Do you think Pet Battles will be a success?

[Damien 1,514]

I personally believe that Pet Battles will be a success.

I have always been a huge fan of Pokemon, of which Pet Battles are a clone, essentially. Once you get past the very childish ambiance of the games, you realize how fantastic the mechanics are. To enter a battle, you need a team of pets. Of course, the pets of your team are not randomly chosen. Each of them needs to perform a certain role (think: tank, DPS, healer, crowd control). So, you often find yourself adjusting your team, hunting for new pets to improve it, etc..

One issue that has always plagued Pokemon games is the lack of balance between the different pets. Out of the 150+ pets that you can get, you eventually only use a handful to make your team because they are far superior to the rest. Blizzard has a history of balancing (or at least trying very hard to) things. Therefore, I am very confident that they will make something interesting out of Pet Battles.

What do you think?

[MadMonk 154]

Yes, for exactly the same reasons. Pokemon is awesome.

nuff said

[Poetry 5]

So happy for this!

I'm going to be the crazy cat trainer only using cats. =^.^=

[Peelyon 416]

I think when they were first announced everyone seemed to think it was a bit of a joke. I'm still a little bit dubious of how they will run, but overall I think they will be a success.

The main incentive that will draw me is that its another soloable activity. At the moment there really isnt much to do between your normal weekly raids / arenas.

Hopefully you will be able to setup mini tournaments between friends / guildies to make it a bit more sociable!

Just out of curiosity are they available for testing on the PTR yet?

Edited May 26, 2012 by Peelyon

[Damien 1,514]

Just out of curiosity are they available for testing on the PTR yet?

Vlad can probably answer that. I haven't played much at all on the beta yet, owing to having a lot of work to do on the forums :P

[Vlad 411]

Pet Battles are not exactly testable on the Beta, currently.

Initially, you could engage in them at any level, if you got the training, but it was then raised to be level-90-only. So those who got the training before this can still do them, although they are massively bugged (each battle requires you to log out afterwards).

This is something that will probably be added some time after level 90 is unlocked.

As for the thread at hand, I believe they're going to be massively popular, in fact. Pokemon is, and Blizzard has been known for releasing polished and addictive systems in the past ;)

[Lolwtfjacob 10]

I know it will be. People complained about panda's because Blizzard was copying Kung Fu Panda, but Pandaria is amazing and beautiful. I hope the pet battles will be... Beautiful? Lol, but kidding aside, I will own everyone with my Horde Balloon.

FEAR THE BALLOON'S WRATH!

[MADsMoKe 4]

I know it will be. People complained about panda's because Blizzard was copying Kung Fu Panda,

At Blizzcon 2011 the Lore Q&A they discussed that they had the idea of panda from burning crusade but went with draenai instead. I know blizzard have had alot of stick lately about using pandas for their next expansion, but... tbh im looking forward to them. It seems though that its a sore subject for Lore team as shown at blizzcon 2011 when asked if the voice of pandaeran leader could be voiced by jack black.

As far as i am aware one of the leading art directors for blizzard has been drawing panda's in this way for years before kung fu panda was a twinkle in someones eyes.

As for the pet battle system it will be fun. something to do other than raid and pvp. Fluffly wabbit uses carrot on a stick its super effective!!!!

[Alierya 94]

I hate the idea. I really really hate it. Pandas and pokemon...

Not sure why I dislike it so much, it just seems far too cute and fluffy...

[meukow 15]

It won't be a success at first but later on maybe... if it gets competitive, who knows.

[Vlad 411]

I hate the idea. I really really hate it. Pandas and pokemon...

Not sure why I dislike it so much, it just seems far too cute and fluffy...

I see quite a few people of the same view as you and, honestly, I don't really understand why you'd feel that way.

There have always been numerous "cute and fluffy" elements in WoW, even since Vanilla. Gnomes are a prime example. Dwarves are pretty comical too, and always have been. Even in the deepest, dark receses of Azeroth, the game takes itself very lightly. Every quest name, NPC name and achievement name is a pun or a reference to a real life song, movie or book. The is and always has been "children and family friendly".

Companion pets have been in the game for a very long time. A lot of people collected them, played with them and enjoyed their generally cute aspect. Even the ones based on menacing characters (like Onyxia) have always been used for their cuteness factor. Now, we finally get a way to interact more with those pets and an extra thing to do. I don't see how it could put anyone off.

