What if... no spirit beasts?

[Slickrock]

Could Pandaria be the end of the age of spirit beasts? I'm beginning to wonder, as by now in other betas/ptrs we had seen the models datamined. Combined with the downgrade of cats and spirit beasts with the change to the mastery buff, I have to wonder... have we seen the last of new spirit beasts?...

As a dedicated BMer, this would be annoying. I'll still like my new Water Strider and Quilen, but with the bear discovery today (combined with the drama over the new storm wolf) and you begin to see a pattern. There might not be any rares that are BM only this time around.

Not sure how I feel about that...

[Zangor]

i doubt it ghostcrawler seemed pretty serious about FITE PORC?uPINE SPIRIT FITE! and alot of people speculated porcupine spirit beasts. and the only reason we didnt get a new one in 4.3 was because the new dungeons and raids needed so much work that pets got pushed into the background....and patch 4.2 was still keeping us busy. all in all i think something big is coming soon as the beta winds down.

[Kyria]

If no spirit beasts, then no problem... for me, anyway. Sure, I'd like to see a new one. I like spirit beasts! But I wouldn't mind if they didn't include one in this expansion. We've got plenty already, in my opinion.

[SpiritBinder]

(though i doubt it will be a spirit beast, just a bear, but the skin could be reminisce of one... oh and lets just hope ppl don't /RAGE!?!?! about these guys so much that the thread gets locked up )

I'm not going to rage (at least not in this thread, but, I think you are correct, and we are seeing a pattern. Next come the cats.

(and for anyone else, please don't rage here, rage discuss the matter in the other thread I created...

I'm bringing it over here for you slick....

Really? Don't be so pessimistic, seriously...

All you have to do it stop... look at what skins are not implemented yet, and breath....

Please name/show me ONE spirit beast CAT model/beast that Noah has not given to use yet...? NONE!

All the gondria look alikes where added for use, there are NO other, it's not hard to check, Wain has already done all the work for us in here....

http://forums.wow-petopia.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4290

The closest case you would have to them adding more spirit beast "Cats" would be if they chose to add these.





These are just the skin files added onto existing models, with no transparency.... JUST like these new bears.

Did you notice even Ghost Crawlers was added in his non-transparent version? Nope...

Excluding these skins ^ (these probably never even meant to be, along with these solid SB bears added and solid GC, it's only through the hard work and combined efforts of fans and devs that we has access to them) the only other spirit beast files that are left are

and the blue version of Ban'th that there is no pic for atm... Thats it.

Please don't be so Doom and Gloom. Sure you love your BM spec, as I'm sure many others do, and i love mine. And you have passion for your spirit beasts, as do I.

But please don't disregard the fact that these are NOT the same, We are VERY luck to have access to these skins that were never meant to be, and that this is again, a quality of life for us, we have more choice than ever.

The sky is not falling on our spirit beast heads, it's expanding and opening up to give us even more room to play.

[Kurasu]

Well, if you think about it, we *do* have some Spirit Beast models. .... of a *sort*.

Spirit Beast Tiger


Spirit Beast Crane


Spirit Beast Yak

(I still think this should have been a turtle; it's a Chinese gods thing)

The Loque model is a re-used figure, so it wouldn't shock me if these were used.

[Chimera]

We will be getting spirit beasts, im 100% sure on that, there's no trend going on. 4.2 we had gotten 3 spirit beasts, 4.3 was purely only to play out the closing scenario to cataclysm. We only got tameable beasts in that cause Tyrande's event in End Time was the perfect place to apply those cats and they had already released shiny fleshy hunchback cats so there wasnt really much argument to decide whether they should be tameable or not.

Not one rare beast has been reported here yet and the spirit beast will most certainly remain a rarespawn family (well, minus lightning worg.. HOWEVER! In blizzards defence, i think they got a LOT of hate from the community when we ended up getting gondria's 2 recolors at the same time as spirit beasts and i think it forced blizz to rethink adding recolors to the family). Soooooo, dont give up hope! There is no trend going on, spirit beasts are not dying off, blizzard is up to something without a doubt and all will be revealed with time.

