How will they go about fixing the appearence pets?

[Dialga]

This is not a when or even an if; this is a how.

I'm an avid rare-pet-hunter, but I'm also an avid programmer, and this new 'appearance glitch' method has got me thinking about how exactly Blizzard CAN fix something like this

1. The inevitable hotfix

To prevent people from using the new 'easy tame', they can always break the macro. That part's not too terribly difficult.

But how to stop people from using the old method, the kill-as-you tame? It would require quite a bit of reworking on Blizzard's part to do the 'cleanse buff' method before the tame finishes. Not impossible, but a bit of an overhaul of the mechanic.

2. Dealing with the tamed pets

Oh, will Blizzard ban me for my pretty harmless pet?
No. Blizzard wants your money. It's extremely unlikely.

Oh, will Blizzard ban me for my pretty damage-buffed pet?
They should. But I don't know.


Do our shiny pets pose much of a threat to the WoW community? Even if they're on fire and have daggers through their heads? PETA might come after us, but not as such, no. I pondered about the possibility of Blizzard not even bothering to fix this until the 'damage buff' pets came into play. Houston, we have a problem.

Some lesser hunters have gone out and grabbed these buffed beasties, and they just about ruined the whole ride. Blizzard has to fix this, they have to wipe these pets, and I'm fairly certain out harmless ones will get caught in the crossfire.

3. To wipe or not to wipe?

The only instance I'm aware of concerning Blizzard tampering with hunter pets comes from my long-lost friend Garwal. Once a Worgen, he was replaced by a white worg model. Initially we thought they had removed the hidden buff, but instead, Blizzard did something else; they replaced his entire code with another mob, a Winterskin Worg. But why? To avoid later problems!

So, how do they deal with the 15+ buffed pets we've gotten out hands on? Going in one by one and replacing code with another mob? Unlikely. Blizzard probably won't risk trying to nab them all one by one. There's probably a few more buffed pets that haven't been posted, that cautious hunters keep to themselves. So that way's out.

Most people speculate on an arena-type wipe of pets, clearing all the buffs upon login and/or stabling. Likely. Extremely. Yet, a maliciously easy bit of code to get wrong. It'll be tricky on Blizzard's part to program something that does not affect players, but a minion, a side-player if you will. Imagine the storm if you get dced in a raid, and suddenly that expensive flask you bought is gone from your buff-bar because of your pet. Ugly.


Blizzard could do it, I'm certain. How long it'll take and how it'll be done is certainly still up in the air. We're sort of jerks for figuring this bit out right before Cata hits anyway

But I'm curious, Petopians. How do you think it'll be handled?

[Azunara]

First: Dialga is my favorite legendary. Just saying.

Second: I actually talked to my dad about this earlier. He thinks they will very likely ban you if you have a damage buffed pet. Shiny pets not so much, because it isn't game breaking. But when you exploit it to alter the game...Hope you love your pet enough to go down in flames.

[Slickrock]

They'll just change the buffs to go away, or make buffed beasts untameable. Will we get to keep what we already have (non-damage ones)? Who knows. hopefully.

[12gunner]

It's at times like this I really dislike blizzard I know they are trying to make the game "fair" and I agree with the damage buff pets that they should get rid of them because it's unfiair to others but appearance pets don't do anything they are normal pets with something interesting about them I don't see how a burning boar or a glowing spider is bad besides showing off to others plus it makes the game more interesting

[Nightsights]

since the dmg buffs are not permanent, prob ignore it. that buff isnt gonna put hunters at the top of the dmg meters in normal or heroic modes, wont help them kill bosses any easier or quicker. hunters die too easily in pvp, buff goes away.

[Cialbi]

First off, I am illiterate in programming, so bear with me.

Secondly, it is worth noting that to our knowledge, disabling the PetAbandon() script will prevent the preservation of any damage-dealing buffs through any other taming method. Griffley's method relies upon the buff or debuff in question to not be cleansed upon death. However, someone may find one such pet, which will force Blizzard to take other measures.

