News and Updates <Archived News>

NEW GUIDE! Children's Week begins on May 1^st, and what better a way to welcome this highly anticipated event than with a new guide! The all-new Guide to Children's Week is the most thorough guide you'll find on the subject. It includes a Children's Week FAQ, as well as maps and walkthroughs for every Children's Week quest.

Be sure to bookmark and refer to this guide throughout the event, as you quest your way to those adorable Children's Week companions!

In patch 2.4, a new kitty was added to the bedroom above Stormwind's main inn. It's a Siamese cat named Fuzz. Those of you who've read my Q & A with the Site Creator might recognize the name.

A year ago when I first launched the site, I mentioned that I had a Persian cat nicknamed "The Fuzz" (her given name is Jezebel). She does look a lot like the Siamese WoW model. A few visitors to this site suggested this new animal NPC might be an in-game tribute to me. It's probably just a coincidence, but I wonder...

I've returned from attending to my mother's passing and soon I'll be updating the site with some new content. But first, I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to everyone who took the time to contact me with their condolences. I was very close to my mom. The outpouring of support from this community has really helped. I'd like to share a quote from one visitor, Ralph from Holland, whose comment really struck a chord:

"Things like this make you put things into perspective again. Its fun to collect and enjoy virtual things, but in the end it's the persons in our lives that count most and that we should invest time and effort in."

That statement couldn't be more true. You never know when someone you love is going to pass. Take some time out of each and every day to remind the people you love just how much they mean to you. There will always be time for Warcraft.

Sometimes things happen in our personal lives that turn our reality on its end and force us to change our plans at the last minute. One such tragedy just occurred within my own life. After a brief but courageous battle with cancer, my mother passed away peacefully in her sleep last night. Therefore I will not be updating this site for at least a couple of weeks, as I will be busy attending to other matters.

The Verdict
Still, I did want to resolve the voting that I opened last week. Out of more than two hundred votes thus far, only 8 people thought the Goblin Weather Machine should be included on this site as a small pet. So you won't be seeing that device in this database, although you are still free to collect it.

Please note that while I may not be here to update the site, I will still be checking my messages from time to time. I will also be monitoring and moderating the site remotely.

There's a new loot item available through the TCG expansion Servants of the Betrayer: Goblin Weather Machine - Prototype 01-B. When clicked, it summons one of four different weather effects over the head of its owner. Like most small pets, the weather effect follows along with its owner and does not affect combat.

But is it a true small pet?
Other database sites list this item as a small pet. But I think they've got it wrong. Why? Because WoW's in-game mechanics don't consider this weather entity a small pet. You can activate it without unsummoning your current small pet. Players have only ever been able to activate one small pet at a time (bugs aside). Therefore, the game clearly does not define this entity as a small pet. Plus it cannot be selected, so it doesn't have the in-game tag of "companion" like every other small pet. To me, this is more of a neat device rather than a pet.

So should I add it to the site?
I recognize that some of you may wish to add this "pet" to your collections. So I've chosen to let you decide. I'm asking all of you diehard collectors to contact me with your opionion. Select "Goblin Weather Machine" as your topic and simply state Yes or No. You may also provide your reasoning if you wish.

The final decision
On the evening of April 15, 2008, after one week of voting, I'll be closing this topic and I'll tally the results. If the majority of people agree that this item should be considered a small pet, then I'll add it to the site.

Let the voting begin... vote here!

As a part of this week's ongoing birthday celebration, I've decided to post a poem dedicated to minipets. I orginally posted this to the World of Warcraft general forum a few weeks ago, but I thought it deserved a permanent home here. Enjoy!

» Warcraft Companions: A Poem

A year ago, WarcraftPets.com came online to share a wealth of minipet knowledge with the World of Warcraft community. The past year has given the site many new features, including an RSS feed, new guides, the ability for users to sign up and track their collections online, and the Top 50 Collections list. This year promises to bring more new goodies, including the much anticipated user comments for pet profiles.

