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They fight courageously alongside their master, grow stronger in battle and have proven to be more than just an accessory. So is it any wonder pets are becoming an integral part of the MMO gaming experience?

With one of the deepest pet systems around, TLBB is renowned for its unique approach to customizing the deadly sidekicks who shouldn’t be judged for their cute exterior, but for the damage they can inflict on an enemy when unleashed. Don’t be fooled; the up-scaled, upmarket MMO creatures of today have stepped up their game and revolutionized the playing experience that has had thousands of gamers everywhere asking “are there any free-to-play games out there with a pet system?”… Yes is the answer. TLBB can go one better though: There’s a free-to-play game out there with a VERY GOOD pet system!

One of the great features of TLBB is breeding. Capture a male pet and breed it with a female pet, either yours or someone else’s, and benefit from the second generation marvel that will have enemies quivering in their Kung Fu boots. This powerful combination will not only make your pet stronger and deadlier, but will change its appearance to a more colourful and rare looking partner-in-crime.

Remember, pets are just as vulnerable and needy as the characters themselves. Pamper the littler critters and they’ll gladly fight tooth and nail by your side, neglect them, and they won’t be happy bunnies (FYI, they’re not all bunnies).

With well over 100 pets to choose from (including stacks more colour variations), players of this stand-out martial arts game will spend as little or as much time on Pet Island as they want looking for the perfect companion. Beware the guardians, however, who roam the lands protecting these wild four, two and zero legged animals.

With other great features such as increasing savvy, training/enhancing and skill acquisition, not to mention the several pets you can have at the same time, the pet evolution in TLBB slowly goes from pet rescue, to pets doing the rescuing. Train the little sidekick wisely and benefit from a friendship better described as inseparable.

Each week, the game’s Emperor handpicks one of the most useful items available to buy from the token shop. This week he’s gathered his own pets from the palace, minus the head count, and recommended the functional, but very cool, ‘Pet Bar’ item. On top of giving players extra slots in the inventory to carry more pets, this unique item also allows different types of pets to boost specific attributes that can be used for different situations and more game play variations.

For more info, please visit:

http://tlbb.eu.changyou.com/news/emperors-item-choice-pet-bar.shtml

To help get your friendship kick started, publishers ChangYou.com are giving away 30 Red Balls of Brilliance that will provide double XP for your pet.

Simply visit the forum here – http://tlbb.eu.changyou.com/forum/showthread.php?p=14819#post14819, tell us the breed/type of your pet, as well as its name, and winners will be chosen by ChangYou.com at the end of the month*.

However don’t worry if you miss out, simply join the other 10 thousand fans on Facebook TLBB who have benefitted from fantastic giveaways. There’s also time to purchase the newly added Mysterious Mooncake item that won’t be in the token shop for very long so hurry! So many goodies, so little time!

Visit www.enter-tlbb.com for more info.

To join in on the Facebook fun, please visit:

http://www.facebook.com/TLBBEU

Hello everyone, I’m one of the illustrators of TLBB, my name is Qi Wang and I’m delighted to be talking to you about TLBB.

Pets in TLBB are seen as a way to not only have a loyal sidekick, but also to help the character destroy an enemy. When designing these pets, did you have a brief on how they should look to the player? If so, how many concepts did you go through before you were happy with the results?

Before designing a pet, we will sit down and have a meeting where everyone gives input and contributes their ideas. Once we’ve chosen some of the best ideas, we then present what we feel is the perfect image of a pet going from the brief. Throughout the design process, there are a number of points we need to take into consideration such as whether or not the design is popular, which style looks best, how the pet will look like after levelling up and so on. It’s difficult to say exactly how many concepts we go through before we’re happy because we go through so many stages of inspiration and different stages of scrutiny, that it can go round in circles at times.

One of TLBB’s main aspects is the pet system used in the game. As a designer, did you want to create fiercer looking pets? Or were you already aware of the levelling up system that the pets would have in this martial arts MMO?

In actual fact, there is a huge variety of pets in TLBB and we don’t only treat them as followers, but as weapons who can cause serious damage as well as fight for players throughout the game. Each pet has its own attributes that contribute to experience of the game whether it’s for looks or for assistance to the player.

What was your biggest challenge when creating these pets? Which one are you most proud of and why?

The trickiest part of the design process is conceptual. As there are more and more pets in the game, it becomes more challenging to find breakthroughs in design and originality. So far, the categories we have are cute, funny, cool and ferocious. As time goes on, there could be more categories to fill and as one of my main tasks is to design novel pets, it will give me more scope for different pet designs. More recently, we designed cool looking zombie pets, but my personal favourite would have to be the Beast which is seen as a Chinese legend that possesses might, strength and good looks.

Picture of Beast here

Are there anymore plans in place to create new and exciting pets in TLBB? What sort of inspiration will you turn to as an illustrator?

We are indeed doing a lot of experimental work, and we believe the pets will bring everyone a brand new experience. There’s a lot happening right now and I can tell you that in the future, there will be a number of unique features about the pet system. Let’s just say camouflaged predators are tough to see and a ring leader usually has a following.

Many Asian cartoons, characters, films and illustrations have a very different feel to the western markets. How do you feel your designs will be interpreted by Europe and what is your main goal as designer when creating such characters/creatures?

In my opinion, whether it’s Asian cartoons or Western cartoons, everyone agrees on visually beautiful designs. Although some opinions will be different to others, our goal remains to design good looking pets for players.

The pets in TLBB all have their own identity and can be improved throughout the game, very similarly to the actual characters themselves. When designing these pets and knowing that TLBB has a genuine martial arts feel to it, do you feel the need to compete with other Chinese styled MMOs?

Competition is everywhere and although there are similarities in other Chinese styled MMOs, making our game stand out is the main objective when we design pets. You will see that all our pets have something different, but there’s nothing wrong with healthy competition as this will only make us progress and make TLBB better.

For more about the pet system, please visit here:

http://tlbb.eu.changyou.com/gameguide/features/petsystem.shtml

http://tlbb.eu.changyou.com/gameguide/features/feature03.shtml

Do you have your own pet in TLBB? If so, what is your preference? Is it effective for you?

Yes, my pet is a bunny but don’t be fooled by how cute it is because it can cause some serious damage. There are some rare pets in the upcoming expansions of TLBB that I’d love to get my hands on, let’s just say that Bruce Lee’s spirit comes alive TLBB’s at some point. Sorry I can’t say anymore!

Finally, if you were to name the following pets as your own, what would you call them?

1. Mantis –> Flying General

2. Dinosaur –> Prehistoric Overlord

3. Boar –> Plump Saemon

4. Crocodile –> South China Sea dragon

5. Monkey –> Heavenly Monkey