Sneak Peek: Guardian Cub Tradable Pet
A new pet is coming to a Blizzard Store near you and ... you can trade it and sell it at the auction house!
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Coming soon to a Pet Store near you: the new and titanically cute Guardian Cub companion. You’ve soared across Azeroth on the majestic Winged Guardian. Soon, you'll be able to purchase a pint-sized Guardian of the Titans sidekick to accompany you on your adventures.


Stunning good looks and adorable, supersized eyes aren’t all this new pet has going for it. The Guardian Cub is also the Pet Store's first tradable pet, meaning it can be swapped between characters in-game or given as a gift to guildmates, friends, family, or that special someone -- no adoption papers necessary. Due to his finicky nature, each Guardian Cub will only give its allegiance to one owner, meaning it’s a one-time-use pet that permanently binds to a single character. Be sure to choose a master wisely.

Look for the Guardian Cub to arrive in the Blizzard Store in the weeks ahead -- in the meantime, we've prepped a mini-FAQ to explain how this flying friend will differ from other Pet Store companions.

Q: How does the Guardian Cub pet work? How is it different from other Pet Store pets?

Unlike the other Pet Store companions, the Guardian Cub is a tradable, one-time-use pet that permanently binds to a single character upon use. When you purchase the Guardian Cub from the online store, the character you designate will receive a bind-on-use item to carry in his or her inventory. You can either use the item yourself to permanently add the pet to your character's collection (consuming the item in the process), or -- after a brief initial cooldown period -- you can trade the item to another player so he or she can add it to one of their character's collections. Note that once the pet has been added to a character's Companions list, it can no longer be traded, so make sure you're giving the cub a happy home.


Q: Will I be able to carry more than one Guardian Cub at a time?

While a character can only have one Guardian Cub in his or her Companions list, you can have as many in your inventory as you like. Please note that Guardian Cub items do not stack, so each one will take up a bag or bank slot.


Q: How much will the Guardian Cub cost in the Pet Store?

The Guardian Cub will be priced the same as the other Pet Store pets ($10 USD). All sales of the Guardian Cub are final -- no refunds will be given once a purchase is made.


Q: Why did you decide to make the Guardian Cub tradable?

Since the introduction of the Pet Store, many players have been asking for ways to get the companions we offer there without having to spend real-world cash. By making the Guardian Cub tradable (much like the BoE mounts from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game), players interested in the new pet will have fun, alternative in-game ways to get one. In addition to trading the pet, players can give the Guardian Cub as a gift to another character for a special occasion; guild leaders can use them to reward members for a job well done; and so on. We also hope this change will help reduce the number of incidents of scamming via trading for invalid pet codes.


Q: Could I put the Guardian Cub up on the auction house to try to make some gold if I wanted to?

While our goal is to offer players alternative ways to add a Pet Store pet to their collection, we’re ok with it if some players choose to use the Guardian Cub as a safe and secure way to try to acquire a little extra in-game gold without turning to third-party gold-selling services. However, please keep in mind that there's never any guarantee that someone will purchase what you put up for sale in the auction house, or how much they'll pay for it. Also, it’s important to note that we take a firm stance against buying gold from outside sources because in most cases, the gold these companies offer has been stolen from compromised accounts. (You can read more about our stance here.) While some players might be able to acquire some extra gold by putting the Guardian Cub in the auction house, that’s preferable to players contributing to the gold-selling “black market” and account theft.


Q: Are you changing the other available Pet Store pets (e.g. Lil' Ragnaros, the Pandaren Monk) to work this way?

No, the other available Pet Store pets will continue to work as they always have.


Q: What about future Pet Store pets?

