Pet Idea: Crested Dragons

[Crotalus Horridus]

I had some trouble deciding whether or not I should truly make this thread, seeing as people might have responded to it by saying things such as ''Why not just put these pets in with Devilsaurs? It would make more sense and it's less work for Blizzard.''

At first, I thought that this family would never work. However, I've thought about it and given it another chance by using a special trait I have: I emphasize realism to an extreme extent. However, I'm going to spare all of you from a long talk about how the dinosaurs in this family are different from Devilsaurs (What is essentially a Tyrannosaurus family) due to many different things and instead tell you this: I am under the belief that the Devilsaur family, which is symbolized by animals that look like Tyrannosaurs, should stay that way. A family of tamable Tyrannosaurs. Of course, I'm not saying I don't want new models, I'm just saying that it should stay within the range of the family Tyrannosauridae or for an even more broad approach, the superfamily Tyrannosauroidea. That being said, let's begin with what these big guys will look like.

This family, as seen in the name, is classified by any Theropod dinosaur that sports a crest and or sail on it's body in one place or another. Another characteristic that rather shies away from their Devilsaur cousins is their rather long, flexible arms that aren't as vestigial as the ones on Devilsaurs. The animals that are represented in this fancy headed family are Coelophysoids such as both species of Syntarsus (Its correct name is ''Megapnosaurus'', however I grew up with Syntarsus and thus I'm sticking with that), Lophostropheus and Liliensternus, Dilophosaurids such as Cryolophosaurus, both species of Dilophosaurus and Dracovenator, Megalosauroids such as every member of the family Spinosauridae and Monolophosaurus, the Tyrannosauroid known as Guanlong, and last but certanely not least the Allosauroids belonging to the family Carcharodontosauridae such as the oh so wonderful landshark dinosaur Concavenator. Yep. This family is that big, and because of it I'm not even going to start linking all the pictures, you can just google em'.

Okay, fine, here's the picture for every animal.
Syntarsus: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... rus_DB.jpg
Lophostropheus: http://dinoart1.narod.ru/lophostropheus.jpg
Liliensternus: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xo8CptFcnx4/T ... ternus.gif
Cryolophosaurus: http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2 ... ndylus.jpg
Dilophosaurus: http://24.media.tumblr.com/8722748d3057 ... o1_500.jpg
Dracovenator: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... orROM1.JPG
Using Spinosaurus Aegytiacus as an example here: http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2 ... saurus.jpg
Monolophosaurus: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... _skull.jpg
Concavenator, also just an example for Carcharodontosaurids: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80bea ... enator.jpg

Now that the image bonanza is over, let's begin with the abilities, shall we?

Main Abilities.


Mating Display
- Instant
- 4 minute cooldown
Your Crested Dragon flaunts it's crest or sail, making all targets within X yards of it gasp in awe at it's beauty, leaving them vulnerable to attack and unable to attack for 3 seconds.

Or. . .


Specialized Weaponry
- Instant
- 30 second cooldown
Your Crested Dragon uses it's main advantage over Devilsaurs, it's longer arms and more useful hands, to slash at the target's armor. The armor is weakened by 12% for 30 second and has a 20% chance of stunning the target for 2 seconds.

Or. . .


Built to Hold
- Instant
- 40 second cooldown
Your Crested Dragon, however weak it's jaws may be, chomps down into the target with its spike-like teeth and holds the target in place for 4 seconds.

*Because I'm highly paranoid about the smallest things I read about, I'm placing this down here because I read somewhere on the internet (Yeah I know, it's the internet) that Blizzard usually doesn't use fan ideas posted on forums is because the people who made said ideas might take copyright actions against them. So, feel free to use this, Blizzard.*

[Zhinru]

Is Mating Display supposed to be AoE taunt? I think that would make it almost obligatory while questing and completely useless during dungeons. Just too imbalanced.

Then the dino rider... first, how do you ride him with the sail on its back; second, it would again make them seem somewhat mandatory during questing. Unless hunters get a general "ride pet", I can't see it happening.

Also, I think all of those creatures would be grouped with either devilsaurs or raptors. From a game developer's viewpoint, they don't seem distinct enough for a separate family.

[Crotalus Horridus]

Mating Display is supposed to be a combination of an AoE taunt and a stun. The target is taunted for a short period of time, yes, but it then focuses on the original target after being taunted and stunned. As mentioned before in Specialized Weaponry, the pets that would belong in this family have more advanced arms than Tyrannosaurus Rex, or Devilsaurs in this case, and thus are able to do more things when compared in different situations. That being said, the pet with it's more useful arms could pick up the player and thus, carry them that way. You also have to remember that not all of these animals have sails on their back. Considering it's only 60% speed and isn't affected by a player's mounted skill, a player would most likely still use their regular mounts. However, I didn't like the ability Dino Rider to begin with so I'll ditch it anyways.

I look at it with a very scientific viewpoint. To me, many of these animals are far too different in their body shapes and overall body design to be placed within the Raptor and Devilsaur families. There are also many things missing from these animals that the others have. Like stated before, these animals, such as Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus, have very long flexible arms, slender false gharial-like heads, and of course more than two fingers. Devilsaurs are almost the complete opposite of this having a generally shorter, more heavily built head with short vestigial arms and only two fingers. With dinosaurs such as Syntarsus, the animal itself lacks the defining part that makes a Raptor a Raptor: The hooked claw. This can also be said for every other dinosaur listed, as their lack of a sufficient hooked claws makes them unable to be in the Raptor family.

You may be wondering (Emphasis on ''may'') what the actual similarities besides a crest or a sail may be. Well, here they are:
- All of these animals have relatively long arms and well developed hands
- All of these animals have more than two fingers on their hands and also have well developed claws
- All of these animals have relatively longer, thin skulls, with the minor exception of either Cryolophosaurus and Monolophosaurus
- All of these animals have a relatively weak bite force compared to, say, a Tyrannosaurus Rex
- All of these animals were more reptilian than avian when comparing their brains to the brains of Tyrannosaurs and Dromaeosaurs.
And those are the similarities that I can tell you just by thinking about them in the same thought bubble.

[Zhinru]

If it stuns for the duration of the taunt... what's the point of the taunt? Stunned target doesn't attack anything anyway.

Look, I know all those animals are very distinct from the existing ones in WoW and also distinct from one another, but game systems have to simplify some stuff. All the distinctions you mention don't really matter all that much for a creature in a game. Yeah, they have functional forelegs, but so do most beasts in WoW and there's no big deal made about it - it's T-Rex's small arms that are the distinction, and still they don't play to a devilsaur's skillset. So in my opinion, either a raptor's "tear armor" or devilsaur's "terrifying roar" and "monstrous bite" still fit most of those creatures perfectly. Or at least well enough to not necessitate another family.