Ghost Wolf Gone

Just a short while ago, Drysc posted the unfortunate news on the WoW Hunters forum: the ghost wolf (aka the Grimtotem Spirit Guide) can no longer be tamed. Drysc says:

Through a hotfix we’ve recently removed the ability to tame a Grimtotem Spirit Guide. Players who have already gone through the trouble of taming the creature will be able to keep them unchanged. This hotfix only removes the possibility to tame this creature from here on.

The removal of the spirit guide has been debated within design discussions for a while now as to what impact the pet and its precedent has on the game.
The unintended nature of the taming, the undead status of the guide, appearance of the wolf in relation to the feel of the hunter class, and the complex processes of taming were all issues touched upon and discussed.

Ultimately the discussions brought us to the conclusion that this should not be a permanent addition to the pet selection available to hunters; however, those that have already tamed them should be allowed to keep them due to their efforts in obtaining one.

Previously, Blizzard had said that they would be leaving the ghost wolf as a tameable creature. Apparently, they changed their mind.

My thanks to Alanonymous for bringing this to my attention.

110 Comments

  1. Alanonymous - January 14th, 2008 @ 8:46 pm UTC

    I hate to have been the bringer of such bad news, while I am glad I have one myself, its a shame its no longer available.

  2. Draketh - January 14th, 2008 @ 8:50 pm UTC

    let me be the first to say in the comment thread:

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
    OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
    OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    why didn’t i tame one when i had the chance!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  3. Nina - January 14th, 2008 @ 9:17 pm UTC

    Aw…=( That makes me sad. I looked forward to taming one when I got high enough. I’m saddened by the news, but thanks for the heads up.

  4. Misty - January 14th, 2008 @ 9:24 pm UTC

    Glad I already have mine. Sorry to those who were lulled into a false sense of security by blizz’s previous statements and now can’t tame :(

  5. Someone - January 14th, 2008 @ 9:28 pm UTC

    Hmmm… So, first they say it’s going to stay, now they remove it and say that those who did tame it can keep it… Am I the only one to see where this is heading? It’s not the players fault that Blizzard can’t get their act together! I’m not too worried as I don’t like wolves, but anyway, it’s a bad move…

  6. Misty - January 14th, 2008 @ 9:29 pm UTC

    I don’t get the feeling they’re going to go though the trouble of fixing their speed walking problem now either :X

  7. Leper - January 14th, 2008 @ 10:03 pm UTC

    is this already in effect i just hit 62 on my hunter but i have no money ill get borrow it all today if this is my last chance to get it

  8. Misty - January 14th, 2008 @ 10:07 pm UTC

    It went into effect earlier today, yes :(

  9. Leper - January 14th, 2008 @ 10:08 pm UTC

    errr damn =( well im a sad panda. thx for the quick reply.

  10. Ronorin - January 14th, 2008 @ 10:11 pm UTC

    It’s sad, but at least the people who have it can keep it.

  11. Misty - January 14th, 2008 @ 10:14 pm UTC

    Yeah, but just because Blizz says we can keep it now, doesn’t mean they’re not going to make them unfeedable later.

    Two weeks ago: Everyone can tame Ghost Wolves forever yay!
    Today: No longer tamable, but you can keep yours!
    Two weeks from now: WHY CANT I FEED MY GHOST WOLF?

    It’s not too hard to imagine :(

  12. MelRedcap - January 14th, 2008 @ 10:22 pm UTC

    Not. Happy. Jan.

    My highest hunter is level 39 so it’s not as if I was going to do this any time soon, but I certainly planned to! Not to mention the people who went and bought all the stuff, destroyed one of their gems to socket the diamond, and discovered “wups, we can’t do this any more”…

    If Blizz was so set on taking them out of the game, they should have given a few days warning, not done a stealth hotfix.

  13. Toruhz - January 14th, 2008 @ 10:24 pm UTC

    This is retarded I finaly got a 70 shaman from my guild to come help me out and have had the Mystic skyfire diamond in my helm for over a week. So tonight I went to go and tame it and for the life of us could not find a NPC that could produce the wolf, They now have an ability to shock you instead.

    I spent 200 gold on my gem and hours of power leveling to get where I needed to be only to find out that im one god damned day late in getting it!!!!!!!

    This is completly unfair and utterly retarded. I have only seen one or two on my server and was hoping to get this pet before they made it unavailable. I was one freaking day late.

    **** this and Blizzard.

  14. Zalthor - January 14th, 2008 @ 10:30 pm UTC

    This is crap! I JUST NOW bought the diamond i needed, JUST gathered the required guildies to help me and came here to check the strategy to tame one one last time. I wasted gold on that Diamond now =(

  15. Knotbeard - January 14th, 2008 @ 10:35 pm UTC

    I am SO glad I tamed one when I did…

  16. Suzanna - January 14th, 2008 @ 10:35 pm UTC

    Oh thank goodness I can keep mine >_>;;

  17. Ansawa - January 14th, 2008 @ 10:51 pm UTC

    This is just stupid.

    Normally I don’t mind Blizzard’s penchant for stealth hotfixes to things that weren’t bugs, but when they LIE about it and go back on their word, that just pisses me off. A lot.

  18. shibumi - January 14th, 2008 @ 11:00 pm UTC

    ah well. gathered the materials, tried to get a team of guildies togethe, but no luck – needed a group to get the hat for the gem, never happened. One of my guildies did get it.

    This gives a whole new glum meaning to ‘cry wolf’ from Blizzard. Wish I could say I was shocked and surprised, but the history of the devs leans heavily in this flip/flop reaction.

    oh well.

    shigataganai

  19. Trollin' - January 14th, 2008 @ 11:31 pm UTC

    I’m disgusted.

  20. Faulk_Wulf - January 14th, 2008 @ 11:50 pm UTC

    Bah. So I’m level 20 with a wolf from near Undercity, waiting to get “Heaven”. And now I can’t? Fsck this. I’ve been on for five days. (/played, not real-world.) I have my Leatherworking to 150. I can’t even type a comprehensive reply that isn’t Fsck this and Fsck that. I’ve only been online a month, I didn’t know Blizzard did this shit.

    And since pets are trade-able so-far as I know. … Bah.

    “Disgusted” indeed.

    Petition Blizzard?

  21. Maree - January 15th, 2008 @ 1:33 am UTC

    Gah, damnit! I wanted to tame him on my draeni hunter, when she reached lvl 70.
    At least i didn’t buy all the things needed for it =/
    Grats to those who already got it

  22. Maevet - January 15th, 2008 @ 1:51 am UTC

    I didn’t want one of these guys, but this action still pisses me off.

    wish I had enough money to buy my way onto the dev team just to kick some poeple square in the bean bag.

  23. Ametrine - January 15th, 2008 @ 1:58 am UTC

    My hunter uses a cat, but nonetheless, I’m mad.

    Not at the hotfix, but the fact they went back on their word from before that said they’d keep the wolves, and didn’t even tell us what they did until people asked about it.

    “Oh, yeah, by the way, that really cool-looking ghost wolf you spent hundreds of gold to try taming? Sorry, but we decided you shouldn’t run around with something that looked awesome, so you can’t tame one anymore, even though we said you could before. We didn’t say anything earlier because we thought it’d be hilarious if you found out on your own. Pretty funny, huh? No? Well, we’re laughing.”

  24. Palladiamorsdeus - January 15th, 2008 @ 1:59 am UTC

    Eh, for everyone who doesn’t know, this is standard Blizzard. They have a bad habit of giving people nice things, and then taking them away. This isn’t the first time, and I doubt it will be the last. Congratulations to everyone who got one, though.

