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Pets Have Definitely Changed

AuthorMessage
Historian
May 06, 2009
633
Pets have completely changed from what they were back in 2008-2009, what the were in 2010-2011 and what they are now from 2012-2014.

Back when the game was much smaller and a lot simpler, Pets were pretty much just useless novelty items, but they were well cherished. They didn't come with extra boosts and they didn't have 3 different cards on them. Pets pretty much just had a name and people would look for a pet they didn't have that looked cool. You were also lucky enough to get a drop from a Boss that had a pet with a spell on it. But for the most part, Pets were not of any significance that made you win or lose the battle, but people would work hard to farm (hunt back in those days) for that 1 pet.

Around 2010 and 2011, KI made a pet update just before Celestia came out (they were still giving us teasers back then). I was really excited because pets were now taking a new step up. Now you could train your pets as if they were like a classic, beloved household dog or cat or frog or giraffe. I liked that pets could preform in their own PvP and they could give you need stats that you thought they'd never give. And you could hatch them and mix-and-match them to get new combinations. It was also a time many new dropped pets came out. Pets were at the peak at this time. They stopped becoming useless, flashy items to real companions.

But all good things must come to an end, and I must say, the Golden Age of Pets turned to coal. Pets in the 2012-2014 era of Wizard101 started becoming very manufactured. No, no it was not because KI started shooting them off the rack. Pets moved from original companions, to specific wanted items. You will never hear the words "I'm gonna farm for the Lightning Bat." Instead it's just "Oh, I can just hatch for it." Hatching really killed Pets to me.
Hatching started off fun and good, but now that's all Wizards do. Gone are the days Wizards would work to fight for that special pet. Players don't care when KI releases new pets. They'll just hatch for it, spending boring hours doing nothing by realm hopping and looking around. And even then, Player's have grown to like only specific pets. Most pets I find are hatched. I see majorily pets with tons of Damage, tons of critical, but definitely resistance and may cast heals. I used to ask players where they got their pet so I could go farm for it. Now I wouldn't dare ask that question because it's more than likely the player would say, "Oh, I dunno. I just hatched for it"

Pets, to me, have come to mean nothing to the community (majorily). There's not a whole lot of effort to get a pet the older way. It's all just hatching, but you're just doing a similar ruite until you despise it. I wish we could go back to the old days. I would love for new players do what I did all those years ago and really work for it. But the sad truth is, Pets are just trainable amulets and athames you can throw away when you see fit.

Archon
Oct 24, 2010
4952
Cunning Finnigan S... on Feb 17, 2014 wrote:
Pets have completely changed from what they were back in 2008-2009, what the were in 2010-2011 and what they are now from 2012-2014.

Back when the game was much smaller and a lot simpler, Pets were pretty much just useless novelty items, but they were well cherished. They didn't come with extra boosts and they didn't have 3 different cards on them. Pets pretty much just had a name and people would look for a pet they didn't have that looked cool. You were also lucky enough to get a drop from a Boss that had a pet with a spell on it. But for the most part, Pets were not of any significance that made you win or lose the battle, but people would work hard to farm (hunt back in those days) for that 1 pet.

Around 2010 and 2011, KI made a pet update just before Celestia came out (they were still giving us teasers back then). I was really excited because pets were now taking a new step up. Now you could train your pets as if they were like a classic, beloved household dog or cat or frog or giraffe. I liked that pets could preform in their own PvP and they could give you need stats that you thought they'd never give. And you could hatch them and mix-and-match them to get new combinations. It was also a time many new dropped pets came out. Pets were at the peak at this time. They stopped becoming useless, flashy items to real companions.

