Lead Content Designer Cory “Mumper” Stockton has been discussing Pet Battles with Community Manager Kaivax, and a resultant interviewhas been posted on Battle.net.
Notably, the Blizzard philosophy behind Pet Battles is clarified: “The 100g training cost is going to make it difficult for a new player to get caught up in Pet Battles super-early,” Stockton notes, “and that’s by design, because everyone should learn how to play World of Warcraft first.” Pet battles are designed as a side game, not something that should replace the World of Warcraft main experience. The only player gains from the system are applicable to the system itself, so those who have no interest whatsoever in Pet Battles will not be penalized in any way for their choice.
Additionally, the training cost makes Pet Battles completely out of reach to trial accounts. Trial accounts cannot trade with players, cannot sell items on the Auction House, and have a gold cap of 10g. However, new players on full accounts will be able to learn Pet Battles from level five, as long as they have access to 100 gold, presumably from a generous friend.
Stockton also provides important clarification regarding Pet Battles on PvP servers. He restates that a 3 second damage absorption shield is applied to players attacked while battling, and their pet is respawned. He adds that, if a player dies to an in-game enemy, their pets can be resurrected by the Revive Battle Pets spell, or by the pet trainer. Coupled with the information that the pet is respawned in the event of PvP battles, this is slightly confusing. Players will have to wait and see what happens!
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