Proposal: Pet Mog. (Solution for stable slots)

[Valnaaros]

The comparison that has been made between Mounts/Battle Pets and Hunter pets is that if the latter received infinite slots or became an xmog system, then they would just become a faceless mass. How many mounts do you have? How many of them do you regularly use? How about battle pets? Do you run around with the hundreds of them, use them regularly in pet battles, or even remember half of the ones you have? The more slots that are added or if a Pet Mog system was implemented, then Hunter pets would start turning into this and the Hunter fantasy would be weakened even further.

Assuming Blizz implements infinite slots or something like that, then it may not be an optional thing. And going back to the great comparison that Vephriel made earlier, it would be like having a house that is bigger than you need -- having tons of empty rooms that you have no need of, and gradually just fill up with various crap simply because those rooms are there.

[Valnaaros]

There just has to be a way so everyone can be happy and we never have to talk about archaic stables again

Right? I support the idea of pet transmog just because I'm tired of hearing people ask for more stable slots.

If the physical pet would go away and you are left with just the skin of your old pet, then I'm entirely against it. If the physical pet doesn't go away, then it just becomes a giant stable/collection tab.

Honestly, unless Blizz steps forward and makes a statement about all of this, there really can be no resolution. And even if if/when they do, one side will be happy and the other will not. I have thought long and hard about this and I just can't think of anyway that would make both sides happy.

[Chya]

To me if I already have a spider, spirit beast, cat and bird. Yet Blizzard releases all new versions of those pets already have. Nice to have a choice do I like how my current pets look, *ability, sound or are these newer ones a nicer upgrade. One bird in Battle for Azeroth is, there's even a new lava Spider. Now do I need 2 spiders? no. I'll keep my Deth'tilac spider. Like her more and think she looks better, no need to tame another spider just cause another lava one is released. Doubt Blizzard wants me to as well, it's about a choice- keep the one you have or tame this other version. All about which you like more. As for the bird, tempting to upgrade my current bird. Then not sure yet, either way only one is needed. Same with my spirit beast would never replace my mana saber. Don't need more then one spirit beast. May have *another one but it's temp, wanted to have alil fun hunting for him. Easy to lose control and just fill up the stable, then hope there's more. Nicer to me to have control and be careful with the space we got. True everyone is different

*added some

[Rozzana]

And going back to the great comparison that Vephriel made earlier, it would be like having a house that is bigger than you need -- having tons of empty rooms that you have no need of, and gradually just fill up with various crap simply because those rooms are there.

My only thing is that I don't see it that way at all. "Having rooms you have no need of" is a matter of personal opinion, because it depends on play style. Also having more slots can be argued that it just allows people to keep more of the animals they like, you won't have to release old friends, you don't have to worry about a cap, people don't have to make alts for pets they can keep them all on one character, you can switch out your aesthetic on a whim via transmog and calling back old or new friends, you can make personal collecting goals (as much as you hate it, is it wrong for a hunter to want to have 'one of every cat' bc they wanna rp being a cat-specialist hunter??), it has the potential to be exactly what you make it.

So I feel like this outweighs worries that people would get overwhelmed by space/choice. It appeals to diff play styles, beyond just those who want tons of slots. It's a promise that people won't have to worry about 'space' and can just play and have fun.

But I'm not fighting for infinite slots, I just don't want stables to be an issue ever again and I like allowing people to play how they want to. I mean, when are Warlocks going to be able to tame Demons??? That was something long due imo

Edit: I should add that I support the option of more slots in general for people who want them. If it's optional for ppl who don't want to even more slots, that's good too. I just don't like the feeling of saying someone else can't have something, bc it doesn't fit my personal style of play/narrative for the class. I mean look at Hati, people hate him while I love that quirky dog bc I've always wanted more than one pet out at once.

[Teigan]

Others have mentioned ways in which the bond between hunter and pet has been eroded already. Taking away leveling, feeding, etc. Perfectly valid. Of course that contributes. But, why, then support doing something that would further the erosion? Making pets into skins would be just another thing. Or maybe it would be the proverbial straw to break the camel's back. Just because something is partially broken doesn't mean it should be broken the rest of the way.

Fine, infinite slots if it makes people happy and means I don't need to pretend I'm bonded with something that used to be my pet, in the same way that I'm bonded with that random Soldier's Shield of The Boar that I picked up, learned and promptly forgot existed.

On a less salty note, I would love to see the idea of a pet meadow come true. You guys are right that it should have been part of Trueshot Lodge. If there was going to be a time for that, it was then.

