Madexx vs. Venomscale Spitter?

[Nubhorns]

Camping isn't fun.

I enjoy some aspects of this game, playing my hunter, an alt, is one of them. One of the things I enjoy most about the hunter is the pets, however I mostly enjoy camping for pets and that's not sarcasm. I also know I'm not the only person who enjoys pet-camping. It's kind of a sport and doesn't make us better, just makes us more patient =P

-Adds Madexx in green to the list of contained friends-

Hey if you enjoy doing absolutely nothing waiting for something to spawn in a specific color, that's your choice. :) But all-in-all I see it as a huge waste of time and prefer not to do it if I can avoid it. That was the main point of my textwall - I don't think people should be forced into a camp to get a ghost bear or a green devilsaur or a blue scorpid. I'm sort of on the fence as to what they should do about it though.

I have camped before multiple times, so I'm not just knocking it for giggles. I don't want camping to go away entirely, but maybe shorter respawn times would help. Sitting out in Uldum all day waiting for the 'perfect' Madexx or something can't be healthy. :c

[Maladramatic]

I think the respawn times are fine as they are. There is no real need to have every pet spawning every thirty minutes to an hour. It's easy to leave the game running with npc scanner running in the background and use that time to do something else, like watch a movie or browse the forums, which is what I was doing when I was alerted to Madexx just a bit ago.

Lately, I've been doing less of the 'sit here for 28 hours' style of camping, and more of the 'I wonder if so and so is up' fly over style camping. That's how I got a few over the last week, with exception to Jadefang, who I sat up in the cave for four hours for. =D

[Pent]

I enjoy some aspects of this game, playing my hunter, an alt, is one of them. One of the things I enjoy most about the hunter is the pets, however I mostly enjoy camping for pets and that's not sarcasm. I also know I'm not the only person who enjoys pet-camping. It's kind of a sport and doesn't make us better, just makes us more patient =P

-Adds Madexx in green to the list of contained friends-

It makes you more patient? In what way? You are patient for waiting long times for something you want... so.... you will never have a credit card, right?

What is your longest pet camp? I mean actual sitting at the PC with WoW open and you do nothing on the game except doing circles (because you don't want to miss it if it spawns someplace else) around the various spawn points til you are finally tired and go to bed (or just turn off WoW).... only to wake up the next day (or the next time you turn on WoW) to do the exact same thing over again.. and over.. and over... and over... til you happen to be there when the beast spawns...

Let me ask again... what is your longest camp for a pet?

Me? OK, I'll tell you... my green Madexx hunt is now going on week 12. That means if I am on WoW I am doing circles around his spawn points constantly til I either find him dead, see someone tame him, see him and gift him to someone else, or I tame him myself just to abandon so I can get timer. A Madexx camping trip is different than a regular rare beast camp in that if you want a specific color and do not get lucky on your first spawn... then be ready to be there awhile or take what you get.

The only times I have left Uldum since I started was right after Madexx had spawned and I know he won't be spawning any time soon... and what did I leave for? To camp Olm, of course. (I also have been doing stuff lately on the realm Moon Guard for a little bit when I know Madexx won't be up)

Madexx's camp has the RNG color thing going for it so you might be thinking, "Well... you probably wouldn't camp a different rare that long." So... I'll tell you about another beast that I camped for 7 weeks... Aotona. Constant circling in Sholozar looking for the bird... saw Loque alive about 7-9 times and saw Krush up roaming around 2-3 times (Had Loque already, I wanted Krush but this was back when you needed to be L.80 with Haste to get him because of 20sec Tame Beast). When I finally did tame Aotona I had about 3500 Saronite Ores and 300-400 Titanium Ores that left the Basin with Aotona and I.

Camping is not fun and I think since I have done it for so long I am allowed to actually say it isn't fun for me, and I seriously can not see how anyone could think it is fun doing it for more than 3-5 days.

(More info about camping and me after next quote)

I think the respawn times are fine as they are. There is no real need to have every pet spawning every thirty minutes to an hour. It's easy to leave the game running with npc scanner running in the background and use that time to do something else, like watch a movie or browse the forums, which is what I was doing when I was alerted to Madexx just a bit ago.

Lately, I've been doing less of the 'sit here for 28 hours' style of camping, and more of the 'I wonder if so and so is up' fly over style camping. That's how I got a few over the last week, with exception to Jadefang, who I sat up in the cave for four hours for. =D

(The following statements are not about my Madexx camp, but camping in general and should not be used against me toward a, "You only want the timers to lower so you can get your green Madexx." argument.)

