Rak'Shiri changed colors

[Kalliope]

Beautifully put, Mindsprocket. I really REALLY hope that this is the plan Blizzard goes with, as it will ruffle the fewest feathers.

[erwil]

Afterall, Rak isn't the only one that changes. It happens to a lot of different pets. And considering the workload Blizzard already has on them to get Cata done on time, creating new IDs for so many mobs may be too much.

I think this is one of the things people are ignoring. We don't know how big a workload it is. And passing the problem to another mob is going to cause grief somewhere else. I know how hard it must be for some people with their favourite pet from years back, but I also think looking in the gift horse's mouth is a bad idea. Look at the list of aaaall the gorgeous cats and other pets we've got!

*shuffles towards the faint clinic*

[Astratia]

Yeah, we are getting a lot of beautiful cats, I have to admit.
I even ran out and tamed Shadowclaw so when he changes I have the possibility of having that saber model ^^;
Still, as previously stated by another member, the rares should have individual looks while the riding saber should be put on another more common model. I may have been wrong to say King B or Shy, but perhaps some of the sabers that wander winterspring I think would do it justice.

PS: Erwil, I <3 your art of Skoll and Loque!

[SgtMakkie]

I guess I dont see the big deal. It's not like the minty skin is gone. just tame Shy-Rotam. Had they removed the skin, I'd see why hell would break loose

I've had Rak'shiri before. I just didn't click with him. I may get him back though now he's a white tiger skin.

sigh..... Just because YOU didn't click with him, doesn't make it less of a big deal for others. Wow doesn't revolve around you and how you perceive things! Lets say we take one of your beloved pets and made him/her look like every other 'Popular skinned variety'?!?!

/rant over

[SgtMakkie]

PS: Erwil, I <3 your art of Skoll and Loque!

Totally agree...

[Vephriel]

I don't think it would help to just change other pets. If you change Shy the people that have her will be upset, if you change King B the people that have him will be upset. That really seems unfair to me (don't change my pet, change someone else's pet!). It would also be a lose/lose situation for Blizzard since they'd still get the same complaints, just from other people.

I think it would be far more reasonable to give the new model a new ID so that the pets that are already tamed don't change. I just don't know how feasable that is at this point. Afterall, Rak isn't the only one that changes. It happens to a lot of different pets. And considering the workload Blizzard already has on them to get Cata done on time, creating new IDs for so many mobs may be too much.

Still, asking for a new ID seems like a better (and fairer) solution than just shifting the problem over to another NPC and thus to the people that have it as a pet.

That said, I do think that the white riding tiger would make more sense for a more common mob (since it's the starting pet for NEs) and that the mint model should be kept for the rare (i.e. Rak).

*nods* That same thought had actually crossed my mind. With so many clamoring for the white skin to be moved to Shy instead, I couldn't quite figure out how that would fix things. Surely there must be people that have had Shy'rotam as a lifelong companion. They wouldn't want to see their pet changed any more than Rak'shiri owners.

In any case, new ID numbers would definitely be the way to go, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see if they have time or the desire to do such a thing.

[Lisaara]

I guess I dont see the big deal. It's not like the minty skin is gone. just tame Shy-Rotam. Had they removed the skin, I'd see why hell would break loose

I've had Rak'shiri before. I just didn't click with him. I may get him back though now he's a white tiger skin.

sigh..... Just because YOU didn't click with him, doesn't make it less of a big deal for others. Wow doesn't revolve around you and how you perceive things! Lets say we take one of your beloved pets and made him/her look like every other 'Popular skinned variety'?!?!

/rant over

Whoa. Relax. Yelling at me is a little uncalled for. You're taking this a little too far now.

I understand people may have bonded with them. I was just telling my experience with him. There's really no reason to start screaming at me for sharing my personal experience with Rak'shiri.

Personally, if Rak'shiri should be any model, it should be that pretty white/blue or pure white one.

[Rikaku]

Ok I've been watching this thread for awhile and just had to add some thoughts.

To the people who say "just go tame Shy-rotam":
For some people, that isn't so easy. There is a different feel and personality for some pets to a Hunter, and it goes beyond just "skin". Some Hunters pick pets based on location, maybe their own in-game lore or lore the character made up. It's more than just a "pixel pet". To some Hunters, myself included, the bond of their pet goes beyond just "skin". There's an attachment there that is just like if you forcibly changed my character's race.

