If Blizzard Added A Method For Promo Pets...

[Ethlin]

Taken from my Pet Battle WoW forums topic (US), curious to see what people here think.

What would be your thoughts on it? Say if they added some once a year quest that let you pick a pet that is no longer obtainable. I see two main replies...

1: YES! I would love a chance to get pets I missed out on!
2: NO! People who have them need them to be special!

My opinion, I would enjoy having a chance to get some of the pets that require "out-of-game" methods to acquire, which if you see by my collection, I don't have any as I refuse to spend real money on something in-game (Other then the 15$ a month obviously). I feel the same for no longer obtainable pets.

I myself have a couple no longer obtainable ones (Vampiric Batling, Spirit of Competition, one more I think, I forget) and would not be opposed if other people were given the chance to obtain them. In fact I would like it, I see people sometimes disappointed about not being there for the Scourge invasion or Chinese Olympics or whatever).

And for those people who need to feel special, I think the FoS could be exclusive to them. For example say I got a Murkablo in-game if they added a method to get one, I wouldn't get the FoS Blizzcon ticket buyers would receive.

OR clone/rerelease them, like they did with...

Landro's XT/KT from the store versions.
Baby Blizzard Bear, from the Chinese promotion pet "Poley"
Spawn of Onyxia, from the Onyxian Whelpling anniversary pet.
Baby Ape, from the TCG pet Bananas.
Battle Bot, from the Mtn. Dew promotion.
Among several others.

Those who got the "special" versions could get a FoS

[Quintessence]

I'm pretty torn about this topic since I can understand the feelings of either side. We all want the pets, that's for sure, and the more pets everyone can get, the better!

But then again some people may have jumped through many hoops or sacrificed things to obtain certain ones. Some of those people may feel as if all their effort was wasted if everyone was suddenly offered a way to get the exact same pet. Not everyone has this mentality, but it would be insensitive if we were to claim that no one would feel this way or that no one should feel this way.

As for renamed clones... It's still a "I don't know". On one hand there will be collectors who are happy to finally have some kind of version of the original, but on the other hand, there will be collectors who feel like it's not the same. In the end those that are dissatisfied with this will still be 1 short in their collection, even with the clone. If player A has 100 pets, including the original and the clone, player B will still only have 99 with the clone.

So I really don't know if I'd choose "yes" or "no". If they re-released the pets, naturally I'd be excited and collect them asap. I'd also feel a little bad since there are some collectors who will definitely feel disenfranchised.

The achievement portion would likely help with those that want to feel as though their effort should still be noted, but if there are renamed clones, it will still leave some players longing for that last one they need to complete their collection.

[Furkel]

Personally, I'm very okay with the idea that there are some pets that I'll just plain never get - and, as petty and dumb as it is, I have to admit also like the idea that I have a few pets that are no longer available in any way, shape of form.

It's not so much that it makes me feel special, it's more that I can look through my pet journal and remember running that limited-time-only event with my guildies (Vampiric Batling), or how different the game was way back in the day (Baby Blizzard Bear)...

I find myself feeling something similar when hard-to-get pets become easier to get later - I always felt like running around with these pets was like wearing a badge saying "yes, I went through all that crap for this silly little thing because that's just how much it meant to me" and it won't mean as much to these new players who just got it from a vendor or whatever?

ANYWAY. This is just my ramblings and I'm not even entirely sure what I really think about the issue - as Quintessence said, I can totally see the arguments for both sides here

[Gilneas]

Despite the Baby Ape, many people still would like Bananas. So I'm not sure creating duplicate pets is really a good idea. Further, some pets were intended as one-time things. The collector's edition pets, the Blizzcon pets, etc. Since they were supposed to be somewhat special, duplicating them would honestly cheapen that. The Blizzcon cards even say "exclusive gift." Grunty isn't so exclusive when there are clones that look and act just like him running around too.

On the other hand, you have the Spirit of Competition which was originally presented as a recurring pet that anyone would be able to get through the years. Finding some way to bring that back is perfectly reasonable.

[Mehetabel]

Quin pretty much summed it up for me too.

On one hand I'd love to get the rare pets that I'm missing but on the other hand I'd feel really bad for the people who do have those pets, and I know how I'd feel if they made my Spirit of Competition re-available.

