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. Jedek's Avatar
    In reply to all those that cite the existence of the TCG's this is infact completely different. The TCG's have a finite supply, and involve buying a pack, breaking it down, and hopefully scoring a loot card, then selling it in game. This is a time consuming, and very inconsistent on profitability. Doing the pet store method you can buy a boe pet any time, any day, no supply limitations. You turn around, you sell it. This is no where near being like what goes on with the TCG and will allow anyone to do it. Need some in game gold real bad, throw 100 bucks at pets, and make yourself 200k gold.

    Your TCG arguments are flawed.
  1. Liinxy's Avatar
    dawwwwwwwwwwwwww. mine
  1. Miralynn's Avatar
    I guess it's time to start looking for something else to play to tide me over 'til December. It's a shame... I was really looking forward to the next expansion, but if they go ahead with Blizzavision-sanctioned gold selling, there is frankly nothing they can announce at Blizzcon that will make me keep giving them my money. One thing that's kept me playing WoW as long as I have is that at the core of it, it's had some degree of enforced fair play. It wasn't LEGITIMATELY possible to buy your epics with Daddy's credit card and zero in-game effort. This will put WoW on a par with all the other games I've tried and discarded because of the amount of advantages available to people who are willing to spend tons and tons of RL money. I will not pay for a game that does this, and if this is where all MMO's are headed, I'll go back to single-player RPG's, pen-and-paper RPG's, and RP chatrooms with my friends.
  1. mmocf091b86e91's Avatar
    LOL, just lol at the pathetic supporters of this, don't you realise how weak and really pathetic you are in defending this, a myriad of lame excuses saying 'it is ok, nothing to see, move along'. Yeah, I just compared you to Clancy Wiggum.

    Actually, this is really not such a big deal, a big deal is how many of you are totally brain-washed supporters with bogus excuses. I think you are going down with the ship, so in that regard, I have to salute you.


    Infracted; please don't flame others.
  1. Rennadrel's Avatar
    Why not instead of showing us this useless crap of a micro transaction, they show us the DK tier gear that should have been unveiled 2 weeks ago?
  1. Idoru's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Jedek View Post
    In reply to all those that cite the existence of the TCG's this is infact completely different. The TCG's have a finite supply, and involve buying a pack, breaking it down, and hopefully scoring a loot card, then selling it in game. This is a time consuming, and very inconsistent on profitability. Doing the pet store method you can buy a boe pet any time, any day, no supply limitations. You turn around, you sell it. This is no where near being like what goes on with the TCG and will allow anyone to do it. Need some in game gold real bad, throw 100 bucks at pets, and make yourself 200k gold.

    Your TCG arguments are flawed.
    Or you could just visit eBay......
  1. Holy's Avatar
    WOW IS DEAD! I AM GONNA UNSUBSCRIBE FOREVER! lol, not. This is but a minor tweak to the already existing pet store. There are always people on my server with their "Selling Game Time, Pet Store Mounts & Pets!" in general chat. I mean really, even if this can be used for gold selling, what are you gonna buy? I was gonna buy a heroic Sulfaras, the Extinguished Hand... oh wait, I can't do that. The best you can buy is non-heroic level BOEs or crafted stuff. The only things that really cost money are all vanity items, which are permanent and if you spend money on gear that can be replaced in this tier, and you aren't in a race for world/server first, you've wasted your money. SO basically, I feel this doesn't affect jack unless they start selling the highest level gear.
  1. FalinMor's Avatar
    Oh hey, look. A Blizzard-endorsed way to turn real-life money into in-game advantage. Wonderful.
  1. mmoc0d8e6c2903's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Jedek View Post
    In reply to all those that cite the existence of the TCG's this is infact completely different. The TCG's have a finite supply, and involve buying a pack, breaking it down, and hopefully scoring a loot card, then selling it in game. This is a time consuming, and very inconsistent on profitability. Doing the pet store method you can buy a boe pet any time, any day, no supply limitations. You turn around, you sell it. This is no where near being like what goes on with the TCG and will allow anyone to do it. Need some in game gold real bad, throw 100 bucks at pets, and make yourself 200k gold.

