Reflections From The Pond

As I was standing in line at the local game shop late at night the day before the WotLK release (WoW geek, yes, that’s me) I had not planned on getting me a Collector’s Edition, but on an impulse I asked the cashier if there were any left when it was my turn. There were, and I bought me one.

For these extra euros (don’t remember the exact difference, about 20 euros or something I think) I got myself not only the game, but a mouse mat with the Northrend map, a hardcover dustjacket book about WoW art, a packet of the WoW trading card game and an in-game pet, Frosty the dragon.

The packet of cards contained a code for an in-game stack of Pet Snacks, which will increase my pet’s size when used.

Spectral tigers or disco balls does not interest me but I have long been thinking about getting me a Comfy Fishing Chair from E-bay, simply because it looks so awesome and because I enjoy fishing, but so far I have not yet actually purchased one.

As you probably understand by now, I am not averse to spending real life money for in-game vanity items.

So why did it make me slightly uncomfortable when I saw that Blizzard had opened a pet shop, where you could buy in-game pets for real money? 10 Euros and a Li’l KT or a Pandaren Monk would be all yours.

This pet shop is now the subject of quite a few posts on blogs and forums all over, with opinions ranging from the blackest of black to the “aww how cute!” to not caring at all but nevertheless writing about it.

I don’t really have a formed opinion yet, but I am very curious about why I feel there is a difference between dishing up 20 euros for Frosty from the Collector’s Edition and dishing up 10 euros for Li’l KT from the pet shop.

The mouse mat is good indeed, after a year’s hard gaming it is still as smooth as when I got it, and it has survived a variety of beverages and chocolates being spilt on it. I did actually leaf through the book while I waited for the game to install, and I looked through the packet of cards at the same time, but for the extra money I spent I could have bought a sweet Steel Series mouse mat that would not require a big book under it if I want to play in bed instead.

So what’s the difference?

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I can’t really imagine how one would actually find either of the pet shop boys pets in-game.

Sure, there are many strange pets out there but they have at least a theoretical explanation of how and why they exist in the game. Most are actual animals of some kind, some are mechanical contraption presumable made by gnomes, and some are obviously highly magical residues from festivals and other world-wide events, like the Summer Spirit and Sinister Pumpkin, and my Frosty could conceivably have been found as an egg and raised with loving care by someone, his growth being halted due to his not getting enough essential dragon nutrients.

But Li’l KT and the Pandaren Monk, on the other hand, what can explain their existence in Azeroth? Are they real live pets or are they toys, magicced into life by some mad toymaker?

I read an interesting theory once in an old science fiction book, which stated that the reason most people on Earth found spiders repulsing was because spiders did not originate on Earth. Spiders were, in fact, an alien species and humans did not feel that deep-rooted common genetic bond with them as we (according to the theory) feel with other species, and instead we are repulsed by the arachnoids. Quite xenophobic a theory but being scared of the unknown or the different-looking is alas all too common.

So maybe my aversion to Li’l KT and the Pandaren Monk is just xenophobia? I don’t feel they originated within WoW and thus I dislike them?

But then, come to think of it, the Spirit of Competition, another odd pet that surfaced during last year’s Olympic’s in Beijing, is not very WoW-compliant at all with its Chinese dragon look. How can I explain the existence of this dragonling? The answer is I can’t. It is definitive not indigenous, it is not from here and yet I merrily bring it out once in a while when on a pet spree.

So I guess it boils down to the money – maybe I feel uncomfortable because buying the pet shop pets is akin to buying gold, spending real life money for virtual worth and virtual worth only, and this feels like cheating to me.

The Collector’s Edition gave me a real tangible book and trading cards, the Comfy Fishing Chair cards have a valid existence in the out of game trading card game should I want to play that, but the pet shop pets have no worth for me outside the game, they give me nothing I can hold on to when my internet goes down.

Maybe that is why Blizzard stuck the charity thingy on them, to make it possible for people like me to persuade myself that buying pets is not the same as buying gold, since it will be For A Good Cause.

I am not sure I am buying it.

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