Ahh, first things first. I'll admit that I do not want every pet respawning in 30min to an hour either... but I am not sure if anyone has said they wanted to shorten the timers THAT much. I think a 6-8 hour ceiling for pet spawns (NOT mount dropping spawns) is the way to go. That way you are not guaranteed a tame if the place is populated, but it would make the beast spawn faster and you would have a better shot.

The 6-8 hour timer would also not "give" you a pet and you wouldn't think that every time you log into Twilight Highlands that Sambas would be waiting for you to tame, because it won't happen that way 100% of the time.

Secondly, you said camping was fun... but you are not camping. You are placing your character at a spot, turning up your sound, and then going AFK... you aren't even at the PC (well... in your example anyway). Also, you aren't circling for maximum spawn point coverage. I am sure you have camped something in the past that you sat there and watched for the beast and did circles and whatnot, so I am not going to make it look like you have never camped because I am pretty sure you have done that in the past at some point.

Lastly, doing fly-bys while bored or in an area is not camping. If doing fly-bys is camping and people enjoy getting their rares like that then why not shorten the timers and that way you would have a better shot of actually getting a pet while doing a fly-by instead of devoting hours, days, weeks, and even months or camping.

One more question... what do you do when you aren't playing WoW? Student? Full-time worker? I am only asking because I have a full-time job, a wife, and a 4yr old boy who deserves my attention most of the time, so I am unable to actually be logged in for more than 6-8hrs a night. Do I not deserve the ability to have the pet I want to enjoy the game with to be a little easier to get in the time I have? I am not the only person to feel this way.

I have had people call me weird for various reasons. I am a guy with patience (some people think that is weird... I had no clue). I actually camp a certain beast til I get it and even turn down dungeon runs that would give me a lot better gear because I think I will miss a spawn, and you just can't miss a spawn when you are only on for a little each night. They also call me weird for other reasons but they do not concern WoW.

To be clear... I think the timers (the ones that haven't been lowered already) should be reduced to help people out that do not have a lot of time to camp/play, but they want a certain pet because they love how it looks. If some hunters think that lowering the spawn timers will make their "I camped for <insert time-frame here>" pet less enjoyable to have... then they haven't bonded with it enough anyway and should realize how selfish it looks when you don't want other people in the game to have a chance at getting something they want a little easier because they don't have the time.


And Maladramatic, I apologize if I sound like I am griping you out. I assure you I am not. You actually typed what others with your same point might have typed, so I figured I would show you (and them) the other side of the fence.

Your opinion is as valid as mine and my goal is to show you and others that there are other hunters out there that actually run around with a second tier pet (second tier to them) just because they have little to no chance of ever getting the pets they want because of time constraints, and do you realize how many hunters would be sooo happy just to have the ability to camp for a pet and actually have a chance at getting the one they want without having to wake up at 3-4am, or missing a family dinner because, "the rare beast might/should spawn at any time, honey!"....

[Bryndell]

How exactly is sitting in one spot, and leaving the computer to do something else not camping? If you are running external programs that keep you from AFKing or autologging, then yeah, its not really. But if you are watching, and making sure you dont log or AFK, I think its camping. Period.

I camped TLPD for almost 3 weeks. I would log in at the Frozen Lake, chat with guildies, then turn up the sound and go do laundry/dishes/dinner...whatever I had to do. I would knit. (I finished a pair of socks in my camp, haha.) My toon was camped in that same spot for all those hours. Except for once an hour or so when I would lap SP to look for Vyra or Dirkee or Skoll. I camped Krush for a week doing the same thing. I even took my laptop to the kitchen one evening because a shaman who was hunting Krush to kill him for Frostbitten had decided to park in the same area, and I was NOT losing Krush if I had anything to say about it. And again, I would lap around every hour or so to look for Toona, or Loque.

But...if you've been camping for TWELVE WEEKS, and you admit yourself it ISNT FUN...why, pray tell, are you still DOING IT? Its one thing to really really want a certain color of scorpion, but its totally another to sit, camp, and complain for THREE MONTHS about PIXELS. And honestly, I really hope you arent making yourself miss family dinners, or wake up at 4 AM just for a video game.

I get the annoyance and frustration over waiting, and just missing a spawn, or it being the wrong color. I really do. I just guess I know when to cut my losses and take a break before I go bonkers. (at least more than my kids already think I am, LOL.)

Anyhoo...I hope you get a green one soon.

[Nanotrev]

What is your longest pet camp?

