What do you think about diseased pets?

[Senna-Umbreon]

Diseased pets. I'm sure everyone knows 'em. The wolves and bears from Felwood.. The... Wolves and bears (And boars and birds!) from the Plaguelands.. Yadda yadda. Unfortunately, I don't see too many Hunters with them these days. Heck, I've never seen too many Hunters with them throughout the whole time I've played! (And I started a few months before BC came out.) I've even seen quite a few people who have said they really dislike these pets... So, I'm wondering.. What do you guys all think of these diseased and zombie-like pets? Like 'em? Hate 'em? Utterly ADORE them? XD

As for myself? Well.. Let's just say.. Felpaw Wolves are the most AMAZING things in existence. *Hugs her zombie wolf* <3 And I have to say, the other diseased pets just make my freaking day. I LOVE the white zombie bears and the zombie boars~ The birds are pretty cool too. I guess it comes from me kinda having a thing for dark themed things.. And well, I just have a soft spot for zombie animals~ I find them oddly.. Cute.

I make really detailed poll options! Whoo!

*Edited for safety* Also, just to make sure everyone gets this.. The "Can't see why people would/wouldn't like zombie pets" isn't meant to be offensive in any way. I personally don't see why people hate these pets, but I still wholeheartedly respect that opinion. So no "You automatically suck because you don't like/like this pet/I don't understand why you don't like/like this pet!", 'kay? :3

[Melentari]

I know some people have a thing for zombies and so forth, but I just... don't. To me, if you see something that's sick and hurting, the instinct would be to nurse it back to health - so if any of my hunters tamed a diseased or zombified animal, it would be to nurse it back to health and it would eventually be replaced by a model of the same colour but without the injuries/disease.

[Senna-Umbreon]

While I can understand that.. One thing I'd like to point out is a lot of these beasts are diseased thanks to the Scourge plague, which.. From what I recall, is not particularly easy to deal with and heal, especially not for some random Hunter.

Though, like I said, it's only from what I recall from quests and such, with a little bit from some of the books.. So I may be completely wrong on this, but it just seems to make sense that this sort of disease wouldn't be able to be cured the same way a random heavily injured/sick animal would.

Either way.. Whee! I'm actually pretty happy I'm already getting a little feedback on this~

[Azunara]

Personally, I love the fel wolves too. I had one on my worgen hunter in Beta named Fel and they were the little duo. The perfect team. Not as big a fan of the pigs or the bears (Though I like the polar-plagues, but not enough to tame one.) but the wolves are awesome to me. Love the little guys.

[Melentari]

Oh, I completely understand. Given that most of it is from the Plague, then yes, it couldn't be fixed - and that's... another reason for a lot of my characters to stay away. Who says they aren't communicable? And if something is suffering, then maybe it should be put out of its misery. I think I'm just completely unable to see those pets as anything but hurting, and I can't imagine willingly sending something that's already in pain to fight for me.

I'm sure that different people have different takes on it. It's just that, to me, they look like they need a lot of bandages or possibly a peaceful euthanasia. So while to some people, there's not something like that to worry about, I can't get past it.

And the pigs, like Azunara mentioned, remind me of the pig gods in Princess Mononoke, so there's less of an element of 'augh' about them for me, but I still don't think I could tame one.

[Kurasu]

I remember when, in the 'random pet' thread, I was given a rabid grizzly as my beast to tame. Most bears, when they throw their head around in the idle animation, it looks like they're roaring or growling. With the diseased one, it always made me think it was writhing in pain. I just couldn't really stomach it; it looked just horrible. There's no way I could run with a diseased pet as a constant companion!

As stated above, I certainly understand how others could think of it as cool, but for myself? It's more heartbreaking than cool!

[Azunara]

Ha, in hindsight, looking at the other opinions, I see I stay true to my not-really-empathetic personality and say, "pfft. They're not hurting! It's totally okay! I love them, let's use them!" Go figure.

But I can understand the "not wanting to hurt them further" kind of idea. Just like I hate thin worgs because DAMMIT they need a sammich.

[Senna-Umbreon]

Ha, in hindsight, looking at the other opinions, I see I stay true to my not-really-empathetic personality and say, "pfft. They're not hurting! It's totally okay! I love them, let's use them!" Go figure.

Ya know, to be honest, I'm kinda on the same page here XD Though I guess part of me likes the idea of them.. Being a little less than conscious, really. Like they're so zombie-like they're too.. Numb to really be bothered by their wounds anymore. *Shrugs* I dunno really, it's just some wacky little theory my brain decided to come up with.

(Ironically, my Felpaw Wolf completely ignores that little theory, but I have story reasons for that XD)

[Tahlian]

I can't stand the damned things, with one exception, and like an earlier poster said, would be far more likely to euthanize them than tame them and take them home.

The one exception is the Frankenpigs. Their faces make appear skull-like, but their bodies aren't covered with gaping, open sores and pustules.

When my hunters go looking for a pet, my criteria tends to be (apart from "does the appearance/skin appeal to me?) 'is this animal healthy?' So no...very much not likely to tame one.

