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Today, Breanni is probably most well known as the <Pet Supplies> NPC vendor in Dalaran. This was Blizzard's in-game tribute to honor the creation of this site. Prior to that, Breanni was simply a female gnomish mage with an affinity for vanity pets. With a passion to share her knowledge, she became the virtual host of WarcraftPets. Her sense of humor is too quirky for some, but she can still draw a crowd on open-mic night at the Goldshire Inn. In short, Breanni is a lot like me (minus the "female gnomish mage" part).
The "Real" Breanni
In the real world, I'm a web developer, graphic designer, artist, writer, and of course, gamer. Admittedly, I play more World of Warcraft than I should. With so much game time under my belt, I've managed to play one of every class (and concordantly one of every race) to level 75+. And as you've no doubt gathered, I'm an avid collector of vanity pets.
Q&A with the Site Creator
Why did you create WarcraftPets?
In spring of 2006, the Children's Week quest was updated with three new vanity pets. As a collector, I was thrilled. But I realized it would take at least three characters to collect them all. I'd been intending to divvy up my collection between all of my characters anyway (bag space was a shrinking commodity in those days). But my OCD compelled me to try and figure out which pets that I hadn't yet collected would best complement each of my characters. So I hunted down a small pet guide without any luck. And that prompted me to do a little research and create my own.
I figured since I was already making a guide, I ought to share it with the Warcraft community to help others. So I posted it on the official Warcraft forums and my popular Guide to Vanity Pets was born. Since pet collector's were so pleased with the guide, I decided to take it to the next level and create the definitive website for small pet collectors.
Have you received any awards?
Brian, WarcratPets founder
No awards yet, but I have received some rather unique honors. As noted above, the most well known honor came in the form of a Breanni NPC [news] selling <Pet Supplies> at the Dalaran pet shop. Additionally, I've been interviewed by the leading Warcraft blog site, WoWInsider.com. Check out the interview for my take on certain vanity pets and other juicy tidbits. Lastly, a while back in patch 2.4, a new NPC cat was added to the bedroom above Stormwind's main inn. It's a Siamese named Fuzz. Several people suggested it might have been Blizzard's first nod to my work on this site (see below).
How long did it take to create this site?
It took nearly three months to complete. But keep in mind, at the time of its completion in April 2007, it was essentially just a database site. There was no community and no way for people to track their collections. Those things came later.
I continue to develop this site during my spare time, which means I don't play as much WoW as I'd like. But hey... it's for a worthy cause, right? Feel free to support the site if you'd like to show your appreciation.
Why the fascination with small pets?
Ever since I saw the two-page spread in the back of the official World of Warcraft strategy guide I wanted to collect the little guys. I thought to myself, "How cool would it be to have a cat or a whelp adventuring with my character?"
What was your first small pet?
Getting my first pet was a challenge, even though it was quite common. I took a young, level 12 Breanni in search of Donni Anthania. I only knew that she was somewhere in Elwynn Forest (and I actually thought it was a "he"). I searched in utter frustration for over an hour. Having access to this site back then would've saved me a lot of trouble! When I finally found her, I blew almost all the coin I had on my very first small pet: a Silver Tabby. But much like potato chips, you can't stop at just one.
How many small pets do you have now?
After three years of collecting, I have 127 of 132 small pets that I'm able to collect. If curious, visit my profile to view my collection.
Fuzz
Do you have any pets in real life?
You bet. My wife and I have three. We have a Himalayan cat, affectionately known as "The Fuzz" (although her given name is 'Jezebel'). And after my mother's passing in 2008, we adopted Kirby, her loving Rat Terrier. Lastly, in 2009 we adopted another cat, Mirabell (a.k.a. Moo-Moo because she has the appetite of a cow).
Why is Breanni the host of this site?
I posted my original Guide to Vanity Pets on the forums under Breanni. Since people knew me by that name, it made sense to carry it over to this site. As such, I've had a lot of fun further developing Breanni's persona, as can be seen within the 'Breanni Says' commentary that accompanies each pet's profile.
How many other characters do you play?
I play 12 characters total (at least one of every race and class). While Breanni may be the most well-known, I don't consider her my "main". In fact, I don't really have a main. I truly do love the variety of playing each and every class. All of these characters are level 75+ (insert "has no life" joke here). I tend to play them in teams of two "dualbox-style," which is loads of fun.
The nice thing about playing all ten classes is that I have a great understanding of how each class works in tandem with the others. This has helped my aggro control, my tanking, and most notably, my healing. Thus, I wrote another popular guide on the Priest forum called A Beginner's Guide to Healing. I reprinted that guide on this site as Healing for Beginners, although it hasn't been updated in some time.
The other nice thing about playing so many characters is that I can spread my pet collection out amongst all of them (although that does make it harder to earn vanity pet achievements). After all, one of the best things about pet collecting is being able to show them all off!
Do you play any other female characters?
My rogue and Smolderweb
Absolutely. In fact, almost all of the characters I play on a regular basis are female. Surprised? Me too! It began with Breanni. Originally, I was intending to make a male tauren, but then I reconsidered. I thought it might be more fun to play the tiniest, most delicate of characters so that people would subconsciously underestimate my power. Thus, I rolled a female gnome mage.
When Breanni hit her mid-30s, I got curious about other classes and the horde. So I decided to create my first alt. This time, I would make that male tauren druid. And I did. But I had trouble seeing around his enormous frame and it was adversely affecting my game. At the time, I had no idea how to zoom out the camera (my trackball doesn't have a mouse wheel). So I deleted him and tried a female tauren instead. Her smaller frame was much more manageable for my interface and since the gender difference didn't bother me, I just stuck with her (although her voice still makes me shudder).
My next character was my rogue. I wanted to roll human since there seemed to be an overabundance of night elf rogues. But let's be honest, folks... most human males look like they got smashed in the face with a sledgehammer. So I made yet another female character. Shortly thereafter, I decided I'd try to level one of every class. And since I'd already created three lovely ladies, I just figured I may as well just go for broke.
Is it strange to play female characters?
Not really. I know that for some guys it is, but it doesn't faze me at all. It doesn't bother my wife either. Funny enough, her main is a male gnome. Yup... Breanni's got a boyfriend, so if you were thinking of hitting on her, think again!
The site rocks! Do you do accept donations?
The site was started as a hobby, but it's really taken on a life of its own. So I spend a good deal of my free time developing it. As such, donations are a wonderful way to let me know that my time and effort are appreciated. And if donating isn't your cup of Thistle Tea, you might consider supporting the site in a variety of other ways.
Special Thanks
Meg, my wife - Thank you for supporting me throughout my progress and success with this site. You truly are one of a kind. I you, forever and always.
Andrew Nebus - Over the years, you've been a great friend and mentor. I wouldn't have been able to assemble this (or any) website without your insightful guidance.
Site Admins - In September 2008, Sateena began to volunteer her time to help keep this site running smoothly. More recently Doobjanka joined the team. You guys do an INCREDIBLE job and I can't thank you enough.
Site MVPs - A great big thanks to all of WarcraftPets' MVPs, who have gone above and beyond to help support the site in many different ways. You guys are awesome!
Marc Frega - Thanks for doing everything you do to keep the site up and running. I couldn't ask for a better web host.
Blizzard Entertainment - A final thanks to all you wonderfully talented people working at Blizzard. I've been playing your awe-inspiring games for over a decade. Thanks for putting out such polished work. And of course, thank you for creating World of Warcraft!
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