I once came home from work on a Friday night, stocked up on food next to my desk, got my covers and pillows from my bed, and stayed awake until Sunday afternoon. In that time I had nothing else better to do but play StarCraft off to the side and chat with friends. I caught three different colors of Madexx during that time period. Before that, I spent close twelve hours a day over the period of a week camping King Krush during Wrath. If you can wait, you can get your rare spawn skin. I got an average of six hours of sleep during the Krush camping period.

To me, it's as if camping a rare is a job and if you want to get paid you'll wait out however many hours it takes. I'm happy with the wait times thus far. I enjoy camping my rares and having a unique color that not everyone else has because it makes me feel like my pet and I stand out a little more. Does it make me more special? No. I just like having something not everyone else around me has. Within weeks of Loque's release as a tamable spirit beast almost every hunter I knew had him, whereas Gezzarak the Huntress was something I could identify as remotely being my own. That's how I feel, and it is only my opinion. I'm definitely not for free rares.

[Ziarre]

Rare camping can be fun for 3-5 days. Two weeks almost drove me crazy, and I only stayed out of sheer stubborn pride...I can't imagine twelve weeks. @__@

[Nubhorns]

Clearly not directed at anyone specifically, but you know how people get.

I'm sorry, but there is nothing fun about waiting. You have a wonderful game with so many potential opportunities for immersion...and you shove them to the side in favor of sitting on your mount completely at the mercy of RNG and other players who are, you know, playing the game, just so you can have something to make yourself feel better than someone else or, possibly, in a refreshing change, something you actually want and won't shove in the stables when the next shiny glitterpet pops out.

Just because I don't want to pull my hair out over a bunch of pixels doesn't mean I want 'free rares'. A free rare is like the old-world rares are today. Every thirty minutes.

I'm talking the 24-48-bazillion hour respawn timers, the ones that cause grief and anxiety and frustration. The Cata rares, some of the Northrend rares. The ones where people skip sleep, decent meals and interaction with human beings for a damn virtual pet. I don't care if you're the most patient person in the world and you think camping is better than a trip to a theme park, that isn't healthy. And hell, it shouldn't be present at all. People shouldn't have to feel those emotions over a rare spawn monster in a game because they spent days waiting and someone else got to it first.

Blizzard has no control over people who choose to do that. But the fact of the matter is that they shouldn't feel like they HAVE to. Not for a pet.

[Maladramatic]

I enjoy some aspects of this game, playing my hunter, an alt, is one of them. One of the things I enjoy most about the hunter is the pets, however I mostly enjoy camping for pets and that's not sarcasm. I also know I'm not the only person who enjoys pet-camping. It's kind of a sport and doesn't make us better, just makes us more patient =P

-Adds Madexx in green to the list of contained friends-

It makes you more patient? In what way? You are patient for waiting long times for something you want... so.... you will never have a credit card, right?

What is your longest pet camp? I mean actual sitting at the PC with WoW open and you do nothing on the game except doing circles (because you don't want to miss it if it spawns someplace else) around the various spawn points til you are finally tired and go to bed (or just turn off WoW).... only to wake up the next day (or the next time you turn on WoW) to do the exact same thing over again.. and over.. and over... and over... til you happen to be there when the beast spawns...

Let me ask again... what is your longest camp for a pet?

Me? OK, I'll tell you... my green Madexx hunt is now going on week 12. That means if I am on WoW I am doing circles around his spawn points constantly til I either find him dead, see someone tame him, see him and gift him to someone else, or I tame him myself just to abandon so I can get timer. A Madexx camping trip is different than a regular rare beast camp in that if you want a specific color and do not get lucky on your first spawn... then be ready to be there awhile or take what you get.

The only times I have left Uldum since I started was right after Madexx had spawned and I know he won't be spawning any time soon... and what did I leave for? To camp Olm, of course. (I also have been doing stuff lately on the realm Moon Guard for a little bit when I know Madexx won't be up)

Madexx's camp has the RNG color thing going for it so you might be thinking, "Well... you probably wouldn't camp a different rare that long." So... I'll tell you about another beast that I camped for 7 weeks... Aotona. Constant circling in Sholozar looking for the bird... saw Loque alive about 7-9 times and saw Krush up roaming around 2-3 times (Had Loque already, I wanted Krush but this was back when you needed to be L.80 with Haste to get him because of 20sec Tame Beast). When I finally did tame Aotona I had about 3500 Saronite Ores and 300-400 Titanium Ores that left the Basin with Aotona and I.

Camping is not fun and I think since I have done it for so long I am allowed to actually say it isn't fun for me, and I seriously can not see how anyone could think it is fun doing it for more than 3-5 days.