  25. Pax - January 15th, 2008 @ 2:56 am UTC

    I know they were going to disable the taming sooner or later and that’s why I tamed it as soon as I could, within first few days.

    Just hope they don’t change the skins or make it unfeedable.

  26. Tim - January 15th, 2008 @ 2:56 am UTC

    1st I feel for you guys who were on the verge of taming one and didnt get it (especially Toruhz and Zalthor)… next best thing is probably the Ghost Saber?

    2nd I’m damn glad I got mine and its even more specially now that its one of only 4 or so on my server (no offense to the people above)

    3rd It wont surprise me at all if they eventually take it away

    4th I felt the same disapointment when they didnt bring the ability to tame the ZA bears live, I loved the one i had on the PTR. I’m really not sure what Blizzard has against the idea of letting hunters have awsome pets

  27. IdkSomeGuy - January 15th, 2008 @ 2:59 am UTC

    This is the lowest of the low. I spent all that money on those drums and gem, got to 70 and found a meta item… could not get a group and now I find this out! And they are not normalizing the ones who have it yet not letting those of us who spent all that gold to get one? Blizz is digging WoWs own grave and they can’t even see that.

    Now I ask, WHERE IS MY GOLD BACK?!!

  28. Twi - January 15th, 2008 @ 3:14 am UTC

    This is so wrong. I spent money on the gem, someone else found the drums on AH that I had been looking for or trying to get made for me, did some stuff in Winterspring for some Juju Flurry… and now I come here to look at a pet someone else was wanting to tame to see where it was and I see this?! I was having a hard time getting a group for it, tried it without the drums once with some guildies and we couldn’t. Always wanted one since I saw em in SFK, but this is just lame Blizz. And no, the Ghostpaw Saber is not the next best thing since it just looks like a cat in prowl all the time.

    I’m with the above, where is my gold?

    And I can’t wait till WH comes out with all that is going on like this anymore in WoW…

  29. Tzia / Yazmin - January 15th, 2008 @ 4:05 am UTC

    I didn’t want the wolf, but I know people that were thinking about it, just as a novelty pet. They got screwed out and blizzard REALLY screwed up here. Last I checked we were taught in elementary school that if you say one thing, you do NOT go and do the other. Some people need to either attend pre-school again or look up the words lie and liar in the dictionary and have it tattooed, plus deffinitions on their forheads.

  30. Ghost Wolf Taming nerfed | Altitis - January 15th, 2008 @ 4:52 am UTC

    [...] seen on Mania’s Arcania, Blizzard applied a hotfix preventing taming of the Ghost Wolf in the future, and reversing their [...]

  31. What Happens When I Sleep In… | The Farstrider Scout - January 15th, 2008 @ 5:51 am UTC

    [...] The ghost wolf – tamable no more.  Blizzard, once again, in their infinite wisdom makes a unique looking pet untamable that once [...]

  32. Pike - January 15th, 2008 @ 7:20 am UTC

    Really is too bad, even though I wasn’t planning on ever taming this guy. Had I known he would be a “limited edition” I might have actually tried to tame him.

    The part where they mention “the undead status of the guide, appearance of the wolf in relation to the feel of the hunter class” as part of their reasoning rather throws me off, because doesn’t that apply to the very-tamable ghost saber too?

  33. Ryno - January 15th, 2008 @ 8:00 am UTC

    Shhh, PIke, they’ll hear you! <__>

  34. Volcan - January 15th, 2008 @ 8:05 am UTC

    Thats sad. I dont say its not fair. I agree with this. I myself didnt get him, but i agree that those who got him should keep him. They are right he should NOT be a hunter pet in the looks, but, i think there should be a special pet which will be same cool and same hard to tame. That would be cool

  35. Rasen - January 15th, 2008 @ 8:13 am UTC

    I really don’t know what to thnk of this. I have a Ghost Wolf and Blizzard’s “I have altered our agreement, pray I don’t alter it further” message makes me paranoid about levelling him the last 9 levels in case they take him away. Yet on the other hand, I think mine is one of 2 on the server so I almost feel an obligation to get him to 70 else I’m slapping all those Hunters who don’t have one in the face.

    As for it not fitting in with the feel? How about;

    It’s the spirit of the Hunter’s old regular wolf pet still protecting the hunter after death

    The spirits summoned by the Grimtotem used to be regular wolves from the nearby forest. They remember enough of their old life to be susceptible to taming.

    just two explanations I pulled from my butt, and I’m no lore writer. I just find Blizz’s reasons for this nothing short of pathetic, and the fact they went back on their word sends a really bad message.

  36. Stainz - January 15th, 2008 @ 9:20 am UTC

    I was feeling robbed at 130G for a gem I never got chance to use, I feel sorry for the people who paid more. Nice of Blizz to remove any real challenge for the hunter, especially on a class that’s not received the same level of perks as others in recent patches. No doubt the tnucs won’t be refunding people now screwed by the recent hesitation and knee jumping.

    Funny you can tame a beast to fight, but not something to ride, unlike other classes with free mounts.

    How about addressing the real issue of providing something that is really worth making an effort to tame and a pet that is worth having. Even with the reduced xp to level a pet the only reason I’m taming a RFK pig is that there is no decent high level ones. Grunter is absent or been snaffled, you can’t tame any of the boars in OL. Same for the wolves in OL Iron Jaw/Den Mother were inferior to the Darkshore cat I’ve had since level 16, and it isn’t like they are stunningly different to other pets that you could grab in most zones levelling up pre-60. Having tried dragonhawks/serpents I can’t say they’ve jumped out at me as pets either, and with 3 slots, how about levelling the playing field with warlocks and allowing a few more stable slots to provide a bit of ‘experimenting’ room. It’s not like kicking aspect of the monkey and tame beast is technically difficult – how about a bit more thought being added at the backend after that process.

  37. Mylksh - January 15th, 2008 @ 9:59 am UTC

    Unacceptable…

    I encourage everyone to head to the Hunter forums and post their outrage in the 20+ page thread on the topic.

    My demands? One more week to tame it… They can take it away after that, but give us just one more freakin’ week of advanced warning!

  38. Blogosphere doesn't like Ghostwolf Nerf either | Altitis - January 15th, 2008 @ 10:08 am UTC

    [...] Looks like I’m not the only one peeved by this hotfix: [...]

  39. Gwaendar - January 15th, 2008 @ 10:35 am UTC

    A pity the devs appear unable to understand that pet-centric gameplay is an important part to the hunter community, probably at least as important as the great ranged DPS or the CC capabilities. Too much endgame-centrism, not enough class understanding.

  40. Yvelle - January 15th, 2008 @ 10:44 am UTC

    Sad….

    My hunters were nowhere near taming this beauty, but I was looking foward to the challenge. *slow headshake* Now it’ll never happen. Maybe there will be enough outrage that they’ll bring it back. Yeah, I know. Not gonna happen, but I can dream, can’t I?

    Congrats to those few who did get it.

  41. Amber - January 15th, 2008 @ 10:47 am UTC

    It’s time for me to seriously question my continued paying of the monthly fees of this game.

    This action makes it clear that Blizzard is not interested in the views or attitudes of its players. With overwhelming reaction in favour of the existence of the ghost wolf pet, and an outpouring of gratitude when it was announced it would remain, this sudden turnabout, with no valid reasons given, can only be construed as internal dislike for something that was not intended.