But all good things must come to an end, and I must say, the Golden Age of Pets turned to coal. Pets in the 2012-2014 era of Wizard101 started becoming very manufactured. No, no it was not because KI started shooting them off the rack. Pets moved from original companions, to specific wanted items. You will never hear the words "I'm gonna farm for the Lightning Bat." Instead it's just "Oh, I can just hatch for it." Hatching really killed Pets to me.
Hatching started off fun and good, but now that's all Wizards do. Gone are the days Wizards would work to fight for that special pet. Players don't care when KI releases new pets. They'll just hatch for it, spending boring hours doing nothing by realm hopping and looking around. And even then, Player's have grown to like only specific pets. Most pets I find are hatched. I see majorily pets with tons of Damage, tons of critical, but definitely resistance and may cast heals. I used to ask players where they got their pet so I could go farm for it. Now I wouldn't dare ask that question because it's more than likely the player would say, "Oh, I dunno. I just hatched for it"

Pets, to me, have come to mean nothing to the community (majorily). There's not a whole lot of effort to get a pet the older way. It's all just hatching, but you're just doing a similar ruite until you despise it. I wish we could go back to the old days. I would love for new players do what I did all those years ago and really work for it. But the sad truth is, Pets are just trainable amulets and athames you can throw away when you see fit.
I've hatched exactly 3 times in over 3 years and was not happy with the process. To me it wasn't as much fun as 'winning' your pet and training it to the best it can achieve.

I agree... the 'old' ways were much more fun.

Archon
Sep 17, 2012
4162
I disagree completely. I for one have farmed for my pets and worked very hard for them. I still farm for new pets when they are released, because they all have unique talents. You have a very cynical outlook on pets. I see players farming every new boss that has a new pet to drop. Some people like to know the history of their "trainable amulets" pedigree so we train alone. I have a lot different view than you. I have time and energy invested in my pets. They aren't throw-aways. You complain about hatching being the easy way, that's completely untrue. It takes a lot less time to get a certain dropped pet than it does to hatch the right pet with the right talents.

Historian
May 06, 2009
633
seethe42 on Feb 17, 2014 wrote:
I disagree completely. I for one have farmed for my pets and worked very hard for them. I still farm for new pets when they are released, because they all have unique talents. You have a very cynical outlook on pets. I see players farming every new boss that has a new pet to drop. Some people like to know the history of their "trainable amulets" pedigree so we train alone. I have a lot different view than you. I have time and energy invested in my pets. They aren't throw-aways. You complain about hatching being the easy way, that's completely untrue. It takes a lot less time to get a certain dropped pet than it does to hatch the right pet with the right talents.
Well that's something I'd like to here then. I don't hang around many players in-game and I don't see many Wizards still farming for pets anymore. On the side of the Spiral I venture through, I've seen more hatch equiped pets than first generation pets or dropped pets. I've seen lots more posts about hatching for X pet or pets with X stats rather than "Where can I get X pet from X boss?"

I'm certainly not complaining or trying to complain. I'm expressing what I've looked at happen in current times. I don't think it's bad to hatch, but, from what I here around Ravenwood, there's more interest in hatching for a pet than going out to farm for a pet. I've seen posts about trying to find this "perfect pet" and when you don't get it this one time because of a dud stat, you toss that pet away and start all over again. It's not a process I like.

Now, I think it's wonderful if you're telling me that Wizards do still farm for those special companions. That would mean I'm focusing in too much on one group, possibly even a minority, and that in the whole scheme of things, people still do like to farm for pets. I hear a whole lot more interest in farming for gear items than pets, and it's nice to know that's not 100% the case. I'm just in seeing more of a mindset in just hatching for a pet than getting one of your own from the boss, if possible. Of course, maybe I'm confusing hatching more with Crowns pets than dropped pets. All still the same to me.

So, if instead of begging for cheese to go with my whine, I would hope to here more about players who still have an interest in going to farm for pets. Though, I'll at least say that hatching has gained more attention over the years, if that's more politically correct.

Thanks for the eye-opener.

Delver
Jun 27, 2013
299
Cunning Finnigan S... on Feb 18, 2014 wrote:
Well that's something I'd like to here then. I don't hang around many players in-game and I don't see many Wizards still farming for pets anymore. On the side of the Spiral I venture through, I've seen more hatch equiped pets than first generation pets or dropped pets. I've seen lots more posts about hatching for X pet or pets with X stats rather than "Where can I get X pet from X boss?"