[Rubywashere]

I fell in love the the undead pets after taking a screenshot of my brothers in a felwood stump with glowy stuff coming out of it
I never realised they had such zombie-like eyes

its a shame we have no more zombie pets beyond the bone spiders, zombie wolfs bears and mummified birds and rotting pigs
Where is my zombie turtle with the skull shell?
Or my Mummified cat from Egypt
not to mention the cracked stone gargoyle bat

[GormanGhaste]

I'm very definitely in the 'eww' camp, but I can understand undead PCs taming them, as they make me go 'eww' as well.

[SgtSplacker]

I love my diseased bear with the purple glowy head... His little buff reads "this creature is being consumed from the inside" he wins...

[Finduilas]

I picked "Don't like them but can see why some would."

I really feel so sorry for those creatures. I already mentioned it somewhere: if there ever is a possibility to heal those pets (and never respawn diseased again) I would happily fly over the whole world and put bandages and medicine on every diseased pet that is. I tamed a diseased bear for the pet challenge once, and I felt so sorry for him. His scars and wounds made me almost cry. When I was done with the challenge I released him, thinking I "healed him and let him go". I never would tame one for one of my hunters (don't have an undead hunter, that would perhaps make it different), but I understand people who love them and I really wish I could give such a beast my whole love, but they just gross me out too much to keep them.

[Nubhorns]

Back in the day(I'm talking like when I was 14 and had no idea how to play a hunter) I had a plague wolf on old Veeka. Let me see if I can dig up a picture...



I've always been partial to the old wolf model anyway, but I remember seeing the zombie one and just being shocked. I thought it was some rare beast, honestly(this was way before my days of Silverdragon, lol) and I had seen it at such a low level that I promptly got eaten by it. I didn't see any others at the time, just the bears, so I thought to myself that I had to get that wolf, and I had to gain those levels as fast as I could.

It took me a few days, but I did finally hit the right level to tame one...but by the time I made it there, I saw not one but two wolves patting around - so there went the rare theory. Honestly though I don't think I cared - Minter stayed by my side until I hit Northrend, sadly, and she was released for a gray Northrend worg if I remember right, who was in turn released for a Jormungar and before I faction changed, all of my pets were released save for one.

I now have Snarler instead of a wolf from Felwood, but I don't think I ever forgot about Minter. When my sister started her own baby hunter and was looking for a wolf, I mentioned Felwood and, in a strange way, Minter got readopted and saddled with the name Roony. Unfortunately Roony was a wolf from Elwynn and eventually healed from her zombification, so Minter is no more - I might readopt her on an alt, though.

As for the other zombie pets, I never really got too attached to them. After seeing that Minter wasn't anything special, I just assumed the same for the rest so I can't really say anything impressed me back then. I don't really have any issues taming something 'wounded' and using it to aid me since if it can stand there and bite my face for an hour or chase a mounted player across the zone it's probably okay with eating some bears for me or something. I'm not really sure how you'd put that down on the poll. I suppose I'm indifferent, but I did have one I liked - at the same time I can understand how people don't like them. :P

[Kaelys]

It really depends on the hunter for me. I think they're pretty cool, but if they don't suit the hunter I'm not going to force it.

I cannot get my Belf boys to even go near a diseased critter. Kaenn wouldn't want them near his kids or the rest of his pets, and Kaelys thinks they're icky.

My little undead girl (who I really need to play more, but she's on an odd server so I get lonely) adores them. They're just as yucky and messed up as she is, so she hugs them and pets them and gives them adorable names.

[Vephriel]

I love the zombie pets, they're some of my favourite models. I hope we get more in the future, every species should have one undead version. ^^

[meepitco]

I am sorta on the 50/50 side of this. I like em, and I dont like em. Hard for me to tell, really.

[cowmuflage]

An undead crab should be missing a front claw.

[TygerDarkstorm]

I'm in the camp of liking the undead pets, but understanding why people wouldn't like them. Much like you, Senna, I have this setup in my mind that their wounds aren't really open wounds anymore so much as they are "healed" and scarred/scabbed and that they don't really feel pain from them anymore. Very much like a zombie.

[Lupis]

I love me my diseased pets. For me, I don't think they really feel the wounds anymore - it's something that they've lived with for so long that it's just there. The plague, in my mind, takes away your ability to really feel pain, and they stay in a sort of stasis - not healthy, not dying, not pained. The wounds and such are like battle scars. They have the Plague, and it soon caused the wounds. At first it was painful, but then it simply numbed them.
Their minds… That's different. In the wild, I see a plagued beast as crazed, rabid. They live to infect other things, not feeling, not thinking, just fighting. Yet when you tame it, your hunter's mind helps sooth the insanity and bring back the true personality of the creature, basically saving it from the mindless craze.

Maybe that's why I love the Faerie Dragon forest so much, the Whispering Forest. The plagued deer there live in family groups and have little fawns, even playing with one another. They're diseased, but the magic of the Sprite Darters keeps the insanity away, so they can live like they would if they were healthy and be just as happy as they would be if the plague had never come.