It's too early to say how we'll handle future Pet Store pets. We made this change in response to feedback from players looking for alternate ways to get the Pet Store pets, and we're always looking into other opportunities for improvement. We're interested in hearing what players think of the Guardian Cub when it launches, and we hope you'll have fun with this new flying friend.
This article was originally published in forum thread: Sneak Peek: Guardian Cub Tradable Pet started by Boubouille View original post
Comments 729 Comments
  1. Nabeela's Avatar
    Quit WoW, get the money, burn 'em and piss on Blizzard
  1. khatsoo's Avatar
    More news. More complains. Whatever it is. It's the usual thing, it seems. For me, it's a pet. I don't care about pets. They don't affect in any way my gameplay and I won't waste real money or in-game gold for it.
  1. mmocbeba583bd0's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by tobokke View Post
    At least the money goes for the company that makes the game... They can hire more people and give out faster patches and more content, and eventually WoW will be free to play.
    Unfortunately that's not the way Blizzard works. More money earned != more money spent on development.
  1. Squishychunk's Avatar
    Gold sellers will simply buy these with stolen credit cards and list them on the AH

    Maybe that is what the "brief cooldown period" is for, but who knows...
  1. Glade's Avatar
    If you don't want to spend 10 dollars on a pet, then don't...
  1. Grocalis's Avatar
    I don't know about you guys, but I just plan to wait a month or two and then buy it off the AH for 200g from all the idiots that think this will make them money. That way I get a nice cheap pet for some of my characters and other people can waste their real money on it.
  1. GhostOps117's Avatar
    finally an intelligent post instead of the all the blizz selling gold blah blah
  1. Azrile's Avatar
    Unless I am misunderstanding something.. You pay cash, get the pet, sell the pet for gold..... or cut out the middle part ´you pay cash, you get gold´. easy to understand. The things is... there is no reverse course. There is no way for me, as a player, to earn real cash doing this. While it is kinda crappy that some players will be able to pay cash for gold... is gold really that valuable anyway? Very few things i can buy with gold that I really want.. which ironically are usually pet and mounts. But.. think about how this benefits players because it is going to crush gold-farmers and hackers. Who is going to give their paypal or credit card information to a company in china, when you can just go buy a vanity pet if you need gold? Even if the gold sellers can sell it cheaper, there is still a premium on safety. If I can get 30,000gp for $10 from Blizzard, or I get get 50,000gp for $10 using a company in china that might defraud me or get my account banned.. I am certainly going to use Blizzard. But really, back to my original point.. there isn´t much you can buy with gold anyway other than rare mounts and pets. At the beginning of a tier, there are some boe items that are useful, but I think most players understand how quickly they become obsolete. It might cause some inflation for the price of rare drop mounts... but I think for the average player, because of the way this will hurt gold-sellers, the benefits will outweigh that.
  1. ro9ue's Avatar
    I don't understand the logic of the people complaining about this.

    First off, I feel people have two forms of currency to earn things, time and money. Some spend their time earning money, and some spend money to save time. It depends which is more abundant for you. I personally would love to spend a few real life bucks to save me hours upon hours of gold grinding. If this ends up being a great way to make gold in a safe way, I might come back to WoW as this will allow me to purchase a lot of cool shit I normally wouldn't have time to acquire.

    Blizzard is going to make money off this... GOOD. They are a company that consistently produces quality games. If extra revenue rewards those people making the games and also allows them to put more resources into those games, this is only good for us consumers. It's a smart business move for them and it provides a solid and safe option for their current players who want to advance their characters.

    If you farm for stuff to sell on AH to make gold this will not affect you in any way whatsoever. The normal economic fluctuations will happen as normal and you will probably not even notice anything.

    You have 8hrs free time in your real life to farm gold? Congrats, more power to you. You make a lot of money in real life and what to spend it on gold? Go for it. What the fuck is the problem??
  1. McNeil's Avatar
    Seriously, the more money Blizzard makes, the more crap content they give us
  1. Byuiso's Avatar
    This in no way is positive in the least.

    It is a clear sign what Blizzard is doing.