    Blizzard developers, hear this: This game is not Paradise Towers. This game belongs to everyone: players, marketers, and developers alike. Everyone matters. To utterly ignore the loudly-spoken views of what strongly appears to be a prohibitive majority of your playerbase reeks not only of intransigence, but of fatal close-mindedness, even authoritarianism. The IP rights are yours. The soul of the game belongs to everyone. If you tell us we don’t matter, sooner or later we’ll get the message.

    Perhaps that is what you want: your beautiful game, pure, pristine, and forever unsullied by the meddling hands of the dangerous, destructive players.

    Developers, please, come find me in game and let’s have a serious, cordial talk about this. I’m Amberlyssia on Sentinels, you can look up my account and find my alts. Come talk to me, so that you can hear a player’s perspective. It’s not too late.

  42. Zalthor - January 15th, 2008 @ 11:12 am UTC

    Seriously though, after all is said and done, Its not like having this pet is going to make us LEET or extremely OP. What is the big deal if they leave it alone and let whoever takes the time and money to tame one get to? They claim it doesnt “fit” the hunter since its a ghost or w/e. What about the Ghost Saber? That Cat has been in game and available for taming as far back as I can remember. Not to put that pet out for possible removal, but it is Also “Ghostly”… If they are going to remove the Ghost Wolf due to maybe the glitch factor and how it wasnt meant to be, then in all fairness, they should add a new one somewhere for us to tame. Or at least add some more skins and looks to the older pet models. All I want is more variety in my pets without having to tame a Crab or something just to have a different pet than everyone else.

  43. Rasta - January 15th, 2008 @ 11:27 am UTC

    While I do feel sympathy for those who busted gold and time trying to get this, only to be a day late, I think the QQing and clamoring for reimbursement is unfounded.

    First of all, remember that you were never entitled to being able to tame this pet. You took a risk (I know I did) when you invested the money to gem your helmet, and the time to get haste buffs (if you did).

    Secondly, remember this: wolves are NOT optimal pets. I’d assume that since you’re here reading Mania’s blog that you’re familiar with the DPS of all the pet classes, and know that wolves are pretty low on the totem pole. This means that the sole reason for taming the wolf was for vanity/RP purposes ONLY. Thus, Blizzard has not affected your gameplay at all. Just your ego. And if that is enough to make you quit the game, then you’re probably the kind of person who gives hunters a bad name anyway.

  44. Gebeorgan - January 15th, 2008 @ 11:34 am UTC

    Today is Black Tuesday for Hunters. Especially for the poor players who had completed their expensive preparations (time, money, mats and favours) to go and tame this fine beast. Blizzard have forgotten that Hunters play more from the heart than other character types :(

  45. Drotara - January 15th, 2008 @ 11:38 am UTC

    Glad to see Blizzard is busy handling important problems like actually finishing Hunter pets. I mean after all, we can’t have something fun and challenging in the game. /sigh

  46. Stainz - January 15th, 2008 @ 12:16 pm UTC

    I was actually after the wolf for both vanity and the WH as an additional instance/raid buff. So they do have some use. I initially waited as A) couldn’t find an available gem, I wasn’t sure it would get nerfed. The message about ‘no plans to remove the wolf’ did make the risk and the outlay for the materials when I bought it seemingly worthwhile.

    It is the U-turn, lack of communication, and just their general grasping nature when it comes to money intake vs gameplay, development etc, that I think it’s fair to say has got up people’s noses, as much if not more than being out of pocket. It hasn’t made me consider quitting personally, but it has made me consider how they value the class, and whether I should swap to my Warrior as a proper rather than secondary main. A couple of daily’s a day for a few days will cover the outlay.

  47. marzix - January 15th, 2008 @ 12:39 pm UTC

    i agree with what rasta said in comment 43 somewhat. its not hurting your gameplay just your ego… you have had almost 2 months to tame it, if you took your time its your own fault for not hurrying sooner. and if gold is that really big of an issue then do more dailies. you got your 200g back in like 3 days.

  48. Arides - January 15th, 2008 @ 12:43 pm UTC

    So, if the ghost wolf is labeled a beast but looks undead so it’s not tamable, then it follows that all those hellboars in Outland that are labeled demons but look like beasts must BE tamable, right? Woots, I think I’ll get one in each color.

    Frankly, I can see the lore point of removing it as a tamable creature, but doing so in an unannounced hotfix is a PR disaster. I find it hard to believe there was not some mechanism it was screwing up somewhere — perhaps there are raid bosses where it was registering as an undead instead of as a beast and that was messing things up — to make them remove it that quickly. In fact, if I’m reading the reports right the NPCs no longer summon it which makes it gone entirely instead of just having its switch flipped to “untamable”. It’s a shame, though — it was a fun vanity pet and a sort of hunter-bonding thing, I’ve /congratulated the Horde players I’ve seen with it and gotten /waves and /thanks in return. (Yes that’s touchy-feely but my hunter’s flagRSP title is “Goddamn Hippie” so I can get away with it :) ) I would not be at all surprised if it winds up reskinned to normal wolf in a patch or two, alas, so I will do extra /congratulating whenever I see one just in case.

  49. Twi - January 15th, 2008 @ 12:54 pm UTC

    Wolves are the only pets with the group “howl” buff. And unless your pet is needed for DPS for some reason then there is no reason not to use a wolf in an instance or raid with that buff. There was no real reason this was removed other then they didn’t want Hunters to have it. Having a ghost pet over a normal pet was not going to make Hunters anymore powerful, it wasn’t going to make others want to play a hunter anymore then now (I can’t see someone leveling a Hunter clear to 68 just to tame one), it was only going to make it so there was more variety to Hunter’s pets. I can’t tell you how many other white tigers or black wolves I see running around. And as stated before, I don’t feel like taming a spider or crab just to have a somewhat less common one.

    I agree with Stainz, lack of communication and a lack of listening to their players is what is irking most. And in the long run this will hurt Blizz and WoW. I got my Hunter to 70 and have been very bored ever since because there are so many Hunters and so little call for them, at least on my server. I will be turning my Priest into my main because of this little action just so I am not so bored and will have a demand for me once I hit 70. And if there are too many more actions along these lines of changing their minds after saying something else, I may just be saving a few extra coins every month.

  50. Morlahann - January 15th, 2008 @ 1:30 pm UTC

    It is quite sad to see them change this – though I would not have been able to tame it myself because of race.. I was considering getting that as a pet in the future for an alt character – and now this is no longer possible..

    It is very nice hoewver, to see that they’ve allowed those that already tamed them to keep them – I’d be quite.. annoyed, if they took my pets away. :3

  51. wowHuntress - January 15th, 2008 @ 1:38 pm UTC

    I created a hunter for the specific purpose of taming that wolf. I had it all planned out – she was going to be a leatherworker for the drums. I am disappointed and discouraged by this.

    Blizz should at least refund those hunters who went to all the trouble preparing to tame the wolf, but weren’t able to do so for one reason or another before today. Not me, of course. I’m just thinking about those who may have PLed leatherworking, incurred costs for the gem, etc.

    AND another thing! Their reasoning is bogus. What impact does this type of pet have on the game? Is it the fact that they didn’t think of it, so it can’t be allowable? Seriously, I don’t understand how players figuring out something Blizz unintended has a negative impact on the game.

    If anything, it should tell Blizz that players want to discover “unintentions” in the game. It adds an exciting and challenging layer to what becomes over time a game of everyone grinding for the same thing. Design for us some “unintentions” that impact our classes/professions/races/etc. making those who seek them a little bit different than the rest.