Regarding Pandas, I don't feel like they are out of place at all among races like Gnomes and Tauren. They've been a part of WoW lore for a long time (Warcraft III, too!), and other than their bodily hair and generally chubby builds, there's nothing cute and cuddly about them.

And, personally, I was getting pretty darn tired of all the "darkness and fire" mood that's been set by pretty much every patch in every expansion so far. I think it's about time we got some fresh air, saw some green pastures and got a chance to smell the roses. Then, it'll be even more impactful when they blast it all to hell with another Deathwingesque catastrophe.

[Alierya 94]

As I say I don't know WHY I hate it so much. I think the pandas are probably most similar to the tauren really, I mean what are they but big cows essenitally? The beta is better than I thought it would be. Maybe it's jsut that I don't like pandas that much... I did boycott them at the zoo this week =D

I do have many companion pets. I like companion pets. I just am not particularly enamoured by the idea of pet battles. We shall see if I change my mind when it is implemented.

Remember back when we got blood elfs and draenii? There was gossip about getting those centar/driiad things? I still hold that would have been cool. And before you say well what would you do for a mount, it's EASY... roller skates! *ahem*

[meukow 15]

I agree and disagree with you, like, there was a post on Hydramist about the game title MISTS OF PANDARIA not being attractive at all. Just look at the old titles, BURNING CRUSADE, WRATH OF THE LICH KING and CATACLYSM, those titles are the sh*t. And now these cute pandas, pokemon and monks... quite silly. But let's give it a shot, who knows maybe it turns great.

[Nyxxiana 28]

i LOVE this .... i seriously have already tried to figure out my lineups.... a battle of epic porportions will be going on in this house..... we will probably ONLY be leveling to 90 JUST to be able to do all this with our pets. level them up, find trainers all over, get NEW pets as rewards, etc!

my hunny thinks that his Grunty is going to own me... personally, i cant WAIT to tear Grunty Down! He shoots up the auction hall, rwlrwlrwlrwls at all my new pets, and shoots off his grenade at REALLY inappropriate times.....like when weve just downed a group of 20 or so mobs by the skin of our teeth, and im almost , ALMOST dead... and i see "PFSHEWWWwww.(from the rocket launcher)...RAAWlrawlrawlrawlrwlrwlrwl" ..... which sends Vixxn into fits of laughter while i yell "yeah, WAY to be ON it Grunty, thanks a LOT"...... stupid pally *grumble grumble* almost let me die.... and his stupid murloc marine *throw jellybeans at stupid pally*.....*grumble* ILL FIX THEM, I WILL!

With my Snarly !!!!!!!!!

you just wait and see....... :P

...the hazards of gaming with your real life pally..... he is subject to having an occasional food item thwunked to the side of his head if he lets his Rogue die..... somehow i think he has some kind of real life sheild, because it simply seems to amuse him more.........

[Nyxxiana 28]

on a serious note, i think they made this expansion more attractive to old schoolers like me, who have become increasingly disillutioned with the overall state of the game..... it WASNT FUN anymore.... this is agame that is supposed to have an RP aspect to it, HEAVY on the lore, and NO ONE has fun with the RP anymore....and NO ONE knows the lore, or cares.... and the whole elitist jerk being the cool atmosphere....... "sorry, your just not good enough to get into MY raid, because even though you can do 10x's more dps in your sleep than this buttonsmashing shmuck next to you, your gearscore/ilvl isnt to my liking.......DENIED"

[meukow 15]

Well the game is quite old eh...

[Peelyon 416]

Well the game is quite old eh...

I think with the money that has been generated in the years that WoW has been around that they could have been a bit more forthcoming with their optional content. Each expansion has been the same sort of format:

-> Tier raids

-> One new class / new race

-> One-Two New battlegrounds

-> One-Two new arenas

-> New dailies

Other than the above there hasnt been THAT much new content involved. Yes there are the new zones to quest in but after you hit end game they become obsolete except for farming. The game has been crying out for things like pet battles that can keep both the casual and the old gamer entertained. If anything the game being "old" should mean that they put more and more effort into making new and innovative content.

