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October 2008   « Archives | Current News »

October is for the Squirrels

October 01, 2008
Woodland Squirrel
As many fellow “Brew of the Month” club members have discovered, the new October offering is [Autumnal Acorn Ale]. This is a “weak alcohol that’s good for you and good for nature.” What the Surgeon General doesn’t warn about is how drinking this beverage can result in some strange, squirrely side effects. With your irresistibly nutty aroma, you may find yourself the target of a young Woodland Squirrel's short-lived infatuation, as it follows you around for 10 seconds. Or you may wind up with an acorn-sized headache as the unfortunate victim of a “nut and run” (in other words, a squirrel may pelt you with an acorn).

In other squirrel-related news, one of the new achievements to be implemented with the next patch is called “To All the Squirrels I’ve Loved Before.” To complete this achievement, you must “show the critters of Azeroth how much you /love them.” More specifically, you have to go around to the 21 different critters listed and do the /love emote while targeting them. The reward is only 10 achievement points, but it can lead you and your little companions on some fun and exciting adventures!
Posted by Sateena
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WarcraftPets Store is Open!

October 02, 2008
Gear up at the WarcraftPets store!
Introducing a great new way to help support the site: gear up WarcraftPets-style in the new WarcraftPets Store! All proceeds go directly toward supporting this site, so it's a win-win way to help. Powered by CaféPress.com, the WP store features gear specifically designed for companion collectors, including shirts, gifts, and even pet supplies for your real-world pets.

Initial feedback has been very positive. There are already some favorite shirts and items:

  • "Got Whelp?" T-Shirt
  • "I'm a Warcraft Pet!" Doggie Tee
  • WarcraftPets Bear Cub


If you're one of the lucky few heading to BlizzCon next week, be sure pick up some head-turning WarcraftPets gear to show everyone your pet collector spirit! Additionally, you'll help to inform other fledgling collectors about the best vanity pet resource on the Web.


UPDATE: The WarcraftPets Store has been closed.
Posted by Breanni
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Are Hat Pets TRUE Pets?

October 06, 2008
Summoning Hats
As the 3.0 game-build approaches, news from the PTR suggests that two of our favorite pets may no longer be considered true companion pets. I'm referring to the Blood Parrot and the Coyote Spirit, both of which are summoned by hats. Each hat must be worn to summon its special pet. However with pet items becoming consumables that "teach" their summoning spells, these two hats have remained unique. They don't teach their owners how to summon their pets. Rather, they work the same way they always did. As a result, they don't count toward fulfilling vanity pet achievements.

No! Say it isn't so!
Sadly, it's true. The game doesn't count these two vanity pets as true companions... at least not yet. It's our hope that Blizzard will come up with a way to count these toward the achievements. One solution would be to allow the hat to teach the summon spell, thus adding the pet to your pet tab. Then, much like pets that require a reagent to summon, these two pets would require their hats to be worn. If the hat is removed, the pet would vanish.

Our ruling:
Too many of us have worked too hard to add these pets to our collections. Plus these headgear-summoned critters still gladly accept companion-only consumables (such as Papa Hummel's Pet Biscuits), thus revealing their "companion" status. So breathe easy—they're still considered true companion pets, at least for the time being.
Posted by Breanni
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Tickbirds and Cobras and Whelps! Oh, My!

October 08, 2008
Tickbird, Cobra, and Proto-Drake Whelp
UPDATE: In addition to the four vanity pets listed below, the [Mysterious Egg] has a chance to hatch into a Green Proto-Drake mount!

NEW WotLK PETS! Four new pets have just been discovered in the Wrath of the Lich King beta. All of these pets can randomly hatch from a [Mysterious Egg]: Tickbird Hatchling, White Tickbird Hatchling, Cobra Hatchling, and Proto-Drake Whelp.

