Armour for Hunter Pets

    Armour, for Hunter pets.
    Hear me out.
   These days characters are becoming more and more customisable, what with transmogrification, glyphs, access to barbers and additional haircuts unavailable in character creation - they're becoming more unique. Of course, there are some hair cuts and armour sets that are more popular than others, so a lot of characters end up looking the same despite these features, but the fact remains that having your character looking more unique is something that Blizzard have been putting a little thought into.
   I've said before that Hunters are pretty much the most customisable class in the game, because of their ability to tame a huge range of different creatures, but just the same as certain hair cuts and armour sets are more popular than others, so are certain pets.
   I actually read something similar to this a few years ago on a WoW forum, but no one seemed to like the idea - possibly because no one else who saw it were playing Hunters. But I thought it was a genious idea.
   I don't know if they original poster had any ideas of whether it would provide any sort of stats, or if they were simply saying they wanted to be able to tame pre-armoured creatures, but it doesn't seem fair to me that a Hunter's pet should go into battle with no protection but the assurance that its owner will cover their back with arrow and gunfire. I mean, afterall, the pet is the one that charges into melee range while the armoured Hunter keeps its distance.

   Why?
   When it comes down to it, the armour would fit the pets in the same way that it does on mounts, but it wouldn't be the same armour. There are lots of different animal types, so of course a single armour set would either have to be modelled for each different animal type, or be specific to a certain animal type. That's a lot of work. But if it were implemented, then five Dwarves with black bears wouldn't all have their pets looking the same. The same would go for Loque'nahak, one of the most popular spirit beasts. Loque'nahak does have a unique cat model when compared to all the others available, but it still holds the same principles, so while it's an 'ooooh, aaaah' pet to have, so many other people have it that it's become slightly less exciting.

   Usefulness?
   The armour could also have stats, but that could create problems in terms of balance, and I wouldn't think it fair to make Hunters themselves suffer to balance it out, either, especially if they're Survival. If they did have stats, however, they'd be singular - either stamina, agility, or a stat suitable to PvP, depending on the pet's spec, and at a highest rate of something like +5 on a level 90 piece. The Hunter would gain little to nothing on such a low stat, and so stats would more or less be redundant anyways. It would just make the armour appear a little more useful, and perhaps give Hunters' pets a more outward PvP/PvE appearance - but I suppose the +5 stamina/agility/whatever else could also just as easily be replaced by specifically +5 armour.
   It would not need these stats, however, since my point is just to add a little more customisation and visual protection to Hunter pets.

   Item Pieces
   The armour 'set' would comprise of only one item however, but cover several 'pieces' - one actual item, one item slot, but it would include the helmet, shoulders and backplates all in one, keeping it matching. They wouldn't require lots of farming or gathering for three matching pieces, just the one.

   Obtaining
   How it's to be obtained could be many, many different ways. There's the obvious, such as a Hunter-specific drop from Scenario reward bags, or an additional, invisible drop in raids and dungeons for Hunters and Hunters only, like Darkmoon Faire quest items only appear in dungeons for those who carry the Darkmoon Adventurer's Guide - this would keep it from upsetting the loot tables, which is especially important if its stats are so low, and keep non-Hunters from rolling on it.
   Alternatively, it could be a little more exciting, and be obtained through a small and insignificant faction of Hunters, based, perhaps, in Stranglethorn Vale, or who generally follow Hemet Nesingwary and Hemet Nesingwary Jr. around (so they'd pop up in Stranglethorn Vale, Nagrand, Sholazar Basin and Valley of the Four Winds), using either gold, justice, or a unique 'currency' in the form of something otherwise useless that only a Hunter could find in the first place, in the same manner that MoP's more basic taming 'challenges' involved following animal tracks that only a Hunter could see.
   Then there's crafting. Most Hunters use either Leatherworking or Engineering, unless they happen to have those professions on other characters. Leatherworking would provide you with the ability to make mail or leather armour for your pet without batting an eyelid, and Engineering would allow you to work with metals in the same way.

Without the stupid goggles.

   Personally, I believe that if the armour doesn't have any stats, and is obtained through either an otherwise insignificant Hunter 'faction' or a likely Hunter profession, there's no reason it should really upset other players - unless they truly believe that the work that would go into pet armour would have otherwise been spent on something that would greatly affect them, such as balancing classes (which I'm pretty sure would be a different department) or creating new raids. Which isn't impossible, but if that time and energy would have gone towards something that important, then those things would happen whether pet armour were implemented or not.

   There are a lot of flaws with this idea, I realise that, but from a daydreaming point of view, I think it's pretty cool. And those of you who think it would be a total waste of time, don't worry, I'm not exactly going to march to Blizzard's door, bang on it until they open up and then harrass them until they implement it, and neither am I going to petition it and try to gather support. I'm just saying that, as a Hunter, and given that this blog is pretty vanity-concerned, it would be pretty cool to have. I used pictures of pre-existing mounts as examples, minus reigns and stupid bear goggles, as examples, so try to metally replace the saddles with back plates. It's beyond my photoshopping skill.
   I had thought of the same thing for Warlocks, but, to me, since Demons are summonned already armoured, and Hunter pets are tamed nekkid, it's as if a Demon's armour is a part of their being rather than just protective/intimidating, and can't really be interchanged.