I am not arguing what is optimal in raid for a moment, nor am I arguing about annoyances in M+.
Blizz has stated a couple of times that they want to keep RPG elements in the game (see the class spells that aren’t relevant to individual specs like shield block for arms/fury).
Pets are core to the hunter experience. They are a collectible part of class flavor. Lone wolf was already a good solution- let it be a toggle and even let it be a dps boost to not use a pet, but leave the option.
If you really want to address the marksman fantasy why add an eagle anyway? Every time Blizz has tried to shoehorn specific pets they have had to revert (see the pet talent change)
For the people taking glee in the removal because it’s good for M+, I agree BL should just be baseline. No reason to remove pets for solo play, delves, RP etc.
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Yeah as much as I care about not losing pets, the eagle itself is what annoys me the most. What sense does it make? What fantasy is it meant to fulfill? It explicitly detracts from the sniper/sharpshooter fantasy. A marksman gets by on their own skill, not a magic bird!
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Long time Hunter player here… If they get rid of pets for Marks the Hunter will still have all their pets and be able to use them with the other 2 specs. Most MM hunters were probably already going petless so it’s not really all that big of a deal.
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Numbers please.
I’m pretty sure you can’t provide evidence.
And also they’re not going petless. MM will still have a pet of some sort. Just not our pets that we’ve tamed and had for years.
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As I understand it, the eagle exists to give the MM Hunter all the advantages of having a pet without having a pet as the eagle won’t appear on screen.
I’m guessing the only reason the eagle has to be there at all is so other Hunters don’t complain about not having access to those talents when they lose a pet, or not having a boost to those talents because they do have a pet.
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Has there ever been mention of rpg since before and after the failed covenant system from blizz in regards to wow?
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Long time hunter player here, SV was killed and buried out back and BM bores me to tears. Your non-options are not options.
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They say a lot of things. You should base your conclusions on what their actual goals are on the actions you observe them taking.
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I was reminded of one RP element when I logged onto my Void Elf Hunter.
Being a Void Elf, he likes mogging towards that look, and not just with gear. I have him riding mounts that have a certain Void look (such as the Lucid Nightmare) and naturally using Void appearance pets. I mean, they even provided a Void pet as the racial for the Void Elf!
So they consider it a prime element of the hunter to give them a racial-themed pet when they are created, and now say well, you can’t use that if you wish to use one of the 3 specs available to you. Why does that sound just stupid to me?
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Imagine if you woke up one day and your profession, and everything you knew about it was drastically altered. All the years you put into learning and perfecting your craft was abruptly altered and you found yourself lost.
That’s what MM Hunter RP is going to be. The devs get a fun creative product that justifies their existence, and players just have to pretend that the character they’ve played forever abruptly changed overnight, and that’s perfectly normal. Fun for them. Who cares about the players, right?
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A marksman/woman generally wouldn’t be rockin pets, meanwhile Beastmaster 100% would.
So just roll BM if you want ranged hunter + pets.
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Totally different play style, otherwise there wouldn’t be so much pushback from MM players. BM hunters direct the pet, who does most of the work. MM have most of the firepower, but have a devoted pet alongside to distract the prey while the hunter does most of the work.
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Marksmen shroud themselves in the perils of the untamed wilds, perfecting the use of weapons that are deadliest from great range. They’ve maintained little interest, however, in gaining the loyalty of the many beasts inhabiting these crude landscapes. Instead, the marksman blends into the surrounding environment, surveying behavior of all manner of predator and gleaning deadly methods for stalking their own prey. A sniper in hiding, the marksman unleashes arrows and bullets with deadly precision, exposing the weakness in whoever—or whatever—passes through their crosshairs. - Source
Marksmen are warriors who have embraced firearms as their weapon of choice. Studying the techniques of the dwarves, these soldiers craft their own weapons and hone their aim until they are capable of incredible feats of speed and accuracy. Marksmen learn to trust their instinctive ability with firearms to make incredibly skilled shots. Nowhere in their lore does it say, “…and their trusty pet”. They are “lone wolves” for a reason. They rely on weapons, not animals. I am 100% behind this change and even restored my lvl 60 hunter to wait for the change.
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Being ranged physical damage was core to the hunter class and now it isn’t either. So unless they are going back on that one also better get used to it.
I am all for letting them focus on marks being a ranged damage machine and not a dog walking zoomer
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for the changes? patchnotes/datamining for the 11.1 patch.
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Pets are core to your hunter experience, for me, ever since they nerfed my Ghostsaber from North of Auberdine via a statue, and then continued to remove everything special about my pet I just lost all interest, There is nothing special about pet avatars anymore, not even the rares are special now that they can change types.
I welcome my eagle, let me not have my pets, they all died long ago anyway. 
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No, Blizzard’s stated goals.
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I mean it’s nice that Hunter has 3 different specs finally
Rogue just needs some of that now
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