[GilroyKilroy]

I wouldn't mind if the country/promo pets were made available to all. Not many (any?) people have accounts in all countries so the exclusivity factor really isn't much of an issue.

[Ishildur]

I'd be perfectly fine with pets that were/are unavailable to some regions to be made available in other regions through another way of getting them. That's something no one in the excluded regions ever had a chance to get. Similarly I'd be fine with the spirit of competition simply because we were originally told it would be an Olympic thing and would come back with the Olympics.

The rest... I dunno, I'm torn on it. I can see both sides and both are valid. I mean yeah, it does feel nice to have the vampiric batling and the spirit of competition because they were so exclusive... but at the same time I really would love to have a mini diablo and I do feel bummed for friends who didn't have the time to get the spirit of competition at the time and just figured they'd get it in 2 or 4 years.

[Dash]

For me, a recolored and renamed version is the best solution. Unobtainable and hard to get pets keep whatever makes them special, yet no one is missing out on a specific model /ability. In the same logic, not buying pets from the store is a bit of a statement for me, so if there's a clone in game, I would want it to be different. On the other hand, it kills me that I will never ever have a baby murloc, and I would gladly take any model / colour of the little guy and not think twice about the fact that it's not really a Lurky or a Gurky.

[Opallena]

I wouldn't mind pets like Baby Blizzard Bear or the Vampiric Batling remaining forever unobtainable unless you were online during the event. What i would like to see though is pets like Murky or the original vanilla CE pets becoming atleast temporarily availiable for collectors. there are still codes for old blizzcon and CE pets floating around that haven't been used, but to get one you have to pay through the nose, and it really isn't worth it in the long run.

[Tiggindy]

I will echo the regional promo pets being made available outside the original regions.

There's no reason why Asia and European players shouldn't get the Warbot, and I don't see a reason why we shouldn't have any of the murlocs (other than Murky), the pigs, jade and onyx panthers, Green and Red dragons.

I don't expect special event pets to be re-released though. Things like the Vampiric Batling, the Olympic pets (both the US one and the Chinese one), or the anniversary pets.

[Ashado]

The problem is, pets like Mini Diablo and Mini TYrael and Murky... of the accounts that have them, how many still play? Let's say 50k accounts have them, but only 800 of those are still active. The exclusivity is nice, but there aren't enough active players who have them for them to worry about offending people.

I have the Vampiric Batling and the Spirit of Competition, and frankly I never even have them out. So I don't mind if others get access to them. I'd be happy for them.

[Gilneas]

The problem is, pets like Mini Diablo and Mini TYrael and Murky... of the accounts that have them, how many still play? Let's say 50k accounts have them, but only 800 of those are still active. The exclusivity is nice, but there aren't enough active players who have them for them to worry about offending people.

I'm not saying you are right and that they should make them available again (I don't, and sadly the ones you listed are all ones I don't have, so I would be missing them too), but I'm pretty sure I read they only made 8,000 Murky codes. The others, I don't know.

I have the Vampiric Batling and the Spirit of Competition, and frankly I never even have them out. So I don't mind if others get access to them. I'd be happy for them.

The stuff that was in-game though, I think has more of a shot (or from other regions).

[Britty]

As someone who joined the game in Wrath, I would love a way to get those promotional pets. However, I know how people who already have those pets would feel, as I have the Swift Zulian Tiger.

Aside from recolors with the same abilities/stats, I think perhaps if they added specific ones(like the Spirit of Competition or Vampiric Batling) to the BMAH, it shouldn't hurt their personal value too much if they start the bidding at like 20k+. The pets would still be untradable, and it'd cost a fortune for anyone who wanted them.

Blizzcon pets, CE pets, and the anniversary pets should not be added via BMAH though. I would personally be alright if Blizzard added a digital licence to their previous collector's editions, but the prices should definitely be more expensive than say MoP's digital CE. Things like the Blizzcon pets(Or at least Murky, because people could get the digital stream for the previous pets) and anniversary pets should remain exclusive though. It really pains me to say that too, because I'll never have a baby Murloc pet

This is just my two cents though.

[Cat666]

At the end of the day a pet is just pixels on a screen. Should WoW end tomorrow, your pets/mounts will be gone too, no matter how much you paid for them, or how you got them.