(More info about camping and me after next quote)

I think the respawn times are fine as they are. There is no real need to have every pet spawning every thirty minutes to an hour. It's easy to leave the game running with npc scanner running in the background and use that time to do something else, like watch a movie or browse the forums, which is what I was doing when I was alerted to Madexx just a bit ago.

Lately, I've been doing less of the 'sit here for 28 hours' style of camping, and more of the 'I wonder if so and so is up' fly over style camping. That's how I got a few over the last week, with exception to Jadefang, who I sat up in the cave for four hours for. =D

(The following statements are not about my Madexx camp, but camping in general and should not be used against me toward a, "You only want the timers to lower so you can get your green Madexx." argument.)

Ahh, first things first. I'll admit that I do not want every pet respawning in 30min to an hour either... but I am not sure if anyone has said they wanted to shorten the timers THAT much. I think a 6-8 hour ceiling for pet spawns (NOT mount dropping spawns) is the way to go. That way you are not guaranteed a tame if the place is populated, but it would make the beast spawn faster and you would have a better shot.

The 6-8 hour timer would also not "give" you a pet and you wouldn't think that every time you log into Twilight Highlands that Sambas would be waiting for you to tame, because it won't happen that way 100% of the time.

Secondly, you said camping was fun... but you are not camping. You are placing your character at a spot, turning up your sound, and then going AFK... you aren't even at the PC (well... in your example anyway). Also, you aren't circling for maximum spawn point coverage. I am sure you have camped something in the past that you sat there and watched for the beast and did circles and whatnot, so I am not going to make it look like you have never camped because I am pretty sure you have done that in the past at some point.

Lastly, doing fly-bys while bored or in an area is not camping. If doing fly-bys is camping and people enjoy getting their rares like that then why not shorten the timers and that way you would have a better shot of actually getting a pet while doing a fly-by instead of devoting hours, days, weeks, and even months or camping.

One more question... what do you do when you aren't playing WoW? Student? Full-time worker? I am only asking because I have a full-time job, a wife, and a 4yr old boy who deserves my attention most of the time, so I am unable to actually be logged in for more than 6-8hrs a night. Do I not deserve the ability to have the pet I want to enjoy the game with to be a little easier to get in the time I have? I am not the only person to feel this way.

I have had people call me weird for various reasons. I am a guy with patience (some people think that is weird... I had no clue). I actually camp a certain beast til I get it and even turn down dungeon runs that would give me a lot better gear because I think I will miss a spawn, and you just can't miss a spawn when you are only on for a little each night. They also call me weird for other reasons but they do not concern WoW.

To be clear... I think the timers (the ones that haven't been lowered already) should be reduced to help people out that do not have a lot of time to camp/play, but they want a certain pet because they love how it looks. If some hunters think that lowering the spawn timers will make their "I camped for <insert time-frame here>" pet less enjoyable to have... then they haven't bonded with it enough anyway and should realize how selfish it looks when you don't want other people in the game to have a chance at getting something they want a little easier because they don't have the time.


And Maladramatic, I apologize if I sound like I am griping you out. I assure you I am not. You actually typed what others with your same point might have typed, so I figured I would show you (and them) the other side of the fence.

Your opinion is as valid as mine and my goal is to show you and others that there are other hunters out there that actually run around with a second tier pet (second tier to them) just because they have little to no chance of ever getting the pets they want because of time constraints, and do you realize how many hunters would be sooo happy just to have the ability to camp for a pet and actually have a chance at getting the one they want without having to wake up at 3-4am, or missing a family dinner because, "the rare beast might/should spawn at any time, honey!"....

I watch the movies on my computer since I don't own a television, so yes.. I am sitting here, and like I said. 28 hours, I sat in one place with minor breaks for shower, etc. 28 hours. You apparently misunderstood my post when I said I don't do the 28 hour camps anymore. I spend a few hours here and there and if it happens, it happens. Now, if something I REALLY wanted, like I wanted Skoll was put into the game again, I'd do it all over again.

No, I will never own a credit card and for reasons other than wanting, or not wanting one. Credit is a debt trap and I am against buying things I cannot afford. I pay cash, or don't buy it.

I'm a student, full time. Really all I'm saying about that. I don't like to exclude people, but I do believe that if you aren't willing to devote the time to getting something, you don't deserve the same as someone who did, unless you get lucky. That's the same with life, if you don't work for it, you don't get it unless it's handed to you or you get lucky. Just because someone flies over King Krush one day and gets lucky, it doesn't mean that they haven't put the time in for days, weeks or months sitting in one spot hoping they'd get a shot at him that day.