  52. Rikaku - January 15th, 2008 @ 1:45 pm UTC

    This is just horrible an awful news! My fellow hunters, my sympathies truly go out to those who cannot have this wolf now. This is heartbreaking news, as it was truly a wonder to get one of these. Its a shame to think it took 2 months for blizzard to change its mind, and if they later make them unfeedable, I will /rage quit WoW

  53. iLash - January 15th, 2008 @ 1:57 pm UTC

    I’m so glad my shaman friend kept telling me to tame the wolf. We tamed him a few days ago not knowing that blizzard was going to make it untameable. I’m so happy I got it now.

    It was a pretty good challenge to tame. I had the meta gem, my shammy friend provided the bloodlust, and our guild leader (priest) helped with the MC.

    I’ve already levelled the wolf to 70. I hope blizzard doesn’t take him away because he’s really cool. He looks awesome and I’ve already levelled him to 40.

    I normally use Humar the pridelord. I tamed him because he was also hard to get and rare but it seems every hunter i know has him. Well, I still use Humar because of the DPS.

    Thx to Adams and Shadyb on Gorgannash for helping me get the ghost wolf!

  54. Dane - January 15th, 2008 @ 1:58 pm UTC

    Geez you guys, stop with the QQ’n about not getting the Ghost Wolf. Either should have tamed it when they made it available or asap. You didn’t need to be level 70 to tame it cause you could have gaotten a meta gem helm at 64 and went and tamed it. to the person taht had the gem in for a week, tough chet. i’m sure you could have found a shammy and a spriest before then so quit QQ’n and let the rest of hunters that did tame it enjoy our unique staus with our pets.

  55. Synnavar - January 15th, 2008 @ 2:05 pm UTC

    This indeed is terrible. I am one of the lucky hunters that tamed this beautiful wolf before Blizzard stabbed those close to taming a wolf of their own in the back. Now I’ve gotten paranoid to the point of checking my account every few hours to make sure Sköll is still whispy and well fed. (Kudos to anyone who understands the reference of his name.) And incase he becomes unfeedable, we can always take them to a battleground nowadays, die once, and they’re happy once more.

    This hotfix has pigeonholed me into keeping my level 69 Old Cliff Jumper, Fenrir, in my stables as a precaution. Here I was happy as a Tauren hunter having a spiritual pet by my side, without worry of alterations. Hopefully feeding and the skin style remains unchanged for everyone like myself that caught them in the narrow window of opportunity.

  56. shibumi - January 15th, 2008 @ 2:17 pm UTC

    Dane – actually it isn’t as cut and dried as ‘you had the stuff’ or ‘had the chance to get the stuff’ stop whining,

    I am in a good guild – but still didn’t have the opportunity to get a team together to hit the 5 man to get the hat to put my gem in. It’s not so much that we are griping about not having it, it’s the method it was taken away when we though we might have the time to prepare. Dunno about you, but a good portion of inovative hunters are pretty much solo artists, and garnering a team like needed to both gather the mats and to do the deed is more than ‘just go tame a pet’. I empathize as I am one of them, but so it goes. I’m still proud of (most) of the hunter community for the unbelievable effort that was made in finding and taming this pet after it became available.

    I personally think the challenge this presented was exceptional,and the fact that folks were able to tame this wolf at all, regardless of if it was intended or not, shows the incredible ingenuity of the players, hunters in particular. The gripe here is that bliz said one thing, and then recanted. Probably due to it having long range effects on game mechanics, but they never said that. They just yanked it. I’m pretty sure that if they had said this breaks X for our long term plans, it would ahve been more acceptable, particularly if they said get it now, it’s going away.

    but they didn’t. They yanked it and told us later. crude.

    Unfortunate, but as has been pointed out, not unusual for Bliz to do.

    I’m finding it less and less enjoyable these days to be in a game where dev environment is less than honest. Not that I think they were intentionally dishonest, it was just done, as I say, crudely. Funny how you could go into PTR and every hunter had a ghost wolf (closest I came). Perhaps it was that, that showed some long term effect that they decided it was time to yank it. More explaination, less skulking would be good :)

  57. Rikaku - January 15th, 2008 @ 3:19 pm UTC

    Well pointed out Shibumi. I find the action more sad by the fact Blizzard said “it’ll stay” and then yanked it without so much as a good reason other then “not fitting in with the class”

    Also Dane, please don’t rub your status of having a wolf in those who didn’t get it’s faces. That’s just rude. It was expected alot of players to be upset as this was a big deal to some hunters. Some hunters are truely attached to getting that “one pet”. So it’s just rude to say “Let us with this pet enjoy our unique status.” You should be thankful blizzard even let you keep feeding the pet.

  58. Palladiamorsdeus - January 15th, 2008 @ 3:49 pm UTC

    I wouldn’t make any long term plans with it. This has happened before, with other rare pets. They yank the taming, and later, the feeding. And Dane, I apologize if this sounds rude, but your being a jerk. Basically, all you just said was “I have it, you don’t, stfu.” No one thought it was going to be yanked. Blizzard SAID “Its here to stay.” So your arguement of “You should have done it sooner!” is totally unjustified. A lot of people who wanted it weren’t even seventy. Weren’t even sixty four! Have fun with your ghost wolf, but don’t shove it in everyone else’s face.

    Second thing up, the look. Thats a bull excuse, and everyone worth their salt knows it. Ghost sabers, diseased animals, and aliens (Ravagers) are all perfectly tameable pets. Whats NOT unusual for Blizzard is not letting us tame other fairly common beasts, or even all the variants of beasts that there are. I’d have been a lot less angry if they’d just told us what this was REALLY screwing up, instead of throwing us obvious half truths.

    And finally, to the argument of wolves not being great end game pets. Shut up. Yea, you heard me. Its obvious that people like you have never, EVER used a variety of pets at the end game. I used to think just like you. Then one day, I did a few tests. Just to amuse myself. The ‘DPS’ pets came out only a few thousand damage ahead of the ‘non’DPS pets. The margin was a bit greater for the lower DPS, but still, it wasn’t a huge difference, like I’d always assumed. So I tested in a few BGs. Same thing, only people were a lot more grateful for my wolf. I STILL came out first or near the top of the damage meters, and people still died in a hurry. Honestly, its disappointing. But it still makes pretty much ALL pets viable at high levels. Except maybe spore bats. So grab a different argument if you want to discourage people about being ticked about this, because that one doesn’t fly.

  59. Gauntlet - January 15th, 2008 @ 3:58 pm UTC

    Sad times. I hadn’t grabbed one, but it’s still sad.
    And as for the “Look and Feel”? The Ghost Wolf looked freaking awesome, on par with the vanity Spectral Tiger mount, but it still was an animal running along next to you. And no offense to those who have them, but it looked more “ranger/hunter”-ish than having a Ravager. Seriously.

  60. Amber - January 15th, 2008 @ 4:09 pm UTC

    Let me take a little bit of time here to expound on my earlier post, and explain why I am not so much angry about this as deeply disheartened.

    When it was first announced it was staying, this is what I posted as a comment on Mania’s blog:

    “This is the single best action Blizzard has taken in months. This is a solid indicator that they really are prepared to listen to their player base and focus on What Is Most Fun. With any luck they’ll consider the reaction to this and expand on the idea. This is a wonderful area of design space that hasn’t been explored yet.”

