Thursday, October 27, 2011

MoP Dev Q&A

WoW's next expansion Q&A session is currently live, and I'm watching it closely for any pet-related news. The following is a summary of what I've gathered so far:
- Devs hope to implement experience gain from pet battles. Not enough to level just by participating in battles, but enough so players feel rewarded.

- Players will be able to toggle pet battle duel invites on and off just like normal duel invites.

- Players will be able to duel other players in pet battles, but there will also be a queuing system in which players can pet battle/duel other trainers of similar level.

- Pet battle combat = "simple combat system with some engaging depth".

- Grasshopper pet!

- Possible pet battle spectating mode.
I'll be adding more as the Q&A progresses.

The session is over! I asked a few questions concerning pet battles, but unfortunately they weren't cool enough to be answered and/or there wasn't enough time to get around to them. *sad face* Oh well, maybe next time!

For the full questions and answers (only the pet Q&As), hit the break.

Q: With MoP you're introducing the pet battles. Will that be a new way of earning XP and/or valor points ?
Mumper: We are hoping to implement XP gain for pet battles in a similar way to what players see with gathering professions now. You would not want to level your entire character just on pet battles, but we do think you should be rewarded for participating in it.

Will pet battles be created the same way as duals?
Mumper: We will let players duel other players that are near them in the world, but we will also have a queuing system you can join to fight against other pet trainers of similar level.

Will there be a system where you can turn pet battles on/off at will? Sometimes I don't want to be pestered by obnoxious pet owners that constantly want to duel. Or perhaps I don't want to get a random encountet while trying to get anywhere. Anyways, will there be an option to switch pet battles off temporarily?
Mumper: We will have an option to disable invites to pet battles. Similar to what we have for player duels.

There seemed to be a bit of a backlash at BlizzCon against the idea of counters in the Pet Battle System. An example would be a water-based pet (Murloc) vs. a fire-based pet (Lil' Ragnaros). This makes the fighting seem a bit more intricate, but I can understand the desire to have Pet Battles be easier to approach. Is there any thought to more than one skill level?
Zarhym: We intend to create a simple combat system with some engaging depth. We're still in the process hashing out the details. Suggestions are certainly welcome! ;)

Will there be any grasshoppers?
Mumper: Yes! It actually just got checked into the game by the artists today! Going to be awesome to use in pet battles!

can other people watch the pets battle?
Mumper: We are working really, really hard to have spectating for the pet battles. Trust me, we want it just as bad as you guys. Stay tuned.

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