed through their emotes. The database will be updated in future versions to give pets very individualized behaviors.

Your feedback can help!
The addon's development is at a stage where your feedback would be very helpful. Alunora knows that not all pets should "purr" when they're pet. So what should a turtle do? How about a murloc? This is where your suggestions can shine! So please lend your support and message Alunora with your feedback.

This mod shows a lot of promise and it's the most unique pet addon I've seen in a while. Great job, Alunora!

Blizzard just announced a collector's edition of the upcoming release StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. And wouldn't you know it, this version includes a code for a new WoW in-game pet, mini Thor! WoW.com has a preview of the Thor unit, including many hilarious phrases voiced by Chris Metzen.

The StarCraft II Collector's Edition will also contain the following goodies:

• Jim Raynor dog tag 2GB flash drive preloaded with the original StarCraft and the Brood War expansion
• 176-page StarCraft II art book
• Behind-the-scenes DVD
• Soundtrack CD with bonus tracks
• Premier issue of the StarCraft comic book
• Exclusive downloadable content from Battle.net

No release date for Wings of Liberty has been given yet, but that announcement should be coming soon. We don't know if the mini Thor pet will be redeemable separately from the StarCraft II game, or if the two will be linked in Battle.net. We also have no idea how limited the collector's edition will be. So if you simply must have this set (or even just this pet) be sure to order your copy before they're gone!

An interesting story has been exposed by The Open Ticket. Apparently the vanity pet black market is booming based on the desire for (and abandonment) of companions:

"Today's owners don't think of their pets as companions, but as status symbols. Collection and display of vanity pets has become more important than living with them, and often, pets that fall out of fashion are simply discarded."

My, oh my. I had no idea how bad it's gotten for our little friends. I know that none of you loyal WarcraftPets readers use your pets as status symbols. Right? Right? Good.

You don't want to miss this one, folks: Read the full story »

UPDATE: Lil' XT and the new mount are now on sale at the Blizzard Pet Store. They are digital only. And be prepared for a long queue! I think Blizzard is stress testing the store in advance of BlizzCon ticket sales.

MMO-Champion reports that the new Lil' XT pet and the Celestial Steed mount will be coming to the Blizzard Pet Store. We do not know yet if these in-game goodies will have real world counterparts like the gryphon and wind rider plushes or if they will be purely virtual like the Pandaren Monk and Lil' K.T. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it will be way too difficult to make a toy version of the mount! The Lil' XT does not seem to lend itself well to a plush, though there was a rumor of a possible action figure.

While we all wait to find out, check out this video of the Lil' XT pet. Those of you unfamiliar with the big boss version can get a glimpse of just how annoying these bots can be. Just what every pet collector needs... a mechanical toy that throws temper tantrums. Though I could see these making great gifts for your friends' children.

We'd like everyone to extend a warm welcome to Weena, our newest Site Admin! Weena will be working behind the scenes as an additional web developer. Together, he and I will continue to improve the WarcraftPets website in a variety of ways. Weena already has some new bells and whistles planned for the site, including an in-game addon for automatically uploading your pet collection.

We're very excited to have him join our team. We encourage you to wish him well as he helps to make WarcraftPets an even better resource for the pet collecting community.

ALERT! Gold sellers and scammers have sunk to a new low. We've been receiving reports from several members that they've taken to using my name, Breanni (or variations thereof, such as Beranni and Breanny), to trick people into visiting malicious websites. These websites are used to hack into your WoW account.

One example...

Hello!

You are drawn into the system to receive your achievements award. Please visit: www.{malicious site}

--Breanni

And another...

Hello!

You are drawn in the system to receive A new test pet!

Please visit www.{malicious site}

Beranni

If you receive anything along these lines, be sure to report the mail as spam. Doing this will help Blizzard to track down the culprits.

The Real Breanni
The REAL Breanni (either myself or the NPC in Dalaran) will NEVER send you an in-game mail requesting that you visit a website to retrieve a prize. My NPC counterpart will only ever send actual pets. And personally, I never send unsolicited in-game mail to anyone I don't know.

If you visited one of these sites...
If you were tricked into visiting one of these malicious websites, we urge you to change your WoW account password immediately. You can do this at the the official World of Warcraft site.

In addition, if you really want to safeguard your account from hackers, we strongly recommend using a Battle.net Authenticator. And as an added bonus for linking an authenticator to your account, you'll receive a Core Hound Pup (sent by the actual Breanni NPC—there's some irony for you).

So be cautious, stay alert, help spread the word about this scam, and don't give the gold sellers an inch. Ever.