It just so happened to be the way it happened with Loque'nahak for me. I camped in one place for 3 days, got the nervous jitters because he could spawn in many places and circled. That's still camping because I was actively looking for something to tame.

I have spent my time camping, considering I have had this particular hunter since 2006, across race changes and factions etc. If I say I know what it's like to camp, or have spent several hours camping, one would know this. Even a search of my post history, or my blog would confirm it. I also got lucky and on my way to help a guild member who needed help with an elite, I left my spot and accidentally flew over another one of his spawn points to find him there. Had I not moved to help, I'd have lost him another day. Was it luck? Or effort?

At this point, I'm not even sure what you're complaining about. Your post is a mixture of personal attack and assumptions about me and my playing style, coupled in with complaints about not having a pet because you have/haven't spent the time to get him, while accusing others who have spent the time of not doing so? I don't appreciate this.

[Maladramatic]

Just to answer a few things about camping, since I ran out of room in my last post...

I am perfectly aware of how it works, the ups and the downs of it. I am perfectly aware that Madexx is random. I'm perfectly aware that green is actually my second to last color choice, with brown being dead last and twice I have seen him spawn in brown and have given him away, or skinned him.

I'm actually hoping for red, or blue and when that happens, I will likely replace green with whichever of those colors spawns first, permanently or temporarily.

Why have I sat in one place, versus circling? First off, I've done both, but what is worse..constantly moving and having him spawn behind you? Or being there in one spot and knowing sooner or later it will spawn at that location and you're right there for it. Using the example of Skoll, several hunters flew over my head seconds before he spawned right in front of my mounts nose. They didn't even know he'd spawned until they circled around the SP again and there I was, celebrating.

Has sitting in one place always paid off? No. It's highly likely that Skoll spawned in one of the other two locations while I camped mine, but again, I was willing to wait the hours needed to get him. Yes, I passed on raids. Yes I passed on heroics. Yes, I tuned out of life for several hours.

Has moving around paid off? Yes. Ghostcrawler. I camped him in one spot for several hours and he didn't spawn. I came back the next day on a whim because I was having a terrible day and guess who I saw right where I'd camped the day before.

Loque'nahak, I already related this above, but I camped off and on for about 6 hours stretches across 3 days, then on the fourth day I went from flying around the spots out of nerves. On the fifth day, my guild mate asked for help and I flew over him on route to them. Luck also had it that I assumed they meant the oracles/frenzyheart elite, or I would have missed him again. They actually meant a quest elite they hadn't read the quest description for.

King Mosh..I couldn't even find him before he was tameable. I've seen him once in several years. I spent two weeks lurking in Un'Goro and it just so happened that I'd given up on him. It was as I said, "Screw it, one more pass over his patrol", when he spawned.

Gondria was pure luck. The day before I decided to camp for Skoll by sitting in one spot, I had been doing worldly fly over's for spirit beasts. Gondria was there, like a beacon. It was the motivation that kept me going for the next days Skoll camp, I believe.

Aotona had been passively flown over for spot and spot out for a year by two toons and I never saw him. It was while looking for Loque that the npc scan went off, gave me a heart attack. I really didn't care about him but in the end, I tamed over killed because he was a truly rare sight for me.


Anyhow, those are examples. I'm not trying to sound like an elitist about anything, but I am distinctly getting the feeling you think I don't appreciate the time involved with getting some of these creatures, or worse, you seem to think I'm a flyover-happy-go-lucky sort. Clearly, I'm not. When luck is on my side, great, but it seldom is. I just happened to recently have a lucky streak with Oozeworm and Rex, but honestly, old-world pets seem as common as the mobs around them anymore so that doesn't really surprise me.

[Pent]

I really have no clue how my posts can be conceived as a personal attack when I am only pointing out what you typed and my opinion on it.

Regarding what camping is and what it is not...well.. I guess that is just personal opinions. I don't see a program alerting you when a rare beast has spawned while you are doing something else as camping... but a lot of others think that is camping, I guess. That is almost like me having the neighbor kid come over and mow the grass and when my wife gets home I tell her I did it.

@Maladramatic, The rest of the post until the next quote is responding directly to you.
I stated that I wasn't "griping" at you in particular, but the mindest that you share with a lot of other hunters who for some odd reason think they are the majority when we all know that Blizzard does what they want to do and is almost always making the game easier for the casual player.

I read and understood your post 100% when you mentioned about not doing long camps (28hrs). The credit card scenario was to show that A LOT of people do not have patience and they want everything NOW. It is good that you have decided to stay away from credit cards because they are surely the devil.

