New Wolf Skin.

[Qraljar]

If lookalikes of a pet cheapen the experience of having a pet for you, then I don't think you cared much about having that pet to begin with.

Okay, I see this statement way too many times. Just because you can't imagine caring for the pet as much if you feel its look is cheapened, does not mean it's the same for someone else. I can be absolutely furious about a skin being made common because I care about that pet. Being annoyed/irritated/angry has nothing to do with a lack of caring--in my case, it's quite the opposite!

I'm not furious in this case (only annoyed), but my point still stands.

Okay yeah. I apologize. Maybe not really fair to say what I did because it does paint a black-and-white picture and it seldom is either black or white.

Though, I have to admit that I do not comprehend how a pet which you care for a lot being common all of the sudden deprives it of its value. I would like if either of you would like to explain this viewpoint to me. Either via PM or briefly in this thread.

[Equeon]

I have no problem with this skin particularly- but if, say, Green Madexx was made common, I would be a little put off. I would never release good ol' Skittles, he's one of my top 5 pets probably, it's just that his rarity makes him so much more special. People admire him and I've only seen one other person with the green coloration ingame. And, unlike the brown or black coloration, it's obvious that he is a rare spawn. The other thing is that unlike some pets, like the blue ravager, or pretty owl reskins, that are unique because they're used so little; this would be one of the things that people jump to have and tame. So unlike what some people were previously arguing for (if a rare becomes common it will actually become rarer) I have the feeling that'd we'd see [insert your favorite rare here] everywhere.

I do like what they're doing though; making common recolors of rares. If they had a light green coloration of the green Madexx, (not to mention the ones that are already non-unique) I wouldn't have a problem!

[Yoruko]

Hmm. Isn't this technically somewhat of the same situation as with Gondria & Magria/Ankha? Those skins existed prior to release too and made Gondria share a model but not the same exact texture. Though, I guess they were all spirit beasts, but hey: Olm & Ban'thalos. Either way, I'm just really happy we're getting more skins that have been unused. After all, Skoll will still be unique because he is a different colour. I'm not going to put forth any arguments about "rare" or "specialty" because I personally just don't care about that, at all.

Definitely going to tame this and maybe on my worgen alt too since the less saturated colour might fit him better. More options get! /glee

[Neilaren]

On one hand, I could totally give Garurumon a brother... "Look who I found! it's your long lost brother, uh... FadedGarurumon!"

On the other, I really like my Horde packwolf too much to do it. :<

[Meggers]

Psh who cares, Skoll is still Skoll. He'll still be on almost every single hunter, and this one might too. More lightning wolves to go around is a good thing imo.

I personally still like Skoll more because I looooooove how BRIGHT BLUE he is. But I do like the muted version as well, looks pretty!

[Suicune]

Oooh! Been waiting for Skoll's recolors to appear! I'm pretty happy on one hand but bummed out on the other haha. Not enough stable slots, and I already have two wolves. I'd probably make him my Skoll's 'wolf form' for Surv (or MM).

[pop]

I love the skin. It isn't so blue. My orc hunter would love to tame it. BLOOD AND THUNDER!

[Bulletdance]

People who are upset about this may be looking at it the wrong way. There is a chance that people who like that skin will take it over skoll making his skin more rare. I mean it will be a choice of waiting a zillion hours for one to appear, hope no one steals or kills it, or just going to get one a different color. I think it's really pretty so I'm happy to get more variety even tho this is one of the rares I spent a lot of time getting.

[Samskeyti]

I have not seen an increase of pets on my server when a common skin of a rare came out. It just stays the same, people use whichever pet they like best. Also, we should be happy that we get more choice in colours, instead of being annoyed at the devaluation of a rare. At the end of the day, there will be plenty of unique rares to come, they're not even implemented yet! And people tend to go for always the newest thing. So it's an ongoing shift in pets that people go for, and it makes the game interesting. When the new heroics came out, and everyone went for the hunched spotted and striped white frostsabers, now you hardly see any of them. I haven't seen anyone use one of the molten front spiders in months. And when we can spec any pet we want, we get even more diversity. There's so much to choose from, and there's always more.

