A little Rare hating going around...

[Worba]

After digging through a few forums on here, I've come across quite a few rare-haters, saying things like "Oh, I don't like ______. Everyone has him. that's why I prefer my _____, since you never see that skin around" etc etc.

I hear you. WoW has always been plagued by generalization. Typically you will hear that 95% of the game is "facerolling easy" whilst the remaining 5% is "impossible".

Pretty much anytime I see someone at Petopia claiming "everyone has ____", it ends up being false - at least on the dozen or so servers I play on (Uther, Quel'Thalas, Antonidas, Fenris, Shu'halo, etc etc).

Not saying it's false for the server that the posters themselves play on - but outside of that*, these need to be recognized as blanket statements and taken with a few grains of salt.

*And obviously people who have a character on the posters server, should still take a few minutes to judge for themselves.

[Airwyn]

I love the thrill of the hunt even though I get most of my rares by random flybys. I love the excitement of knowing that they only MIGHT be there when you fly over a spawn point. The blare of npcscan as a rare pops right under you, it's something special.

I have a large number of rare pets, most of mine are but I found that I have so many that I can't use them all the time. I have all the spirit beasts and it bothers me that I dont run dungeons as BM very much because i'm not confident in its dps. Same as my other exotic pets.

But I love the common skins too, it's almost like my hunter clicked faster with them than the rares, don't get me wrong, she clicked with the rares too just not as fast. My very first pet was a common brown bear and I loved him to pieces but I had to let him go because I was out leveling him. I probably clicked best with the crow that looks like the nightelf druid slow flight form, back when they wern't birds of prey. His name was Pantaloons and there are so many good times behind that name alone, I abandoned him because we only had 5 stable slots then and there wasn't room for him. I tried to get him back in Cata as a carrion bird but there aren't any Carrion Birds like that anymore and so I tamed Torgos as my new Pantaloons and he's fitting the name nicely

I also have the pets that I tamed for their abilities, I had like 3 stable slots left over after my main rare hunt and those slots are reserved for: My new ravager, King Krush if I ever find him, and a Sunblade Dragonhawk. I tamed Ainamiss the Hive Queen on a whim for the ability and I named her Peach and I fell in love with her and the little motherly personality that I gave her. I love my little pixels, rare or not.

[Novikova]

Rares are fun. Rares are awesome. That said, a lot of people still debate on camping being called 'work' because luck is a huge, huge factor. Is your work worth less or did you not work hard enough because someone grabbed your tame or a roving player killed it beneath you ? No. I hate(d) camping and am glad I have all my guys.

The trouble with WoW is there's only so many options and literally millions of players. Even if not many people have something, it's still a good portion of the Wow-population. Sure, it can be fun to be a special snowflake, but. In the end, a pet's worth and awesomeness is up to the player. There will always be people who hate things for being popular (See also: Music scene). Haters gonna hate. use what you like.

[Miraga]

I like all the responses in this topic. ^__^

I honestly can't bring myself to camp much anymore. As sad as it sounds, my 3 night camping binge for Loque back in the day just burned me out! lol. I'll camp for the spawns that only take a few hours or whatever [Ashtail for example] but I don't camp hardcore. I have all the spirit beasts on Miraga and the only one I "camped" was Gondria... and even that wasn't hardcore. I would camp for a few hours on and off for a few days. Turns out she spawned at about 5pm and every day I was in class then so NO WONDER I never saw her... *coughs* Anyway, every other spirit beast was one NPCScan picked up and I tamed. I get most of my pets because they match or I love the skin. I love my moonstalker, my barrens lion, my black wolf and my red worg.

As far as "everyone has that skin" goes, I really haven't seen a whole lot of those rare spawns that "everyone" seems to have. It may be that they really DO have them but they don't actually USE them, know what I mean? Loque is definitely one that I hear a lot about but I hardly see another hunter with him. I see Skoll most often, and I've yet to see another hunter with Karoma [I might not be very observant, lol]. Lots of people have Sambas, though, and I can understand that.

Anyway, TL;DR I'm not one for the "thrill of the hunt" but I have rares I love as well as common skins I love.

[Kirrandria]

Everyone has Sambas, Terrorpene, and Skoll on my server, and yet I love mine to death. On the flip side, I rarely see any hunters with Nuramoc, yet that's another pet I tend to have out a lot. Some of those I tamed because they were rare, and others I tamed because I liked how they looked. Doesn't make one lick of difference, because they're -my- pets, and just because every other hunter has the exact same lion as me doesn't mean I don't run around flaunting him in Orgrimmar, loving him to pieces because darn it, he's just SO PRETTY. And I may have tamed them because of their looks/rare status, I keep them around because they have developed personalities and have earned a permanent spot at my hunter's side.

