Project Lore

Tyrael's Normal, Boring, Pose I was absolutely ecstatic when it came to light that Grunty, BlizzCon 2009's exclusive pet, and the Zergling, one of the possible three pets from the World of Warcraft Collector's Edition, tangled.  Much to my surprise, both of the pets mixed it up StarCraft style, not just Grunty.  That means that someone, somewhere, deep in the bowels of Blizzard took the time to go back and edit the Zergling's properties to attack his foe.  Yep, the doggie actually attacks, and kills Grunty in a messy death animation if he gets the better of the space marine.  It's an incredibly minor, but brilliant bit of content. The intergalactic tango only whet my appetite for further (no longer) non-combat pet interactions.  My prayers, and previous complaints have been answered, kinda.  Tyrael, the archangel from the Worldwide Invitational in 2008 is getting some added interactions.  Tyrael will now increase his repertoire two fold, adding the ability to fall asleep (and be stirred awake) to his list of skills.  The little guy is a very light sleeper, constantly rolling over and fidgeting during his Zzz's.  Previously the tiny angel would only fold his arms and dance.  Okay, still not that impressive, but at least it sucks less.  Plus, there could be more animations that just haven't been discovered yet. If you want to see the new animations you can head over to this post, which tipped me off in the first place.  Although his animations remain on the low side - and lack any sort of sound - at least Blizzard has shown they are willing to edit old pets, again.  Now if only those few Tyrael holders could meet up with those few mini Diablo holders - also from the original Collector's Edition - then we may be in for some more cross-title mayhem. Have I told you that I love vanity pets?

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Grunty Going Nuts Just shy of a year ago I had a gripe.  I know, hard to believe, but I did.  Blizzard had dropped the ball with vanity pets, and I wanted it fixed.  The gist of the ancient article is that the most recent non-combat pets lacked animations.  The beings, the Spirit of Competition and hard to get Archangel Tyrael, would simply be.  No movement and little, if any, interaction.  In the case of the Diablo II buddy (released to attendees alongside the Diablo III announcement) it was a missed opportunity of epic proportions.  Tyrael flat out ignored mini Diablo, his arch nemesis. Blizzard seems to have learned from the mistake.  Grunty, the space traveling Murloc decked out in Tier Terran Marine gear does battle with the Zergling.  The Zergling was part of the Collector's Edition for the original World of Warcraft, so coming across a toon with the insectoid may be difficult.  Given the chance, you should travel to the ends of Azeroth to see this far reaching space battle take place on our humble planet/dimension/time.  Here's the flip side. Even though BlizzCon 2009 attendees didn't get a beta key, or access to the Diablo III beta it seems, at least we have this consolation prize.  Even if it is far more common than any other BlizzCon pet before it. Onyxian Whelping's First Appearence Let us not forget the upcoming fifth anniversary of WoW itself.  Forget a shot at an Onyxia mount, I'm not a masochist.  Even if I was, I'd take a cute companion pet any day of the week.  And that's exactly what the incoming ("sometime in November") Onyxia Whelpling is.  It's animation you ask?  Why the little bugger tries to Deep Breath, what else?  Even cuter is a failed attempt, where rings of smoke billow from its mouth instead. What a magnificent time to be a vanity pet collector.

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