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. zeock's Avatar
    This has been proven time and time again, over countless other types of web-games and some korean MMOs, that the fastest and the most effective way for an established game to crash and burn is to introduce real currency to the equation as to how players interact with one another, the most notorious of which would involve real money used to directly improve one's stat or gear that would give them tangible benefits over other players. Blizz has not yet taken that last step but this is certainly a start. For those who say Bliiz are never going to sell epic items for cash, well, bring me a solid proof that they never will. Then I will believe you. Otherwise, the rest of us will assume this to be the beginning of the end. Sad.
  1. Sezuka's Avatar
    Blizzard taking the first step towards gold-selling.
  1. carnifex2005's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Powerogue View Post
    still waiting on our Diablo-esque auction house where we can buy items for real money. >.> it's clearly inevitable at this point.
    Precisely. And the Kool-Aid drinkers still will have you believe otherwise.
  1. Accaris's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by zeock View Post
    This has been proven time and time again, over countless other types of web-games and some korean MMOs, that the fastest and the most effective way for an established game to crash and burn is to introduce real currency to the equation as to how players interact with one another, the most notorious of which would involve real money used to directly improve one's stat or gear that would give them tangible benefits over other players. Blizz has not yet taken that last step but this is certainly a start. For those who say Bliiz are never going to sell epic items for cash, well, bring me a solid proof that they never will. Then I will believe you. Otherwise, the rest of us will assume this to be the beginning of the end. Sad.
    Guild Wars allowed you to unlock all of your character's skills via the online store, effectively giving them a direct advantage over other players. This did not cause the game to crash and burn.
  1. Rummer's Avatar
    Just a lot of worthless complaining in the long run over something that has already been done time and time again via the mounts/pets from the TCG. People are basically just flipping shit over old news, the only difference being that these are not a random chance item that you have to hope to get from a pack of cards, or buy on ebay, they are available for direct sale, and rather cheap. To people thinking that they'll break the AH though, I highly doubt it. End of the day it's not -that- cute of a pet, and people thinking something that is readily available from the Blizzard Store will sell for as much as the TCG stuff, borders on insanity. The biggest punch in the face will come when thousands of people actually buy this pet expecting it to sell for thousands, then happily jumping in game to discover that there are like 500 of them on any given AH. These are -not- going to sell for 20k. If you manage to get someone to buy one for that, grats but realistically can't see them going for that much when the supply will likely be much higher than the demand. The only real issue I personally have with this pet is that they're making it single use(?) and the excuse they're giving for that is that you can 'give it to your friends'. You could do that with the old pets too, you just had to give them the redemption code and they'd get it for all of their characters. Sincerely hoping they do something to make it account bound once you give it away. Like an account bound pet that's in a gift bag you can give away... something to that effect.
  1. Tackhisis's Avatar
    These pets are utterly useless. It is stupid to think they will have large market.Also, more than half of WoW population do not use expensive credit/debit cards which allow online trade. They could not buy anything in store so far.
  1. Xerix's Avatar
    And so it begins...?
  1. Zayth's Avatar
    Ahhh, good ol' money hungry Blizzard. Will they stop trying to steal more money from everyone? Not like WoW has long left anyway.
  1. scelero's Avatar
    Loot cards and this aren't the same thing. Loot cards are a random, not promised. I see people selling game time for gold, loot cards, etc but this isn't the same. Blizzard is selling the item in which you can get gold from, the only thing is is it's not saying you're getting X amount of gold from it. It only worth what the masses are willing to give you in return. Which is what gold selling is. Gold prices change from server to server on gold selling sites. I was taking a break until 4.3 but this seals the deal. Goodbye.
  1. Jagstang's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Zayth View Post
    Ahhh, good ol' money hungry Blizzard. Will they stop trying to steal more money from everyone? Not like WoW has long left anyway.
    Well, I think it is pretty bad idea to sell shitpets to the wowdrones, but I don't think what they are doing it "stealing" money from people.
  1. BlackMage66652's Avatar
    It took 7 years, but it's looking like it's time to quit if this goes live.
  1. Anira1152's Avatar
    I don't think this is stealing money. It is there for those who want it.
  1. Joey Ray III's Avatar
    not a big deal really and not a surprise but i still don't like it.
  1. ChrizMas's Avatar
    i think i paid blizz too long.. the only thing they are constantly developing is a) shitty fake copied bosses b) pets/mounts/something for real money
    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.
    of course the first choice isn't making them FREE (selling it ingame via npc)!
  1. david0925's Avatar
    wow, i actually want this to go live just so people can be all in arms like a medieval angry mob (angry and stupid at the same time)

    hint: if anything you probably save real life currency now that there is an OPTION to buy it with gold. People really can't think beyond the OMG GOLD=$$ NOWZ ANGRY MUST GO POST JFAJOAWJFFJL;JF;L?
  1. Profyrion's Avatar
    Yeah I won't be buying this.
  1. Cygne's Avatar
    People are really angry over this? I see nothing wrong here.
  1. mvaliz's Avatar
    /slow clapAmusing Blizzard.../slow clapVery amusing. I didn't know your business senses would steep to this level.What's next? Mini-pet Bone Density machines? (+3 if you get the reference...)
  1. Howard Moon's Avatar
    Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
    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.
    The load of bullcrap in that paragraph is Hilarious. I wish they wish they would announce things like this straight up and to our face.
  1. Baelic's Avatar
    Oh the shit-storm that's going on in the WoW forums, it's delicious.

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