Most of all, I think I dislike picking up a rare because of my "OMG a shiny I must have it!" reflex, realizing that it doesn't click, then keeping it anyway because of guilt. Guilt that somebody else could have tamed that pet that only appears once every 12+ hours.

This is actually sort of what happened with me and Sambas. I was flying over his spawn points as a sort of 'what if' thing, completely not expecting my NPCScan to go off as I hit the last spot. I totally freaked, and I reflexively just dropped and tamed it. I felt immediately guilty because I had a friend who had been camping for it, and she happened to be online. She was sad, but not too worried, but I felt absolutely horrible about it, and on top of an already bad day it put me in an awful mood. Later that night my cat died. To make a long story short, I kinda felt like taming Sambas was fate, and that my cat lives on beside my hunter. He's now one of the pets I always keep with me.

[Konor]

On Konor I use Loque most of the time. I'd probably use him even if he wasn't a rare. I looooove his sounds. But I do sometimes use pets that aren't rares on him. Shango is a popular choice there. And Sokali use Farunn and her white Devilsaur while in BM and her Winterskorn Worg while in MM. Sure she has some rares and they are nice but I love that Rhino. LOL

[Novikova]

Yeah, Sambas is one of those 'might as well watch for him since every bloody crafting profession requires 99 million volatiles and here I am herbing again' tames. I am glad I got him - I adore the skin, but I do feel a bit of guilt since Novi's BM. Still, I <3 my lion and Ghostcrawler is definitely one of my darlings. I feel somewhat guilty I camped all 5 madexx colors - I know there were others camping. But still, use your pets as long as you like them. With as many peeps on wow as there are? Odds are, some of us share tastes. The best way to be unique is just do your own thing.

[Sasrei]

hmm ok rare count

Sasrei
14/22 are rares

Saon
14/25

Reika
15/25

yes I like rares and am not ashamed to say it. But if they dont click I can usually release them, id rather they dont waste away in the stable.

But besides King krush for pvp on my chars.. its regular pets for them, Sasrei with Teeka, and Saon with dante

I go for what feels right really though I do have this tendency to camp for rares..

[Cialbi]

I guess you could pin me with the 'rare hating' crowd here, misleading a label as that is. Honestly, there are things I dislike about rares, namely being the opportunities it grants to griefers and the tension created between competing campers. I'll admit that the thrill of the hunt for rares doesn't grab me; for me, 'actively camping' a rare is when I intentionally take detours so as to check spawn points. But, that's more out of a desire to be involved in rehoming a rare rather than taming a rare; once after being asked if I wanted to tame Sambas (I didn't), I flew out to where Sambas had spawned just to watch someone else tame the beast.

For the record, I have a grand total of 3 unique rares on my main, and none so far on my hunter alts. Out of those, only Grubthor was found by doing detours to southern Silithus; I got the Albino Eyegouger when running through reg. Deadmines with a friend because she wanted to tame one of the common parrot skins, and Arcturis when someone announced that the beast had spawned in the dead of night. Out of those, the only one I would consider releasing would be the parrot.

[Fafnir]

Some people are just haters - they hate being part of the 'in' crowd, and must be different for the sake of being different. It's just their personal preference and doesn't matter to anyone but themselves. Those people seem kind of like hypocrites and I'd never want to date one, but whatever floats their boat.

As for rarespawns, eh, some people will have to put effort into it, and some people will get lucky. Some people will put effort into it only to have it snatched away by someone else who got lucky. It's just a game, it will spawn again, and if there is still competition, well, most non-solo games are about that.

I guess it doesn't help that most unique rarespawns are pretty damn near useless to keep in a balanced 5-pet line-up. I might pull out Sambas for my MM kit and Karoma for my BM kit, but that's about it.

[twilightsky]

Couldn't agree with you more. I Camped Loque'nahak for 3 months at the start of wotlk and he's been with me ever since, i was the first on my server to find skoll and the second to find ghondria - they didnt take long i no longer have either of them. I also found King Krush a few times and tamed him every time but i've always gotten rid of him as i didn't work for him and now i find myself camping him this very moment xD

[Wassa]

I go for looks first before "feeling special" by having a rare spawn. In fact, I only have three rares on my main hunter Wassa which are Strider Clutchmother, Mazzranache, and Terrorpene, and two of those aren't unique skins anymore. I won't be upset if Terrorpene's skin became a common skin as well.

I don't hate rares, or hunters who tame only unique looking rares. Good for them for having the patience to camp all of them or being very very lucky. I just like to tame what matches my hunters.

[Nubhorns]

After digging through a few forums on here, I've come across quite a few rare-haters, saying things like "Oh, I don't like ______. Everyone has him. that's why I prefer my _____, since you never see that skin around" etc etc.