I'm certainly not complaining or trying to complain. I'm expressing what I've looked at happen in current times. I don't think it's bad to hatch, but, from what I here around Ravenwood, there's more interest in hatching for a pet than going out to farm for a pet. I've seen posts about trying to find this "perfect pet" and when you don't get it this one time because of a dud stat, you toss that pet away and start all over again. It's not a process I like.

Now, I think it's wonderful if you're telling me that Wizards do still farm for those special companions. That would mean I'm focusing in too much on one group, possibly even a minority, and that in the whole scheme of things, people still do like to farm for pets. I hear a whole lot more interest in farming for gear items than pets, and it's nice to know that's not 100% the case. I'm just in seeing more of a mindset in just hatching for a pet than getting one of your own from the boss, if possible. Of course, maybe I'm confusing hatching more with Crowns pets than dropped pets. All still the same to me.

So, if instead of begging for cheese to go with my whine, I would hope to here more about players who still have an interest in going to farm for pets. Though, I'll at least say that hatching has gained more attention over the years, if that's more politically correct.

Thanks for the eye-opener.
I personally, have started with a base Enchanted Armament, dropped from the Gladiator in Mount Olympus.
I then hatched against my friend's NutCracker pet, numerous times until I fully incorperated the Fairy Talent.
I had gotten a Nightmare from the Halloween pack a while back, and hatched against that until Unicorn came over.
I got my Spritely from a starfish I had farmed for in celestia.
For those three talents, it took me an unbelievable amount of hatches and rehatches, months, mega's and gardening to get just these three talents.
Once those months were done, I'd bought a Polar Fox, for christmas, and discovered the may cast hex talent, which I then incorperated into my hatching schedule.

All in All, I researched what pets had the talents I wanted, then I farmed their bosses until I got the drops, then I bred those talents onto the pet I wanted as a base.
It literally took me near 6 months to finally get my "Perfect" pet, which is still not quite exactly perfect.

Those of us who do spend countless hours farming, gardening, training, hatching, and starting from scratch when things go south, have earned the right to have/use these perfect pets.

I didn't really agree with alot of your opst, asd I did find it kind of One Sided. As a newer player to Wizard, I didn't have the experience of having to farm countless hours to get a pet who didn't have all the talents I liked, however, with that said, I did have to put massive time and effort into creating mine.

I can apreciate your opinions on the matter as an older gamer though

Delver
Apr 20, 2011
221
Cunning Finnigan S... on Feb 17, 2014 wrote:
Pets have completely changed from what they were back in 2008-2009, what the were in 2010-2011 and what they are now from 2012-2014.

Back when the game was much smaller and a lot simpler, Pets were pretty much just useless novelty items, but they were well cherished. They didn't come with extra boosts and they didn't have 3 different cards on them. Pets pretty much just had a name and people would look for a pet they didn't have that looked cool. You were also lucky enough to get a drop from a Boss that had a pet with a spell on it. But for the most part, Pets were not of any significance that made you win or lose the battle, but people would work hard to farm (hunt back in those days) for that 1 pet.

Around 2010 and 2011, KI made a pet update just before Celestia came out (they were still giving us teasers back then). I was really excited because pets were now taking a new step up. Now you could train your pets as if they were like a classic, beloved household dog or cat or frog or giraffe. I liked that pets could preform in their own PvP and they could give you need stats that you thought they'd never give. And you could hatch them and mix-and-match them to get new combinations. It was also a time many new dropped pets came out. Pets were at the peak at this time. They stopped becoming useless, flashy items to real companions.