    I believed, then, that they saw this, while accidental, as an opportunity to make more pets like this, to create a whole other line of pets that required extra effort to get, and provide special looks as a reward. They would not be any better than others (in fact, as some have pointed out, slightly worse even) but would provide a reward in their appearance, along the same lines as special mounts, “companion” pets, and so forth.

    This is a role-playing game. Many people don’t avail themselves of that feature. That’s fine. For them, they had no need to even venture into this “exotic pet” area. Others of us did, and saw it to be worthwhile. My draenei hunter lost many of her friends in the Exodar crash; I had planned to get a ghost wolf, role-played as the spirit of a fallen shaman whom she had once been very close to. Perhaps slightly lore-allergic, but I thought perfectly suitable. I celebrated when it was announced, because I thought it meant Blizzard had chosen to listen to their playerbase.

    Many of the higher-up developers out there in Irvine must be quite familiar with tabletop, pen-and-paper role-playing games. And no doubt they know that nothing is more critical to the success of such a game than a good GM (whether you call him GM, DM, Storyteller, referee, or Bob). A good GM has a well-crafted and exquisitely designed plan for the players – and he is also prepared to can the whole lot if the players take things in a different direction. An uncooperative GM, who is constantly walling the players in and ushering them through a precise series of waypoints, exactly the way he has scripted it without any deviation, will destroy the game and lose his players because he has broken the game and turned the fun into by-the-numbers drudgery.

    I bring this up because it seems this is precisely what the developers are doing. They didn’t want this to be tamable, because it goes against their well-crafted plan. If people don’t like it, tough, because they’re the ones that are wrong. It’s not their game. But that’s where they’re wrong. The game belongs to all of us. It is a cooperative endeavour, a shared dream. There will always be limits that we as players are not to cross. But how much freedom will we be allowed?

    Am I wrong about their intentions? Possibly. However, no viable explanation has yet been given as to the nature of this removal, nor the sudden turnabout. Drysc said:
    - The unintended nature of the taming: But this has already been acknowledged and discussed. A few weeks ago it wasn’t a problem. Can you explain why it is now?
    - The undead status of the guide: It appears ghostly. No problems have been raised about the Ghost Sabre, the diseased animals from WPL/EPL, or similar. Again, please explain why this is fatal.
    - Appearance of the wolf in relation to the feel of the hunter class: These are simply words with no meaning behind them without more context. First, see the above comments on undead appearance. Second, what is your belief as to what the class should be, and why does this conflict? And third, relate this to what I said before about GM forcing.
    - The complex processes of taming: As previously discussed, it is neither necessary nor optimal. This seems like a cut-and-dried case of extra effort for extra reward. Why is this bad?

    The “reasons” we have been given do not begin to address the question of “Why?” If these are the issues that were raised, we are not told why exactly these issues make the pet non-viable. In the absence of such concrete information, I can rationally conclude little else:
    - Is it too difficult to maintain from a coding perspective? Impossible, since it is a normal wolf with only a unique skin. No extra overhead should be required.
    - Is it so badly bugged that it cannot be fixed, like a certain ravager from ages past? Difficult to conceive, since no issues have yet come to light by those that have it, and it has not been cited by Blizzard.
    - Or, is it a simple matter of “WE didn’t want that to happen. Get rid of it.”

    I can conclude nothing else. I welcome information directly from Blizzard that can counter this opinion. Again, this is only an opinion; one reached through logical deduction, but nonetheless my opinion alone. To me, though, this is not merely a refutation of the Ghost Wolf; it is a refutation of the belief that player opinions have any bearing on the direction of the game versus the almighty Developers.

  61. Mania - January 15th, 2008 @ 4:29 pm UTC

    I know that emotions are running high — shoot, I’m angry and I never get angry! — but please do try to keep your comments here polite, at least towards other posters.

    And Amber, thank you very much for that extensive and impressive comment.

  62. Rikaku - January 15th, 2008 @ 4:37 pm UTC

    Amber, I couldn’t have said it better myself. I am still reeling from this, and I have a ghost wolf. To me it feels more like I can’t trust Blizzard. That one day I’ll log in without notice and can’t feed my pet. Not only that, but as a customer, it makes me wonder if I should continue business with them.

  63. Palladiamorsdeus - January 15th, 2008 @ 5:33 pm UTC

    I apologize Mania, it wasn’t originally my intent to be rude. But one person telling everyone else to stop whining because they didn’t get what was supposed to be a permament pet in time sort of set me off. While I had no intentions of taming one, seeing some one shove the fact that they have one in some one elses face made me angry. We haven’t been given a single good reason as to why the ghost wolf was taken out yet, and I honestly don’t think we will. Blizzard has just shown us time and time again that they do NOT listen to their fan base. We don’t even have any representation on the forums! We have Drysc coming in every now and then to tell us things. When they listen to the wants and whims of most of the other classes, and just sort of ignore us? It gets old after a while. And this blatant betrayl of customer trust is just one more nail in the coffin. Yes, its just one class. But its OUR class, and they seem to keep shunting us back into the corner.

    How many new, good things did we get in the expansion? We got steady shot, snake trap, and misdirection. All good in their own way, but look at what the other classes got. Rogues got a FOURTY ONE point talent made baseline. Warlocks got a new armor spell that increases spellpower AND restoration and Seed of corruption, both insane abilities. Other classes got similar things. We were on the low end of the totem pole. And this was right after they re-did our agility to AP system, effectively nerfing our AP at the time. They normalized pets. They took away every unique pet ability. They haven’t added a single new pet ability since the expansion. They have constantly nerfed us in one way or another. They nerfed the affect that beastial wrath has on pet abilities, just because scorpids were getting up to a thousand damage ticks. Even in 2.3, when all the other classes got substantial buffs, we got a bug fix, two intersting new mechanics, and a minor AP addition to DoT shots and stings.

    Then the ghost wolf hit, and everyone LOVED it. There was a resounding amount of positive feed back about it. Yes, it was hard, but it was an AMAZING look, and it was a worthy challenge for people looking for something new. They tell us its staying, we all rejoice. Like Mania said, it was proof that, my god, they listen to us! And then, without a word, its gone. They don’t even post it. Just gone. A hot fix. And its not until people started noticing that we get an “Oh yea, this uh, this didn’t fit. Srsly. Sorry.” I think we, the hunter community, have every right to be outraged. I know it won’t do much, if anything, but I feel like we need to do SOMETHING, even if it is just ‘QQing’ on the forums. My two cents.

  64. Palladiamorsdeus - January 15th, 2008 @ 5:43 pm UTC

    Sorry for the double post, but in so far as pets go, http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=3881846881&sid=1 has a good list of what Blizzard has and hasn’t done for us.

  65. shibumi - January 15th, 2008 @ 5:46 pm UTC

    Amber – well said.

    I do a *lot* of beta testing (since the early 90s) which includes WoW. One thing that struck me with this was that there must be an issue on the game mechanics. However, to give everyone a wolf in PTR was either a test to prove or disprove this, as well as the wry humor of doing it. Nothing heard. I’m getting used to nothing heard now, from Bliz. This tells me that they will do, as Amber suggests, whatever they want, it is not our game, it is theirs. Suggestions will be either accepted or ignored, rarely discussed.

    I’d love to give them the benefit of the doubt – but Amber very aptly points out the weakness in their ‘reasons’ for pulling this pet from the Taming Pool. Those aren’t reasons, they aren’t even poor excuses – they’d have done better just not saying anything at all, rather than weak, transparent attempts to cover whatever the reason purpose is.