Third, I wonder if Blizzard could find a way to wipe buffs in a similar manner to what happens upon death. I hate to suggest it, given how many people have fallen in love with their new spirit wolves. But, I see some good potential. If Blizzard can find a way to wipe buffs and debuffs upon logout (or login - take your pick) in the same manner as would happen upon death, that would make for a very effective solution. The potential for exploiting this (logging out to remove debuffs) would be minimal, since in theory nothing will be cleared by a logout that couldn't simply be cleared by dismounting in midair. Since we have yet to find a damage-dealing buff or debuff that can be preserved on a pet through death, that issue would be largely taken care of. Maybe have the 'death cleanse' happen upon zoning into an instance, so that taming a pet with a damage-dealing buff and leveling it specifically for a raid will be ultimately fruitless - they could even restrict it to instances that are considered 'current content'. Best of all, this will have little to no impact on those who can't or won't exploit these buffs. With reagents for raid buffs removed, rebuffing will merely cost some time and mana. Pets can no longer be buffed directly, so no need to feed your pet another treat or use another scroll. Flasks, which are immune to being cleansed by death, will likewise be immune to these similar cleanses.

[Dialga]

First off, I am illiterate in programming, so bear with me.

Secondly, it is worth noting that to our knowledge, disabling the PetAbandon() script will prevent the preservation of any damage-dealing buffs through any other taming method. Griffley's method relies upon the buff or debuff in question to not be cleansed upon death. However, someone may find one such pet, which will force Blizzard to take other measures.

Third, I wonder if Blizzard could find a way to wipe buffs in a similar manner to what happens upon death. I hate to suggest it, given how many people have fallen in love with their new spirit wolves. But, I see some good potential. If Blizzard can find a way to wipe buffs and debuffs upon logout (or login - take your pick) in the same manner as would happen upon death, that would make for a very effective solution. The potential for exploiting this (logging out to remove debuffs) would be minimal, since in theory nothing will be cleared by a logout that couldn't simply be cleared by dismounting in midair. Since we have yet to find a damage-dealing buff or debuff that can be preserved on a pet through death, that issue would be largely taken care of. Maybe have the 'death cleanse' happen upon zoning into an instance, so that taming a pet with a damage-dealing buff and leveling it specifically for a raid will be ultimately fruitless - they could even restrict it to instances that are considered 'current content'. Best of all, this will have little to no impact on those who can't or won't exploit these buffs. With reagents for raid buffs removed, rebuffing will merely cost some time and mana. Pets can no longer be buffed directly, so no need to feed your pet another treat or use another scroll. Flasks, which are immune to being cleansed by death, will likewise be immune to these similar cleanses.

It's a good thought, and similar to what I've been musing about. I think the 'Death cleanse' would have to be a one-time sort of purge though; Otherwise, Summoning/dismissing your pets or logging in and logging out may purge some debuffs you're supposed to have, when questing and getting spells cast upon you by mobs. Blizzard has always made disease buffs and such persist through these activities, so I assume this is something they want to keep working.

They may simply resort to: KILL ALL THE PETS. A massive server purge of all living pets, just once.

Of course, you relog, revive your pet, and the problem's gone. A minor inconvenience, depending where you are, but certainly ties things up nicely for Blizzard. The buffed pets who persist through death? Eh, they're neat and I don't think Blizzard cares much about them.

[Cialbi]

I can imagine some grumbling though. Imagine every single hunter having to march over to a stable master, in order to individually call, rez, and stable every single one of their pets. But, it could work - and fulfills my selfish desire to still be able to tame a consumed bear and oiled hawk once I actually get a chance to log in for the first time in a week.

[Rikaku]

I absolutely picture Blizzard going in and "wiping" all the pets clean. By that I mean the kind of "wipe" you get if you take an Oil-Stained wolf into arena and it loses its buff. I imagine pets might just get reset even so far as to be needing to be retalented.

As for the problem with the appearance buffs, I don't see Blizzard altering a million different mob ID's to keep hunters from doing this crazy taming method. Their easy solution? Make all those mobs untameable. Sadly, I really have a bad feeling this may be the case. Which is why I am taming the Lone Hunter now before I login and find he is hotfixed untameable.

[Dialga]

I absolutely picture Blizzard going in and "wiping" all the pets clean. By that I mean the kind of "wipe" you get if you take an Oil-Stained wolf into arena and it loses its buff. I imagine pets might just get reset even so far as to be needing to be retalented.

