Pterrorwings: A Discussion (New Poll!)
Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 2:01 pm
Pterrorwings, skyscreamers, pterodactyls. Whatever you want to call them, but my question here is: why aren't they tamable?
My reasons for why they SHOULD be tamable...
1. They're newly introduced.
2. They have a fancy and high-quality model.
3. They have a wide range of animations.
4. Hunter NPCs can tame them.
Now, before we get started, I'd like to make it clear that this thread is not a "fight over what should be tamable" thread. There shouldn't be any comments like "Well, <X> is cool, but I want HYDRAS first!" If there was a new model of hydra introduced, just about every other new daily involved a hydra, and the raid meta reward was a hydra mount, I'd be making a thread to beg Blizzard for tamable hydras just the same.
So, to elaborate on my reasons...
1. They're newly introduced.
They were just added. It's easier to dismiss an older pet, such as Sandreavers or Clefthooves, as "well those have been around for ages and still aren't tameable!" The hunter community was not quite as widespread (or demanding of new pets) back then, and most of the time new species/models weren't designed with hunters in mind. However, that's changed a lot in the recent expansions, with hunters getting spoiled with lots of unique rares and challenge tames.
2. They have a fancy and high-quality model.
They look way better than old-world wolves and cats, if you ask me. If Blizzard doesn't want hydras to become tamable because their model is old or something, what's their excuse here?
3. They have a wide range of animations.
Pterrorwings could be one of the first pets that switch between grounded and flying. Plus, they have all the necessary animations. My previous favorite untameable family, Sandreavers, are missing several animations and since they were slapped onto the crocolisk skeleton, their idle pose is strange. Sometimes most of their legs are not even touching the ground. This isn't an issue with the pterrorwings, they're animating as intended.
4. Hunter NPCs can tame them.
Spending any amount of time on the Isle of Thunder will let you know that these pterodactyls have been tamed.
Ah, the Zandalari Trolls.
They've tamed basilisks, hydras, and now skyscreamers and compies.
We got basilisks this expansion, but the others, no. Why do these trolls get so many unique pets?! How do they tame these creatures?
I've a right mind to beat this information out of the next Zandalari I'm supposed to kill.
Still, Thunderwing, the pterodactyl used to launch the assault on Stage 3/4 in the new scenarios, was domesticated by blood/high elves, neither of which are known by lore to have any particular bond with dinosaurs, as the Zandalari do. If they can do it, why can't we?
So, why wouldn't anyone want to tame this prehistoric winged beasts?
Well, here's what I've gathered from a couple threads where this topic was brought up.
1. They're too big!
This is easily fixed. For one thing, the pterrorwings summoned by Dire Beast are perfectly scaled. They're about the size of rhinos.
Still, you might ask "what about their big ol' wings?!"
This is also easily fixed. Scale the pet down to a proper size, where the wings don't get in the way.
Here's a picture of my hunter with Thunderwing, the domesticated pterrorwing hatchling. He's a bit bigger than companion-size, but imagine if he was maybe 2x or 1.5x bigger. That wouldn't be a huge change, and yet it would be an ideal pet size.
Finally, a method to switch between the two sets of animations- "grounded" and "flying" would be implemented. See the Mechanics section farther down this page.
2. They use the proto-drake skeleton!
They actually use a modified skeleton, which means that most of the animations are different. The only time you can tell they use the same "base" is the roosting animation, where they touch their wings on the ground for a second (like the proto-drakes) before folding them back up. Still, these creatures are obviously identified as beasts in-game. Nobody's gonna mistake them for a dragon.
3. We have enough tamable creatures already.
I mean no disrespect, but I couldn't disagree more with this statement. Variety is the spice of life, and taming a variety of interesting creatures to destroy your enemies is the spice of being a hunter. I'm one of those hunters who wishes all NPCs labeled as "beast" were tamable. I don't see how having more options is ever a bad thing.
I'll add to this section by your comments! Give me more things to argue against.
And now, some of my own ideas...
Mechanics
Since the pterrorwings have nice animations for attacking both on the ground and in the air, I would think that some sort of switch would be necessary. It would be like the bird-of-prey "Trick" ability, except it changes the position of your pet.
