Guild Wars 2

Mini Pets in GW2 have had problem, after problem, after problem.

It’s bad enough that they lag way behind me when I run, and stand far away from me when I come to a stop. (Why doesn’t he want to be near me? Do I have B.O?) What’s up with that? The GW1 Minis kept up, stood nearby, and even did little emotes to entertain you.

But now -once again- ANet seems to have an ongoing problem figuring out how to restore my Mini Pet after it has been removed due to “rising player population” or swimming, or whatever. He disappears, and I continually have to go back to my Mini Pet selection window and re-check the display box. This bug has been ongoing for awhile now, and has been a problem numerous times in the past.

Well guess what, ANet? I found the solution for you:

L E A V E – T H E – M I N I – P E T S – A L O N E !

Stop un-checking them, and then you won’t have to keep figuring out what is bugging the program.

I’m not sure why they get removed anyway:

• Surely they aren’t too graphics-intensive for computers to keep up? If so, then why don’t you temporarily remove all the white-text “inconsequential” animals from the map instead?

• Are they too confusing in a fight? Are people complaining about too much stuff on the screen? What about Legendary weapons? Most of them have at least THREE visual effects that clog up the screen (weapon “swooshes”, auras, and footprints).

• Why remove my Mini Pet if I’m nowhere near the big, crowded event?

Solution number TWO:

Give us a “View other characters’ Mini Pets” Checkbox!

That way, the people can decide for themselves if other Mini Pets are a problem. You can restore the fun sound effects that were frustratingly removed from my Princess Doll, and my Golems, and all the others. And we Mini Pet consumers get what we paid for: a cute little companion that catches up 30 seconds after we stop moving, and stands in the far corner of the screen.

Problem solved. Now if only we could do something about that infernal Job-O-Tron backpack…

Just so you know, some mini pets actually can’t swim. They are afraid of the water.

They can’t glide either. They also get “removed” from high populations such as WvW to reduce lag.

Andraus.3874:

They can’t glide either. They also get “removed” from high populations such as WvW to reduce lag.

My bird Minis should be able to glide, you’d think. And I can understand if they can’t swim. Maybe a system like Ranger Animal Companions that lets you pre-select different Minis for underwater? But that’s WAAAAAAY down on their lists, I’m sure. I’m not asking for that.

I did address your “lag” concern in my first point. Get rid of the white non-important “set decoration” creatures if they really feel the need to remove something.

But I seriously doubt in this day and age that there is any lag problem on their servers due to Mini Pets. And any lag problems that we may have could be addressed individually by allowing us to cull other players’ Minis. Perhaps a multi choice checkbox? …

• Show All Mini Pets
• Hide other players’ Mini Pets
• Hide other players’ Mini Pets while in combat

The main problem is that they can’t seem to efficiently restore Mini Pets when they remove them. So I say don’t remove them at all as the simplest solution.

Ellieanna.5027:

Just so you know, some mini pets actually can’t swim. They are afraid of the water.

I teach my Avian Mini Pets to follow me in the air above the surface. My Golems are trained to dry off thoroughly and reapply WD-40 as needed. The Princess Doll has her own hair dryer. My other various pets are seeing a psychologist to deal with their irrational fears, and doing quite well, thank you very much.

Might I suggest the offices of Doctor Shrink in Rata Sum. (He’s a member in good standing of the Headcase Krewe).

Hamfast.8719:

Andraus.3874:

They can’t glide either. They also get “removed” from high populations such as WvW to reduce lag.

My bird Minis should be able to glide, you’d think. And I can understand if they can’t swim. Maybe a system like Ranger Animal Companions that lets you pre-select different Minis for underwater? But that’s WAAAAAAY down on their lists, I’m sure. I’m not asking for that.

I did address your “lag” concern in my first point. Get rid of the white non-important “set decoration” creatures if they really feel the need to remove something.

But I seriously doubt in this day and age that there is any lag problem on their servers due to Mini Pets. And any lag problems that we may have could be addressed individually by allowing us to cull other players’ Minis. Perhaps a multi choice checkbox? …

• Show All Mini Pets
• Hide other players’ Mini Pets
• Hide other players’ Mini Pets while in combat

The main problem is that they can’t seem to efficiently restore Mini Pets when they remove them. So I say don’t remove them at all as the simplest solution.

Or you can do what a normal adult would do and turn it back on. It’s not like they turned off your weapons. The minis you see aren’t just for you, it’s also server lag. Ambients work differently then minis for 1 simple thing: Minis have to follow you. Ambients just have roam paths.

In a WvW Zerg there’s maybe 10 ambient creatures around if you are lucky. They actually did remove a lot of mobs from WvW in the last major patch as well to further address the lag issues in WvW. But that is why it is in place, mostly for WvW but also for major world boss events. There’s many many times that the mini pets. I do agree the flying mini’s should glide.

