April 2009 <Current News><Archives>

NEW Pet! We're super excited to share this exclusive sneak preview of the latest (and perhaps coolest ever) new vanity pet. While more than a dozen new pets are coming in patch 3.1, the developers have surely left the best for last: it's the Weighted Companion Cube from Portal! Pet collectors have been clamoring for this pet on the forums for years and it's finally here!

This super cool cube will accompany you through your WoW adventures. Please take good care of it. The Weighted Companion Cube will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak. In the event that the Weighted Companion Cube does speak, we urge you to disregard its advice. Pretty awesome, huh? Now to figure out how to get the [Promised Cake] that summons it...

As most of you know, the Weighted Companion Cube is (unfortunately) not a real pet. Yes, the [Promised Cake] is a lie. APRIL FOOLS!!! We hope that you enjoyed our 2009 April Fools joke. Based on the positive feedback we received, it was much more entertaining than our 2008 April Fools. We hope you took this year's joke with a good sense of humor and a smile.

Additionally, Drrum, one of our MVPs and the host of her own pictorial companion pet site dedicated to biggie-sized pets, had some April Fools' Day fun of her own:

» New Mini Twini pets

Kudos, Drrum! I lol'd.

REMINDER: There are only two days left to get in your 200 tournament games to be eligible for your Murkimus pet. Blizzard states:

Phase 3 of the 2009 Arena Tournament will be ending next Monday, April 6, at 9:00 p.m. PDT. Please keep in mind that you have until the end of this phase to complete the 200 rated 3v3 games required to qualify for prizes. Participants must also remain on their team for the duration of the tournament to ensure prize eligibility.

So by midnight EST, all 200 matches must be completed. We imagine Murkimus will appear in the mailboxes of eligible accounts within 4-6 weeks of this date, sometime after patch 3.1 has been released.

It's WarcraftPets.com's second birthday! For two years, the site's been helping vanity pet collectors get the most out of their collections. Additionally, WarcraftPets has influenced the game itself, prompting a steady flow of new pets and pet accessories. Heck, it's possible that this site even inspired some of the recent pet-related improvements, such as making pets into spells.

WarcraftPets has come a long way since its first birthday. Over the past year, we've added:

• several new guides
• community comments
• member messaging
• pet collecting statistics
• complete coverage of the Wrath Beta
• the WarcraftPets Store

Blizzard also recognized our contribution to the WoW community by immortalizing my in-game alter ego (and the host of this site), Breanni, as the <Pet Supplies> vendor in Dalaran. In turn, this sparked more publicity through interviews and even a radio spot. Consequently, the number of members has grown tenfold, from roughly 4,000 last April to nearly 40,000 today. This prompted the need for additional site admins and I'm grateful for their help each and every day.

We'd like to thank the fans of the site for our success, especially our MVPs, who've donated their time and money to help support the site. Next year promises to be another exciting one for pet collectors. Patch 3.1 brings us more pet goodies than any other patch or expansion to date. What's more, we now know for certain that Blizzard is watching this site and responding to the pet collecting community. What was once just an in-game passtime has become, for many, the main reason to play.

Three cheers for vanity pets and the joy they bring: WOOT! WOOT! WOOT!

Along with so many other goodies for pet enthusiasts in 3.1 come new icons for existing pet spells and items. At least eight older pets (so far) were given icons with gorgeous new artwork. The image at right reveals some of these new icons for the Cockroach, Magical Crawdad Box, Egbert, Lil' Smoky, Whiskers, and Pengu.

Inspired by WarcraftPets?
But here's the really interesting part—it looks as if three of these new icons appear to have been directly inspired by the pet profiles on our site. What a nice surprise during our birthday week! This may have been another intended nod to honor the work we put into this site, or it may have simply been easier for the artist to create the icons using the pics we already had.

Take a look - you be the judge!

UPDATE: April 19, 2009 - All new pet content and changes that are currently in-game are now online. We thank you for your patience. April 20, 2009 - Added Spring Rabbit to the site and list below. We were planning to wait until the event began, but what the heck.

Patch 3.1 is arguably one of the biggest updates for pet collectors, with tons of new pets and changes to existing pets (see summary below). We hope you enjoy all the new content Patch 3.1 has to offer!

New Pets:

• Ammen Vale Lashling
• Argent Gruntling
• Argent Squire
• Dun Morogh Cub
• Durotar Scorpion
• Elwynn Lamb
• Enchanted Broom
• Mechanopeep
• Mulgore Hatchling
• Sen'jin Fetish
• Spring Rabbit
• Strand Crawler
• Teldrassil Sproutling
• Tirisfal Batling

Updates to Older Pets:

• Lil' Smoky and Pet Bombling schematics now drop in Gnomeregan
• Sprite Darter Hatchling now drops from Sprite Darters in Feralas
• Tiny Emerald Whelpling now also drops from Adolescent Whelps
• Westfall Chicken can now be obtained by Horde from the "CLUCK!" quest
• Several pets have new icons (see below)

Attention all WarcraftPets fans! We eagerly invite our members and visitors alike to participate in our first major contest—WarcraftPets' Ad-It-Up Contest!

Let your creative juices flow and your love of WarcraftPets shine as you help us promote our site. Compete for cool pet-related prizes, such as the TCG pet of your choice! To participate, you'll be designing a set of eye-catching web ads that capture the essence of WarcraftPets. You're only limited by your imagination (and the contest terms, of course).

Our Ad-It-Up Contest will end in exactly one month, so don't delay—start working on your entry today!