Fly / Roost
The name of the ability would change depending on what position your pet is currently in.
Now, people might still be complaining about wing size when the pet is in "Fly" mode. However, with my proposed size, the wingspan wouldn't be any worse than a Chimaera. Even if it's still a problem in random dungeons/raids, the other group members could ask the hunter to ground his pet. If it's a problem in organized raiding/dungeon groups, the party leader can take care of things. And finally, if it's a problem whilst lounging around in cities, I don't see how a big wingspan would be any worse than a tauren with a size buff, on a Grand Expedition Yak.
Obtaining a Pterrorwing
I'd think that a book would drop from trolls on the Isle of Thunder, perhaps called "Ancient Ptome of Pterror".
Ancient Ptome of Pterror
Use: Learn the ancient Zandalari secrets of taming pterrorwings.
It would have the same droprate as the book for Direhorns.
Family Abilities
A good family ability for the pterrorwings would be an AoE disorient, something that hasn't been used yet.
Sonic Screech
If that turns out to be OP, or underpowered even, it could be an AoE fear, silence, stun, etc. A number of things.
Alternative Ideas
They could be exotic pets, too, and grant a haste buff in addition to their screech ability.
The tome would be edited to make sure it's clear that they can only be tamed by Beastmaster hunters:
So, what do you guys think? Like I said before, post potential ideas for why they should/shouldn't be tameable! Give me ability suggestions, rare suggestions, and more.
Now, two brief pleas from me:
@Wain- I've seen in the past, you've said "so-and-so is/has been considered for a future pet family." Some of these came true, and others haven't yet - is there any chance you could ask our dev/lurker about the status of these pterosaurs?
@Blizzard- Seriously, please make these tameable. Or let me race chance to a Zandalari Troll.
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Poll Information
Poll 1 Results:
Size comparisons of existing pterrorwings... (If you ask me, these are a little too big.) Use these pictures for reference before casting your choice in the new poll!
Juvenile Skyscreamer
Thunderwing (Adult)
Dire Beast
Dire Beast (Aerial Shot)
My reasons for why they SHOULD be tamable...
1. They're newly introduced.
2. They have a fancy and high-quality model.
3. They have a wide range of animations.
4. Hunter NPCs can tame them.
Now, before we get started, I'd like to make it clear that this thread is not a "fight over what should be tamable" thread. There shouldn't be any comments like "Well, <X> is cool, but I want HYDRAS first!" If there was a new model of hydra introduced, just about every other new daily involved a hydra, and the raid meta reward was a hydra mount, I'd be making a thread to beg Blizzard for tamable hydras just the same.
So, to elaborate on my reasons...
1. They're newly introduced.
They were just added. It's easier to dismiss an older pet, such as Sandreavers or Clefthooves, as "well those have been around for ages and still aren't tameable!" The hunter community was not quite as widespread (or demanding of new pets) back then, and most of the time new species/models weren't designed with hunters in mind. However, that's changed a lot in the recent expansions, with hunters getting spoiled with lots of unique rares and challenge tames.
2. They have a fancy and high-quality model.
They look way better than old-world wolves and cats, if you ask me. If Blizzard doesn't want hydras to become tamable because their model is old or something, what's their excuse here?
3. They have a wide range of animations.
Pterrorwings could be one of the first pets that switch between grounded and flying. Plus, they have all the necessary animations. My previous favorite untameable family, Sandreavers, are missing several animations and since they were slapped onto the crocolisk skeleton, their idle pose is strange. Sometimes most of their legs are not even touching the ground. This isn't an issue with the pterrorwings, they're animating as intended.
4. Hunter NPCs can tame them.
Spending any amount of time on the Isle of Thunder will let you know that these pterodactyls have been tamed.
Ah, the Zandalari Trolls.
They've tamed basilisks, hydras, and now skyscreamers and compies.
We got basilisks this expansion, but the others, no. Why do these trolls get so many unique pets?! How do they tame these creatures?
I've a right mind to beat this information out of the next Zandalari I'm supposed to kill.
Still, Thunderwing, the pterodactyl used to launch the assault on Stage 3/4 in the new scenarios, was domesticated by blood/high elves, neither of which are known by lore to have any particular bond with dinosaurs, as the Zandalari do. If they can do it, why can't we?
