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. Shmiles's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Megaira View Post

    Edit: BTW don´t see the ah prices above 1k or so maybe 100-500g after a few weeks.
    Do you not understand how currency works? Have you even read any posts in this thread?
    Why would something worth $10 sell for 500g on the AH, that's a total waste of money to whoever actually bought the item in the first place.
  1. Idoru's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Shmiles View Post
    Do you not understand how currency works? Have you even read any posts in this thread?
    Why would something worth $10 sell for 500g on the AH, that's a total waste of money to whoever actually bought the item in the first place.
    Which is why it won't really have any lasting impact on the in-game economy. There simply isn't enough people willing to pay 15-20K for a pet.
  1. Xcreed's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by chrisisvacant View Post
    Never seen so many people complain about something they do not have to buy and would have absolutely no impact on them in any way whatsoever.
    Lol, this only happens in every mmo-champion news post. But you have never seen it before.
  1. ContentsMayVary's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Nephyron View Post
    aaaaaaaaaand here it is !!! Blizzard method to sell in game gold. Didn't they fight chinese farmers that sold in game gold ??? now i can trade 10dollars for 100k gold if i want
    Go and do that then. And then please post a photo of your face when you realise you can't sell the thing for even 5000 gold.
  1. Tehgypsy's Avatar
    20g tops... perhaps 25g on day of release..
  1. noxatron's Avatar
    Can't wait to see these things on the AH for dismal prices during the first week of sales. Then, inevitably, the demand will be far inferior to the supply and people will be mad because they don't understand simple economics. Thousands will be left with useless pets and will eventually just use them or give them away to friends. Fun times.
  1. mmoc8c32716f2c's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by noxatron View Post
    Can't wait to see these things on the AH for dismal prices during the first week of sales. Then, inevitably, the demand will be far inferior to the supply and people will be mad because they don't understand simple economics. Thousands will be left with useless pets and will eventually just use them or give them away to friends. Fun times.

    100% this. The first lot will be on for something ridiculous circa 15k gold or the likes... and then people will start undercutting each other to the point that you probably couldn't give them away for free!
    /point
    /lol
  1. mmoc27998aed0b's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by lunchbox2042 View Post
    At this point they may as well just sell the gold themselves. I smell real money auction house coming next expansion.
    Exactly Blizzard has obviously seen the amount of money that gold sellers make it's a massive source of income and they want a slice of the action they've already tried desperately to suck in people that don't play mmos with wrath easy style play then tried to move back to the TBC model that didn't work pissed the casuals off. Finally with share holders at Activision breathing down their necks like deathwing after 10 sulfurous smash drinks saying more more more profit margin show us the money!! They've decided to ease us into gold selling they've already announced that Diablo 3 will allow things to be bought for real money on the ah. So if it makes money there and it will you can bet it's coming to wow soon.

    Personally I think it's very bad move in terms of game play.
  1. Fudge's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Idoru View Post
    Which is why it won't really have any lasting impact on the in-game economy. There simply isn't enough people willing to pay 15-20K for a pet.
    That's where you're wrong. Right now people are more than willing to purchase any of the blizz store pets in game for 8k+, and those people are almost always getting scammed. What's more the current pets go to ALL of your toons. This one will only go to one char and has basically <10% chance of being a scam.

    There are more pet collectors than people are giving credit for.
  1. mmoca2fdbaa8c6's Avatar
    wtf blizz i really lost hope for u now u just ***** on ur best policy
  1. mucher's Avatar
    Yes, supply is going to quickly exceed demand.

    When it normalizes, the item is going to be greatly devalued.The real concerning factor is the precedence this sets. What happens if next time they offer n (arbitrary) different pets simultaneously? With added variety, the trend should ultimately still occur, but at a much slower rate that decreases even further as n increases, giving ample time for a impactful currency flux (which could lead to inflation causing Blizzard to readapt the "mandatory" gold sinks.)