The Oracles are a tribe of primitive reptiles, known as gorlocs, inhabiting the Sholazar Basin. They resemble a cross between murlocs and gremlins (the scaly kind that you get if you feed the fuzzy ones after midnight). These cute, yet creepy creatures must defend themselves against the encroachment of what they refer to as the "puppy-men", an opposing faction of wolvar called the Frenzyheart Tribe. For your efforts in assisting the Oracles, you may purchase a [Mysterious Egg] at revered. The egg will hatch after seven days, with a chance to give you a new little hatchling of the native fauna. Should you choose to side with the wolvar, you can buy a [Disgusting Jar]. Exactly what might emerge from this jar remains to be seen.
Posted by Sateena
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Breanni Goes to BlizzCon

October 12, 2008
Breanni: Pet Supplies
UPDATE: BlizzCon 2008 has come and gone. My wife and I had a blast! I genuinely enjoyed meeting so many of you (I wore a shirt with the design at right). I was thrilled to shake so many hands, share so many hugs, and to chat about so many pets. I also enjoyed spreading word of WarcraftPets.com to new folks who weren't aware of the site.

EXCLUSIVE pet news!
As the #1 vanity pet fansite, I did manage to get a small bit of news regarding one companion pet in particular. This is news you won't find anywhere else:

  • A Special Stinker - apparently the developers have something special in store for Stinker in a future patch. What exactly does that mean? My source didn't reveal any specifics yet, but I was assured it would be something cool, fun, and worthy of this new 50-pet achievement reward.


More news from BlizzCon
For those of you who may have missed it on other sites, I'll mention a few other tidbits that I'm most excited about:

  • Dual Specs - it looks as though at some point after Wrath is out, the developers intend to allow a character to maintain two different specs and to be able to swap between them almost as easily as a warrior changes stances.
  • Swimming Mounts - word comes that mounts will one day be able to swim, no longer dismounting players when crossing deep bodies of water.
  • Ride-along NPCs - a few new mounts in Northrend will allow for other players to ride along as passengers. But when you're riding solo, NPCs will take up the free spots, including a reagent vendor and possibly a repair vendor!


Until next time...
If you didn't get to go to BlizzCon this year, perhaps you'll have better luck next time around. I know I'll be looking forward to attending again (assuming I'm lucky enough to return). Let's hope you and I will have the chance to meet then!
Posted by Breanni
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Addons Page and Patch 3.0

October 14, 2008
WarcraftPets is proud to announce the addition of an addons page for pet collectors. This page provides links to download various pet-related mods, with functions including reminding you to summon your pets, tracking your pet collection, and customizing your companion frame.

In other exciting news, the long-awaited and much anticipated Patch 3.0 is finally here! In addition to new talents for each class, this patch includes many updates that are of particular interest to pet collectors, as outlined below (click on links for more detail):



In addition, our Companion Pet Q&A and Minipet Collecting Guide have both been updated for the 3.0 game build.
Posted by Sateena
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Random Pet Macro

October 16, 2008
Now that pets are summoned through spells, we no longer have to worry about deciding which pets to carry with us on our exciting adventures. We can just bring them all! However, the problem of deciding which pet to summon at any given time still remains. Fortunately, there is a simple macro that was submitted by one of our members to randomly summon any pet from your entire collection:

/run CallCompanion("CRITTER", random(GetNumCompanions("CRITTER")))

In addition to this macro, there are plenty of wonderful addons available for pet collectors, all of which are working with the latest patch.
Posted by Sateena
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New Pet: Kirin Tor Familiar

October 18, 2008
Kirin Tor Familiar
NEW WotLK PET! A new pet has been discovered in the upcoming expansion, and this one has a doozy of a name! The Kirin Tor Familiar is an arcane elemental that can be obtained from our favorite portable wizard pal, Archmage Vargoth. The catch is that you must complete the Higher Learning achievement before you can visit Vargoth in his secluded spire atop the Violet Citadel. The achievement entails reading 8 different books about arcane magic in Dalaran. The catch is that they are on 3 hour spawn timers and they share spawn points with nearly 30 other non-achievement books. As if the Scorchling wasn't frustratingly difficult enough to get already, Blizzard has to go and make another elemental pet to torment me... I mean, us!
Posted by Sateena
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Vanity Pet Article

October 22, 2008
Within the past week, our own Niamb prepared a beautifully written and insightful article for MMORPG.com dedicated to the joy of vanity pet collecting. Although there's no "news" contained within, it's a truly enjoyable read and we encourage every collector to give it a look.