So, why wouldn't anyone want to tame this prehistoric winged beasts?
Well, here's what I've gathered from a couple threads where this topic was brought up.
1. They're too big!
This is easily fixed. For one thing, the pterrorwings summoned by Dire Beast are perfectly scaled. They're about the size of rhinos.
Still, you might ask "what about their big ol' wings?!"
This is also easily fixed. Scale the pet down to a proper size, where the wings don't get in the way.
Here's a picture of my hunter with Thunderwing, the domesticated pterrorwing hatchling. He's a bit bigger than companion-size, but imagine if he was maybe 2x or 1.5x bigger. That wouldn't be a huge change, and yet it would be an ideal pet size.
Finally, a method to switch between the two sets of animations- "grounded" and "flying" would be implemented. See the Mechanics section farther down this page.
2. They use the proto-drake skeleton!
They actually use a modified skeleton, which means that most of the animations are different. The only time you can tell they use the same "base" is the roosting animation, where they touch their wings on the ground for a second (like the proto-drakes) before folding them back up. Still, these creatures are obviously identified as beasts in-game. Nobody's gonna mistake them for a dragon.
3. We have enough tamable creatures already.
I mean no disrespect, but I couldn't disagree more with this statement. Variety is the spice of life, and taming a variety of interesting creatures to destroy your enemies is the spice of being a hunter. I'm one of those hunters who wishes all NPCs labeled as "beast" were tamable. I don't see how having more options is ever a bad thing.
I'll add to this section by your comments! Give me more things to argue against.
And now, some of my own ideas...
Mechanics
Since the pterrorwings have nice animations for attacking both on the ground and in the air, I would think that some sort of switch would be necessary. It would be like the bird-of-prey "Trick" ability, except it changes the position of your pet.
Fly / Roost
The name of the ability would change depending on what position your pet is currently in.
Now, people might still be complaining about wing size when the pet is in "Fly" mode. However, with my proposed size, the wingspan wouldn't be any worse than a Chimaera. Even if it's still a problem in random dungeons/raids, the other group members could ask the hunter to ground his pet. If it's a problem in organized raiding/dungeon groups, the party leader can take care of things. And finally, if it's a problem whilst lounging around in cities, I don't see how a big wingspan would be any worse than a tauren with a size buff, on a Grand Expedition Yak.
Obtaining a Pterrorwing
I'd think that a book would drop from trolls on the Isle of Thunder, perhaps called "Ancient Ptome of Pterror".
Ancient Ptome of Pterror
Use: Learn the ancient Zandalari secrets of taming pterrorwings.
It would have the same droprate as the book for Direhorns.
Family Abilities
A good family ability for the pterrorwings would be an AoE disorient, something that hasn't been used yet.
Sonic Screech
If that turns out to be OP, or underpowered even, it could be an AoE fear, silence, stun, etc. A number of things.
Alternative Ideas
They could be exotic pets, too, and grant a haste buff in addition to their screech ability.
The tome would be edited to make sure it's clear that they can only be tamed by Beastmaster hunters:
Use: Learn the exotic Zandalari secrets of taming pterrorwings.
So, what do you guys think? Like I said before, post potential ideas for why they should/shouldn't be tameable! Give me ability suggestions, rare suggestions, and more.
Now, two brief pleas from me:
@Wain- I've seen in the past, you've said "so-and-so is/has been considered for a future pet family." Some of these came true, and others haven't yet - is there any chance you could ask our dev/lurker about the status of these pterosaurs?
@Blizzard- Seriously, please make these tameable. Or let me race chance to a Zandalari Troll.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poll Information
Poll 1 Results:
Size comparisons of existing pterrorwings... (If you ask me, these are a little too big.) Use these pictures for reference before casting your choice in the new poll!
Juvenile Skyscreamer
Thunderwing (Adult)
Dire Beast
Dire Beast (Aerial Shot)
I know I personally whine a little on the inside every time I pass one of these beauties wishing my hunter could have it. xD
I'm sorry but making such a thread on this site it will always turn into one of those threads no matter what you say on the first post XD