    It's been said, but can you really get upset at a corporation for seeking a profit? I think I've read somewhere (not including non-profits) that corporations are legally obliged to seek profit. These services meet that obligation without causing real damage to the product. If you are worrying about something that has not occurred yet (but historically it tends to occur,) you might want to also worry about the geomagnetic reversal, arch storms, and Yellowstone caldera. Point here is presumptive reaction is debilitating -- and yes I purposely just contradicted the original concern in this post.

    Just my two copper (did I really just say that...)
  1. mmocffc62feb06's Avatar
    So , basicly blizz is telling us that gold selling is ok now as long as you use those pets ?They just keep digging their own grave it seems.Ah well, they are just making it easier to go join the dark side this way ....
  1. Prag's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by vellar View Post
    Exactly Blizzard has obviously seen the amount of money that gold sellers make it's a massive source of income and they want a slice of the action they've already tried desperately to suck in people that don't play mmos with wrath easy style play [snip]
    Who do you think is more likely to be buying gold?

    I know that the wealthiest I've ever been was some of the more hardcore raiding days.
  1. Gruffertus's Avatar
    I am curious about whether this is going to act like modern-day Stones of Jordan, so you'll get a leet epic you don't need, and sell it for say 45 Guardian Cubs, then go talk to Mr Mxyzptlk in the trade channel, who'll buy them from you at $5 each to your paypal, and sell them on his website for $7 each. The problem with gold, as we all know, is that it doesn't have any actual value, so you get the always lolarious permanent 20% sales of a made-up currency to a real one at a made-up rate. The cubs though, have a definite monetary value through official channels, and so an upper limit on what will be paid through the black market.Also someone's totally going to end up with a Guardian Cub Bank Alt
  1. mmocfbd3c41b96's Avatar
    Whatever you all think, you can't deny that this is a major game-changer. This is the FIRST time Blizzard will be selling something for real money that can then be sold for gold. It represents a big change in mindset on Blizzards part. They rhtoric was always that they were against money for gold, but now it appears that they are happy with it - but only if it is carried-out by themselves of course (which is fair enough to be honest).
  1. MasterHamster's Avatar
    How is this "buying gold" when no gold is GENERATED? =)
    Funny people.
  1. roflpot's Avatar
    I quit the game for months when they first announced the real money pets and mounts, now I'm back at least I've found a use for the /spit command
  1. IdkJustMe's Avatar
    $10.00 for a pet that's only used ONCE? Usually I'm excited for Pet Store additions... But I am very disappointed with this. Wouldn't it have been better if one was sent to all your characters, but you could still choose to learn or trade/sell it for each individual character?
  1. Adramalech's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by noxatron View Post
    Can't wait to see these things on the AH for dismal prices during the first week of sales. Then, inevitably, the demand will be far inferior to the supply and people will be mad because they don't understand simple economics. Thousands will be left with useless pets and will eventually just use them or give them away to friends. Fun times.
    Indeed. This is one of the reasons why I'm not worried in the slightest with this pet being BoU. I don't see the demand being high for too long, if ever. There aren't that many pet collectors out there to have a high demand on this specific pet, and from those who collect pets, not all of them are willing to pay absurd amounts of gold for one (I'm one of those). Yet, the supply will most likely be gigantic COMPARED to the demand. People buying the pet to make gold will eventually find themselves unable to sell the pet for any "decent" gold amount, and will be forced to either sell it for low prices, or learn it themselves. Or you know, come here and whine about it.

    This pet will change nothing, and this outrage is seriously laughable. If they were selling gold created out of thin air, or equippable, useful for combat items, I'd be all over them ready to hit them with a club. But over this? It's just the whine of the week, it seems.
  1. Idoru's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Charlie123ABC View Post
    Whatever you all think, you can't deny that this is a major game-changer. This is the FIRST time Blizzard will be selling something for real money that can then be sold for gold. It represents a big change in mindset on Blizzards part. They rhtoric was always that they were against money for gold, but now it appears that they are happy with it - but only if it is carried-out by themselves of course (which is fair enough to be honest).
    You mean besides the BoE TCG items, right?

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