    Trust is easy to lose, and hard to gain. It is exceptionally hard to regain lost trust – much like regaining lost innocence.

    I’ve mentioned here before I am an avid tamer of pets, though I tend to use one for a long period, I will tame and see. The most dramatic change since closed beta was when they nerfed ALL the pet families. Yes, that was a worse event than this one. I missed my Snarler and his amazing stats. Broken Tooth that was so hard to find uncamped and his speed. All just a matter of family now, with different skins. Ok, I got used to it, didn’t much like it, but I got used to it – thinking that it laid the ground for a whole new world of pets and taming. Guess that wasn’t quite true, and I’m pretty sure this is going to happen again and again.

    I just wish they wouldn’t treat us like idiot children (even if some of us might act like it) and speak to us honestly. Some of us actually have a LOT of experience in development, testing, coding and other aspects of gaming that means they could have a huge pool of skilled resources, should they choose to utilize it. They could benefit quite a lot from that, but I think they are a closed environment, unwilling to change (either viewpoint or process).

    ah well.

    mebbe I can find a Ghost Ravager somewhere …

  66. sandralover - January 15th, 2008 @ 6:03 pm UTC

    i have held off on commenting about this loss as i am puzzled as to the reason they pulled it after they said it would stay .
    did anyone with one notice any problems in instances with them ? or any other problems apart from weird animations on the way they move ?
    i have seen no comments at all on any problems with them so the sudden change to me looks like a touch of whoops !!!!!!!!!! every hunter wants one we had better pull it fast .
    if they want to be honest with us hunters they could at least say why they did it , sure if it was not an in-game problem they will get people still angry , but from all the comments here and their forums and all the other wow related sites they have already got many very angry..
    if it was an in-game problem why would they let the few keep the pets or do they think a few problems will not hurt the game ? or will they one day fix the feeding so the few go away ?

    we need answers but from what i have seen i doubt we will like them

  67. Palladiamorsdeus - January 15th, 2008 @ 6:07 pm UTC

    I have also just discovered that Blizzard completely erased the origial “You can keep it” post from the forums. More and more underhanded.

  68. Twi - January 15th, 2008 @ 7:13 pm UTC

    All I have to say is, Well put Amber. Don’t think it could have been pointed out any better why this is such an upset for most hunters, even if they didn’t want it. Also well done pointing out the questions we all would love answers to and never will get I’m sure.

  69. Emowin - January 15th, 2008 @ 7:35 pm UTC

    I am very saddened by this. Granted I play alone most of the time and it was not looking good for me to atain one of these amazing pets it has hurt me. When I play I make up a story line in my head, and as the proud owner of my black wolf Lyca (formerly known as Snarler) Part of the sad story going on between my ears Lyca was going to die and not be able to be brought back, and my broken heartedEmowin was going to go on an epic quest to bring her back, only she was going to come back as a ghost. Now I must put the story to sleep.

    And as for the “didn’t fit the class having an undead pet” thing as was brought up by many others what about the ghost sabers, or shall I even bring up the undead boars from the plague lands. And if some one says “oh they arnt un-dead just plagued” look at what the skin for that boar is titled…..”boarskinundead” That excuse on blizards part is just lame.

    Heaven forbidwe should have a pet that can be a major challenge to tame. I think as it stands there are few pets that take great determination to tame…Deviate Dreadfang due to it being so deep in the caverns that you have to eather be higher lv than the instance or have a full group to get to, Gutripper with his passion for hitting hard and pushing you over in mid-tame, or even Deathskitter for hitting hard and being immune to freezing trap. I Love the challenging pets to tame, makes the story line in my head ever so interesting.

    I do oppoligize for my spelling no I am not a child just a bad speller and my spell check seams to be on the fritz.

  70. Mania - January 15th, 2008 @ 8:02 pm UTC

    I understand, Palladiamorsdeus. And thank you for the link.

  71. Jynk - January 15th, 2008 @ 10:32 pm UTC

    As for the “undead” bit.. nevermind the Ghost Saber, what about the wolves and bears of Felwood and the Plaguelands that clearly look like undead and rotting animals? If those and the Ghost Saber are tamable and look enough like undead, then how was the ghost wolf different? I’ve always wanted one since I saw the Prairie Vision from the Tauren quest. It’s a beautiful skin and Blizz truly could’ve gone the other way on this and made them easier to tame (even though that still hurts the gold spent issue) and just added them to the pool of pets Hunters can have. There are so very few unique pets for us to have to stand out with.

    Also.. I agree with the person who mentioned more stables. Why didn’t we get it with BC? I’d still like to know why hunters could never do a quest to tame their own mounts. Wouldn’t it have made more sense for us to have a free mount instead of the pallies?

  72. Palladiamorsdeus - January 15th, 2008 @ 11:59 pm UTC

    Your welcome Mania. As for the lore part of mounts, paladins and warlocks I can understand. If you want to go lore with paladins, they are technically knights who are trained in the ways of the light, and knights are always mounted in Warcraft. Having a warhorse just makes sense. Warlocks are similar, summoning a demonic stead and all that. Hunters…… I think that’d give us to wide a variety of mounts. Probably to wide. That being said, I don’t think it’d be all that hard to limit each races’ options for what they can tame to mount. That and the stable slots both are sheer laziness on Blizzards part.

  73. Stainz - January 16th, 2008 @ 6:00 am UTC

    I mentioned stables as it’s always hampered when I’ve been looking for a second pet. Junked the Outland wolves I had as I wanted to too look at dragon hawks, then had to junk that as I wanted to retain the RFK boar (eats anything)and just about the only pet (beyond the wolf) I fancied taming. If I have that and my regular cat then I kinda need to keep a slot free in order to tame something else if/when a new skill, or missing one (unlikely) occurs.

    This gimps experimentation, and if you can afford a flying mount as a character, surely you can afford a dog house, or a proper stables?

    I’m not sure I fully agree with other classes and the mounts. Fair enough if pallys are knights, but what about warriors – takes ages to get anywhere and you’d be too knackered running across a zone in full armour to do more than gasp at an enemy at the end of it. Mobility didn’t help my warrior level, my Priest feels the same. Shamys get the massive ghost wolf form & astral recall, which is a very nice perk, mages get the portals etc, and druids get the extra ‘hearth’. Whilst aspect of the cheetah is nice, it does seem pretty naff taming a whooping great beast to go smack things for you, but you can’t take a level 5 ram as a mount.

    Perhaps this is stuff in the expansion, but it would be a bit naff to force people to pay extra to get hold of a few skins, and it isn’t like there is any challenge involved. With pet abilities not scaling effectively with half decent 70 gear I just feel that a BM hunter is pretty marginalized, with little room for development, hence running alts more as mains. If Blizzard are busy doing u-turns, and being duplicitous in wiping posts, threads, and stealth nerfs/patches/hotfixes then I do wonder, on top of the other nerfs hunters have had (which I avoided by joining wow later)whether the character has been a waste of time.

  74. Phytor - January 16th, 2008 @ 8:46 am UTC

    glad i tamed one myself at 62 now ^^, i´m still not 70 so if i had waited for 70 i would never have got one.

  75. Asara - January 16th, 2008 @ 9:48 am UTC

    The only thing that makes me sad every time I log on to work on leveling mine.. they said that we could keep them, but they never said for how long. Not even “for now”. It implies forever, but it also implies that they can change their minds about it whenever they want.

    At least a screenshot is forever!