[pop]

Skoll isn't that rare at all. I see other hunter's Skoll in lfr and Orgrimnar every freaking day. Having said, Skoll is my fav sb ever.

[MaximumOverdrive]

Thanks for the pic compare, Veph. It's very blatantly obvious which one is Skoll and which isn't. Skoll is still a special skin for those, and he's still a spirit beast while these new ones are wolves, so BMs will still have their special pet. And it's not like Skoll is uncommon, I run into him ALL the time in SP and rehome him almost all the time. I mean, if they made Chromaggus (my absolute fav pet) a common skin, it wouldn't bother me. It's not like he's hard to get now, and I'd be almost happy about it cause then any alt hunters I have can get it again easily.

I still kinda prefer Skoll's skin tho...I like his vibrant blue. But this is nice for non-BM hunters to get a shiny too.

[Worba]

Hmm. Like many I'm divided on this one.

And this is largely overshadowed by the "should exotics be restricted to BM spec" debate - alot of the more heated exchanges I've seen on this thread so far seem to essentially be reverberations of that larger / more central issue.

The Ban'thalos / Olm comparison is sort of in the same neighborhood but I suspect reactions were somewhat muted in that case due to 1) them belonging to different trees, 2) the fact that the "watered down" look came ~first~ and 3) that the "original" also was non-exotic. Whereas in this case it's all going the other way.

The Gondria / Ankha / Magria comparison is interesting because it represents a more-accepted approach to recycling SB models, e.g. add it as another spirit beast, that way the question of common vs limited is sidestepped.

Whereas here, Blizzard seems to essentially be saying, "Spirit Beast means it has spirit mend - that's it", or at least be heading in that direction.

[Seilahyn]

I think it's neat. I have no problems with them adding common versions of things to the game. It doesn't cheapen it at all to me, because in the end I know that mine is the real thing. I know how much time I spent hunting them down to claim them as my pet, my ally. It makes it all the more special to me if there is a common skin available, because I took the time to get the real challenge.. the one I wanted. I almost prefer if there is a rare version of a skin I want, because I will go out of my way to get the rare one. They don't need to be the precious little unique snowflake to flaunt, I want them because I want them.

If they added a common skin for Malachovian, my Loque, I would not mind. He was my first SB; My first camp for a month flying around Sholazaar when he was the only SB available. I could tell you the detailed story of my screw up and how exactly the tame went. The excitement, the adrenaline rush. If he were made a common skin for all to have? Awesome! So I might see him running around more often, at the side of another Hunter. Cool. I still have my Malachovian. I know all the details of my adventure to have him at my side. Hopefully that other Hunter is happy that they, too, finally have their "Loque" even if it's not really him.

[Gimlion]

The only issue I have with this being a regular wolf is this: What exactly am I too do with 3 wolves in my stable? Not to mention Karoma...

Altogether though, I'm quite glad that there will be some shiny pets that non-BM can acquire. Spirit beasts are great, I have 4 of them, but sometimes I feel bad for hunters who just don't enjoy BM, and don't want to Off-Spec BM strictly for "OOH SHINY PETS." This will definitely make me rethink my stables some more though.

Also, just to add to the Rare to common thing, Pitch/Humar. I still see plenty of Black lions around. Also Shy-Rotam and Rak'Shiri, plenty of aqua sabers roaming my server as well. My point being that there are plenty of examples of this happening, people who truly like their pets and it's look will keep them, those who truly enjoy the rare aspect will find new pets to bond with, either way, it's not up to others to decide, so don't thrust your opinion in someone else's face.

[Worba]

It really comes down to general effort / reward expectations.

Most people when sitting down to play a video game, expect that easy mode = lite rewards, medium = medium rewards, and hard mode = big rewards.

This is not to say some would not have it differently given the choice, just to say that this is the normal *expectation* - e.g. it's the norm to be accustomed to an effort:reward ratio that moves more or less in tandem (at least outside of private servers...).

