Why are PET game mechanics hidden behind AA points?

Why are /pet hold and group buffs landing on pets an AA locked mechanic?

Making these things available passively @ lvl 1 would be a welcomed QoL change for buffers , the pet class, and the raid.

OOC regen, threat meters, extended target window have been added in classic. Give pet classes the 2024 treatment too please.

Also change the ferocity line to a group buff?

I guess this is all too game breaking and effects balance ?

I would love pet hold to not only be innate from launch, but you cannot disable it. That way, DPG can just log anyone spamming pet attack on an autopress button and rid us of afk farmers.

Pet hold should 1000000000% be innate from lvl 1. There are way too many mechanics in game out of the players control on raids that pets will simply agro and run off. Raiding while spamming "pet back" for hours on end is stupid.

That and group buffs should hit pets. Always. They're in the group. It's stupid as hell to then have to message each buffer for individual buffs after they've just blown mana on the entire group/raid.

OP is super correct. All pet behavior commands should be default for all players. This is no different than putting autoattack behind an AA. Its simple class functionality.

I like it the way it is, it gives a sense of pet control progression. What skill are you a master in at lvl 1?

This is more like putting double/triple attack or other special attacks behind lvl or aa.

It's my opinion that all of the control stuff should be innate and out of the box on pet classes. Including the swarm resend command from Empires of Kunark (can't recall name of it). Make all the stuff that adds to pet's power more expensive to make up for it for all I care.

There are just too many raid mechanics that make pet classes frustrating and in many cases a liability. Soooooo many adds++++, health lock phases, balance fights and stop damage NOW based raid fights where swam pets make no sense because targets die quickly, or lock in a few seconds and then your gargoyle sits around with thumb inserted up gargoyle or worse continues attacking something it shouldn't.

I know you can suicide swarm pets but, let people use swarm pets more intelligently. Servants are a huge part of the magician lineup and are really only useful when you are on one target for a good period of time (30 seconds+). That scenario very very rarely happens in later expansions where there are constantly changing mechanics and phases and waves of adds. And, fairly often they present an issue to the point where you don't even want to use them.

No, this would be more like autorun or duck to cancel spells being expansion locked. Its about basic control of your character. You run into things like pets or swarm pets being banned on raids because the players are unable to control them (because the tools are expansion locked). When its dangerous and bothersome to use your basic class abilities because the options to control them are level locked, thats just wierd.

Pet hold, group buffs hitting pets, and the ability to turn off pet spell casting absolutely should be something in game from level 1, not locked behind expansions and aa's in those expansions.

They dont make the pet or player stronger, they are simply basic functionality added to the game to correct design flaws due to limitations of the time that no longer exist. No different than when pets mde persistent, no longer aggro'd every mob they walk past even when out of combat, and dont die when the owner goes invis.

Personally I wouldn’t mind them doing this since I don’t really play pet classes myself but I can see two reasons they could give for not doing it

Other classes would expect their own qol changes such as rogues sneak speed being normal run speed from level 1 or maybe rangers want endless quiver

Less pet management on raids means the botters life gets easier cause that’s less stuff they have to make sure is working and sadly I’ve met many people over the years that have said the only reason they don’t bot because they don’t want to have to manage pets

To be clear since I know it’s a contentious issue , i am talking about botting not boxing

It is mind blowing this is restricted behind AA's but they give other quality of life things like OOC Regen or FT in classic via tower gear.

1000% Pet's getting group buffs (which group buffs really don't happen until Kunark anyway other than bard songs), and pet HOLD should be base level 1.

My autobot mage army disagrees with this.

They’re not hidden behind anything. They’re earned through experience. You become a better pet owner with more experience and you can teach your pet to do more things.

`/pet ghold on` should be the default pet behavior and you should have to unlock Companion's Discipline to turn it off

How does becoming a better pet owner make a pet eligible to receive group buffs?

The progression doesn’t make sense. Shouldn’t the pet disobey orders? Attack random targets, attack the pet owner, not attack, sit instead of follow?

I suspect this is because the mechanics simply didn't exist previously, and it used to be more common that some QOL / game improvements, when added, would be locked behind AA (I guess it depends on your perspective - either adding new cool AA or locking useful stuff). Pets originally couldn't zone, had little control (and they sucked haha). Some of the pet control mechanics, when new, probably got added to the same AA type simply because others like it were already there.

Some people like AAs. I'm not one of them, I always click autogrant when it is available. I've actually heard people say they ~prefer the AA method over the experience advancement. i.e. it would be fine if there were only AAs and no level [1, 2, 3, ...] advancement.

I'd guess the programers/game designers that came up with AAs was one of those "I like AAs!" types and once having been done, it is there forever.

Right now to be complete you really have to have two different AAs set: Suspend Companion and the caster has to have MGB so you pick up every cast even if the caster isn't in your group, just adjacent.

IMO the work arounds are not that tough until the AA range, but then I have multiple accounts ATM. I never have to worry about pets running off because I always have a snare or root available, I always have my pets SoW'd so when I tell them back, they can disengage and make it back to me. TBH, if a pet runs off I typically just zone to get them back before they are crushed and get the whole zone mad at my character.

There's other simple stuff like using a Fire Elemental to pull. It's been a 'feature' for years that they operate like they have the spell Kindle working on them. Soon as you tell them to attack something that isn't in arms reach, they freeze in place. They get crazy distance on their fire spells, like 300+, and will eventually let one go if they have LoS for the pull. It's actually better for some pulls because the other pets will run out to meet the MOB if it hits the owner or the pet. Fire pet just stays there trading spells until the MOB gets within striking distance.

Please, I cant even teach myself to properly cast a level 4 gate spell without it collapsing no matter how much xp or how many new gate aa's I earn.

I just wish swarm pets could be sent to a new target before like EoK. That should be a basic function.

I also wish swarm pets would follow the /pet back off command.

Without being able to send them on a new target, the only way to get swarm pets to stop attacking something is to kill them with /swleave

this so much. Pet hold should affect swarm pets, and back off as well.
This is honestly like making berzerkers wait until EoK and pay AAs to be able to turn left. Its basic class functionality.