3.1 Dead Zone

So yes, I've been silent for a few days, my bad. I'm not slacking off I swear! Anyways, in case you didn't know, patch 3.1 is out. I'm not going to go over all the details and patch notes; if you wish to look up the patch notes, visit either WoWhead, MMO-champion, or for the more specific stuff, Petopia.

I'm busy still dusting off the chaos that ensued after the patch downloaded (more on that in the next post, just know it involves Vista, Battle.net accounts, and Firewalls). I'll also be providing my personal opinion of the patch soon.

College is an epic raid only this time I'm the tank....

What's it to Ya??

Unique. Such a dangerous word in WoW. Unique is something a great deal of players strive for in WoW. Just like in the real world, we all strive to stand out somehow (generally speaking). Some of us dream of being in the top raiding guild or top PvP guild. Many players obtain unique mounts, armor, tabards, shirts, mini-pets, titles- all to have something unique to them and their character After all, it would be rather lame if every Night Elf had white skin and blue hair right? Well, that's why we have the option to design our characters before their creation!

But Unique also has a dark-side. It can also sometimes make people assume your character is an elitist, "hard-core", or just someone who want's to be (and this is a phrase you see alot on the WoW forums) a 'unique little snowflake'*. I see this alot on forums and blogs, but sometimes I see it on WoW itself as well.

But despite all this, Hunters have one extra feature to make them "unique": Pets.

Which brings me to the question of today's blog:

What does your pet say about you? (If anything!)

You see alot of Hunters get put into categories just by their pet alone. Don't deny that you have. Perhaps you've been in a group with another Hunter who brought a Gorilla to your Heroic Nexus. You may have thought he was foolish for not bringing a Wolf. Maybe you thought that the Hunter who has a Spirit Beast is a fool for spending so many hours camping a pet that isn't better than a Devilsaur or a Cat. Heck, if you were Beastmastery after patch 3.0.8 and still in 3.0.9, you may have been on the receiving end of some taunts and overgeneralizations based purely on the fact you had an Exotic pet (which gave your spec away).

But does a pet say something about the Hunter? I'm sure some pets do, but not all. But the following over-generalizations are not fair to assume:

By owning a Boar or Bear from Elwynn Forest, are you automatically a Hunter who doesn't care at all about their companion?

By owning a cat like Rake and Echeyakee, are you just another "unoriginal" Hunter?

By owning a Devilsaur, are you just another damage-meter-watching Hunter?

By owning a rare-spawn pet like Loque'nahak and Old Cliff Jumper, are you just a showoff?

By owning retired pets like Gezzerak or Grimtotem Spirit Guide, are you just trying to be a unique little Hunter?


No, I think there's something much more to the choosing of a companion amongst Hunters. I know some Hunters who stuck with their first pet from level 10 and haven't glanced at other pets. Some people just love cats, others wolves. Maybe that blood elf hunter chose a raptor because he loves Jurassic Park.

Overgeneralization is something we don't like in real life, we call them stereotypes. So consider this my food for thought for today. Just what does your pet say about you?

But more importantly,
What does your pet mean to you?