You mention about devoting time in order to get something and the people who don't devote the time doesn't deserve to have it... (I hope I paraphrased you correctly and understood what you were saying) Well... you realize how many things Blizzard has done since WoW's launch to cater to a more casual player? There are things in the game that use to take weeks and months to get, but can now be acquired within a day or two (example: rep grinding, and %s of rare drops from certain NPCs). Blizzard has even went back and shortened the timers on most old world rares JUST so they can be "up" more.
So basically, what you are saying is if anyone is playing WoW right now they don't deserve anything in the game that use to take others a long time to acquire. I know that is a long shot, but in a sense you are really saying that.

And really... I do not read every thread on these boards and your post history only being about 27 posts... how am I supposed to know much about you?

My complaints are noticeable. My complaints are also valid. I also stated that my post above was a two-parter with the first part being strictly about my own personal camping experiences while the bottom part to be more along the lines of spawn times (unless I have already forgotten which was which)...
Most people who frequent these boards knows about my Madexx situation... I did not know if you did or not and that is why I brought it up showing how patient I could be WHILE still thinking that camping for longer than 5 days for a pet was ridiculous.

And I haven't had the time to get Madexx? LOL... oh.. excuse me... LOLOLOLOL . Do you not know about my Madexx Diary thread? It's in the Taming Stories forum... go look at it and tell me I haven't had the time to camp him enough. The not knowing the last spawn (which a shorter timer would fix for ALL rare pets) and the RNG of colors is what I am upset about with Madexx...

You might not appreciate me for this, but I really do appreciate you and every other hunter out there... and that is why I think things should change. Because I care about others be able to have fun and do so with the pet they want.

P.S. - Free Rares would be a bad thing... but making rares easier to camp without making them appear in your stable can't be 100% bad.

But...if you've been camping for TWELVE WEEKS, and you admit yourself it ISNT FUN...why, pray tell, are you still DOING IT? Its one thing to really really want a certain color of scorpion, but its totally another to sit, camp, and complain for THREE MONTHS about PIXELS. And honestly, I really hope you arent making yourself miss family dinners, or wake up at 4 AM just for a video game.

Working at my job isn't fun, but I still do it. Camping isn't fun, but it still needs to be done in order for me to walk away with the color of Madexx I want.

I will admit that I might be getting ready to misunderstand your post (I hope I am not though), but what you said and how you said it only proves the point to WHY timers should be lowered. Pets are pixels, and WoW is a game... so why does it matter if the timers are shortened for the hunters who don't have the time, but want a pet that they enjoy playing the game with?

BTW... there are hunters out there that purposely wake up in the middle of the night just to see if a rare has spawned... it isn't a new concept.... Sometimes that is the ONLY way for a casual player can hope to get lucky enough to get a rare.

And as for dinners... there is always a microwave.

Ok, that is the end of this post except for some questions...

Why does it always feel like people think that I am making assumptions about how they are when I can only go on how and what they type?

Also, I find it weird that if I start a thread about spawn timers I can get about 80% of the posts agreeing with me, but when I mention timers in another thread the shoe is on the other foot... why is that? I assure you that the amount of hunters who truly think that actual rare pet camping is fun does not hold a candle to the amount of hunters who think the lloooonnnngggg timers are bunk.

I am seriously not trying to offend people or make assumptions about how people are... I can only go by what I see on the boards. I am really sorry if I upset anyone. These forums are for discussions and not for fighting or getting mad.

Again... I apologize.

[Ziarre]

While I don't exactly count 'fly-by's' as camping, more checking on the spawn, patrolling is a different story. I did a lot of that with Madexx...show up near when I thought he would spawn, and lap his spawns every five minutes. Between those five minutes, I sat at one of the spawn points and read a book because staring at the sand for two-three-four hours at a time just didn't agree with me (ADHD and all that). It was still long and campy, but I felt less like falling asleep while I did it.

The neighbor wasn't mowing the grass for me, so to speak--when I came back from a bio break to see a brown wandering around in front of me, you can bet I saw that giant bug before I saw the alert. The neighbor was just there to wake me up if I fell asleep!

[Pent]

While I don't exactly count 'fly-by's' as camping, more checking on the spawn, patrolling is a different story. I did a lot of that with Madexx...show up near when I thought he would spawn, and lap his spawns every five minutes. Between those five minutes, I sat at one of the spawn points and read a book because staring at the sand for two-three-four hours at a time just didn't agree with me (ADHD and all that). It was still long and campy, but I felt less like falling asleep while I did it.

