Rare Pets: Your Thoughts

[Teigan]

I agree. Rare/elite pets should be marked in some way. It wasn't that long ago that elite pets had an elite tag, I don't think. I know my long lamented Maggie the SCM hound kept her elite tag when I tamed her. That was probably about a year ago. Even a text tag like that "rare" or "elite" would be good.
I do think that some of the "rarest" pets are the most common beasts. I recall seeing a guy with a plain brown tallstrider named Pete and wanting to take a screen shot, because no one ever tames them. The regular male lions are everywhere in the Barrens, but you see a hundred Humars or Pitches and not a single yellow one. Sure, that black kitty is gorgeous and rare and I'd be hard pressed to give mine up, but what's wrong with a regular lion?
I really like going for rare pets, just because. But sometime, when the stables expand, I"m going to add some neglected "plain pets" too.

[aed71689]

Thank you all! I think I'm going to go to Wetlands, so I find out which gender my pets are.

Wish me luck!

[Dakonic]

How do you find this gender deciding ghost?

[Saturo]

They're at a shipwreck. Just follow the beaches North of Menethil Harbour. It might take a while before they cast the spell tough, and your pet must have aggro. I suggest using Eyes of the Beast and pulling a large amount, around 10, and then just let your pet get beat up on passive. The spell is resistable, sadly.

[zedxrgal]

Late poster here:
As a rare /elite hunter myself I can relate. I don't care what anyone says. If I have my mind out to get a specific pet that's what I'm going to get. Part is the thrill of the hunt the other part is 100% personal satisfaction. I have Snort also and other rares. Pretty much most I won't let go. If you love them, keep them. Who cares what others think.

Did you decide on a cat to tame??? Personally I love the skins in Stranglethorn Vale.

[aed71689]

Sorry for not keeping up with this thread; I went to bed, and totally forgotten about this!

Anyway, I'm stuck between the black tiger with white stripes, and the white cat (don't know the exact species) with black spots.

It's a hard choice to make! D:

[FuzzyDolly]

I'm particularly fond of the Winterspring cats that have the purple tinge to them.

[Acherontia]

I think one of the biggest reasons we go around finding unique mobs to tame is because they are, in the end, all the same. I think that we should have something to individualize them.

I had an idea about pet personalities/emotes being present (click if you want to see it)--that pets would emote randomly now & then, based on what's going on, and different based on personality. You'd have friendly, stoic & crabby pets.

I also think that a variation in skins in any given NPC would be good. Any NPC that isn't rare or unique, at least. As an example I'm going to attach two images. It shows Durotar Tigers, Barrens Lions, white Bears and Mulgore Wolves, with a variation depending simply on hue/saturation/contrast/brightness factors. It'd be so easy to code, and add such a new dimension to the hunter/pet relationship.

[Saturo]

Great idea with the variations! Looks awesome.

[aed71689]

That seems to be a nice idea. One can only hope for Blizzard to implement that.

Back to my dilemma, I still don't know which cat to tame (between the black tiger with white stripes, and the white cat [I don't know which species it is, though it looks like a cheetah, I guess] with black spots). Now, FuzzyDolly did mention the cat from Wintersrping, so that intrigued me.

So many cat skins, but only a few stable slots...

[Acherontia]

Tame them both and try it out!

I think the black-spotted white is called a Snow Leopard in the dwarf/gnome starter area, so that's how I usually refer to it. The Ghost Saber is the same skin, only translucent, and if you want a pet that stands out that's a great choice.

I tamed a disposable lavender saber from Winterspring while I was camping Gondria. I actually really hated abandoning it, to my extreme surprise--I may get another some day, perhaps in Cataclysm! So you never know what you'll click with.

...P.S.--Winterspring isn't changing, is it? I didn't check there, as my WoW installs crash in Everlook >.>

[Sarayana]

You know, Acherontia, I was just thinking this! I was musing about a litter of kittens - how when you go to pick one to take home with you, you're not looking at 5 identical cats, but 5 cats with different markings, sizes, shapes... It'd be nice if I was to find the same in WoW, to some extent. I wouldn't just be going to Darkshore to look for a dark striped cat, but to look for the dark striped cat that I liked best as I was riding around. Definitely colour saturation would go a long way to accommodate and satisfy that urge.

aed71689, if you were on Ysera I'd say to get the black tiger with white stripes because it's just so rarely seen on my realm.

[aed71689]

@Acherontia: I didn't think to even look up the name of that particular cat (brain fart, lol)! Also, I think I'll go with your suggestion; I'll tame them both, try them out and see which one I like the best.

@Sarayana: That's also a good point; going with the cat that's rare (in the sense that not many players tamed it) is a good point to make, and I will take that into consideration.

Now I just need some names, so I can name my cats... Any suggestions?

[Saturo]

Boar.

[aed71689]

I'll assume you're trying to tell me to think of my own list of names.

[Acherontia]

I like this cat, as well. Oddly enough.

Try looking up some mythological names, imo. I'm working on a pet name generator for the future, I always have such a hard time naming my own... I'll spend hours staring at my pets after a tame and thinking.

For the white cat, something with snow, ice, frost, fog or clouds? Just a thought to get your ideas rolling!

[aed71689]

Thanks for the tips!

The reason I asked is because I am terrible with naming my pets. I'll like a name one minute, then dislike it the next. :S

[Saturo]

I was semi-serious. I had a wolf named Boar for eight months, dammit'!

[aed71689]

Then I am sorry for doubting you! Just don't hurt me! I am only a novice, have pity on me!

[Saturo]

Well, I am feeling uncommonly kind today... I'ma let you go without killing you...
But just this once.