…makes me sad. I saw this thread over at the Petopia forums and I grew kind of bummed over what’s (possibly) become of Grunter in Cataclysm. He’s gone all evil-like.
Although he’s gone largely un-talked-about here on the site, he is one of my favorite old school pets.
Perhaps the reason he’s been overlooked is because he’s one of the premier stabled pets I have for my Dwarf hunter. Yes… at one point in time, I was a conflicted hunter who saw Dwarvenism as the proper path – that and engineering.
I actually shelved Garwulf for a time back in vanilla, while I pursued a more righteous path filled with gunpowder, ale and… boars. You see, at one point, boars were one of the ultimate PvP pets. Back in the day, they were the only pet that possessed the Charge ability.
Garwulf was a BM Hunter to the core, and well… BM kinda sucked back then. So… rather than re-roll an inferior class, I elected to build the hunter supreme – a dwarven engineer. My goal was to take my knowledge of the hunter class to the next level. That, and have some useful explosives at my disposal as well. 😉
Anyway, one of the primary pieces to my winning hunter component was a certain rare black boar. This boar was of course, Grunter.
Those of you who’ve followed my zaniness over the years are well aware of my obsession over pets, as well as my compulsion for taming the rares. I’ve been this way since the first day I found out there were rare pets. Common pets just won’t do… if there’s a rare version – he/she’s mine. That’s just pretty much how it is.
Alright… so back to Grunter…
Grunter is a rare black boar who resides in the Blasted Lands. Being a rare pet hunter, I’d consider Grunter to be on the bloody rare list. Regardless of toon, I’ve seen this guy maybe 4 times in my near-five-year-wow-tenure. In other words, he’s pretty friggin hard to come across.
Back in Vanilla, I camped this guy for a few weeks, much as I did Loque’nahak in WotLK. After days upon days with no sight of him, I logged on one day to find a Ret Pally just starting combat with him. I was at first hopeful because at least the player was the same faction and could hear my pleas, but eventually I was saddened… for you see this guy was a dick. He disregarded my pleas of stopping combat in order to tame this rare beast, but rather continued to pulverize him due to the allure of a shitty green he might drop.
And so the story goes… I have encountered many like him since those early days. WoW is rife with dicks, but of well… we’ll save that for another time.
At any rate, eventually one day I happened upon the mighty Grunter and claimed him as my own. I felt complete at that moment. Although there were black boars available at the starting levels, meh… only I had Grunter..!
Alright, so I’ve rambled a bit… My point is, I’m deeply rooted in tradition. I’m saddened by the fact that Grunter’s gone all evil-like, and I hope at least the old-world Grunter retains his purity.
This new Grunter with spiky thorns shooting out of him just doesn’t look so happy. If I log in post-Cata and find the Linda Blair version Grunter in my stable, I’m gonna be upset. I’m all about tradition.
With the recent release of Cataclysm Classic, it’s been fascinating to revisit the changes that this expansion introduced, especially in the context of older content and how it’s been altered. For those diving back into this classic period, considering buying WoW Cataclysm Gold (https://wowvendor.com/shop/wow-gold/product/cataclysm-classic-gold/) can be a sensible choice to enhance the experience, allowing players to fully engage with all the content without the grind. Has anyone else found themselves revisiting old bosses and areas with a fresh perspective since Cataclysm Classic’s launch?
I have never heard about Grunter until this. That said (and the fact that I’m sick of swine (grew up in a semi-farm community)), I have never considered taming one.
Anyway, I looked around for Grunter and he seems as rare as the Spirit Beasts. Maybe your article has made other hunters get him… at least in my server. 🙂
Hey Garwulf,
I recently had a fire which destroyed the bathroom and lot of damage etc. (Electrical, not one thing I could of done.) Also my computer was unable to operate (according to insurance) and they replaced it with a much better. But getting everything back into order such as the few sites I like to go to have been like “What can I remember” Well I have WoW, Guildportal, and a one other person site up on my bar. Well I forgot to put huntsmanslodge up there as well. Just remembered about it, rushed to the site, (Bookmarked for life.) Anyway glad to be back and being a reader again, I love your site, your blog and whatnot. Its great to catch up.
Hey Necras,
Sorry to hear about your crisis, but I’m glad you’re alright. Good thing it was mainly just “stuff” that was damaged.
Anyway, grats on your new computer and great to have you back! 🙂
Gar
Dude that would be totally LAME if they changed the skin of your old pet to match its current incarnation. People can go tame the new one if they want the new skin. LEAVE OUR COOL OLD STUFF ALONE, BLIZZ!!!! JUST GIVE US NEW COOL STUFF!!!!
I doubt they’ll change already tamed versions like mine, but it’s sort of a bummer what’s happened to him. I’m probably in the minority though, as I’m willing to bet most hunters will appreciate the new tamable Helboar version even more.
By the way… what’s with all these haters lawman..? The pro-Gnome thing was going well, then suddenly the vote shifted in favor of keeping the little people out of the hunter club. *shakes head*
I was pullin’ for ya man, but it’s looking like the rest of the hunter community isn’t unanimously in favor. I’m going to leave it up for awhile, so we’ll have to wait and see where it goes in the next few weeks.
Jealousy, bro….that’s the only explanation I have for it. On the one hand I kind of think that people vote against it to be funny without giving it thought that this is something that could (in a VERY longshot way) have real consequences. Despite the way any vote turns out I still think its terribly unfair that the ONLY class that has ONLY one race excluded from participation is hunter and that race happens to be my favorite in the game, Gnomes.
COME ON, BLIZZ!!! PUT THE CHOCOLATE IN THE PEANUT BUTTER AND GIVE US THE GOODNESS THAT WOULD BE GNOME HUNTERS!!!!!!