  76. Palladiamorsdeus - January 16th, 2008 @ 2:16 pm UTC

    My advice to you, Asara, and anyone else lucky enough to get one, is simple. Use the ghost wolf as much as you can. For a while, don’t worry about performence, or DPS. Enjoy it while its there. Get your monies worth, if you worry on that sort of thing. The pet has been declared to not fit into Blizzards view of the game, and as such I fear its only a matter of time before its taken out completely. Its rare for hunters to get that much of a warning from Blizzard. Do the most you can with the time you have been given.

  77. Bowiie - January 16th, 2008 @ 9:07 pm UTC

    Blizzard needs to work on their logic a tad. They remove the ghost wolf because it looks undead? Yet, the ghost saber (spawned from cat statues in northern Darkshore) has been a tameable for years!

    I admit that I’m kind of happy that I won’t be seeing every hunter out there with a ghost wolf (as what happened with my ghost kitty), but I can’t say that I agree with Blizzard on this decision. And I, too, fear the day they try to take it from us completely. That was a lot of time, money, and effort that was put into taming this wolf… not to mention that I am extremely attached to it. I started my first hunter because I love the pets and vanity pets so much.

    And as an RPer, I’ve already worked out a story about my hunter’s old wolf dying of old age but coming back to him in this ghostly form. So who’s to say this doesn’t fit in with the RP of the hunter class?

  78. Rikaku - January 17th, 2008 @ 3:01 am UTC

    I can only hope that perhaps Blizz will leave us our ghost wolves alone for those who have already tamed. While I don’t agree with this removal, I must say it IS surprising that Blizzard allowed it for so long and did even give hunters on the PTR (Pre-mades) the 70 ghost wolf. While my trust in blizzard is completely shot, I think I shall try to rebuild it with thinking that perhaps Blizzard will leave our tamed wolves alone.
    If they had wanted they would’ve wiped them way long ago, I’ve seen things wiped alot faster then the (2 months i believe) the ghost wolf was available, and even on the PTR.
    Mind you I am not defending blizzard, but I think that the owners of the ghost wolf shouldn’t “live in fear” of the wolf being taken away. Sure, there’s a chance I’m wrong. But I personally cannot bear the idea of worrying after every tuesday if some new hotfix removed the wolf. Obviously blizzard must’ve debated over this (over 2 months and the PTR testing) so I think us hunters are safe for now about keeping our wolves. At least, I’d like to think so. After all that time and effort.
    Just my 2 cents

  79. Gwibo - January 17th, 2008 @ 8:58 am UTC

    now this sucks jsut found out today that peopel can no longer tame this wolf.

    ive only got him to 43 not much i know but now my thoguths are – is there any point in levelling him further now just to have him

    a taken away
    b be unable to feed him
    c they wont fix him

    bleh this kinda sucks

    gwibo – burning blade Eu

  80. Rikaku - January 17th, 2008 @ 11:39 am UTC

    I’d keep leveling him Gwibo. Look at it this way, if they do remove him, it’ll be another 2 months. I got mine to 70 in about a week (mind you I have college classes). And as for fixing, I honestly doubted they’d fix him anyways. I’ve grown found of my Kiba’s power walking to be honest. He still pursues just as fast, he just doesn’t “run”. So it’s just cosmetic and not as important to me. I’d still say go for it. If in the long run, Blizz keeps its word and lets us have our wolves, then we’re fine.

  81. hyena84 - January 17th, 2008 @ 2:33 pm UTC

    keep leveling yours Gwibo. im gonna keep leveling mine. hes the only pet my qro troll hunts with now…

  82. granpasso - January 17th, 2008 @ 7:04 pm UTC

    I wonder how many Ghost Wolves were tamed before the change? If it was a small number perhaps Blizz didnt think it would matter. I know of two others on my server besides my own, and it seems like there are more horde owners than Alliance which makes sense.
    - GP

  83. Rikaku - January 17th, 2008 @ 9:55 pm UTC

    Granpasso, that’s a good point. I was the first for my realm, and I know of only 4 others on my realm who has him. They’re all alliance side oddly enough, I’ve seen the horde side for my realm and haven’t seen any yet. Asked around too.

  84. Zalthor - January 17th, 2008 @ 10:15 pm UTC

    I just want to point out the fact that they automatically gave you the ghost wolf for a pet if you made a hunter character on the Test Realms. What was the point of that if they were removing the pet from the game? Its like handing a kid a lollipop and then snatching it back and laughing at them.

  85. Anon - January 19th, 2008 @ 12:13 am UTC

    I wanted one, and I tried hard to get it. But since I was only level 68 when 2.3.2 came out, I had no way in hell to get it. Tame Beast without any help sucked. I had no way of speeding up my spell, no shamans were on at any time to help (either that, or they were too busy getting their ass kicked at BGs), and priests are never useful since Shadow Priests became good. When I finally got the gear for taming this thing, spending what I should’ve saved for my flying mount, I find I can’t tame it. I was utterly pissed, needless to say.

  86. granpasso - January 19th, 2008 @ 4:57 pm UTC

    yeah Rikaku brings up another interesting point. Why have them in the test realm? Unless it factored in deciding whether to keep them or not. Thats fine I guess as long as they DID NOT say they were leaving the Ghost wolf in the game in the first place, but they did. And I think thats where the push is. All these hunters gathered mats not just on the hope of taming a ghost wolf, but on the statement by Blizzard that the wolf WAS STAYING..

  87. Weekly Digest: Kael Still a Douche, Hunters Saddened, and Mattcast Going Through : World of Matticus - January 19th, 2008 @ 11:21 pm UTC

    [...] been a large outcry over Blizzard’s reversal in their stance of the ghost wolf pet (formerly a bug). Others [...]

  88. Anonymous - January 20th, 2008 @ 10:40 am UTC

    MMORPGS ARE SERIOUS BUSINESS, AMIRITE?

  89. Umbar - January 21st, 2008 @ 1:19 am UTC

    I have to thank my good buddy Dracular for helping me get this pet. I was not going to, but he just got his and said I should as well.

    This reminds me of the day they changed all the pets to be basically the same. I had Broken Tooth and he was very difficult to get. I was pissed when I learned he was a regular cat after the change…

  90. mk - January 21st, 2008 @ 1:45 am UTC

    doesn’t really bother me much

    I actually bought the 125g half cast time gem, got a robe and put the sockets in it to make it work, and even had drums and a shaman’s heroism at one point. the only thing I didn’t try was a priest’s mind control method to get the casting up to a T.

    it’s like the moon and sun and stars have to be aligned at the right moment, too much trouble for a pet, as I do admit they are quite a cool rarity to have in your arsenal, I use a boar or cat more for pvp then I would furious howl.

    plus a poster above talks about a speed walking glitch/problem? bah, more headaches then I can handle. I’ll pass, and have a third free stable slot for when the next expansion hits

    cause you KNOW bliz is going to give us another stable slot :rolleyes:

  91. Rikaku - January 22nd, 2008 @ 1:04 am UTC

    MK, actually the wolf moves at the correct speed, he just doesnt have the animation for running. I use a cat as well for pvp (two cats actually) I never liked boars. I know theyre good and all with their abilities but, traveling with a pig and dealing with that squealing all the time annoys me lol!

  92. Thal - January 22nd, 2008 @ 1:34 pm UTC

    I almost want to cry.
    That was a “fuck you” to us player, I know people who have already spent over 300 gold preparing to get this pet, I have already spent close to that amount as well.