The neighbor wasn't mowing the grass for me, so to speak--when I came back from a bio break to see a brown wandering around in front of me, you can bet I saw that giant bug before I saw the alert. The neighbor was just there to wake me up if I fell asleep!

If you are doing your patrolling around the spawn points every 5 minutes (or even every 10min) and you are sitting at a spawn point between the laps, AND you are at the PC with WoW open (as in you can look up from the book and see your character) then that IS camping to me.

You don't have to be constantly moving... you just have to be aware without having to count on an add-on to tell you the rare is there. Being aware and having the constant feeling of "any time now... any time.... OMG... wait.. no... not yet.. any time... any... time..." is the feeling of camping.

After 12 weeks of camping for Madexx I still get the adrenaline rush every single time I log on to start patrolling... and after a few minutes the heart slows down and I normalize, but I am always expecting to see Madexx appear out of nowhere so I am constantly on edge.

Do I use NPC_Scan and SilverDragon? Of course I do. I use them in case I am leaving a spawn point and while I am headed away from it the beast spawns... I can turn around and get back ASAP. It also helps with lag because sometimes the add-ons can pick up a beast before the latency of your connection catches up... and when rare camping one second can mean the world in some cases.

[Holgarr]

Well, now I begin my search for Greendexx...

[Ziarre]

*hands Wykea a complimentary straitjacket*

[Pent]

*hands Wykea a complimentary straitjacket*

Heh, don't worry about them. Green Madexx hates me the most... he only wants me to look like an idiot.

They shouldn't have a problem.

[Maladramatic]

People deserve what they put the time in for. What Blizzard ultimately decides is enough, is enough.

On the subject of using mods; If people didn't use NPC scan, they'd be spamming a macro as they patrol, or have to constantly swivel their camera or some other ridiculous and monotonous movement. It's not more challenging with, or without npc scan. It just allows you to relax a little bit more and save your wrists a ton of movement. It's like saying, "Travel only meant something when you had to do it on foot, cars make it pointless". It's convenience. Often I've spotted a rare before NPC scan or the rare isn't even listed on NPC scan, so that argument is moot.

Long camps seem boring to some, but when it's the most exciting aspect for hunter for me, it is fun. I like telling stories to my guild mates about that time I did this and that without coming off like I was whining about the experience. I highlight the fun, and the exciting stuff that happened along the way, or the conversations that I had. It doesn't make it healthy and the lack of sleep doesn't exactly do the body good.

[Maladramatic]

While I don't exactly count 'fly-by's' as camping, more checking on the spawn, patrolling is a different story. I did a lot of that with Madexx...show up near when I thought he would spawn, and lap his spawns every five minutes. Between those five minutes, I sat at one of the spawn points and read a book because staring at the sand for two-three-four hours at a time just didn't agree with me (ADHD and all that). It was still long and campy, but I felt less like falling asleep while I did it.

The neighbor wasn't mowing the grass for me, so to speak--when I came back from a bio break to see a brown wandering around in front of me, you can bet I saw that giant bug before I saw the alert. The neighbor was just there to wake me up if I fell asleep!

I do patrols more recently. It was hard for me to patrol during a camp in the beginning because I am deathly afraid that the mob will spawn behind me and I'm sure it has at times but usually, I will sit still for mobs and wait for them to pop under me.

When I did the camp for Skoll, I sat at the spot over the village for 28 hours in a stretch, watched some movies on media player and read forums. As far as I'm concerned, that's camping. Just because I wasn't actively looking at the snow the whole 28 hours doesn't make it any less, though some people seem to think so, or have accused me of so.

[Dolias]

so, the decision is:

Name brand product vs Dollar store variant

who will know the difference besides yourself and maybe those with npc ID scanners
lets take time and equate it to money in this case because "time is money, friend"
some can't/won't invest that time commitment, and that's perfectly fine
if it serves its purpose, the more power to them

I'm one of those brainwashed saps that believes the premium of something is worth the investment, if only for that feeling of self assurance (in most cases not all)

I view Madexx from a similar perspective
I dig my brown Madexx -if only for the fact that >I know< he's the premium
plus, they could just as easily take away or change the skin in the future ala Rak'Shiri

[Comett]

My two cents on the whole camping, timers thing.

