I wouldn't mind having to work for a companion/pet. I would like to complete a story quest and obtain a practical pet and have training options. There were mods in Skyrim that provided that. Personally I would like more of nature based like a wolf, panther, lion, etc.

Even the little monkey I have following me around be great if I could train him to steal for my NB

Cheers

some of these ideas are done with hirelings. You can pretend they are pets if you want.

Otherwise, spellcrafting. You'll get some more useful pets then.

I've never been a minion type person. I mean, I have Mr. Snippers to give me tips, (he refuses to help because he says it would make me weak) but that's it.

Also, my spider turned into a level 1 instead of a level 50 which means I can throw it on an alt.

In the last game I played you could add chips to your robot pet to say increase your health, move speed, attack damage and he would level up giving you more health and stamina as long as you had him out. Where could you get the chips? If you said cash shop you get a cookie! Pet chips when I played ranged from 99 cents for a fetch chip so he's pick up your drops to $29+ for the ones that gave you real advantages in PVP. You also had to feed your pet which meant buying pet food from the cash shop or buying pet hunger hacks that kept him full for 12 hours with no need to feed him.

You could also endlessly run dungeons to get pet food but frankly they used the food as fast as you got it so if you were planning to keep him out all the time so he leveled faster you had to buy the pet hunger hacks. In the end pets were just another cash shop pay to win feature to dip into your pocket and a pet arms race developed to see who could level them to level 30 fastest and get the best chips. Those who could afford to level a pet to lvl 30 would have about 3000 more HP than someone with say a lvl 20 pet making them near impossible to kill.

Do I personally want to see pets like that in ESO...no never. I think pets are fine as is, you look at them and in return they waste system resources being rendered. If you want a combat pet that helps you fight play a mage or wait for spell crafting.

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Pets won't do anything, ever.

Incorrect, they annoy me beyond belief... and they are very good at doing that

Jennifur_Vultee wrote: »

You could also endlessly run dungeons to get pet food but frankly they used the food as fast as you got it so if you were planning to keep him out all the time so he leveled faster you had to buy the pet hunger hacks. In the end pets were just another cash shop pay to win feature to dip into your pocket and a pet arms race developed to see who could level them to level 30 fastest and get the best chips. Those who could afford to level a pet to lvl 30 would have about 3000 more HP than someone with say a lvl 20 pet making them near impossible to kill.

Wow. That sounds terrible. I think there is a happy medium. A pet should be a boon not a hindrance. I also think pets should be helpful companions and not give a player an unfair advantage.

...

I don't think we are the only one's that would enjoy this SpottsWoode but there are THRONGS of players that don't even know this forum exists.

gideon_nine_ESO wrote: »

The inclusion of vanity pets in ESO was a welcome one. However, it would be nice if they were MORE than JUST vanity pets.

Pets could do things like fetch resources for you as you run around Tamriel. Sniff out rune stones.

That's what the hirelings are for.

Agro an enemy if you’re low on health. Give you a stat boost or specific buffs. Cast specific spells during specific conditions.

That's what sorc pets are for.

Randomly “Find” gold.

Okay, there's nothing I know of that does this, but that would kind of mess up the economy, y'know?

Maybe a pet that has a carrying capacity.

That's called a horse.

Vanity pets are just that. They're attached to various promotions, and ZOS has (I think rightly) taken the position that you shouldn't receive any significant in-game advantage just because you happened to come in on a particular promotion.

UrQuan wrote: »

I wouldn't mind if there was a way to level vanity pets so that they could do something useful. Something like the system of feeding your horse, but fairly limited (I'd suggest level 10 as the max, although maybe pets that you acquire in-game as rewards for completing quests/achievements could be leveled to a higher level). Of course the only thing that comes to mind as "something useful" that wouldn't also be either unbalanced or totally worthless is inventory space.

Thanks for the input! these are some great ideas! I edited my original post to include some of them.

UrQuan wrote: »

There is one vanity pet that's obtainable in-game: the dwemer spider. Of course, depending on your alliance you might have to wait until vet levels to get it, so it still wouldn't really be fair to AD or EP players unless they got quests in their zones that give pets as well.

I mentioned that as well. You're right... as long as vanity pets are promotional tools this sort of pet system wouldn't be fair. I would be 100% OK with certain pet models being promotional only but there should be redundant skills for pets that can be obtainable in game.

For instance. Let's say my monkey has the ability to steal for me once every 6 hours without me getting caught (considering the thief system is in the works). There should also be a Skeever or something that can do the same that is obtainable in-game.

snorlockb16_ESO wrote: »

Easy solutions:
Upgrade pets with regular skill points. Players with vanity pets will have less skill points to spend on their character, so there is balance.
Add an in game pet to the other factions so everyone can have a pet, and eventually three ( or make them all spiders).
Limit pet skills to passives or crafting.
Pet can duplicate hirelings and you get more of a particular resource, but of course it costs you a skill point.
If you have resource spotting skill, pet will squeak and run to the resource. Of course this will also alert other nearby players, so it is not a hugely overpowering advantage.
Pet can give you a passive. Small bonus to vanity players until regular players get to the dungeon with the pet. The passive costs a skill point so the regular players are able to boost their character by one more point if the vanity player chooses to boost the pet.

Easier solution, leave vanity pets as vanity pets.

At the minute only the sorceror gets to summon familiars, these would cut into the uniqueness of the sorceror.

Vanity Pets are worthless. Usually only newbies run around with them. I never see them in the vet levels. If you want a good pet be a sorcerer. Just read the definition of Vanity... I got rid of my pets at level 10 and never looked back.

van·i·ty
ˈvanətē/Submit
noun
1.
excessive pride in or admiration of one's own appearance or achievements.
"it flattered his vanity to think I was in love with him"
synonyms: conceit, narcissism, self-love, self-admiration, self-absorption, self-regard, egotism; More
antonyms: modesty
denoting a person or company that publishes works at the author's expense.
modifier noun: vanity
"a vanity press"
2.
the quality of being worthless or futile.
"the vanity of human wishes"
synonyms: futility, uselessness, pointlessness, worthlessness, fruitlessness
"the vanity of all desires of the will"

Oxymoron.