WarcraftPets is seeking questions for Cory Stockton!

[Breanni]

In December, we had a chance to interview WoW's Lead Content Designer and the man behind the pets, Cory Stockton. It turns out we're going to have a chance to sit down with him again NEXT WEEK!

So this time around, we thought it would be fun to ask him some of your questions. So don't be shy -- ask away! We won't be able to ask all of your questions, but we'll definitely get to some of them.

[Pomelo]

Sounds fantastic! Thanks so much for the opportunity, B.

I was wondering if there's a chance that we might see the ability to have multiple companions summoned at once? Nothing extreme, but maybe 2 or 3 at a time. And, not for Pet Battles, of course. This would purely be for the enjoyment of having 2 or 3 of your favorite pets trailing after you all at once.

And, I love how some pets have really fun and unique interactions with players, objects, and other companions (Plump Turkey, Stinker, Creepy Crate, etc); is there the possibility that we might see pets in the future that we could emote simple commands to and watch them oblige or not oblige, whichever would be more humorous! Say, emoting to our Perky Pug that he /rollover, for example?

Last, but not least, I'm in love with all the new dinosaur pets coming out soon. They are the absolute best! But, I'd also love to see a baby sea turtle pet with cute flipper feet, as well as some more canine companions! A French Bulldog would be especially adorable, I think. Do you see more puppy/dog companions in our pet collecting futures and/or a sea turtle pet?

Thanks a heap!

[Adalys]

Any plans to update old pets?


For example Hyacinth Macaw - When compaired to new pets, Hyacinth's animation is clunky and his art kinda sucks.

Will epic pets ( Hyacinth / Crawling Claw / Darkmoon Rabbit ) have epic stats at some point or will they still remain on par with blue level pets?


Edit: A pve / pvp pplication for pet farmers.... I joke in guild chat about "When I get my zoo cooldown you hunters ill pay...". Any chance of sicking a handful of pets at someone or something?

[Pikafido]

Ill would like to ask him if there is a possibility for us (other then Chinese members etc.) to also get those pets which they have had in the past.
Now there are so many pets granted to them and we got almost none special occasion pets.

2nd question is how it is possible that some Blizzcon pets are still giving out with special contests (like on this site). Is there some stock around where they can pull out some?

[Arvelayne]

Hi,

Got three things.

First is there any planning for some form of structured competition with pet battles, like a league or ladder system, or even the ability to create small tournaments?

Next are there any thoughts on having a Yoon's farm style place for pets?

Finally is there going to be any expansion to the variety vanity items for pets?

Arve,
spinny glowy alt.

[GormanGhaste]

Will we be getting any new color-changing pets in 5.2?

Will Klaxxi archaeology have a new pet?

[Epicleptic]

Hello!

With 5.2 right around the corner there is a nice array of pets. As well as a display of nice new models there are some interesting new skill sets and skills in general. Are there any plans to swap around the pallet of currently existing and over used pets, an example would be the cockroaches and beetles?

Just to add a quick extra; the wee bug Kovok which grew and grew during the Klaxxi quest line - will anything similar ever be brought to light in the Pet World?

[Ruzgofdi]

The Direhorn pets got pushed back from patch 5.2 to 5.3. I would be curious to hear what the reason for this was. Was it an art issue, an animation issue, a problem with some sort of new battle ability?

Once a player has upgraded all of the pets in a pet family to rare quality, any future family specific battle stones for that family a person gets can feel like a let down. Are there any plans to deal with this situation in the future? Perhaps by not having the stones soulbound, or by providing an npc we could trade stones with to get ones we could still use?

My main for a long time was a Blacksmith. Now that I've gotten more into pet collecting, I feel like I'm hindering myself by taking professions that create no pets. More so when professions like Engineering seem to get another crafted pet every other patch. Is there any chance petless professions (Blacksmith and Leatherworking) will see some love at some point?

First came the Haunted Memento, an item that gave us something like an old companion pet to follow us around. Then came the Restless Shadeling, an actual companion pet we could add to our collection and use in the battle system. Will we ever see more pets based on what warcraftpets calls "Not True Companions" (Blood Parrot, Coyote Spirit, Brewfest Keg Pony)?

Are there any plans to give us ways to improve a pets stats beyond just getting a better quality pet? I often wish I could increase the hit rating of some of my pets after a string of dodges by an enemy pet that isn't using an ability to increase their dodge chance (more so when the target is Hibernating and still manages to dodge).

Some pets are just shrunken versions of things we already find in the world. Some pets are, for lack of a better word, cute versions. What goes into the process of deciding what type of art style is used for a pet?

Will the bronze dragonflight ever let us capture one of their Whelps?

There will be another expansion some day. If history is anything to go by, our characters will end up working their way to lvl 95. Will our pets end up working their way to lvl 30?

[Drudatz]

Question: After Pet Battleing started with Rock, Paper, Scissor it was turned to RNG over all in 5.1. Now they implement Resi for Pets. How will this be any useful instead of fixing the issue that Pet Battle has come to be an Elitist-Number-Cruncher like the rest of wow instead of being a "I wanna do some fun, grab 3 pets and have a 50:50 chance of winning"-game?...

[GilroyKilroy]

Why are you using Twitter to post all your useful information instead of using Blizzard's own forums?

(Not a Twitter user.)

[Restofarian]

Ask him to tell us what is this years Blizzcon Pet.

[NathKnave]

I'm curious about whether they intended rarity to be the huge factor that it has turned out to be. When pet battles were first introduced the majority of non-wild pets were only available as uncommon quality, which made them practically unusable. 5.2 introduced the battle-stones, but they're a headache to farm, which still leaves quite a few of some people's favorite pets less than ideal. I also don't understand the purpose of the Polished Battle-Stone, upgrading a pet to uncommon has no real benefit.

[Gendou]

I also don't understand the purpose of the Polished Battle-Stone, upgrading a pet to uncommon has no real benefit.

I'll second that question.

I'd also like to know if there are plans to re-release uber-rare or currently unavailable pets.
They have a precedent with Hippogryph Hatchling / Cenarion Hatchling.

Also, when are we getting a pet duckling?

[Poofah]

It's very cool that you're able to do these interviews. I don't frequent the bugs/suggestions forum though, and afaik this thread wasn't advertised on the front page. Hopefully there can be more exposure for this kind of thread for the next interview opportunity? I'd love to suggest some questions about pet battle balancing if there's another opportunity.

[Breanni]

It's very cool that you're able to do these interviews. I don't frequent the bugs/suggestions forum though, and afaik this thread wasn't advertised on the front page. Hopefully there can be more exposure for this kind of thread for the next interview opportunity? I'd love to suggest some questions about pet battle balancing if there's another opportunity.

I expect we'll have another opportunity some day. Next time around, we'll do a better job of promoting the thread. It had received several bumps (and was frequently shown on our home page as a result), so I just assumed people were shy.

[ChristyLynne]

I was wondering if there's a place for players to make suggestions for future pets. Since Cataclysm came out and I ran Blackrock Caverns for the first time, I thought that Raz would make an amazing companion pet. Now that we have battle pets, I can only imagine how awesome his abilities would be.

I want a Mini Raz!

Thanks,
Yepah