I think it's just a direct flipside of the "No one likes Brown Madexx/Pitch/Pet XYZ because he's common" BS. I hate that word. 'Common'. 'Non-unique'. Some people sling it around here like it's a dirty word, like it's somehow better to have Sambas derping around instead of a cat from the Barrens, or like anyone actually uses Madexx(they don't) vs a regular scorpid.

I don't think anyone is actually rare hating. I can't speak for everyone, but I'm rare mocking. Actually, that's not even true. I'm not mocking rares, I own quite a few of them. I'm mocking the people who think it's cool to hate on common skins.

[Araela]

After digging through a few forums on here, I've come across quite a few rare-haters, saying things like "Oh, I don't like ______. Everyone has him. that's why I prefer my _____, since you never see that skin around" etc etc.

And I know that's not everyone here, and isn't "hating," but I want to clear something up here:

I can't speak for the rest of the hunter community, but for me, it isn't about the skins as much as it is the thrill of the hunt. I think of waiting on spawns as achievements, quests, feats of strength, so when you pull out your newest companion you can say to yourself, "I earned this one."

This- absolutely!

I have a couple lowbie hunter alts that I have been getting some of the "non-rare" pets on, but for the most part I truly enjoy the thrill of the hunt. That's what is fun for me, and thus I enjoy looking for those rares! Even if they don't have a unique skin (IE, Snarler, Old Grizzlegut, Lupos) I enjoy looking for them.

I agree- I don't think that it is so much the fact that everyone has them or that they are a unique skin, but the fact that you hunted and found that sought-after pet on your own (or with buddies, if you so desire!). It's part of what makes hunters hunters!

[MajorThor]

One thing that I can say that totally blows with having been obsessed with rares since I became of the proper level to actually get them is the fact that I've either:

A: Tamed them all.
B: Seen them all (And taken a Screenshot of it in front of me with NPCScan going off)

For me, there is NO "Thrill of The Hunt" anymore. I'm infinitely bored with pets at this point but I still go out looking for rares I've seen already to Home or RE-Home them. Since I've been doing so I've Homed/Re-Homed about 60 Pets between about 6-10 Hunters whom are less knowledgeable about Pets than myself (Which apparently is 99% of my server.) THAT I find to be far more enjoyable ATM, you wouldn't believe how many other Hunters out there don't even know about the unique/rare skins/pets there are for ultra-low levels. One of my current ones is Death Flayer (Level 9 Scorpid in Durotar), and Bayne (Level 9 Demon Hound in Tirisfall Glades) for a level 10 Orc Hunter tho wasn't totally new to the game, having had full BoA gear. He was outright thrilled at the looks of each pet, especially Death Flayer.

[Rhyela]

I myself have eight rares, of which only three are unique (King Krush, Madexx [black], and Gondria). First and foremost, I go for a pet based on looks. If that particular skin has a rare, I will try to get it just because I feel like I specifically "hunted" that beast, rather than tamed Cat # 219,085 out of 1,000,000,000. But, it doesn't always work out to where I like the rare. Case in point, my spider Naphthali. I had every intention of taming Naraxis, but it wasn't up. Went to ZG and grabbed Spider # 934 as a "temp" pet until I could snag Naraxis, to sort of "test-drive" how it looked with me. But then, I ended up falling in love with my over-protective little girl, and even when I stared the rare Naraxis in the face, I just couldn't trade in my "common" pet for the rare version. They are visually identical, no one would have known the difference, but I would have. And the common was more important than the rare because of her personality.

I have also even tamed Loque'nahak and released him...twice. I let him go the first time for something else, then thought I regretted it (I started seeing him all over the place with other hunters and I felt bad), got him restored, then realized I really prefer the less-preferred Gondria (whom I had also let go by this point), and went and got my Shikon back. I don't care how desired and rare Loque'nahak is, I just don't really care for him.

Then you have my two favorite rares - King Krush and Madexx - who I wouldn't trade for the world. It's not because they're rare (though hunting King Krush was simultaneously thrilling and aggravating), or at least not the only reason. I love them because of their personalities. I was enamored with Apollyon (King Krush) since I first laid eyes on him in the wild. It was more than just, "Ooo, this devilsaur is shiny! Must hab!" It was an immediate bond, before I had even had the chance to tame him. He called to me in a unique way, and I knew I had to have him. With Madexx, I just simply love that scorpion model and wanted one. I got bronze first and liked him alright, but preferred green. I camped and camped and camped for green, but then black showed up. I accidentally tamed him (kinda long story) and tossed him in my stable, not planning to use him. A photo session with friends (who both had Madexxes, and I needed one to take pics with so I just pulled him out) led to yet another very deep bond that I wasn't expecting.