As for the problem with the appearance buffs, I don't see Blizzard altering a million different mob ID's to keep hunters from doing this crazy taming method. Their easy solution? Make all those mobs untameable. Sadly, I really have a bad feeling this may be the case. Which is why I am taming the Lone Hunter now before I login and find he is hotfixed untameable.

I'm inclined to respectfully disagree on that last part, Rikaku (and the others who think it as well). Blizzard CAN go nab the list we've made off the forums and go down the list and remove the taming capabilities... but that's an awful lot of pet's to remove. It certainly doesn't ensure they'll get all the buffed pets. And it doesn't solve the problem, not really. What about when Cata hits (tommorrow, such a weird feeling) or any other patch that has pets with buffs like these? It's a lot of planning to sit down with developers and go,

'Okay, this white wolf can't be tameable.'
'Why?'
'Well, he's going to be used for a quest buff we don't want hunters to have.'

Ect. So while I would definitely grab these pets as soon as you can, I don't think the fix will be so much on the 'can't have this pet' end, but more on the 'can't have this pet this way'.

[Manticora]

I personally don't feel like blizzard cares about the buffs that don't do damage. They're looks only. It doesn't cause us to have an advantage over other players. I feel they are more concerned with the buffs that do damage.

I wish people would relax about this. Even if they did care, I doubt they'd slap you with a huge ban or suspension for something that's purely for aesthetic purposes.

I'm more worried about the buffs that do damage.. this is what would cause them to change our "pets with buffs" fun. So yeah, don't do that.

If I were blizzard I might consider making the pets with damage buffs untameable as a hotfix. It wouldn't bother me as long as there is another skin of that pet out there.

[bloodysam]

I just want the looks for the pets so i would think they just go in our pets check the ones that do damaging abiltys, the others just let them persisty thru death and be done with it so everyone is happy. I don't know about making them untamable, thats a hard question.

[Rikaku]

I absolutely picture Blizzard going in and "wiping" all the pets clean. By that I mean the kind of "wipe" you get if you take an Oil-Stained wolf into arena and it loses its buff. I imagine pets might just get reset even so far as to be needing to be retalented.

As for the problem with the appearance buffs, I don't see Blizzard altering a million different mob ID's to keep hunters from doing this crazy taming method. Their easy solution? Make all those mobs untameable. Sadly, I really have a bad feeling this may be the case. Which is why I am taming the Lone Hunter now before I login and find he is hotfixed untameable.

I'm inclined to respectfully disagree on that last part, Rikaku (and the others who think it as well). Blizzard CAN go nab the list we've made off the forums and go down the list and remove the taming capabilities... but that's an awful lot of pet's to remove. It certainly doesn't ensure they'll get all the buffed pets. And it doesn't solve the problem, not really. What about when Cata hits (tommorrow, such a weird feeling) or any other patch that has pets with buffs like these? It's a lot of planning to sit down with developers and go,

'Okay, this white wolf can't be tameable.'
'Why?'
'Well, he's going to be used for a quest buff we don't want hunters to have.'

Ect. So while I would definitely grab these pets as soon as you can, I don't think the fix will be so much on the 'can't have this pet' end, but more on the 'can't have this pet this way'.

True. Though perhaps they'll just put in new coding, whenever you dismiss a pet/logoutt, it wipes the buffs off the pet. Essentially it'll "arena wipe" the pet everytime it disappears. Effectively ensuring that the pet will never retain a buff for very long.

[Cialbi]

Manticora, the concern is surrounding how Blizzard will fix the pets with damage buffs; wondering whether or not they will affect the tamability of purely aesthetic pets like the oil-covered wolf.

[Dialga]

I personally don't feel like blizzard cares about the buffs that don't do damage. They're looks only. It doesn't cause us to have an advantage over other players. I feel they are more concerned with the buffs that do damage.

I wish people would relax about this. Even if they did care, I doubt they'd slap you with a huge ban or suspension for something that's purely for aesthetic purposes.

I'm more worried about the buffs that do damage.. this is what would cause them to change our "pets with buffs" fun. So yeah, don't do that.

