Question about ratings.

[Jmbruni]

I'm fairly new to the pet battling scene and I must say this is a great and fun experience. I am up to 13 of the top 20 rated battle pets and I won my first pvp battle with a[pet] Scooter[/pet], [pet]Fossilized Hatchling[/pet], and [pet]Fel Flame[/pet]. I'm doing so well I started messing with my team, got a little less careful, and lost my next 3 pvp battles, lol...they were close, I had [pet]Graves[/pet] and [pet]Anubisath[/pet] on the run but in the end experience prevailed. Heh, tomorrow will come

My question is noobish and based on my lack of knowledge I'm sure. I looked thru a few of the top rated collections and saw variations in score but little seemed to vary stat-wise, perhaps having 740 at max level as opposed to 741, but nothing too major. One thing that impressed me was the generally fit and trim collections - the collectors tend to make the collection as straightforward and clean as possible and I appreciate that. What I, as a learning noob, liked more were the collections with a ton of duplicates! In doing a little study I found that these collectors really didn't have too many true duplicates - they had collections which also included different stat builds. Blizzard may use the same part number for 4 rats with the same name, but the rats themselves might be (for example) H/B, S/B, B/B, and H/S -- to me that's 4 unique rats and a collection isn't truly complete without every combination of every pet. I found that I learned so much from reading a little about how the HSPB thing works then seeing the differences between 4 of the "same" pet and to see examples of how these differences add up. In the heat of battle I think more variation in abilities equals more possibilities therefore more chances to win. Just sayin' lol

So here's my question: Why are duplicate pets not counted when the duplicates may be examples of all the possible breeds, therefore more complete? I understand that the list of pets could go pretty high, maybe 1500-1700 (?), and that the rankings would probably undergo a little flux as collectors everywhere went back in to high gear - but what's the fun if the ride doesn't change sometimes? I guess idling around without MORE to go for is okay....

[Gráinne]

Congratulations on your win!

When I was up to about 950 pets, with about 600 uniques, I was forced to look at my collection, and start discarding duplicates. In that process, I started paying attention to making sure every individual pet was the best it could be, so that my collection had the best possible quality, as well as quantity.

Like most people, I had collected many dupes as I filled slots. So, I might have been looking for a Blue-quality Squirrel, and while I was searching, I kept a White and a Green that I had tamed on the way. So I had three Squirrels.

As a beginner, Blue quality seemed most important, but I came to learn that breed was more important for battling. Especially in WoD, when Blue stones are ten a penny, the quality of a captured pet is so easily and cheaply changed that it is no longer a consideration.

So, if you are shaping your collection for battling, having the best breed of every pet is ideal. But the best breed for battling depends on the moveset you use, rather than the pet.

Take for example [pet]Nightshade Sprouting[/pet]. It comes in lots of breeds. If you are using a [ability]Lash[/ability]/[ability]Blinding Poison[/ability] build, you want the fastest breed possible, an S/S. If you are using a [ability]Poison Lash[/ability]/[ability]Fist of the Forest[/ability] build, you want a power breed, probably P/P (though P/S might be better in some situations). Every other breed is worse. I can't imagine why anyone would use a H/H breed in preference to one of those two.

Now, I see a split between people who want to collect everything and people who want to trim to collect all the most useful pets and breeds. For the collection purpose, Breed barely matters.

The rating system here does not factor breed quality at all. A B/B or H/H Sproutling rates just as highly as an S/S or P/P. If I were refining the ratings system, that's the change I'd make (except I wouldn't, because the arguments would go on for decades.... )

I do think that in principle it's a nice idea that two breeds of the same pet could be credited. But without a ranking system for breed value, people who follow the top ratings would just be forced to go out and grab some extra breeds, any extra breeds.

[Peanutty]

IMO it wouldn't change anything, people who only cared about rankings would just artificially bloat their collections to 1000 pets just to stay on top, even if they had no interest in having duplicates. So to me has nothing with promoting collecting of pets, it's just forcing people to pick up filler to inflate an artificial score.

One thing that impressed me was the generally fit and trim collections - the collectors tend to make the collection as straightforward and clean as possible and I appreciate that.

I wouldn't be surprised if a number of collectors are a little OCD like me. Having duplicates just screws up my sense of organization... it just doesn't feel neat and tidy. I make exceptions to collect all skins and sizes, but past that, no duplicates for me!

[Jerebear]

I have a different kind of OCD. If a pet has different movesets that can benefit from different breeds, I have to get each breed that best benefits from that moveset.

[Peanutty]

I have a different kind of OCD. If a pet has different movesets that can benefit from different breeds, I have to get each breed that best benefits from that moveset.

My spouse always says each person has their own brand of crazy.