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Why can't we control our pets?

AuthorMessage
Petty Officer
Sep 03, 2009
82
Seriously why can't we control them? My reason why they should be controlled by us pirates is because they make terrible choices on the battle field.
Admiral
May 30, 2010
1221
If we could control them, they'd just be a randomly appearing crew member. Even in real life, even the best trained animals don't always follow their training.
Dread Pirate
May 27, 2009
2131
There has to be SOME element of chance or randomness, or else every battle would be the same-old-same-old. Sometimes a pet that wanders around the battlefield ends up clearing bombs or drawing some enemies away. They are often just as helpful as they are "terrible."
Dread Pirate
Jun 17, 2013
2743
I would not want to have complete control over them in the same manner that we have over our companions. But, at the same time I would enjoy and really like to be able to issue them commands, in which they carry out a 'command type' but still do it in a random, AI controlled manner (in which we had not control over the pets' movement). Maybe being allowed to select a command, and let the pet 'choose' how to carry it out, would be fun. We may not have complete control over our IRL pets, but some of them can carry out commands extremely well and quite efficiently. And some of the happiest pets that I have seen, are ones that feel that they have made their owners/friends happy.

I posted a list of pet commands that I thought would be both useful and possibly fun to issue to our faithful critters, in this thread. I think it would be a nice addition if we could have a little bit greater influence on our pets' actions. So, maybe with these commands, there could be a 'roll of a dice' kind of aspect to it. Maybe the commands could appear at the beginning of the round, we could select one command type (once used, it's gone), and there would be a percentage change as to whether the pet actually was a 'Good Boy' or 'Good Girl'. Maybe a stat like Will or something else could influence the percentage chance and likelihood of the pet following the command.

It would provide some small 'control' over our pets, add new ways to make them more useful, give ways to add more in-battle, fun interaction with our pets-- all while still keeping that randomness factor going a bit, in which the pet could be a bit too free spirited to obey and we never know if the roll of the dice is going to go in our favor.
Developer
I ask myself that question every day when I come home from work to find whatever horror show my dogs have in store for me.
Bosun
Apr 09, 2014
368
Those dogs do make more of a mess than my iguana or tarantula.
Dread Pirate
Jun 17, 2013
2743
Ratbeard on Aug 24, 2015 wrote:
I ask myself that question every day when I come home from work to find whatever horror show my dogs have in store for me.
Well, carelessly spelled pets does leave you with the word pest.

If I may...I just might be able to offer up something that should help you out, Ratbeard. All you need to do to get your dogs/pets to behave while the Rats away-- and I'm sure Decius will back me on this one-- is equip them with some Sumo Belts, Sandals of Nike, Headbands and Knee Socks (be sure to take pictures!!). Then send them off to do some Discus Fetch, Sidewinder Sidebend and some Fire Walking...ooh, better scratch that one...so how about some Mizzen Lunges instead. And voila, just like that they'll magically be transformed into some well behaved fidos.

Oh and make sure you reward them with some Jellied Pork, Beast Wellington, Junction Jerky and good ol' Haggis Crisps and they'll surely obey your every command. I'd steer clear of the Amazonions though...not pleasant at all! Unless you like multi-directional fire!
Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
Decius Duelmaster on Aug 24, 2015 wrote:
Those dogs do make more of a mess than my iguana or tarantula.
Being confined in an aquarium helps. I had friends who raised Chinese Water Dragons, they dedicated an area in their home for a nice enclosed environment ( about the size of a good walk- in closet. Feeding time was rather scary.
Petty Officer
Nov 05, 2011
69
ValkoorTheVictorio... on Aug 24, 2015 wrote:
Well, carelessly spelled pets does leave you with the word pest.

If I may...I just might be able to offer up something that should help you out, Ratbeard. All you need to do to get your dogs/pets to behave while the Rats away-- and I'm sure Decius will back me on this one-- is equip them with some Sumo Belts, Sandals of Nike, Headbands and Knee Socks (be sure to take pictures!!). Then send them off to do some Discus Fetch, Sidewinder Sidebend and some Fire Walking...ooh, better scratch that one...so how about some Mizzen Lunges instead. And voila, just like that they'll magically be transformed into some well behaved fidos.

