The non-combat hippogriff pictured here is a unique feature in its own right: one of the card-based toys obtainable via the World of Warcraft Trading Card game. But pets themselves, be they little vanity critters like this or hulking combat monsters, are a fantastic addition to the online game genre. They've been around practically forever at this point, with friendly NPCs a component of many MUDs back in the day. Modern games have really perfected this feature, though. 'Tameable' mobs are everywhere in World of Warcraft, Hero NPCs were a major content addition in the Nightfall campaign for Guild Wars, and the late (lamented) Gods and Heroes was going to turn every player into a squad featuring multiple NPC 'pets'. The real draw of the pet feature is the experience of participating in a group even when adventuring alone. Coming to care for an entry in a database table might sound strange, but having that 'hook' into the fabric of a virtual world is really important to some people. After all, who doesn't love a built-in community?
World of Warcraft
12/03/08
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