If someone changed Heero on me, it would be devastating. It would quite frankly be as if my NE got an unwanted Race Change and blizzard told me to just "deal". My corehound isn't like any other core hound. I can't just go 'tame a different corehound' if they decided to change "The Beast". Sure, I could replace a red corehound, but he wouldn't be Loot.


Now just to be fair.
To the people hoping that Blizzard will implement a new ID:
I hope most of you are genuinely prepared for Blizzard to not really do this in the forseeable feature. Now I'm not saying this to be mean, but really... pets changing skins and colors has happened for years in WoW. It's not a new practice; and making new IDs for a skin to not change on already-tamed pets is probably not high on the To-Do List.

I mean. I get people are mad over Rak'shiri, but to be fair... there's been people who've dealt with this for a longer time as well. It's not just Rak'shiri. There's been Windserpents, other cats, hyenas, serpents, and wolves that have had to dealt with skin-color changing being fixed and/or ID's being switched to a new color. Cataclysm I can think of at least 3 other pets that this is happening to and frankly, up until Rak'shiri's color change, I haven't heard the uproar I have.

Now, I'm not stating that you shouldn't make the suggestion. Do it, try to get some supporters for it on the forums (heck I'll even sign it), but I'm just saying that in an expansion where Blizzard has done immense work to even ensure even the most minutely different skins are preserved and available for Cataclysm for Hunters, that I sincerely doubt that any time in the foreseeable future for this to happen.

[Tahlian]

Let me see if I can help you understand. Your attitude of "eh, just go tame Shy-Rotam. It's the same skin, isn't it?" hurt me and upset me as much as if someone had said to me, "eh, just go get another black cat. It's the same look, isn't it? You'll never notice the difference." when I posted about losing my Norman. Yeah, a little odd of me to be that attached to a pixelated cat, but there you go. I can only claim long-term beast master insanity on that point.

And the personal preferences of the hunters on this forum aside, there is a serious problem with putting that skin on Rak'shiri that's been brought up several times. Let's look at the availability of the other starter pet skins:

Orc - Black Boar: http://www.wow-petopia.com/look/boarskinblue.html Commonly available, easy to get.
Human - Dark Gray Wolf: http://www.wow-petopia.com/look/wolfskintimber.html Commonly available, easy to get.
Forsaken - Black Widow Spider: http://www.wow-petopia.com/look/minespi ... steel.html Commonly available, easy to get.
Dwarf - Dark Brown Bear: http://www.wow-petopia.com/look/bearskindrkbrown.html Commonly available, easy to get.
Tauren - Purple Tallstrider: http://www.wow-petopia.com/look/tallstr ... urple.html Commonly available. A higher-level pet, but not rare.
Troll - Red Raptor: http://www.wow-petopia.com/look/raptorskinred.html Commonly available, easy to get.
Goblin - Red Crab: http://www.wow-petopia.com/look/crabskinvermillian.html Commonly available, easy to get.
Draenei - Green Moth: http://www.wow-petopia.com/look/mothskingreen.html Commonly available. A higher-level pet, but not rare.
Blood Elves - Golden Dragonhawk: http://www.wow-petopia.com/look/dragonhawkskin01.html Commonly available, easy to get.
Worgen - Black Mastiff: http://www.wow-petopia.com/look/mastiffdog_black.html Commonly available, with I believe a couple other instances of this skin recently becoming tamable that aren't listed at the moment.
Night Elf - White Riding Tiger: http://www.wow-petopia.com/look/ridingt ... addle.html Currently, a single rare spawn cat.

One of these things is not the like the other ones...and that's the problem. Night elves are not so special that their starter pet skin should be restricted to a rare spawn as its sole source for non-starter and non-night elf characters. Not to mention...if they wanted to make Rak'shiri "special" with this change, why give the mob the same skin that every young night elf that barely knows one end of the bow from the other gets handed?

As I suggested on the official forums, give Rak'shiri back the aqua skin, and make, say, the Frostsaber mob use the riding tiger white skin so that the nelf starter pet is as commonly available as every other starting pet look. Although I suppose an even simpler solution to the entire ugly mess would be for them to make the Darnassus Frostsabers that use the same white skin tamable by both factions. No other mob would have to change, and at least for a Hordie, it'd be a prestige pet to have, to be able to get in to a hostile capitol, get the critter tamed, and get out again.