I feel they tried to do this with archaeology, bringing something new into the game, but ultimately this was just another grind.

Perhaps something with a bit of competition involved like pet battles is the answer. Who knows. Personally I'm just glad their trying to push a new activity that can be played solo or with friends that doesnt involve the same old raids / pvp etc.

[meukow 15]

I'm afraid you're not looking at the bigger picture.

MMORPG concept is now quite old, we've been playing it for years and there has been so many MMO's lately and if you look at it, they didn't bring ANYTHING NEW, literally, different lore, skins, attacks, world... concept stays the same. Which in the end means we get bored of it fast.

There's literally nothing Blizzard can do to WoW to save it, we're getting bored of it faster and faster with every expansion and it's time for something revolutionary. HINT: Their new MMO called Titan (Apparently MMOFPS)

That's just how it is boys, let's hope in next few years they bring us something completely different. Maybe mind controlled movement? Those cool glasses that make you feel like you're actually in the game? Sounds good but we probably won't be seeing that for a while.

Edited June 10, 2012 by meukow

[Peelyon 416]

I agree WOW won't last forever but I still think it has a lot of potential. In terms of "new" MMO's a lot of them are in a very similar format because that format is successful and no one really wants to take a massive gamble. With the costs involved to produce a totally new game the risk is quite high and I think for a lot of MMO's of recent times it's trying to squeeze as much as they can.

Personally I think that pet battles etc will help to keep the game going for a little while longer. I just think more resources should be pushed into new areas of gameplay within the game, or else there is a chance they may have that 'gimmicky' feel.

[Alierya 94]

I do think there is some go in wow yet... mainly because there is always the next bit 'wow killer' and none of them have actually managed to do it! I believe the consensus for guildies is that SWTOR is actually kak, so lets see what damage GW2 brings. But essentially they are all a very similar format.

I think I feel that they will be quite gimmicky but lets see, I do hope to be proved wrong!

[Vlad 411]

More wall'o'textage incoming from me.

I believe that WoW is not dying, and that it will carry on as an MMO with the same success it has had over the past 4 or so years for at least another 4 years, albeit with more whining about the game being old, perhaps. There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that there just isn't a much better game out there.

I really think that it would take a much better game (of the same type) for WoW to actually lose subscriptions in a meaningful way. A similar game that is riddled with problems, unpolished and unoriginal will ultimately fail to affect WoW. This has happened to every "wow clone" that has come out in recent years (and it's happening right now to SW:TOR). Even if a game that is identical to WoW would come out, it still wouldn't do the trick, because everyone is attached to WoW, they have their friends, guilds, characters and memories there. So it would take a much better game to do this, and from all the potential releases I've seen from the near future, nothing comes close to that.

Peelyon, I think the reason that "more stuff" isn't added despite Blizzard's huge revenue is because they worked out the ideal balance between investment and revenue. They probably know that the same amount of people will buy MoP and remain subscribed to WoW if they introduce 1 new race/class or 2 new race/classes, 6 new zones or 18 new continents. There's a minimum threshold for people to buy the game, and past that, no amount of extra content would affect things.

It would improve the playing experience of the customers (maybe) if they added much more and more varied content, but it would not be reflected in subscriptions and earnings. However, it would cost Blizzard a considerable amount of money to develop twice as much content.

I understand you're talking about "new features" and so on, but I guess Blizzard's stance on it is the same as I pointed out above. They added Pet Battles and Scenarios and Challenge Mode etc., only when they felt it was actually needed for them to retain their standard of subscriptions. If they didn't add it at the end of WotLK, it's not because they didn't have the idea or the funds, it's because they didn't believe it was a worthwhile investment.

[meukow 15]

I agree WOW won't last forever but I still think it has a lot of potential. In terms of "new" MMO's a lot of them are in a very similar format because that format is successful and no one really wants to take a massive gamble. With the costs involved to produce a totally new game the risk is quite high and I think for a lot of MMO's of recent times it's trying to squeeze as much as they can.

Personally I think that pet battles etc will help to keep the game going for a little while longer. I just think more resources should be pushed into new areas of gameplay within the game, or else there is a chance they may have that 'gimmicky' feel.

That is partially the reason too... so, the gamers suffer because they're unimaginative or pussies.

:)