But all good things must come to an end, and I must say, the Golden Age of Pets turned to coal. Pets in the 2012-2014 era of Wizard101 started becoming very manufactured. No, no it was not because KI started shooting them off the rack. Pets moved from original companions, to specific wanted items. You will never hear the words "I'm gonna farm for the Lightning Bat." Instead it's just "Oh, I can just hatch for it." Hatching really killed Pets to me.
Hatching started off fun and good, but now that's all Wizards do. Gone are the days Wizards would work to fight for that special pet. Players don't care when KI releases new pets. They'll just hatch for it, spending boring hours doing nothing by realm hopping and looking around. And even then, Player's have grown to like only specific pets. Most pets I find are hatched. I see majorily pets with tons of Damage, tons of critical, but definitely resistance and may cast heals. I used to ask players where they got their pet so I could go farm for it. Now I wouldn't dare ask that question because it's more than likely the player would say, "Oh, I dunno. I just hatched for it"

Pets, to me, have come to mean nothing to the community (majorily). There's not a whole lot of effort to get a pet the older way. It's all just hatching, but you're just doing a similar ruite until you despise it. I wish we could go back to the old days. I would love for new players do what I did all those years ago and really work for it. But the sad truth is, Pets are just trainable amulets and athames you can throw away when you see fit.
I've been playing for almost 3 years so I don't have any experience of the "old" way pets were obtained or how useful they were but it is extremely interesting on hearing how things used to be from you Cunning.
Although they are rare, I still get a buzz from a pet drop, even if the pet isn't one for the school I'm playing. I still enjoy putting the egg in my shared bank for one of my other wizards.
I also enjoy the idea of hatching to obtain certain skills and have done it a number of times but I'm afraid I have one of those personality types that gets very impatient (if one of my pets 1st gen pets doesn't get the skill I want after training to adult or beyond I rant quite a bit lol).
I can appreciate the amount of time, money and effort that a lot of wizards go to in order to obtain their pefect pet, for my part, I may not have the patience to be as dedicated as these other wizards but I love fighting beside them and watching their pets in action. I'm sure many wizards appreciate the praise I give them and their pets.
With the changes to pet heals I'm at the crossroads, I'm not very patient to start with so do I train my adult Nutcracker to the next level and hope to get fairy friend or leave it because heals have been nerfed? Should I overcome my impatience and try to hatch for a better pet with some of my other wizards or should I try for the drops (I would love pirahna hunter for my Balance).
Cunning, I can see your point but perhaps the question of wether pets have become the ultimate accessory is because there are wizards who love the whole hatching process and the trial and error of it all, just like some wizards become emeshed in gardening and crafting.
I'd be interested to hear what you and others think

Adherent
Jul 03, 2010
2634
Cunning Finnigan S... on Feb 18, 2014 wrote:
Well that's something I'd like to here then. I don't hang around many players in-game and I don't see many Wizards still farming for pets anymore. On the side of the Spiral I venture through, I've seen more hatch equiped pets than first generation pets or dropped pets. I've seen lots more posts about hatching for X pet or pets with X stats rather than "Where can I get X pet from X boss?"

I'm certainly not complaining or trying to complain. I'm expressing what I've looked at happen in current times. I don't think it's bad to hatch, but, from what I here around Ravenwood, there's more interest in hatching for a pet than going out to farm for a pet. I've seen posts about trying to find this "perfect pet" and when you don't get it this one time because of a dud stat, you toss that pet away and start all over again. It's not a process I like.

Now, I think it's wonderful if you're telling me that Wizards do still farm for those special companions. That would mean I'm focusing in too much on one group, possibly even a minority, and that in the whole scheme of things, people still do like to farm for pets. I hear a whole lot more interest in farming for gear items than pets, and it's nice to know that's not 100% the case. I'm just in seeing more of a mindset in just hatching for a pet than getting one of your own from the boss, if possible. Of course, maybe I'm confusing hatching more with Crowns pets than dropped pets. All still the same to me.

So, if instead of begging for cheese to go with my whine, I would hope to here more about players who still have an interest in going to farm for pets. Though, I'll at least say that hatching has gained more attention over the years, if that's more politically correct.

Thanks for the eye-opener.
I actually lightly farm for pets - meaning I try to pick the bosses with the best odds of dropping the ones I want, I don't make it the game, I farm now and then. I don't usually hatch for pets as the 50/50 gets me but I have gotten an Astral Judge, Glacier Cat and Cloud Beast with out really trying on first hatches from random hatching people have asked me to do. I still do hatch now and then with anyone who just wants a try at a different pet, about all I can offer is Spritely because all my pets usually have that. Belloq dropped a Skink on me a while ago and I have never expanded that pet but now that I have a myth wizard again I think I will, I can't imagine that doing spritely lol.

