Reviving the Uniqueness of Hunter Pets

[Nanotrev]

My latest significant (IMO) reply to the thread on the official hunter forums. (minus the first paragraph addressing confusion with someone)

I fudged the number on the Ravager. I didn't want it to be at 5%. I was quoting what I thought was the tooltip. I also never stated that a pet should have backstab. It was stated as an example to make another example that because pet X would receive Y ability of class Y it would not get A, B and C from that same class as would come standard. Ravagers already have a 4% physical damage increase but they don't have Hammer of Justice or Whirlwind. Does it make better sense now that I've elaborated on this? I'm talking about things that would make sense for that pet family to have. Cats might have something akin to what the tigers on the Timeless Isle have. Something like that.

What the the people in this thread have said is that they do not want to go back to the old system but they would be happy with more pet abilities of some sort with better animations or new pet models period. In another thread, they said the same thing BUT would not mind pets having the same talent tree setup that we do.

I personally, after what the people inside this thread have said, would like the same things. Revamps of the old world bestiary would be nice (more polygons etc) but the following is what I would like to see more than that since it seems to be much easier to implement.

New visual effects for pets. Be it new animations or whatnot it would be nice to see something like the Ravager animation and Scorpid stinging animation be more frequently used. Devilsaurs make a raptor mount noise with their animation. For a pet that was so eagerly anticipated at the start of Wrath it seems pretty odd that it's all they get for their special.

...and abilities that I've already touched on a million times but I'll put it here for the sake of a list. There you have it.

[HunterFTW]

i would say make effects for the pets that are a common skin that is also a rare to have effects to make them stand out dispite shareing the skin with most.

example king mosh.he's a common skin but maybe add something to him that says "hey this is the rare red divalsour mosh not the others that rom around.

or the madexx other colors.make them stand out say have them have driping venom or something.

[cowmuflage]

I like it the way it is really.

I don't think we need something saying what's common and what's not.

[Nanotrev]

I like it the way it is really.

I don't think we need something saying what's common and what's not.

Well, look at it this way. When I spent weeks capturing every color of Madexx, only to have them make all of those color except green available as non-rares it made me wonder why I bothered doing any of that camping. When I look back on it I liked the challenge and welcome it again. Sometimes I still camp the spawn even though I already have it and call a fellow hunter over to tame him.

So, can you blame people for wanting the pet they spent six hours camping to continue standing out as a sort of achievement to them? If there's a pet out there with the exact same skin and color why camp the rare?

[cowmuflage]

It's still something we don't need. I think they should use that time and money on making new tameable things instead of making new animations for "rare" pets.

[Nanotrev]

It's still something we don't need. I think they should use that time and money on making new tameable things instead of making new animations for "rare" pets.

It doesn't mean they have to be "new." Maybe to the pets they could be new but there are already spell effects out there that could be applied in a heartbeat with little cost in terms of time wasted.

We also seem to be confused on an important point here. I'm not specifically talking about animations as in new modification to how the wire frame inside the rares moves. I'm talking about visual effects such as the Sha-Infested scorpids in the Dread Wastes. I doubt that took long considering how many mobs have been affected by it. All you have to do is change the tint of the color scheme like you do when you're selecting something in paint or something to that effect and then apply the wisps coming off the mob which I would bet are pre-made to begin with.

[Kurasu]

When I spent weeks capturing every color of Madexx, only to have them make all of those color except green available as non-rares it made me wonder why I bothered doing any of that camping.

If you wonder why you bothered, then don't do that camping. There's now other colorsa vailable.

If you bothered to do the camping for the challenge of getting them, then that's why you did it: for the challenge. You got the challenge, and you got the pets. It doesn't mean that they have to be vastly different. They are the rare.

That part has been discussed in the past.

[Nanotrev]

Yes, you would be correct, because in the end it was the feeling of accomplishment that made it worth it despite the model no longer being unique. Also, I was testing the Madexx models out compared to their Amber scorpid counterparts and they have a unique sound. More possibilities abound! Madexx sounds much more menacing.