Camping is camping is camping. Camping with NPC scan on is certainly a good long camp and if you don't wish to use NPC scan, that's fine, but that doesn't make addon users' camps any less bothersome. xD I have had some terrible camps, and some wonderful ones, both of varying lengths. My most notably awesome camp was my Aeonaxx kill, after a casual 8 hours or so spread over 2 evenings (saw the mob before the scanner did!). Thus far, I have found my Time Lost Proto Drake camp reasonably manageable - third week now I believe; I still sleep and eat and go out and do work etc, however whenever I am on the computer I'll have NPC scan in the background. I've lost 3 TLPD's during my camp so far due to poor luck/chance and killed at least 10-15 Vyra's. Alternatively, I didn't get Loque until two weeks prior to Cataclysm, but the camp for him was reasonably sweet. It was rather lengthy (though as ever, casual) but it didn't get to me much. Interestingly, the camp that I feel hit me hardest was my Karoma camp. That was when I tried "hardcore" camping, constantly at the computer, constantly circling... 15 hours on-end for days. And she was killed by some random.

Moral of the story? It's not the camp that does it - it's how one perceives the camp. It has been proven time and time again that people can quite easily bag rares without hardcore camping. Even someone who works 9-5, has a family etc can have a good chance at taming their desired rare with reasonably minimal effort. Casual camping, I have found, is not only more effective, but much less personally destructive - you need to accept within yourself that, as a casual camper, you probably will miss a spawn, but if you keep at it long enough you'll get it in the end... and that's a huge load off a camper's chest. But that's just semantics... personal preference. If someone wishes to bust their gut circling for weeks on-end that's up to them. I genuinely feel for Pent's Madexx camp lol, but I also stand by the belief that cutting back, relaxing and moving on whilst idling in Uldum is going to yield better results than his camp currently has (the only result it can yield is better! haha).

I've said it before and I'll say it again: you (generalised) choose how you wish to play the game and how you wish to feel about it. At the end of the day, the only benefit for camping a rare is a (sometimes) different skin. It is not Blizzard's fault that some people are unable to care for themselves via sleeping and eating, nor is it the fault of those who *can* look after themselves properly. "It's not healthy" is, imo, a silly point... we're all adults. I do agree that camps can be "rough" (as opposed to "hard"), however again that's all in mindset, and if you throw your entire existence into that camp "rough" is something you have to prepare yourself for. Which is another reason why I vote casual ;D

If there is one beast that could do with a look-at, it would be Madexx - either in spawn times or in spawn spots. I feel that a 1/5 chance for an ideal colour is a great addition, however not when it's coupled with a multitude of spawn points AND a long timer. I'd all be for... perhaps 2 spawn points and a 6-12 hour timer. Nothing drastic... just something that little bit less insane! All other in game creatures though, I feel are fine, purely because they don't have that extent of chance (excluding TLPD and Aeonaxx, but that's far beyond the hunter community, and honestly the hunter community has a pretty unique viewpoint imo there; most other forums I see for the rare mounts are pretty accepting about a bitch of a camp).

[Pent]

If there is one beast that could do with a look-at, it would be Madexx - either in spawn times or in spawn spots. I feel that a 1/5 chance for an ideal colour is a great addition, however not when it's coupled with a multitude of spawn points AND a long timer. I'd all be for... perhaps 2 spawn points and a 6-12 hour timer. Nothing drastic... just something that little bit less insane! All other in game creatures though, I feel are fine, purely because they don't have that extent of chance (excluding TLPD and Aeonaxx, but that's far beyond the hunter community, and honestly the hunter community has a pretty unique viewpoint imo there; most other forums I see for the rare mounts are pretty accepting about a bitch of a camp).

I read your post and at this time I am wondering if my opinions on respawn timers are that way because of what I am going through with Madexx.

I have never really had a problem getting any other rare pet... I mean sure... I spent 7 weeks on Aotona, but even when I was camping Aotona I didn't feel like I was wasting my time because I never had the feeling that Aotona was going to spawn in a different color and my time would be for naught. My biggest fear for Aotona was me flying and 3sec after I passed a point she would spawn and be killed before I could get back around.

My 11 day camp for King Krush wasn't that bad, but I did have him killed on me several times even though I was asking in General (and even offering stacks of ore) for the tame. Did I feel good when I got him after 11 days? Hell yeah, I did.

There has not been a rare pet in Cataclysm that I camped for more than 3 days for except Madexx, so I know either I got lucky or finding a rare pet in the wild can be done if you just look for them.

So maybe I need to rethink my whole stance on all timers and really focus on what I first started out focusing on so many weeks ago... Madexx, and why he needs to be tweaked in some way.

Hmm... I apologize to anyone who I have upset recently over the timer debate... but I won't apologize for my Madexx "fix him" threads.... yet.