  93. Si - January 22nd, 2008 @ 6:35 pm UTC

    With feeling this strong blizz should certainly listen to the folks that make World of Warcraft such a proftiable enterprise for them and allow the taming of the ghost wolf. I wanted one myself but have been to busy with kara and gear upgrades to get the ppl and gear to tame one. I have only ever seen 1 person with the wolf on my mains realm. At least they get to keep theirs. :)

  94. thomz - January 23rd, 2008 @ 10:25 am UTC

    GREAT JOB BLIZZ REALY……
    i made a hunter just to get this pet, now i see you cant train it anymore.
    THAN WHY DID U TELL US THAT IT WOULD STAY IN THE GAME?????
    one week ago they pet stays in the game,
    this week the pet is no longer tamable
    what is next, people who tammed it prob. will lose it to….

  95. Thoreau - January 23rd, 2008 @ 2:38 pm UTC

    There is a big difference between the Ghost Saber and the Ghost Wolf. The cat is tameable for a character of the same level so you can level him up along with your hunter. The wolf was level 30 but impossible to tame for anyone under level 66 (or 64?) when the first item with a meta gem slot became available. So while every other tameable pet in the game can be levelled along with the hunter, that was impossible for the ghost wolf.

    I don’t really agree with Blizzard’s designers on this, but over my two years of playing a hunter it has become quite clear that their intentions are that a hunter should stick with pets close to his own level. With the way pets gain experience (only from mobs close to the hunter’s level rather than close to the pet’s level) and how you is forced to play un-hunter-like (with a passive pet) when you powerlevel a low pet, it is quite clear that the ghost wolf was not intended to be a pet. That is not how the hunter class is intended to be played, according to Blizzard.

    So this decision makes perfect sense, it was the other one that was illogical and hasty. In the end, I prefer doing business with a company that makes the right decisions in the end even if it takes them a little longer sometimes. I was planning on maybe going to tame a ghost wolf myself some day, so I do feel disappointed, but it was the right decision.

  96. Mythoss - January 24th, 2008 @ 5:07 am UTC

    Grats to all who tamed one ,,,, they look cool. As for all of us under 66 hunters ,,,,,, hope for a nice bug in the future. PS: They must be cat lovers ?

  97. Swagga - January 26th, 2008 @ 1:31 pm UTC

    Blizzard should have pets that are difficult to attain and then grind to 70. It’s called a worthwhile challenge. It made the spirit wolf a goal for some. Some people like challenges in the game other than honor grinding and pve raiding.

    Even if the wolf being tamable was a mistake or a glitch, once blizzard saw that the customers enjoyed having it in game they should have left it there. Telling a customer that you will do something ie; leaving the wolves tamable, and then taking them away is not ever a good choice.

    Blizzard clearly had their heads in their a$$es on this one.

  98. Kastoli - January 28th, 2008 @ 6:03 am UTC

    Well, at least i know NOT to level a hunter now.. just started today. For the sole reason i getting one of those wolves. GG Blizzard, congrats to all who got them.

  99. Dimitiros - January 29th, 2008 @ 10:50 am UTC

    WHY all the hard for what for NOTHING WHY why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

  100. someone - January 30th, 2008 @ 11:42 am UTC

    hey guys am i the only 1 with problems with my pet walking speed
    its 2 slow i often have 2 stop so it can cach up?

  101. wolvesanddogs - January 31st, 2008 @ 10:29 am UTC

    Zalthor wrote:

    “I just want to point out the fact that they automatically gave you the ghost wolf for a pet if you made a hunter character on the Test Realms. What was the point of that if they were removing the pet from the game? Its like handing a kid a lollipop and then snatching it back and laughing at them.”

    Ever stop and think that maybe they were testing the nuts and bolts of the ghost wolf on a large scale? Perhaps they decided (after testing) it was too buggy to fix (running animation, no ‘howl’ idle sound) and removed it on the production side.

  102. Whyle - January 31st, 2008 @ 12:43 pm UTC

    Indeed a great upset for the world of Hunters, this being one of the coolest pets that the hunter can tame. I myself am a lvl 70 hunter that uses cats but was going to pick this up and level it because of its rarity. But, oh well I still have my cat. My congrats go out to those who put the time and money into getting one of these and succeeding, you got a very nice rare pet that you should be proud of. And to those who got screwed over like myself, I feel your pain.

    -Whyle (kargath server) lvl 70 NE hunter

  103. gareth - January 31st, 2008 @ 12:56 pm UTC

    erm i know this is wrong and that but i didnt know how to make my own Name That Pet ,
    i just got mazzzarchant (pink talk strider ( i got a lvl 40 xD) odse nay one know a good name?

  104. Someperson - February 1st, 2008 @ 3:14 pm UTC

    This is really sad news. Change it back, Blizzard.

  105. Sashi - February 1st, 2008 @ 10:52 pm UTC

    I am also sorry for my fellow hunters who now cannot get this incredible looking little wolf.

    The first one that I ever saw belonged to Rikaku on my realm, and I saw him in IF over the holidays. I immediately began to look into obtaining one. I’m so glad that I acted quickly on this. After reading up on how to get one, I was worried that Blizzard would do exactly what they did.

    It’s pretty amazing that I was even able to get this wolf tamed. We started with the usual tools (gem, drums, juju flurries and shammy heroism), but without the benefit of a priest’s MC. I did not think it would work, but my wonderful friend, Shammyhagar, was persistent and thought we still had a chance. We got very, very lucky and the timing finally worked. Many thanks to my friend.

    I finally got my wolf to level 70 last week! I’ve grown fond of his little speed walk, although I’ve noticed that he does run, too. It isn’t for very long and you have to be running to get him to do it, but he does “run” in short bursts. I love him :) and do not consider him to be “broken” in any way. He is named Inky after the blue Pac-Man ghostie, lol.

    Again, I feel for those who wanted a ghost wolf and are now unable to get one. :(

    Be well and happy hunting to all.

  106. Lanna7 - February 9th, 2008 @ 10:38 am UTC

    I feel bad for the ppl that cant tame him now. But I am glad I jumped on this wolf the moment I found out he was available and tamed him the same day. He’s not a lvl 70. Altho now, it will only make him more rare that I have him, and I’ve only seen one other hunter with him on my server. =)

  107. Hawkshadow - February 11th, 2008 @ 5:03 pm UTC

    yeah this really does suck. gratz for those of you who got the wolf, and i really hope that blizz does not decide to take yours away. and sorry for those of you who did not get the chance to get one.
    heh i know how that feels, i bought the gem, got the guildies together, went all the way to the marsh and tried to tame the wolf twice (but i was laggin like hell so it did not work), then my shammy friend had to go so we made a time to try again the next day. of course blizz decides to use the hotfix then lol…i blame blizz and my lag for this -.-

  108. Dracobeast - February 12th, 2008 @ 7:31 am UTC

    i wanted that wolf this suks balls

  109. huntlord - February 17th, 2008 @ 1:53 am UTC

    NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WAS WANTING TO TAME BOTH GHOST AND MISSED WOLF O WELL ILL SETTLE FOR SABER

  110. Taylor - February 18th, 2008 @ 7:19 pm UTC

    In my opinion they need to increase the variety of pets for hunters to choose from. Everyone has basicaly the same types, and its boring.
    They shouldnt just give us a new look ‘I noticed everyone had the big white cats before TBC… Lets release the same skin of cat… BUT A DIFFERENT COLOUR! Im a genius…’ They need to give us new beasts, that are actually good…

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