[Vephriel]

I guess I dont see the big deal. It's not like the minty skin is gone. just tame Shy-Rotam. Had they removed the skin, I'd see why hell would break loose

I'm not saying you have to agree with people, but imagine a situation where you are extremely upset over something and a person comes up and goes "I don't see what the big deal is." It's not about being in the same mindset, it's just being sensitive to others' feelings. This change won't affect a large portion of the community, but for those it does affect we can be courteous enough to not disregard their personal feelings even though we ourselves may not share them.

[Novikova]

I think a better compromise would be to make Shy the night elf mount color and keep Rak'shiri as she is. That way if she's special to peeps, she is still blue.

[Lisaara]

I understand Veph. I'm not disregarding anyones personal feelings on the subject at all. I'm seeing both sides. If Blizzard changed Leaper(Takk the Leaper), I'd be really pissed. But what some are overlooking as while I would be devastated, I'm willing to just go nab the skin from Wailing Caverns so it'd still be the same Leaper. I wouldn't be able to deal with the new color. That's just me. I'd probably still raise a little hell about it and hope Blizzard changes their mind, doubtful as it may be that they will.

So I guess it's not the end of the world but it's still a bit of mess.

But then we go to those crying out "Give it to King B!" or "Give it to Shy!"

What about those that bonded with King B or Shy-Rotam? Those that don't want their model changed? Isn't that the same problem?

If Blizzard were to backtrack and fix this, it should be to give Rak'shiri his blue color back or/and do one of the following--
1. Make the white tigers all the white riding saber model in Winterspring
2. Keep Rak'shiri's change but allow those who had him blue to keep their blue pets

[Vephriel]

But then we go to those crying out "Give it to King B!" or "Give it to Shy!"

What about those that bonded with King B or Shy-Rotam? Those that don't want their model changed? Isn't that the same problem?

I do agree with you there, I think shifting the colour change to another iconic pet would just present the same problems. No matter what pet is chosen to receive the new model, there are bound to be hunters that have had that pet tamed for a long time and would be upset no matter what. It's certainly a messy subject, and I'm afraid there's no real win situation unless Blizzard decided to implement brand new mobs or give the new skins different ID numbers.

[Lisaara]

But then we go to those crying out "Give it to King B!" or "Give it to Shy!"

What about those that bonded with King B or Shy-Rotam? Those that don't want their model changed? Isn't that the same problem?

I do agree with you there, I think shifting the colour change to another iconic pet would just present the same problems. No matter what pet is chosen to receive the new model, there are bound to be hunters that have had that pet tamed for a long time and would be upset no matter what. It's certainly a messy subject, and I'm afraid there's no real win situation unless Blizzard decided to implement brand new mobs or give the new skins different ID numbers.

Yeah. My point exactly. It'd solve nothing just to toss it to another special iconic pet.

I agree, there isn't really a winning solution, which makes me sad.

[Kalliope]

The only reason I was in favor of King B or Shy as a different source was because it seemed that there would be more upset Rak'shiri fans than King B or Shy fans. When someone posted on the forums here ages ago with a picture of King B with this skin, the feedback was overall positive. Shy was basically the poor man's Rak'shiri on the whole when it came to taming an aqua kitty, but I'm sure that if she were changed, her fans would speak up. Either way, someone's baby would get changed, so....

As I suggested on the official forums, give Rak'shiri back the aqua skin, and make, say, the Frostsaber mob use the riding tiger white skin so that the nelf starter pet is as commonly available as every other starting pet look. Although I suppose an even simpler solution to the entire ugly mess would be for them to make the Darnassus Frostsabers that use the same white skin tamable by both factions. No other mob would have to change, and at least for a Hordie, it'd be a prestige pet to have, to be able to get in to a hostile capitol, get the critter tamed, and get out again.

I *really* like this idea, and for that reason.

The aqua kitties have been so difficult to obtain and for so long that to touch them now is a mistake. King B was so highly desired for years that changing him now would probably upset many. We're not talking about low key (generally) unappreciated rares, like the other cats. (No offense to the heartbroken Shadowclaw/Duskstalker owners; I'm not discounting you, just pointing out that there are far fewer of you than there are Rak'shiri fans.) Adding this skin to the frostsabers in Darnassus would be the wisest thing Blizzard could do. Alliance players would have to level to get one and Horde players would have to risk life and limb to tame a pet in an enemy city. It's a fair trade.