I'd like to extend a special thanks to all of the MVPs who've helped to support the site over the past year. I'd also like to thank all of my regular visitors who continue to keep me on my toes with new pets, questions, and suggestions to make the site even better. It's been my privilege to bring this site to you, and that's why we'll be celebrating the site's first birthday all week long!

All the best,

I've ammended the rarities assigned to minipets to include a new value: ultra-rare. The addition of this value enabled me to reposition some of the rarer pets, giving them a more accurate value. Click here for a detailed explanation of pet rarity as it's currently defined by this site.

My human rogue hit 70 earlier this week so I'm finally in the process of grinding for my Blood Parrot. After working through the grind a bit, I decided to update and expand my Bloodsail Parrot Booty guide with some new first-hand observations. If you're intending to grind for your Blood Parrot, be sure to check out the updates.

I've taken the liberty of permanently replacing the "Top 10 Pets" list with the all-new Bottom 10 Pets! From now on, users can enjoy seeing the lowest of the low; the bottom of the barrel. This new list is quite refreshing, don't you think?

APRIL FOOLS!

A few months back, rumors of a new vanity pet bag type began to circulate fan sites (including WarcraftPets.com). So now that 2.4 is here, where can all of us minipet fans get this bag?

Unfortunately, this new bag type didn't make the cut for patch 2.4. But I can assure you that the bag's subtype specifically coded for "Vanity Pets" does exist within the game files (hence all the rumors)—it's just not in-game yet. My guess is that we'll see this bag type appear in patch 2.5 or in Wrath of the Lich King, but I have no idea when either of those will be released. Sorry gang... looks like we're all going to have to wait a bit longer.

It appears that patrons of the 2008 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational will receive an as of yet unnamed minipet as a free gift for attending the show. Additionally, a beta key for an unnannounced upcoming Blizzard title will be provided to attendees (likely either WotLK or Starcraft II).

The invitational is scheduled for Saturday the 28th and Sunday the 29th of June and will be held in Hall 5 of the Porte de Versailles Exposition Center in Paris, France. So... anyone up for an international raod trip?

An interesting bug was discovered by players last summer. This bug has been circulating the Net and now thousands of people are aware of it. The bug allows a character to "desync" with the game world and then to cast an army of minipets (including multiple copies of the same pet). Then when they resync, they're surrounded by a veritable swarm of vanity pets. However, the downside is the additional lag it causes to every player on the server.

People have been requesting that I post how to do this on the site, but I will not do so. The community should understand that this is considered a "known exploit" by Blizzard and as such, if a GM sees a player using this bug, his/her account could be suspended. My advice is to refrain from using this bug. It may look cool, but it's not an intended feature of the game.

The new build of the Public Test Realm (PTR) features many giant-sized minipets! Nothing special is necessary; simply login and summon your small pet and if it's effected by this bug, it will be upwards of 10 times its normal size. This feature is likely tied to Papa Hummel's Old-Fashioned Pet Biscuit, a consumable loot reward from the next CCG expansion that makes minipets grow to be very large. Here are a few screenies courtesy of Oli:

Super-sized Speedy

Whale-sized Willy

Not-So-Tiny Spore Bat

Gigantic Egbert

Attack of the 50-Foot Minipets in Ironforge!

Metacafe Video courtesy of Tachaeon

NEW PET! Patch 2.4 offers a glimpse of things to come for this year's Midsummer Fire Festival event (June 21 - July 5). There's good news and bad news. Let's start with the good. There's a new pet you can get during the event—a Scorchling! It has a chance to drop from a 70+ boss known as Ahune. Much like the Headless Horseman, Ahune can be summoned in a dungeon (The Slave Pens in this case) via a daily quest which is only available for 15 days each year. Considering how difficult the Sinister Squashling was for collectors to farm, this fella could be very rare indeed.

Additionally, the quest that rewarded the Spirit of Summer is no longer available. However, the pet may now be purchased for 350 Burning Blossoms—a currency which is available via quests throughout the 15 day event.