I traded Twinblade from an Outland chimaera to the rare The Evalcharr, realized I really missed my old Twinblade, and dumped the rare for another Outland Chimaera # 48.

So, in my case, I do tend to gravitate toward a rare if it's a skin I already like, but that doesn't mean I'll keep it. The majority of my pets are "common" and I wouldn't have them any other way.

[Aquillian]

I have a lot of my rares just because they are rare. I'll admit to it, lol. It's just as the OP said -- thrill of the hunt. I research where it spawns, I ask around to see if anyone has seen it, I try to establish times it's likely to be there and finally I camp it. When it finally does spawn, it is like getting an achievement.

My favorite pets, the ones I use most often or have by my side when farming/doing dailies/derping around in Org, are a mix of rares and commons. Chrysaetos (golden eagle skin), Nanda (green Maddexx), Attonitus (Humar), Riven (blue old world raptor), and Raven (Snarler out of Feralas) are probably my most beloved.

I think every hunter has their own reasons for what they've tamed. I try not to judge them for it, seems silly. It is, after all, a video game.

[MajorThor]

I have a lot of my rares just because they are rare. I'll admit to it, lol. It's just as the OP said -- thrill of the hunt. I research where it spawns, I ask around to see if anyone has seen it, I try to establish times it's likely to be there and finally I camp it. When it finally does spawn, it is like getting an achievement.

My favorite pets, the ones I use most often or have by my side when farming/doing dailies/derping around in Org, are a mix of rares and commons. Chrysaetos (golden eagle skin), Nanda (green Maddexx), Attonitus (Humar), Riven (blue old world raptor), and Raven (Snarler out of Feralas) are probably my most beloved.

I think every hunter has their own reasons for what they've tamed. I try not to judge them for it, seems silly. It is, after all, a video game.

For the sake of my own personal hilarity, I'm judging the holy hell out of you right now. -lol-

[Comett]

Hmm, sweet post.

It made me think about why I tamed who I tamed. It seems to vary a bit as to rares and commons and who I've bonded with the most. For example, for some time I had Old Cliff Jumper, whom I had tamed prior to the shattering and felt inclined to keep as a) he was rare and possibly unobtainable again in the future and b) he was a crit buff that our raid needed. Unfortunately, he and I didn't click. In fact, he actually *annoyed* me (which is silly, seeing as that the pet is under the hunter's control... but it didn't seem the same with that wolf, it was almost as if he felt inclined to rush after the wrong target and aggro things, or get in the way and die, etc etc). Pretty much the second OCJ was found on PTR I ditched him and returned to Westfall to retame the coyote wolf I had grudgingly picked up in Wrath. I hadn't liked him either, in fact I'd called him Jake after Jacob from Twilight *LOL shame* to express this, but for some absurd reason I'd missed him. He's now one of my favourite pets and I use him quite often because of the buff required. It still makes me giggle, though, when my raid leader says "Cat, could you use Jake for this fight please?"

On the other hand - I can't deny it, I really don't have a strong bond with a few of my "trophy rares". My Loqu, Tangaloor, I got after waiting literally almost all of Wrath (I got him a week before Cata arrived). I was great and I still like him... but I rarely play BM, and when I do, I feel inclined to use other BM pets that I'm attached to. I keep him there, though, because of the absurd amount of time it took me to get him. To be honest, if I really could in my heart of hearts do it, I'd get rid of all my SB's apart from Gondria... Gondria (Rosemallow) is the one I love the most. But they all have some sort of meaning or history or *reason* for me to keep them 3: (The boyfriend would ditch me if I got rid of Arcturis; Skoll was given to me by a kind Paladin and was my first SB; Loque took a billion years to get; Karoma ... I'm randomly fond of as well but I don't use her much.) Amusingly I happened to stumble across Loque on my hunter alt and tamed him; he was my go-to pet til I got Ghostcrawler on her lol.

But you know, end of the day, it's a game. Do what makes you happy! XD If I ditched Loque I'd feel bad, so I keep him. I prefer to use Karma, I'll use him. If I fancy using a pet or not then I'll do that. It's very easy to play with pets/stable slots when you just do what feels right. XD

[Ziarre]

Acherontia finally put into words the feelings I couldn't get to come out right. That aside...

I don't hate rares. I don't hate commons. I do not feel all rares should be unique to themselves, nor that all rares should share skins/models with commons. Leave it as it is...a mix. Leave something for those that chase the unique, and for those that don't wish to camp just to get something pretty. I admit I like to hunt for the exotic--it's a rush, a thrill, a story to tell. But I also will tame/keep/use 'common' pets that simply feel right.