[Ziarre]

It's easy enough to say don't use them, but if they're there and I have pets that I like well enough, they may as well sit there. I still keep plenty of extra space in my stable, but having the empty room just removes any need or incentive to care what's in there and things pile up, so to speak. It's like having a house that's too large for your needs. Sure you might not need to use all of the rooms, but clutter accumulates anyways just because there's the space for it to. I don't really know if I'm explaining this well but, it's just my personal feelings on the matter.

This pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter, in a much nicer way than I would have put it. I feel like it's because I'm an oldbie that remembers having to agonize over which TWO (!!!) pets I kept (bear in mind that you had to keep that third slot free in order to 'learn' new ranks of spells for your 'keeper' pets from appropriate beasties). And after that, which five pets I kept. The current number of slots feels like an embarrassment of riches to me, and it's genuinely difficult to understand how so many people are unsatisifed with it.

I'd find "pet mog" pretty insulting. My pets are not mere skins, they are partners.

[Valnaaros]

It's easy enough to say don't use them, but if they're there and I have pets that I like well enough, they may as well sit there. I still keep plenty of extra space in my stable, but having the empty room just removes any need or incentive to care what's in there and things pile up, so to speak. It's like having a house that's too large for your needs. Sure you might not need to use all of the rooms, but clutter accumulates anyways just because there's the space for it to. I don't really know if I'm explaining this well but, it's just my personal feelings on the matter.

This pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter, in a much nicer way than I would have put it. I feel like it's because I'm an oldbie that remembers having to agonize over which TWO (!!!) pets I kept (bear in mind that you had to keep that third slot free in order to 'learn' new ranks of spells for your 'keeper' pets from appropriate beasties). And after that, which five pets I kept. The current number of slots feels like an embarrassment of riches to me, and it's genuinely difficult to understand how so many people are unsatisifed with it.

I'd find "pet mog" pretty insulting. My pets are not mere skins, they are partners.

This is how I feel. I have been playing since the launch of Vanilla. Though I haven't been a Hunter since day one, I eventually did and there only be a few slots was still a thing. I didn't just run out and tame the first thing I saw simply because of how it looked. I spent tons of time thinking about it before I eventually settled with two that I would come to love. I got a couple more when we got five slots, but I never thought that we would ever get something even remotely close to fifty, and I cannot understand why people aren't satisfied. I know that there are glitch pets, rare pets, pets with unique skins, etc, but I also feel that not every new pet needs to be tamed.

[Rozzana]

But besides the topic of slots, OP made a good point about a need for a revamp. Sure transmog may not be perfect for everyone, but there has got to be an easy way for this to go that matches most play styles.

Although I don't like the transmog idea, it has its heart in the right place. Your stable can have a tab for owned pet familyes. When you click on that tab, it can show you "collected" animals vs "noncollected". ( you can hit a check mark to only show what you tamed of course)
That way it's more of a ui update rather than reducing the pets to skins. No space issues, people still feel an attachment to the pets they have since 'space' isn't a concept anymore and it can function like an in-game baby petopia, to help people better locate/track animals they don't yet have!

Plus it makes stables more personalized for the player, so you only keep track of what you want and feel no pressure to collect endlessly. The non-collected tab could work more so as a way for hunters to look at other mobs within the family so they know what's out there without having to go online to check. Or it can just work by doing the same, picking any pet family you want from a list and it can show you tameable pet types and tell you the zone they're in. That'd be pretty cool to figure out!

[Rozzana]

It would also be cool and fun if they had a screen for updates, like if a new family is added or if there is a challenge tame and it has a short blurb about "X new thing is coming, better look out for it!" "Do you think you have what it takes to track this beast??" etc

If played around with, I think the idea could be really fun

[Valnaaros]

That is still basically a Pet Xmog tab, especially if the physical pet no longer exists. That would also turn Hunter Pets into another collectable thing in WoW, which Mounts and Battle Pets already are and, as has been mention, are just faceless masses now. Besides, Petopia has been a staple of the WoW community for many, many years. Having an in game application which just tells you all of the possible color variants for a pet family and where to find them would take away from Petopia, imo.

[Teigan]

Absolutely not! No. I dislike that immensely. Turning hunter pets into that is repulsive to me. I sincerely hope Blizzard never does anything like that.

And yes, that would be awful for the hunter community. Ugh. No.

Doing that, what you talk about with an in-game database and announcements of the flavor of the month, that takes away from community collaboration, the joy of discovery. If you never went on Petopia, to look up pets, would you be on this forum? Talking to other humans? No, probably not. Would you hear about some cool new discovery that the community made, not that you were fed by Blizz? Isn't that valuable to you? And isn't there some joy in not knowing exactly what you'll tame, having some serendipity in finding that perfect pet that maybe isn't what you had in mind but was the right thing?

That has the feel of some facebook game or phone app, not WoW. It feels like it would belong in WoD, which is not a high recommendation.