» World of Warcraft: Vanity Pets
Posted by Breanni
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A Sinister Treat

October 22, 2008
Sinister Squashling
Several people have reported that the Sinister Squashling can now be rarely looted from a [Treat Bag], obtained by trick or treating with the innkeepers. It can also be rarely found in the [Crudely Wrapped Gift] rewarded for the daily quest involving putting out the Headless Horseman's fires. This is welcome news for pet collectors who have not had luck getting this pet from the Headless Horseman, despite the apparent increase in drop rate (with a range of 3-14% listed in Blizzard's armory).

It appears that the Hallowed Helm can also be obtained in the same manner as the squashling. A player that is fortunate enough to collect both items will complete the Sinister Calling achievement. If you are really in the hallowed spirit, you can try to complete this and all of the other achievements required for the achievement Hallowed Be Thy Name, which gives the title The Hallowed. Happy haunting!
Posted by Sateena
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100th Pet: Frosty!

October 24, 2008
Frosty the 100th pet!
NEW PET! WarcraftPets is proud to welcome its 100th pet to the Vanity Pets database. Frosty is the cute baby frost wyrm available to players who purchase the Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition. With the release of the expansion less than a month away, we just couldn't wait to add this little guy, especially knowing how much you all love whelps! The administrator in me would like to add, please wait until you actually loot your Frosty before adding him to your collection, even if you've pre-ordered the WotLK CE.
Posted by Sateena
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The Haunting Scourge

October 26, 2008
Scourge Haunt
As many of you already know, the Scourge have been mounting attacks on various neutral zones of Azeroth. When killed, these invading undead occasionally drop a [Haunted Memento]. Using this item throws it to another player, who will then receive it in his/her inventory. The unsuspecting recipient will also become haunted by a Scourge Haunt, a black shade that follows the player around. The only ways to resummon this spook are to have another player throw the memento back to you, to deposit and then withdraw it from the bank, or to teleport from one zone to another. Players cannot target or otherwise interact with the haunt, though it does show up on undead tracking.

Since this new "companion" does not qualify as a true vanity pet, it will not be added to the database. However, in the spirit of the haunting season, we felt it worth mentioning.
Posted by Sateena
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New Pet: Vampiric Batling

October 27, 2008
Vampiric Batling
UPDATE: Blizzard recently stated the following about Tenris Mirkblood, the new boss that drops the pet batling:

He's around for approximately 10 days. Because he's rare, he drops a bat for everyone.

So in case anyone was wondering how long they had to get their pet, it sounds like the boss will only be available through Monday, November 3rd.

NEW PET! The Scourge Invasion brings us yet another new pet! This one is the Vampiric Batling. It looks as though it may be limited to high level characters, as it's dropped from Tenris Mirkblood, a new raid boss in Karazhan. A group of ten or so is required to bring down Tenris, but the good news is that every single raid member will be able to loot a batling! However, this boss will only be around during the invasion, and this is a one-time per server event. So what are you waiting for!? Go fight some Scourge and claim your bat!
Posted by Breanni
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"I Survived" Zombie T-Shirt

October 27, 2008
Click to enlarge
NEW T-Shirt! I realize that this isn't really pet-related, but I couldn't resist... I simply had to create this shirt!

With this unique design you can proudly proclaim that you SURVIVED the 2008 Zombie Invasion world event! This is a must-have for any World of Warcraft fan that was zombified... repeatedly, in my case. The design includes original artwork by yours truly (a Breanni original).

These shirts and hoodies will only be available from the WarcraftPets Store for a limited time, so be sure to get yours soon!

UPDATE: The WarcraftPets Store has been closed.
Posted by Breanni
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Pet Collection Stats

October 31, 2008
Pet Collection Stats
NEW Feature! We've added a new feature to WarcraftPets that shows a variety of fascinating pet collection data. Stats are pooled from the pet collections that are recorded by thousands of members of this site. Using this data, we've also reassigned the pet rarity values to be more indicative of a pet's true rarity among collectors. In the past, pet rarity had been arbitrarily assigned based on our hypotheses.

We hope you enjoy this new feature.
Posted by Breanni
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