[Thorkas]

I've had Rakki for a long long time now and I always thought hunters upset about changing pets were a bit silly. But now it's happening to me I'm feeling it. I'm gonna give that girl a lot of time out of the stable until Cata although I hope Blizz goes with Tahlian's suggestion. I would certainly /salute a Hordie hunter toting that pet

And as for the rest. Zomfg ! Blizz is going insane. I already weaseled my raid team to come help me get Chromaggus (in cata? in 4.0.3? when?). I feel entitled to him after those brutal level 60 days where the hunters had to painstakingly do TranQ Shot rotations, whilst being frozen and hopping in and out of Line of Sighy. /2 LF10M stable slots !

[Tahlian]

Well, I added the Darnassus Companion suggestion to the thread on the official Suggestions forum. It seems to be rough going keeping the thread near or on the first page, though. Guess we'll keep trying and hope for the best.

[Alastiel]

I hope they take your suggestion under consideration. Losing my blue Rak'shiri would make me so sad.

[Pent]

I am here to break eggs and throw pies!

Fair warning... if you get easily offended even when someone doesn't mention names then stop reading this comment right now. Also, if you quote this comment please be fair and quote everything in the comment that pertains to what you are getting upset over... or that you agree with. In other words, do not misquote me by leaving out a part and making it look like I said something else.

I have read the thread, and I have read all the comments about why people think it is wrong to change skins that have been around forever...

...and as much as I understand how some hunters "bond" with their pet and they don't want that pet to get a new skin.... I really just don't get it.

Would it be any different if they removed the original Rak'shiri ID from the game... not remove it from the hunters who had them, but gave the new Rak'shiri a new ID... then after a year or so everyone will think the hunters who has the old Rak'shiri skin really had Shy-Rotam... and no one will know that you actually had the original Rak'shiri except you.

If someone crept onto your account when you weren't around and abandoned Rak'shiri and tamed Shy-Rotam... would you even know if everything stayed the same.... or do you constantly go check your pet IDs? Don't tell me, "I WOULD KNOW!!!111" ... because... no... you wouldn't.

You fell in love with a skin or a pet's name... if you get your pet killed do you break down and have a funeral for it and then go retame it? Or do you just revive your pet? If you are so deep into the game where you think you are going to get upset over them changing your pet's skin... while you can just run out and tame another pet with the same exact skin and give it your old name... then you are on the level of RPing that REQUIRES you to retame the pet after EVERY death... or you just let it stay dead. I know the skill Revive is in the game for a reason, but if you are really getting this upset you are the king (or queen) of RPing.

Anyway, you tamed a set of colored pixels that you enjoy. Your newly found bunch of pixels are computer generated and really can be cloned quite easily. Still want Rak'shiri in her original color? Go tame Shy-Rotam and rename it to whatever you had your Rak'shiri named... it really is that easy, because a year from now it probably won't matter to you. I am curious if this would even be a problem if Rak'Shiri was a regular non-rare beast. As someone stated in a different thread... any one can sit around and camp a rare.

You can sit there and tell me all day long that it isn't the same, and I can sit here and tell you all day long that it is the same thing and you'll never ever change my mind just like I will more than likely never ever change your mind. I can also bring up a point that some day WoW will cease to exist (Yeah.. it'll be awhile before that happens) and you'll log off for the very last time... you can not take the pets with you.

There is a straw somewhere and it will break the camel's back sooner or later. I don't get how anyone thinks it is a good idea to constantly call Blizzard out on issues like this, because there are more pressing issues right now. Like... I want a Devilsar Spirit Beast.

Bring on the hate.

[Pent]

Only making a new comment because I don't want for this comment to be lost inside my other comment above if people have already read it.

I tame pets because I like how they look. I do not tame them because I am wandering around pet-less and I see an aggressive beast looking at me smiling... because usually that wouldn't be a good sign.

I go out of my way to tame pets with looks that I want to be around while I am doing other things. I do not tame pets so we can go out and have fun together with picnic baskets.

I do not go out walking around waiting for a pet to attack me so I can tame it and later say that it loved me so much it wanted to introduce himself to me by ATTACKING ME. As much as some of you want it to seem like a computer-controlled beast wants to be with you... everything that you say concerning that is just animal manure. That is like me saying that I have to play a Nintendo DS game because my DS is lonely.... and meaning it.

With that said... I would not be upset if any of my pet's skins change unless I could no longer get the same skin tamed someplace else. I click with the look... not a made up story, because let's face it... specific color = specific color... there is nothing beyond that.