Personally I think Blizzard should make all previously available but now non-obtainable pets/mounts available to all, including older TCG pets/mounts and other regions mounts. Obviously the ways to get them would need to vary, but I’d be happy to see the majority be available from the Blizzard Store.

Kudos wise, it's the exactly the same as titles. Bane of the Fallen King was awesome back in WotLK, but now> Everyone has it. Tier 6 gear was really hard to get, now every lock and his dog has those wings. Likewise why shouldn't new players have Frosty if they are willing to upgrade to a digital collectors edition? Just because it was rare once upon a time doesn't mean it has to stay rare forever.

It also seems silly to me that Joe Bloggs can get away with charging £500 for a Spectral Tiger on eBay, or £1000 for a Vanilla collectors edition purely because of the pet. All Blizzard would need to do is make it available on the store for the standard mount price and everyone wins, especially the people who do just want the collectors editions for the artwork. If you are lucky enough to still get a loot card from an older TCG pack, then at least it’s free!

[Ainyan]

There's no reason why Asia and European players shouldn't get the Warbot, and I don't see a reason why we shouldn't have any of the murlocs (other than Murky), the pigs, jade and onyx panthers, Green and Red dragons.

They get the Warbot. It's found on merchants. You can buy the fuel for it, too. (And I admit, I was more than a little put out when the warbot was made available to all, since it was the only North American-only pet ever).

Special-event pets like the Vampire Batling or the Spirit of Competition I can understand not making available again, but I don't understand why pets that were just codes handed out or CE-specials shouldn't be made available as part of a DDX upgrade. You didn't have to do anything special other then spend some extra money, and frankly, if I'd known at the time what an awesome game WoW would be and that I'd be playing it for nine+ years, I would have bought a vanilla CE, even if it had broken my bank at the time. But I can't tell the future and so I had no idea how awesome mini-pets would be or how long I would play WoW.

[Mojo882]

I'd be happy with cloned pets, it would be unfortunate for them to just release the rare ones again though.

[Gendou]

I'd be happy with cloned pets, it would be unfortunate for them to just release the rare ones again though.

I'd have to agree with that. Cloning is the best bet for that sort of thing.
At least the guys with the old/rare/expensive pets can keep their original without feeling too cheated.
Plus they can double up on their pet count by getting the new version as well.

I'd feel kinda sad if they re-released some of the CE or rare pets I've gotten.
A clone (or a recolor) would be fine with me, however.

[Lolfixheal]

Re-releasing is not gonna fix the problem, only make the models available to those who couldnt get them before, you will still not be able to get the specific pet. Making all pets available everywhere, they need to come up with a plan and a way to obtain them plus those who attended said events IRL would lose their status because everyone now suddenly have their pet.

Its fine US got their unique ones, EU got theirs and the Asians got theirs. What troubles me most is seeing the pets appear available in my journal, greyed out. Simply remove them if you can't obtain them due to region, that would allow people to get 100% and collect what they can collect. Its like a candy store putting signs on everything saying "Not for sale!", its heart breaking to them kids.

On the Spirit of Competetion, I do think they should have made it available every 2 years like they said they would back in 2008, sadly now it was a one time event. Its quite easy event, promotes PvP ingame and whatnot. Simples. Reintroduce

[Breehit]

I seems to me that "unique" pets given as special items for certain events, such as the Baby Blizzard Bear, should not be duplicated outside of that event. To allow anyone to obtain the "gift" pet would cheapen it, and worse, would remove the marketing advantage of any future "special event" pets. Players would know that all they needed to do is wait, and the "special" pet would no longer be exclusive.

However, the regional/international pets are a different issue. It seems inappropriate that LOYAL American customers are unable to obtain the pets that were used to lure NEW customers in Asia. I am a university level marketing professor, and my courses emphasize Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The key to CRM is customer retention, which requires a company to give attention to the needs of existing customers, rather than mainly try to recruit new customers.

Therefore, I would vote for Blizzard to open availability to American subscribers for the Chinese (etc) pets (and extend availability for other regional pets internationally as well). However, I believe that pets created for special events should remain exclusive to those events.

[Mehetabel]

I will echo the regional promo pets being made available outside the original regions.

This is pretty much how I feel. Regional pets exclusivity always seemed to me a bit like "you live in the wrong country so tough luck". Having them available to everyone would be great.