Ellieanna.5027:

Or you can do what a normal adult would do and turn it back on.

Okay, that “normal adult” thing is kinda rude. You’re thinking of a “normal automaton” that is happy doing repetitive tasks. (No offense, farmers).

Normal adults realize that it is the program’s job to restore the Mini Pets once the all-clear whistle has blown. ANet has had regular problems doing that.

Mini Pet users have put up with a load of issues since the start. If they want to keep selling them (there’s the magic word!), then they shouldn’t alienate the consumer. One way or another, fix the problem.

Is there any reason the Mini Pet display rules can’t be different for WvW, if the problems are different for WvW?

(Yes, Andraus… 10 ambient creatures around you. But what about on the whole map? Only ANet has an idea how the number of Ambients on a whole map compares to the number of Mini Pets there. If “around you” is the important factor, then why should my Mini Pet disappear if I am nowhere close to the crowded area?)

The OP seems unwilling to accept that there are good reasons for turning off mini pets in certain situations, unwilling to accept that ANet cannot just “leave them on” without additional programming work, and unwilling to discuss it further.

• Not all minis can swim and none can fly; to change that takes additional programming resources.
• Culling of minis helps tremendously with performance and required little effort. Culling of say ambient creatures (at the time) is much more difficult and would have affect other things in the game (including some collections).
• ANet wants to fix this probably more than you want to see it fixed. It’s a blight on their track record and yes, it affects their ability to sell gems. If it were easy, they’d have done it.

I, too, am frustrated with how long it’s taking for ANet to resolve the mini display issues. However, I won’t kid myself that it’s as easy as changing a few lines of code.

what if mini’s are semi-client side, you can always see your mini but other mini’s depend on the current system.

Hamfast.8719:

Ellieanna.5027:

Or you can do what a normal adult would do and turn it back on.

Okay, that “normal adult” thing is kinda rude. You’re thinking of a “normal automaton” that is happy doing repetitive tasks. (No offense, farmers).

Normal adults realize that it is the program’s job to restore the Mini Pets once the all-clear whistle has blown. ANet has had regular problems doing that.

Mini Pet users have put up with a load of issues since the start. If they want to keep selling them (there’s the magic word!), then they shouldn’t alienate the consumer. One way or another, fix the problem.

Actually, a normal adult would realize that what is required to program it into the game is not a few lines of code or an easy fix, thus until they can work it into the code, the normal adult would turn their mini on.

See here, a mini pet follows you. Anet’s code has to react to your movements. Those Ambient creatures you want Anet to remove so you can keep your mini. They don’t follow you, they can have set paths and would barely use anything. Your mini pets location has to be constantly updated. Those ambients, they don’t.

One of your suggestions was for Anet to leave them on. Again, the lag when there is 50 people in an area + minis (say 20-30) the lag is horrendous. And this lag isn’t just what you see, it’s also putting a lot of pressure on the server. I’m fairly certain they would like to fix it, but unless you want to go in and program it for them and 100% positive that it will not break anything in the game (Hint: That’s not possible, that’s the nature of programming as well), then it will take time.

I remember when they were allowed in WvW that people would zerg v zerg with all mini pets on to lag out the server.

Hamfast.8719:

Is there any reason the Mini Pet display rules can’t be different for WvW, if the problems are different for WvW?

(Yes, Andraus… 10 ambient creatures around you. But what about on the whole map? Only ANet has an idea how the number of Ambients on a whole map compares to the number of Mini Pets there. If “around you” is the important factor, then why should my Mini Pet disappear if I am nowhere close to the crowded area?)

The other ambient creatures on the map do not matter. Sorry OP I do not pretend to know about programming or code but I do know these very basic things. You can look up culling issues that were prevalent and hiding mini pets have helped with these issues.

Anet did not dump resources into hiding mini pets without good reason. I don’t understand all the coding behind it but I trust they made the best decision they could come up with given their tesources.

Not sure ‘Final Solution’ was the best title choice. . . .

Hamfast.8719:

I did address your “lag” concern in my first point. Get rid of the white non-important “set decoration” creatures if they really feel the need to remove something.

Those life-force batteries serve a purpose, unlike your minipet. They have an impact on the game beyond a visual level, I think they count towards the max targets of skills and for weapon master achievements.

That’s not to say I’d be completely opposed to removing them when performance would suffer, but not before minis and equipment that takes too much graphical/processing power (mostly legendaries and the like).

yes i am also having that issue where i have to keep checking the box to show mini pet and would love that to be sorted out

I really wish minis could be as fast as pets/minions/summoned allies. Is it really that hard to increase the running speed?