However, another method of implementation is to do it for future models, and leave the old ones as they are. I'm really curious to see how many revamped Outland pets we'll see on Draenor though that's a discussion for the WOD threads.

Anyways. Here's the point. It wouldn't hurt to get some recognition for the rares we tame, add new effects to our pets, or make them more unique in what they can do as long as things are balanced. While some of us would say that while we may not NEED these things that indeed we may all want them in addition to what we have? This could be applied to future pets and gradually worked on for the existing ones over time. This isn't anything as huge as revamping Silvermoon which they've already said was unlikely to ever get done. Really. We ask for things all the time. Sometimes we get them, sometimes we don't but...

You'll never know until you ask!

[Slirith]

Neat idea would be taming cat(A) and it doing fire damage(claw only) while taming cat(b)*same species as cat(a)* would do bleed damage(claw only). Completely random and keeps same species unique. If you need a lore reason, whose to say that fighting all these magical mobs doesn't effect our pets.

[Xota]

When I was 60, I decided I wanted a red crab for a pet. I think there were two choices, one near level 1, and one near level 20. I got the level 20 one and leveled it all the way to 60.
I still have a pet named the same thing (the original glitched out and had to be replaced) but its still one of my dearest pets because of the time it took to acquire it (I had to ask horde to spawn it, using 'sentences' only as long as a pet's name) and to level it. I didn't like having to feed pets, since my pets ate different things, I'd have to carry around several stacks of food. And invariably there'd be a hunter or two that would need to borrow food. And learning new pet abilities? That was a chore. It was practically *impossible* to do without a guide telling you what to tame.

Others have already commented on how a pet's uniqueness ended up making them mandatory, and effectively less unique.

I'm not sure how the pet's talent tiers would look. There's only so much you could do before it was either too much to manage on all your pets or pets became overpowered. If you moved current abilities to pets, some of them don't fit for all families, and it would make pets less unique. I like that all wolves have a trait in common that cats don't have.

I would be in favor of having more visually unique pets. Like someone said about Maddexx or King Mosh, there's look-a-likes and it'd be nice to be able to show off even if just a little. At one point, if you tamed a rare, it would keep the silver dragon on its portrait. Another option is for visual effects to stay or be added to the models. You wouldn't need extra modeling work for that. Put green venom dripping from Maddexx's tail, or a spinning crown (a la Inner Fire above King Mosh's head.

[Lisaara]

Neat idea would be taming cat(A) and it doing fire damage(claw only) while taming cat(b)*same species as cat(a)* would do bleed damage(claw only). Completely random and keeps same species unique. If you need a lore reason, whose to say that fighting all these magical mobs doesn't effect our pets.

Then we would be right back where we started in Vanilla. Blizzard doesn't want that and frankly, neither do I. That's bringing back the 'best pet' thing.

[Slickrock]

Ok, a few things here...

It's pretty silly to say "Camp the rare for the challenge" when there's a common with the same skin a zone over. Really silly. There needs to be a few unique rares that require camping.

Regarding the "old ways"...

I miss:
a) taming new pets to learn new skills - it really felt like you were interacting with the pets.
b) going to far zones to tame new pets - too easy now, back in early BC I ran as a baby draenei to the BE starting zone to tame a red lynx, did it again recently, far far too easy now to be memorable, back in BC it was a real challenge.
c) fewer stable slots meant you actually had to make a choice..

I don't miss:
a) leveling new pets - that was really bad when you were level 60+
b) teaching pets the skills.. that was always buggy and took too long.
c) one pet being the best buff.

The real problem now is the pets are too simplified. There are little more that select a color and select a spec, especially for raiding. PVP there is a bit more utility, but still not what it used to be.

Heck, battle pets are more complex that hunter pets these days. O.o

We don't need all the old ways, but we need something to make your choices more meaningful, interesting, and fun.

[Slickrock]

How about giving hunter pets some of the variety that combat pets have, or some randomness like the new tertiary stats? Something you would have to go out and search for.

