Zhevras and Dragons, oh my!

I usually treat Blizzard as though they were a slightly-retarded puppy dog. Yes you can get angry with them for piddling on the couch and running repeatedly head-first into the wall, but in the end they don't really know better.

Then there are moments where I wonder, is Blizzard really as stupid as they seem? The Zhevra mount hoopla being one of those moments. When I first heard that a zhevra mount option was in the game, just not implemented yet, I was jazzed. JAZZED. My all-time favorite animal is a zebra, and the only reason I busted my ass for Kurenai faction was 'cause the white talbuk had a stripey butt so it was sort of like a zebra. Blizzard, you had me at "hello."

So long story short, I was essentially prepared to do whatever it took to get this mount once it went live. I had no idea what they were planning. I was expecting some typical faction grinding, possibly Ratchet faction, or maybe have it be a drop out of Zul'Aman to replace the bear mount come WotLK. I was not expecting them to add it on as a bonus to their Refer-a-Friend program, which meant that in order for me to fulfill my deep zhevra desires, not only do I have to find a friend who wants to play WoW and refer them, said friend has to like it enough to upgrade and pay for a full account for at least two months. Either that, or I refer myself to myself (hi, self!) and buy a second account to upgrade for two months.

Blizzard, you bastards. You brilliant money-grubbing bastards. Yes, I did it. You knew I would. You know I have a sickness and you're exploiting it mercilessly. If I weren't already in a fulfilling relationship I'd be incredibly aroused right now.

In other news, to commemorate the Olympic games in Beijing, Blizz has implemented a new tabard and pet that can be gained through participating in battlegrounds for the duration of the games. The tabard is easy enough; all you have to do is be in a battleground and it gets mailed to you afterwards. The pet, a little yellow Chinese dragon, isn't quite as simple. First of all, you have to participate in a battleground, secondly, you have to WIN the battleground, and third, if you do manage to win, it's still only like a 7-10% chance you'll get a dragon pet in the mail. Now, I don't know how things are on other peoples' servers, but here on Medivh being Alliance pretty much dooms you to a life of disjointed ADHD pvp with a pack of brain-damaged puggers whose primary response to "hey LM needs backup, 3 horde inc" is "lawl." Who think capping stables and going AFK is sheer tactical mastery. Winning is HARD. Winning doesn't always happen. It used to be that AV, which once relied on the Power of the Zerg Rush (something Alliance was brilliant at) was our one win guarantee. Then the Horde started with all that pre-form stuff (I still cannot believe they get 40 people from ONE server together for the sole reason of turtling at IBGY) and AV became naught but sorrow and tears and 10 minutes of hurling yourself at a wall if you can't stealth. Wonderful. I lucked out; I entered an AB and found myself in the midst of a group of highly-motivated Alliance pre-formers who four-capped some extremely confused Horde and I got my dragon in the mail after that. (As I understand, pigs also gained Flight Form that day.) I don't predict this pet being too common on Alliance side. Just a hunch.