[Miacoda]

I'd be a bit upset if there were no spirit beasts. I'm rolling more and more hunters, and I'd like for more spirit beasts just for more variety.

[Slickrock]

I'm not doom and gloom, yet.. but I am beginning to wonder.

Allthough the pessimist in my is saying T15...

[Wain]

While I don't know it for fact, I suspect the main reason there were no new spirit beasts in 4.3 is now staring us in the face. I think the art team was already WAY too busy. And with good reason; in Pandaria they've really outdone themselves.

I think we'll see new spirit beasts soon. It'd certainly be fitting for the new continent to have some. And I guess I can at least say I had good reason to believe some were being developed, but that info was a long time ago and things change based on deadlines so I can't 100% say for certain.

Plus I don't see them killing off the family entirely. I think they like that they have a family where they can showcase more unusual art now and then.

[Slickrock]

Show me a spirit Rhino, then I'll believe...

[Chimera]

Wain doesnt work for blizz so only the designers if they decided to, could make one and it'd be at their own discretion Sooo.... spirit rhino could take quiiiite a while to show up, if one was ever designed

[WildcatTM]

I'm sure we'll get a spirit beast ... just no cats. Please.

[Slickrock]

Wain doesnt work for blizz so only the designers if they decided to, could make one and it'd be at their own discretion Sooo.... spirit rhino could take quiiiite a while to show up, if one was ever designed

I know, and allthough he does have "contacts" it was more rhetorical...

but still, a spirit rhino.. or a boar.

I do like what they've done with the npc rares, not complaining about that for certain, just have that tingling of sad resignation.

[Sasrei]

I am hoping that we may find some, I mean really spirit beasts are always rare even though there may be chance that it may be a common mob and go outside the norm but we havent really found any rare beasts yet. So maybe they are still working on the rare beasts and that will prolly be the time we see if any spirit beast will pop up. I am still thinking that Tiger has a good chance of popping up atleast. Id love the yak to, but the main thing im hoping for is if we do get spirit beasts please no more transparent beasts.. id really like to see an awesome solid looking spirit beast.

[Kalliope]

*shrug* Too early to speculate still. The white strider skin is now missing, so we know we haven't seen everything yet.

[Ziarre]

I'd be happy to see any new spirit beast, cat or not. I still think the aversion to cat models is slightly silly, but to each their own. I know I'd be over the flippin' moon if they added Xuen's model (translucent or not!) as a spirit beast, because while a cat--it's a bloodly gorgeous cat.

I have faith that there will be more spirit beasts at some point. I will be glad to see them, even if it's one I don't plan to keep (hi Ghostcrawler). But I won't groan if it turns out to be say, a spirit boar just 'cause boars aren't my favorite (random 'meh' family for me here, not picking on boars). I'll be glad for those that like it, and stick with the ones I have that I like.

Am I making any sense here?

P.S. - I thought the Thundermaws were the light lightning worg skin, leaving the mid skin unused? Am I mistaken in this?

[Wain]

But I won't groan if it turns out to be say, a spirit boar just 'cause boars aren't my favorite (random 'meh' family for me here, not picking on boars). I'll be glad for those that like it, and stick with the ones I have that I like.

Actually the most creative spirit beast I've seen was a boar that Spiritbinder came up with. He designed an awesome spirit of life kind of skin that was very much unlike any spirit beast in the game, and I modelled it for him. Er, as in I stuck the skin on WoW models... the literal way would just be weird. Unfortunately he hasn't been happy to show it and it wasn't quite done yet anyway

[Kalliope]

and I modelled it for him.

Oh, now you have to.

[Ziarre]

I could replace 'boar' with 'bat?' I've got a few 'meh' families, I'm really not trying to pick on the boars here.

[Shinryu Masaki]

*shrug* Too early to speculate still. The white strider skin is now missing, so we know we haven't seen everything yet.

Now that you said it, wouldn't surprise me to see it come back as a spirit beast.