Hello! Level 51 Ranger here
I’m pretty new to the forums, so apologies if this idea has been suggested before. I’ve seen a lot of threads on the issues that come up with stowing pets (namely, it’s a pain in the butt when you’re trying to do jumping puzzles + when it aggros a bunch of groups, etc.) and I’ve experienced all of those things, and yes, it is not fun. However, I also see the issue with perma-stowing pets, especially when Anet has said they want to ensure that pets are used in combat.
So here’s my big idea (:P) — just change the trigger on un-stowing the pet. Currently, the trigger is, “player has taken damage”, when IMO it really should be “player has activated a skill”. Switching the trigger to skill activation ensures that the player is actually IN combat, and probably needs their lil’ buddy to help out. This also prevents people from stowing pets forever and not using them.
This doesn’t fix everything by any means, but it might help make jumping puzzles/running around the world a little less painful.
The stowing issue may never change, but I figured I’d toss it out there, as I think it could be a viable solution.