Further Ruminations on WoW Petgate 2009: We’re All Obsessive Collective Huntards
Pokemon is 13 years old. (Does that make you feel old?)
I think it’s a fair guess to say that the Collector gene is strong in the Pokemon generation of gamers, largely spurred by that pesky Pokedex. “Gotta catch ‘em all”, after all.
As Spinks rightly notes, why isn’t this capitalized on in WoW? There’s Petopia for Hunters and their collections, and WarcraftPets for everyone with noncombat pets. There is obviously interest in these little critters, so much so that Blizzard has monetized it directly.
Guild Wars has the Zaishen Menagerie where Rangers can show off the critters they have gathered. It’s not unprecedented to have this sort of place to show off a collection in a very visual way.
Why isn’t there something like this in WoW? You’re either stuck with a third party site (WarcraftPets is awesome, but not incorporated in-game), five Hunter stalls, or one paltry minipet you can have out at one time. It just seems like a missed opportunity for those who collect in order to show their collection. (And the absence of such a function is one reason why it just doesn’t add up that pets are all about showing off, at least from a dev perspective.)
Maybe it’s on the list… right after player housing.
…
Disclosure: My “main” in WoW is indeed a Hunter. (My other main is a Druid, conveniently able to personally change into critters…) I love the ability to go out in the wild world and train some beastie and make it part of my character’s approach to the game. If there were a collector function in-game to track which critters I’ve tamed (even after I’ve let them go), it would scratch my Achiever and Explorer itches in equal measure, and I’d be a happy Nesingwary understudy. I don’t particularly need the ability to show that checklist off to someone else, but as long as it’s being tracked, why not make it public for those who do want to show off?
So when I say “we’re all Huntards”, I use the term not as a pejorative, but rather, pulling an Aikido on The Man’s epithet as the anarchistic player that I am, thumbing my nose at those who would have the temerity to suggest that I’m “doing it wrong”. And really, are we not all hunters of some sort in the game anyway? We hunt Epics, Achievements, reputation dings or maybe just moments of transcendental fun. Whatever it is, if we’re not looking for something in the game, or hunting to get something out of our time with it, why bother playing?
To confess you play a huntard in WoW takes a lot of courage! I like their pets, but ask any French Knight at Crecy or Agincourt how they feel about English Longbowmen. Screw bowmen! I think this is the reason I usually pick melee or casters. I also have troubles to like backstabbing rogue archetypes.
I don’t like Druids because I want to play as my char, turning into a beast sometimes makes me wonder why they bother to design armors for druids at all, they rather need fur skins and tattoos …
But caring for the Raptor of my Troll Hunter (IMO they are THE hunters of the Warcraft World, not the tree-huggers of Teldrassil) and his Boar later, collecting rare pets like the “Rake” or “Humar” is definitely a lot of fun, so I see why you like Hunters.
IMO they would have had less flak for introducing item shop stuff like selling pets if they had created something like the Zaishen Menagerie.
A “Hunter Stables” personalized instance, not only for Hunters, where people can show off their MOUNTS, PETS, … all that would have supported an already existing collector trend in WoW or online gaming in general.
I would have introduced that together with 1-2 pets for sale in the shop, then the reception would have been even more positive and the criticism of selling pets would so totally have been washed away by happy pet collectors and gamers of all kinds.
Ah, that must be it; my English blood is manifesting itself.
And I totally forgot showing off the variety of mounts. *headdesk*
You’re also right, I think; if there were a WoW Menagerie, that would have changed the response. I’m not sure if it would have been for better or worse, though…
Gosh, that brings back memories…
Sadly, I’m still a fan of Pokemon and the whole collection, pocket monster idea. It’s why Digimon rules.
It’s also why I love my Hunter and my pet.
Yes…I think I understand you
*chuckle*
I came to the Pokemon games when I was in my twenties. There is a lot of “kiddie” content in the IP, but there is some surprisingly solid game design under the hood. As such, I’m an unabashed fan, with no irony or cynicism. They are simply good games. (And a great example of why you can make games “for kids” that still have great core game design… you don’t need to dumb things down for kids.)
There’s a “boy and his dog” mythos that runs through a lot of entertainment, from “Old Yeller” to “Pokemon” to “I Am Legend”. Fate and Torchlight tap into this, as does the WoW Hunter class. It seems to scratch a primal urge to have a critter companion, perhaps to stave off loneliness. And, well, some people prefer the company of animals over people, especially anonymous internet jerks as are all too common in MMOs. Even digital animals.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 13 years.
Blizzard might only be realizing the allure of pets now, and are using the RMT ones as a gauge to see how much demand there is. Developers aren’t always the best judge of how well received content is. You have to admit though, adding content like you suggest is a lot more feasible (and more immune to balancing issues) than many other game improvements.
Cripes, Pokemon is 13 years old?! Yeah… that does make me feel very very old. I was bit into CCGs when it came out and everyone was talking about how it was the “next big thing” and more popular than M:tG. The card game still going?
Player Housing in WoW. Right next to Hero Classes, that’s where they keep it.
It’s all in a basement under Blizzard’s HQ, protected by several traps and many elaborate challenges to test the adventurer’s strength and skill. They say the caves under Blizzard’s HQ go on for miles and miles under the surface…
Yup, I agree with all this.
‘Nuff said !