Oh and make sure you reward them with some Jellied Pork, Beast Wellington, Junction Jerky and good ol' Haggis Crisps and they'll surely obey your every command. I'd steer clear of the Amazonions though...not pleasant at all! Unless you like multi-directional fire!
If we could 'control' our pets, they would be more useful (obviously), and pets would actually be something you would notice, not something invisible. They would still be bad though, due to their low damage and health. Pets with charming gaze would be a nice trap for unsuspecting enemies.
Dread Pirate
Jun 17, 2013
2743
MadisonWinterHorn on Aug 25, 2015 wrote:
If we could 'control' our pets, they would be more useful (obviously), and pets would actually be something you would notice, not something invisible. They would still be bad though, due to their low damage and health. Pets with charming gaze would be a nice trap for unsuspecting enemies.
I agree Madison.

The pets aren't the greatest when it comes to their base damage, health & 'selfish' attacking powers. But many of them can make up for it with the use of a well-timed & placed Beastmaster Banner. The pets that I do keep equipped are almost never bad. In some way they almost always help out in battle, whether it's serving as a distraction to the enemy, using a much appreciated crew buff, charming (like you noted) &/or finishing off a low health enemy, so that my crew won't have to waste an attack on it-- although, sometimes those 1-hit-to-bobblyness enemies are useful in triggering Blade Storms & powerful Epic Chains.

I think something that often gets overlooked with pets is the usefulness of some of their even most basic attack powers. I think most players just look at the actual damage numbers that appear on the screen, when a pet uses an Uncommon power. But many players don't actually mouse over those attacks & see that those 'basic powers' are basically helping them out, on a more than basic level. So many of the Uncommon pet powers provide fantastic buffs to your pirate & crew, & de-buffs to the enemies. When those damage #s appear on screen (even I have to admit it) players may be inclined to think 'oh man, only 160 damage from a pet power'. But along with those lower rank powers comes crew buffs to Accuracy, Dodge, Armor, Class Primary Stats, Movement Bonuses, Healing & many other, 'under the radar' bonuses for members of your crew. And a lot of those pet powers have infinite range, hit multiple enemies & last for at least a couple turns.

(cont'd....)
Dread Pirate
Jun 17, 2013
2743
MadisonWinterHorn on Aug 25, 2015 wrote:
If we could 'control' our pets, they would be more useful (obviously), and pets would actually be something you would notice, not something invisible. They would still be bad though, due to their low damage and health. Pets with charming gaze would be a nice trap for unsuspecting enemies.
(...continual)

And the same goes for the Uncommon (low damaging) de-buffs that reduce up to multiple enemies' Accuracy, Dodge, Armor, Class Primary Stats, Movement Bonuses, Healing. A pet may only do 160 damage on a given power use, but when my Buccaneer sees that same power just reduce 3 or 4 Swashbuckler enemies' Dodge & or Accuracy, or Agility or Strength-- why that's pretty helpful there. The grants & PvP preferred pet traits get all the glory, but there are some really beneficial 'lesser' powers out there, that serve as great battle bonuses. Those low damage #'s may not at all reflect how valuable that pet power was.

I really don't want to control my pets in battle, but I would like to give them some commands that they may or may not carry out. We put a lot of time into training, feeding & morphing our pets to get great traits manifested. So it would be really cool if we could interact with them a little bit more in battle. I mean our real-life pets may not be well behaved or follow commands or may wreak havoc, but most of us haven't spent countless hours training them either...like we have in-game, with our virtual pets. So, if our at home pets are a bit destructive...it may have to do with the fact that we are not training them 2, 3, 5, 10 or a couple dozen times a day-- like we are in the Spiral. If only Pet Energy was available at the nearest PetSmart! And I am pretty sure that I could think of a couple friends that I could send out Wranglin'-- although I don't think I could trust them with bringing back eggs!

So, with all the time we devote into training the in-game pets, they should probably be a little more under our 'control'. At least that's on a 'wishful thinking' kind of level.
Bosun
Apr 09, 2014
368
anecorbie on Aug 24, 2015 wrote:
Being confined in an aquarium helps. I had friends who raised Chinese Water Dragons, they dedicated an area in their home for a nice enclosed environment ( about the size of a good walk- in closet. Feeding time was rather scary.
The iguana is so large, I let her have free reign of the house. Although she mostly stays on the top of her cage nearest the heat lamp and uva/b lamps.
I always know when she is mad about something though. She goes right to the kitchen and lets it be known she wants attention. Usually in the messiest way possible.