[Kurasu]

How about giving hunter pets some of the variety that combat pets have, or some randomness like the new tertiary stats? Something you would have to go out and search for.

Again with this, though, you'd get the 'best pet' issue. Which is what Blizzard is trying to avoid.

EDIT: I need to stop using > to do quotes. This is not F... that forum.

[Slickrock]

How about giving hunter pets some of the variety that combat pets have, or some randomness like the new tertiary stats? Something you would have to go out and search for.

Again with this, though, you'd get the 'best pet' issue. Which is what Blizzard is trying to avoid.

EDIT: I need to stop using > to do quotes. This is not F... that forum.

Well, first it would have to be random, not tied to a specific pet. So ANY pet could potentially have the "best" stats.

Let's just say we use the tertiary stats they are talking about. One pet might have speed boost, another might have cleave, and so on. So a tank pet would be great with cleave, but a pvp pet would be great with speed boost..

But again, any pet could potentially have these. Yeah, we'd have to search for ideal pets for us, that's part of the fun.

[Lisaara]

I'm sorry Slick but I don't find that fun. Not in the slightest. That's still making 'the best pet' and most of us don't want that because of the hell we went through back in the day. Camping is awful as it is. To have to camp repeatedly because the pet you tamed didn't have the right stats ANd fight with CRZ + Connected Realms? No thanks!

[Sukurachi]

why not create quests that give your hunter pet a unique glow/look/effect/aura?

like the warlock "green fire" quest, it wouldn't affect your pet's stats at all.

and it would be "unique" in the sense that different hunters would apply it to different pets.

they might even make different quest lines to get different visual effects... like a quest line in a snowy region to get a frosty look, or one in a fiery region to get a flame-like effect, or one in a forest region to get a "nature" effect, etc...

At this point in the game's development, I think that if we want "uniqueness" in our companions, it will have to be purely cosmetic. I doubt Blizzard are going to go back on their decision to equalize pets and their damage.

[Lisaara]

why not create quests that give your hunter pet a unique glow/look/effect/aura?

like the warlock "green fire" quest, it wouldn't affect your pet's stats at all.

and it would be "unique" in the sense that different hunters would apply it to different pets.

they might even make different quest lines to get different visual effects... like a quest line in a snowy region to get a frosty look, or one in a fiery region to get a flame-like effect, or one in a forest region to get a "nature" effect, etc...

At this point in the game's development, I think that if we want "uniqueness" in our companions, it will have to be purely cosmetic. I doubt Blizzard are going to go back on their decision to equalize pets and their damage.

Now THAT I could get behind. :3 Just a visual thing, which Blizz has expressed interest in allowing us to have visual stuff.

[Slickrock]

I'm sorry Slick but I don't find that fun. Not in the slightest. That's still making 'the best pet' and most of us don't want that because of the hell we went through back in the day. Camping is awful as it is. To have to camp repeatedly because the pet you tamed didn't have the right stats ANd fight with CRZ + Connected Realms? No thanks!

But the issue today is that for 25-man raiding your choice of pet has has much significance as your transmog set...

For 10s you don't really have a choice, you just fill gaps....

I want a choice that has some significance, even for 25-man raiding.

[Slickrock]

why not create quests that give your hunter pet a unique glow/look/effect/aura?

like the warlock "green fire" quest, it wouldn't affect your pet's stats at all.

and it would be "unique" in the sense that different hunters would apply it to different pets.

they might even make different quest lines to get different visual effects... like a quest line in a snowy region to get a frosty look, or one in a fiery region to get a flame-like effect, or one in a forest region to get a "nature" effect, etc...

At this point in the game's development, I think that if we want "uniqueness" in our companions, it will have to be purely cosmetic. I doubt Blizzard are going to go back on their decision to equalize pets and their damage.

Now THAT I could get behind. :3 Just a visual thing, which Blizz has expressed interest in allowing us to have visual stuff.

I don't want just tmog pets...