If I were blizzard I might consider making the pets with damage buffs untameable as a hotfix. It wouldn't bother me as long as there is another skin of that pet out there.

If hunters banded together and made a list of all the damage-exploit pets it could end in two ways:

1. It all goes to hell as more people grab these pets and Blizzard is forced to blind-wipe
2. Blizzard removes these specific pets and replaces them 'Garwal style', leaving our shiny babies alone.

It can go either way, though unfortunately #1 is the likeliest.



And Rikaku, the whole clear-buffs upon dismissing is getting more and more realistic as I think about it. This does destroy our ability to get Garwal/Flaming Boar type 'hidden buff script' pets... forever. A hell of a lot easier for Blizzard.

It also has a bit of a silver lining for Hunters, as dismissing our pet could result in clearing diseases and such. It depends on how important that aspect is to Blizzard.

[Cialbi]

It also has a bit of a silver lining for Hunters, as dismissing our pet could result in clearing diseases and such. It depends on how important that aspect is to Blizzard.

Frankly, I see that as being a bigger problem than these measly buffs that don't last beyond death. Hypothetical: your pet goes off to attack some warlock in PvP, yet you yourself are too far away for the warlock to spot and/or attack. The warlock is about to kill your pet with DoTs. Dismiss pet, resummon, and ambush the weakened warlock with your newly-revitalized pet. I know that we shouldn't be able to dismiss pet in combat, but so far they have been unable to implement that.

[Rikaku]

It also has a bit of a silver lining for Hunters, as dismissing our pet could result in clearing diseases and such. It depends on how important that aspect is to Blizzard.

Frankly, I see that as being a bigger problem than these measly buffs that don't last beyond death. Hypothetical: your pet goes off to attack some warlock in PvP, yet you yourself are too far away for the warlock to spot and/or attack. The warlock is about to kill your pet with DoTs. Dismiss pet, resummon, and ambush the weakened warlock with your newly-revitalized pet. I know that we shouldn't be able to dismiss pet in combat, but so far they have been unable to implement that.

They could just implement dismiss no longer works in combat. i don't see that being hard coding to fix.

Or, make it to where even if you tame a pet, you can't abandon/dismiss pet for 10 seconds after taming it. Give the Hunter and Pet a debuff called "Getting to know you" or something, where you can't dismiss a pet for 10 seconds. Then hunters won't be able to time their tames to finish with an abandon/dismiss macro.

[Dialga]

They could just implement dismiss no longer works in combat. i don't see that being hard coding to fix.

Or, make it to where even if you tame a pet, you can't abandon/dismiss pet for 10 seconds after taming it. Give the Hunter and Pet a debuff called "Getting to know you" or something, where you can't dismiss a pet for 10 seconds. Then hunters won't be able to time their tames to finish with an abandon/dismiss macro.

An excellent idea. Frankly, on both parts. I made it to 80 in a few weeks on a fresh hunter because I could solo 3-5 man quests and other difficulties; My pet could simply be dismissed, called, and BAM, full health and back in the game picking up aggro. A bug to a fault, if not insanely useful.

That debuff could certainly solve a lot of problems glitch-wise. Doesn't quite prevent us from doing a Garwal 50% reversion type tame, but prevents both the macro and the kill-n-tame approach (I think).

[Cryptography]

Tie a cleanse routine to call pet, and/or removing pet from stables.

You can have a dodgy pet until such time as it dies, gets resumoned, or you put it away.

[Ryai]

People forget that Blizzard turned Garwhal, from a worgen skin when he was tamed, Back into a white worg? I'm sorry but seriously, it's not that hard for Blizzard to do. Just ask anyone who had him- first they made him a vanity pet with no skills. Then when it was realized people would still keep him -and- they broke existing hunter pets; they turned Garwhal back into a white worg/warg.

They did this all in under a week if I remember right- now surely Blizzard has known about these other vanity pets for FAR LONGER and ... nothing.

Why?

Because most hunters aren't using the exploit pets- and those that are, probably are being dealt with.

So can we stop with the doomsayer threads? You're probably all making our lurker think Petopia is full of erf, masochists or whatever.