    Your TCG arguments are flawed.
    Yes because people that buy packs only do it for the really rare loot cards and otherwise have no way of making money with it..........you have no clue how this works have you?

    And if you want to make 100k gold quickly go to ebay........
  1. mmoc9a48be24dc's Avatar
    buy using stolen credit card (as is already happening with the other shop stuff).sell pet for goldtransaction gets canceled, blizzard removes the pet.what happens now?a) buyer loses his gold even though he made a correct tradeb) gold won't get removed, so you can now easily duplicate gold
  1. Zehroh's Avatar
    So soon they will sell lvl85 characters in the blizz store?

    "lvling services are still illegal but you can now buy your cute lvl85 from the blizzstore! Look at those big cute eyes!"
  1. Dristereau's Avatar
    $10 for a one use pet when all others are for each character? Definately not worth it, in most opinion none of the others were worth it either. The main issue I have with this pet however is that if this pet can be sold in game via Ah or any other method, you can buy one, sell it and then buy Bind on Equip gear from the Auction House. For example, the current patch 4.2, a new level 85 (Death Knight) with no alts and no cash can sell this pet, and then buy Osbidium Cleavers. So you can now pay to advance, not cool in my opinion...
  1. mmoc2e1be8bc71's Avatar
    Stupid move Blizzard.... whats next a online gearstore where you can buy epix for real money?
  1. TheEaterofSouls's Avatar
    I can't take another one of these days. If you despise it, hate blizz, feel this one thing will ruin the game.....Quit! Just quit! Leave the rest of us alone and please stop the madness. Just save us the trouble. Some of these posts can be compared to what you see on political forums and the US economy. Its just a game! If your mad or not having fun dont play. If you loved the game and hate the changes complain outside these forums. A blue isnt going to walk right up to you. -.-
  1. Jedek's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Idoru View Post
    Or you could just visit eBay......
    The process still stands. I saw that you linked a site that sells tcg's. This doesn't change the fact that someone had to buy those packs, find the loot cards, then put them up for sale. In fact you are proving my point. Visit ebay or that site you linked. TCG's on sale for money... Then you have to bid, and wait for the card to ship, or for them to email you the code and hope that it is valid. This Blizzard method cuts out the uncertainty and time sink, and makes selling boe's in game money makers.

    Thanks for playing Idoru, try again.
  1. dubbz's Avatar
    So many people are going to buy these thinking they will be able to make 10 dollars worth of gold and be completely disappointed when a wow economy pushes these "guaranteed-to-be" over abundant pets to normal costs (600-1000g per is my estimate)
  1. KingHorse's Avatar
    While this is "legal gold buying" in a way, it's not the game killer a lot of you are making it out to be.

    They aren't creating gold to give someone for their cash. No gold is being added to the system, so the impact on the economy will be virtually nothing, other than a shifting of who has the gold that's already around.
  1. Nyghtfall's Avatar
    Pre-lude to Darkmoon Faire micro transactions.
  1. mmoc0d8e6c2903's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Jedek View Post
    The process still stands. I saw that you linked a site that sells tcg's. This doesn't change the fact that someone had to buy those packs, find the loot cards, then put them up for sale. In fact you are proving my point. Visit ebay or that site you linked. TCG's on sale for money... Then you have to bid, and wait for the card to ship, or for them to email you the code and hope that it is valid. This Blizzard method cuts out the uncertainty and time sink, and makes selling boe's in game money makers.

    Thanks for playing Idoru, try again.
    Lmao arguing for the sake of it, the point always was that buying ingame items for real world cash and turning it into gold was always legal. And sending a loot code via Email takes 35 days and there are no buyout options on ebay. Grow up kiddo.
  1. KingHorse's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by dahorst View Post
    buy using stolen credit card (as is already happening with the other shop stuff).sell pet for goldtransaction gets canceled, blizzard removes the pet.what happens now?a) buyer loses his gold even though he made a correct tradeb) gold won't get removed, so you can now easily duplicate gold
    You missed the "After a short cooldown period" part. Guess what that's for? To ensure that the purchase is legitimate.

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