Enter Birthday bash - I no longer have to farm or hope for Fairy with the Card or Jade Oni. I did farm for the Leopard because over numerous times doing/helping with Mirror Lake I got none so I found an ape in a hut in Drum Jungle that gave me one right off, I have been dropped them since. I crossed it with a Phoenix for spritely and got it by adult. I liked while questing getting the Gilmore and recently farmed Jade Oni and got the Valentine Piggle on the first battle. It would take me forever to get the stats I want into any of these pets so they may never see the battle ring. I guess I am a pet collector.

The 2 pets I probably won't ever get are the Squirrel and Nitemare, I have tried a few Unicorn hatches but haven't gotten even the hybrid. After the last update to Spritely and Fairy I am not sure my fav pets are all that out of the running as being my battle companions. If it isn't going to benefit me to have certain pets equipped why not equip the ones I like and save a lot of time training? I am working on taking all my favorite pets at least to adult so they can be hatched with if I choose to.

LOL like the cheese with whine reference in your post - gave me a chuckle.

Mary

Delver
Jan 31, 2012
226
Cunning Finnigan S... on Feb 17, 2014 wrote:
Pets have completely changed from what they were back in 2008-2009, what the were in 2010-2011 and what they are now from 2012-2014.

Back when the game was much smaller and a lot simpler, Pets were pretty much just useless novelty items, but they were well cherished. They didn't come with extra boosts and they didn't have 3 different cards on them. Pets pretty much just had a name and people would look for a pet they didn't have that looked cool. You were also lucky enough to get a drop from a Boss that had a pet with a spell on it. But for the most part, Pets were not of any significance that made you win or lose the battle, but people would work hard to farm (hunt back in those days) for that 1 pet.

Around 2010 and 2011, KI made a pet update just before Celestia came out (they were still giving us teasers back then). I was really excited because pets were now taking a new step up. Now you could train your pets as if they were like a classic, beloved household dog or cat or frog or giraffe. I liked that pets could preform in their own PvP and they could give you need stats that you thought they'd never give. And you could hatch them and mix-and-match them to get new combinations. It was also a time many new dropped pets came out. Pets were at the peak at this time. They stopped becoming useless, flashy items to real companions.

But all good things must come to an end, and I must say, the Golden Age of Pets turned to coal. Pets in the 2012-2014 era of Wizard101 started becoming very manufactured. No, no it was not because KI started shooting them off the rack. Pets moved from original companions, to specific wanted items. You will never hear the words "I'm gonna farm for the Lightning Bat." Instead it's just "Oh, I can just hatch for it." Hatching really killed Pets to me.
Hatching started off fun and good, but now that's all Wizards do. Gone are the days Wizards would work to fight for that special pet. Players don't care when KI releases new pets. They'll just hatch for it, spending boring hours doing nothing by realm hopping and looking around. And even then, Player's have grown to like only specific pets. Most pets I find are hatched. I see majorily pets with tons of Damage, tons of critical, but definitely resistance and may cast heals. I used to ask players where they got their pet so I could go farm for it. Now I wouldn't dare ask that question because it's more than likely the player would say, "Oh, I dunno. I just hatched for it"

Pets, to me, have come to mean nothing to the community (majorily). There's not a whole lot of effort to get a pet the older way. It's all just hatching, but you're just doing a similar ruite until you despise it. I wish we could go back to the old days. I would love for new players do what I did all those years ago and really work for it. But the sad truth is, Pets are just trainable amulets and athames you can throw away when you see fit.
I started 2 years ago Or 3 years but I just train pets. My balance wizard is looking for other pets from GH to hatch with hers judgment. And what kind of pets you see from others wizards? Someone told me they got a carnation pet in the ice fault in Krok. And if I find any others pet from bosses I will tell you.