    They are testing a Diablo III economy in WoW without fully announcing it. This isn't looking good for us in the least and Activision doesn't care.
  1. Azrile's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by david0925 View Post
    Like, people actually need to think about it. Who is going to prefer buying gold then buying this off the AH, as opposed to just buying it with money directly from Blizzard? Or are you going to tell me all the pet-collecting maniacs won't have the gold.
    These things will bring in a killing for the person on the AH. There are a lot of people like myself who have a ton of money with nothing to spend it on. I also collect pets, except for the ones that require $. Would I spend real money for one vanity pet? never, no matter how rare it is. Would I spent 50,000g of my 300,000g... sure.. why not. there hasn´t been anything ingame in a long time that I wanted to buy with gold.. it just keeps accumulating without me really trying.

    But after buying the pet.. I would be curious to see what exactly that other players is going to do with the 50k... buy some boe weapons? buy a rare mount?

    The fact is that WOW is becoming like D2, where the ingame currency just has no value. Everything you really need in the game requires tokens or you to be at the boss kill... or they are just rare vanity items.
  1. Jiggles's Avatar
    This is Blizzard once again testing the waters, seeing how far they can go. If they add these "premium features" slowly enough, most people won't notice or care. Will we ever get to purchasable epic gear? Maybe not, though you can take the in-game profits from these pets and buy BoEs or crafted epics (or pay a guild for a run). Yes yes, you can do this already with TCG loot and such; but I don't think that excuses another method to do so -- a much easier, more direct method. Anyway, the point is to add these features slowly, so that Blizzard can reap the profits, while not angering its fans too much. The people complaining here are still very much in the minority -- thus Blizzard hasn't found the line yet. It's in Blizzard's financial interest to keep pushing, until they see some very serious fan backlash.
  1. mrwingtipshoes's Avatar
    Andddddd you can now, officially buy gold from blizzard.
  1. Vasz's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Byuiso View Post
    They are testing a Diablo III economy in WoW without fully announcing it.
    Exactly what I was thinking. This is basically saying "we are now giving you a legal way to buy gold from the AH"

    Sad day if you ask me.
  1. Malixer's Avatar
    Sigh. been waiting 2 weeks for something interesting on this website.... Blizzard please leak something...pleassseeeee
  1. Adramalech's Avatar
    As usual, exaggerations all over the place. Incoming constant threads to discuss how this is going to be horrible for WoW until the next big announcement. Which will also be horrible for WoW.

    Call me a fanboy if you want, I won't deny it, but the amount of doomsaying and whining is worse than anything Blizzard could ever do to this game. They could turn the game inside out, charge for common game features and start selling T13 for $10 and the whining would still be worse than the act itself. That's how horrible the community can be when it wants: worse than destroying the game.

    Anyway, the pet is cute, but for a one time use, even being BoU, should be cheaper. It's also a nice gift to offer to a friend in-game for those who can spare the money.
  1. Grocalis's Avatar
    Why do people think this is going to be an issue? The item is not rare, it will sell often. Those that buy it specifically for auctioning are going to find a lot of competition, driving down prices, because they can't control how many people put up the item. Let us imagine for a second that, yes, some guy buys $200 worth of these pets, and then sells each one for 1000g. (And I am being generous here). That is 20,000g.What is he going to buy with that? Maybe like, three auction house purples? Ones that are going to be equal to the new random raid finder and like two levels below what I can get in real raids? Remember, he spent $200 for this. Frankly, he wasted his money.Let's even assume people do control the cost and keep it at 20,000g. Who the hell is going to buy it for that much when they can pay 10$ on the BlizzStore? 10$ is less then an hour at my job, 20,000g is over a week or more of general playtime, maybe even more if I am on one of my PVP binges where my gold income drops to zero. Why would I pay that much for something I can get so cheap?
  1. Byuiso's Avatar
    WoW at this rate doesn't even seem like it is going to put up a fight against StarWars or Guild Wars, seems like the 'King' is just going to roll over and wait for its successor to take over (Titan).

    I do not see how Blizzard can justify this and say it is a way to give all players the chance to get the pet, when they can have an NPC sell the pet for 20k, help with a a nice gold sink without allowing their form of legal gold farming.
  1. Ashkore11's Avatar
    This rocks. I will put away a few bucks each month and buy these pets and sell them to players Getting 2 million gold is going to be easier than I thought.

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