I'm not going to go into *why* this is the norm with game companies, or whether it should be - suffice to say, it is.

So, when Blizzard takes a reward formerly available only via hard mode, and moves it over to easy mode, it kind of takes that whole paradigm and gives it a violent shaking.

Is that a good or bad thing? Depends on the individual. But regardless, it flies in the face of the typical effort:reward expectations, and which is going to therefore provoke a general and very understandable "wait what??" reaction on the part of the average player.

[Vephriel]

It really comes down to general effort / reward expectations.

Most people when sitting down to play a video game, expect that easy mode = lite rewards, medium = medium rewards, and hard mode = big rewards.

This is not to say some would not have it differently given the choice, just to say that this is the normal *expectation* - e.g. it's the norm to be accustomed to an effort:reward ratio that moves more or less in tandem (at least outside of private servers...).

I'm not going to go into *why* this is the norm with game companies, or whether it should be - suffice to say, it is.

So, when Blizzard takes a reward formerly available only via hard mode, and moves it over to easy mode, it kind of takes that whole paradigm and gives it a violent shaking.

Is that a good or bad thing? Depends on the individual. But regardless, it flies in the face of the typical effort:reward expectations, and which is going to therefore provoke a general and very understandable "wait what??" reaction on the part of the average player.

One viewpoint that I've always concurred with has been that of understanding the older content gets, the easier it is to obtain something in general. You can go back and solo old raids and dungeons and achievements from past expansions and gain the rewards that were once difficult. The payoff is you had to wait longer, and those that completed them initially had their time to shine while it was current.

I think the same can be said for rares. Skoll has been unique for over 2 expansions now, and technically he still is. After all this time I don't think it's unreasonable for a recolour to show up, he had his status moment back in WotLK.

[Yaone]

I always wondered what Skoll would look like if I had ran him through the washer D: I think he is nice though! Is he a spirit beast? I'll just go check it out lol

[Kalliope]

These puppies are wolves, not spirit beasts.

[Worba]

It really comes down to general effort / reward expectations.

Most people when sitting down to play a video game, expect that easy mode = lite rewards, medium = medium rewards, and hard mode = big rewards.

This is not to say some would not have it differently given the choice, just to say that this is the normal *expectation* - e.g. it's the norm to be accustomed to an effort:reward ratio that moves more or less in tandem (at least outside of private servers...).

I'm not going to go into *why* this is the norm with game companies, or whether it should be - suffice to say, it is.

So, when Blizzard takes a reward formerly available only via hard mode, and moves it over to easy mode, it kind of takes that whole paradigm and gives it a violent shaking.

Is that a good or bad thing? Depends on the individual. But regardless, it flies in the face of the typical effort:reward expectations, and which is going to therefore provoke a general and very understandable "wait what??" reaction on the part of the average player.

One viewpoint that I've always concurred with has been that of understanding the older content gets, the easier it is to obtain something in general. You can go back and solo old raids and dungeons and achievements from past expansions and gain the rewards that were once difficult. The payoff is you had to wait longer, and those that completed them initially had their time to shine while it was current.

I think the same can be said for rares. Skoll has been unique for over 2 expansions now, and technically he still is. After all this time I don't think it's unreasonable for a recolour to show up, he had his status moment back in WotLK.

And that's a good point - old content that's had its day, must make way for the new, at least to some extent. That is a valid exception at least in theory.

The issue here is 'extent', or more specifically does taking something so intrinsically considered "spirit beast" and making it... not-spirit-beast, erode an important distinction? Or was it always somewhat incidental that spirit beasts were visually distinctive?

Which is what I was getting at when I made my spirit mend comment.

I guess in a vague sort of way it would be like if they added a new devilsaur skin and called it a raptor. Good? Bad? Not sure, but it would certainly erode some boundaries that were formerly considered by many to be rather indelible.

And Skoll's a wolf too, not a spirit beast... oh wait.

[Sesamee]

Wow so pretty!! Boudicca may just have to get an upgrade to this model.