[Rozzana]

Well I'm not saying to take the physical pet away. In stables you just see them as little boxes with names, all I suggest is a ui change of sorts. That way people keep their actual pets and there is an added function to help people search for pets they want. It eliminates the need for space, lets people keep their pets, no one is pressured and just gives a new fun function.

As for the search function, it just can just gives you a general idea like other search functions in the game do. Like it can just say the zone it's in or continent. That way it wouldn't at all compete with petopia, but be a nice nod to people who don't use the website. I've met plenty of people who don't and it could be of use to them, since there are plenty of players who come and go who don't know where to start.

The concept is just a mix of OP's idea with the already functioning stables, but respects people's different angles at the class.
None of the pets are reduced to skins, it's easier to manage/flip through, and can possible function as a little helper for a newer player--who may use that to come to petopia anyhow!

Edit: Well the flavor text doesn't have to be that per say, it'd just be an easier way for people to see new updates, rather than random little posts on twitter or a sentence in patch notes someone might not read. The bulk of it is still on forums like anything else discusses and etc, but little harmless blurbs seem fine to me?

[Rozzana]

Besides, I'm just trying to find a way to make OP's idea work or come up with fun creative new ideas. Take my ideas with a grain of salt, I'm just brain storming here

People want their pets to have more value
People want more space
People want a limit of sorts

I think there is a way to come up with something to satisfy all this, it's just hard

[Valnaaros]

Your idea would grant more space, but it would lessen the value and it would not create a limit. Pets would become the new Battle Pet and Mounts. Sure, there probably wouldn't be any achieves associated with them, but they would still turn into a collectible item, which is truly not the class fantasy. And since your idea allows people collect as many pets as they want, there is no limit.

[Teigan]

I fail to see how this makes pets feel more valuable. It does the opposite.

[Rozzana]

Your idea would grant more space, but it would lessen the value and it would not create a limit. Pets would become the new Battle Pet and Mounts. Sure, there probably wouldn't be any achieves associated with them, but they would still turn into a collectible item, which is truly not the class fantasy. And since your idea allows people collect as many pets as they want, there is no limit.

But they are kinda a collectible item now for many people, and unfortunately I think that's how Blizzard views them. I know some people said that seeing the extra slots puts pressure on them to fill them all, but if you take away the visual incentive I wonder if that could help. That way a person could set their own personal limit, while people who wanna play the poke-way can also do that.

I mean it's kinda like that already to an extent. Say every 4yrs (if the game is around) they give us 2 more slots. As they game keeps going, it'll just keep increasing so why not just come up with an idea so the issue doesn't keep popping up. It feels weird to keep making up a new max number, instead of trying to think outside the box a bit.

How about in contrast to allowing people more space, pets get some elements back that make them more personal? That could even out the loss some people feel about it And it doesn't have to be a 'mog-like' page, I was just thinking of something that relates back to OP's suggestion

[Rozzana]

I fail to see how this makes pets feel more valuable. It does the opposite.

Well my aim isn't to find a way to make a pet feel more valuable, since I think they're kinda at a stasis in how they're viewed whether the stables change or not.

I'm just thinking of ideas to switch around how stables work so that they themselves have more worth, can improve an rp experience, or be helpful to newer players.

I want pets to be important too, I just think OP had an interesting idea! Bc if Blizz revamped stambles, it'd be nice if it'd put an end to the slots issue for good
Besides I think everyone has good points here, so maybe we can put them together in some way!

[Valnaaros]

I believe it was back in MoP or something that Blizz stated that they don't want for us to be able to tame a ton of pets and collect them all. And since Blizz hasn't said anything since, to my knowledge, that could still be their stance, which is why nothing else has been said or done since that time.

A lot of the elements that made them more personal, like feeding them or training them, would go over very, very poorly in today's WoW. I have played a Hunter since Vanilla and I wouldn't want to go back to how that was, just as I also wouldn't want ammo to return. I am very doubtful Blizz would return those features and, as such, your idea would just make pets even more impersonal and reduce their value.

Bear in mind, I admire that you're trying to think of something that can appease everyone. That is great! But in this case, there really isn't a way that both sides can come out happy. If things are left as is, then those that treat pets like they're a zoo will be unhappy with the stable remaining at 55. If the limit is increased to a certain amount, made limitless, or pets are turned into an xmog, then those of us who value our pets as more than just collectables and bond with a handful of them will be unhappy.

[Rozzana]

I understand where you're coming from, I just wish there was a way so everyone was happy

[Valnaaros]

I understand where you're coming from, I just wish there was a way so everyone was happy

Trust me, as do I But I feel this is just one of those matters where only one side will really come out happy with the resolution.