A Cata inspired lament

Are there any hunters left that remember camping your pet for days due to the abilities that pet had? King B and his ability to chase down epic mounts for pvp. Brokentooth and her ridiculous attack speed of just 1.0 that could be made even lower. Researching pets for hours because one had great dps, but was as squishy as a clothy. As an ally, I remember griping about how the horde had control of some of the best pets. Brokentooth, Echayakee, and let's not forget the famous Humar. They were bragging rights, enabling you to boast your prowess as a hunter. Both that you survived the taming fight with the beast, but also that you went into enemy lands, frequently with your guild at your side. And the ever popular phrase, "Wait, don't kill it, I want to tame it!" lol

I still have reservations about how pets have changed. No more do hunters camp for days to get their specific pet, there just is no point. It makes it easier, yes, for hunters to get what they want. Ally can't gripe that Horde has their pet and visa versa, but at what cost? Now the skill is in how you train your pet, where you appoint your pets talents. Still, we will never get to see a Brokentooth lioness shred the poor clothies useless. We will never see a Hyena out tank the MT.

And we lost our AOE! (is still hitting my volley button)

Just a look back at where pets have come and gone. Since, you know, the world just got destroyed today. lol
Yup, I definitely remember those days. Heck, my first pet (and my main at that) I specifically got because the attack speed was the lowest I could get at the time. I agree that we lost a neat aspect to the game when they made those changes, but yet we still have that 'strategy' portion of adjusting skills/talents to what we need.

Now, if they could just combine the two....
I remember those days, and dear God am I glad they're gone.
Not a lament, but.. tamed the AV Wolf because it was the fastest pet in the game. It was able to run the entirety of the blackrock temple ring in 1 dash if i remember correctly.
That lion from Mulgore was fast as hell (runspeed, attack was 1.2 i think) I loved it. He moved much faster thank other pets of the time and faster than me in cheetah.

"The Rake" I think... been a while.
Takk the Leaper was my favorite back in the day. Also, remember the Black Wolf from Feralas that had the crazy Magic Resists back in the day. I think it was something like 250 per magic school type?

Also while it's nice to tame something new and have it auto-level up to within three levels, I did like that you just wouldn't see some pets at the higher lvls. Breaking out my lvl 70 armored boar from RFK or Humar always filled me with pride as I had worked hard to level them up simultaneously. Also, I guess I was one of the few that somewhat enjoyed taming new beasts to learn the upgraded skills.
You appreciated your pet more. Searching the countryside for a bear that knew swipe 2 or 3 so your main bear tank would learn it. Same goes with whatever your main 2 pets were. You searched the animal population of any new area you enter to see if they knew better abilities. Now when your 80 you take a low level animal, BAM it knows all level skills up to 77. Sure it's a time saver, buy you don't appreciate the work nearly as much.

Every one of my bears abilities pre lv70, were learned from other animals. That is why he has a very special place in my heart. And bliz FIX PAPA BEAR FROM ATTACKING RANDOM CRITTERS so I can use him again in my day to day life.

Yes I do miss it, but I don't. That would be alot of work learning 12 pets that currently occupy my stable.
Back when UBRS was difficult... Snarler, the black wolf that spawns near Mojache use to have near max on all resists. Back then it made him difficult to kill. Other than that, King B and the wolf with the turbo were the main ones I used.

I miss volley, but more for a have fun in down time aspect I really miss eyes of the beast.

It was fun, but it really wasn't a good system.

Yes, but we could kill stuff back then! *refers to glass cannon post* See, back then, we were LPs and held our own in dps. Now...*sniffles*
I was just wanted to be the first person on my old server to get a spirit beast(Loque'Nahak)
Camped it for a week or two was one of the first to have it :)
Yeah and I'm kinda glad it's gone. The AH was a dentist's nightmare of Brokenteeth. Granted, I loved Turbopuppy chasing some horribly overpowered warlock down and nomming him, but hey. Not everyone should *have* to use the same pet if they don't want to be horribly gimped, and with server populations as they are - it really shouldn't be a rare spawn (See also: All the tales of ganked rares by achievement hunters and regular taming hunters. I've been lucky so far to not have a tame taken from under me mid-tame, but maaaaan...).
Humar was horde only? Damn, my nelf hunter is a badass!
Along the same lines, I remember with fondness having my pet always out, even when I was mounted. Maybe if they had that now, we wouldn't summon them with 20% health.
I miss the variability in the stats from pet to pet. With the advent of normalization this aspect was removed making all of the pets rather bland, only their skin is different.

I don't miss having to level them from their trained level to your max or having to tame the right pets to learn advanced pet skills, that was a PITA.