fishing improvments

[generalcutie]

I have read a couple of forms and people complaining about fishing.
lets break it down

fishing is a bit random and confusing, according to the wiki certain actions should work on a certain kind of fish but if you use, "pull hard" twice in a row, once you could start leaning back (indicating you are getting the fish) and the second time you could lose the fish.

problem: its complicated to know if you are doing it right and boring
solution:
a catch balance meter. imagine a leveler (you know the type a carpenter would use to keep things level) the objective of the mini game will be to keep the leveler between two points (possibly that shrink as the fish reels in). add in dance dance style (hit this key now) type game play (IE W, A, S, D) will appear on the screen to hit that key to bring in the fish.

[inabearsuit]

I do like fishing because I've noticed some fish offer decent inspirational items, but I definitely feel like I'm playing a slot machine when I click one of the three options. I saw the fishing wiki about how each fish has certain options that are needed, but I still feel at a bit of a loss.

However, I would also like to add that perhaps lure recipes (or other recipes) that require "any" of a type of item (rock, berry, etc) could have more uses when using a better type of any item. Or maybe they do and I haven't noticed. But if I use a better or rarer berry, the lure created should definitely be an enhancer version. Also, it seems lures are used up even when I fail at reeling in a fish. With the current confusion people have with these fishing options, I don't think the lure should lose out on uses for failing.

[Procne]

I don't think this dance-style mini game would be good here. See, this minigame would have to be handled by server, otheriwise people could just modify the client to skip it and always have best result. And if it's handled by server then it becomes highly dependent on connection. Someone lagged, or with poor connection would effectively be unable to fish.

[Jalpha]

I agree with the slot-machine analogy. I'm starting to think that some fish have less chance of offering a positive option when they are on the line, and that because of this there are several types of fish which are yet to be discovered.

What I would like to see is some kind of blurry shadow or outline of the fish which is on the line, which could still be mistaken for several kinds of fish. Say the colour was clear, but the shape is not, or vice versa. As the fish gets closer to being caught the image would become clearer. This would make fishing more interesting visually, and help prevent those first few lucky or unlucky choices which often lead to a fish escaping. Proficiencies could help the image clear faster, or start clearer.

As things stand currently it takes a lot of effort to fish, you have to pick a spot, spend a lot of time fishing to learn what kinds of fish are caught there, and then you are more aware of which options to start with. I'd also like a watch for fish option, so you could wait at an area, and see fish jumping, or swimming in the water, to get an idea of what could be caught there. Some fish might need higher proficiencies to become visible and to be more likely to be visible for a longer time, or the fish could become more than just shapes, and slowly materialize into recognizable shapes at higher proficiencies.

I think it should be necessary to remain stationary and use some kind of camo to use this option.

I really tried to fish, I noticed it was an area not many people spent a lot of time on, and there are reasons for that.

Please spend a little time on fishing, so we can enjoy it. I won't even go into how fish are largely useless at this point in time, yet.

[dageir]

Fishing is made too complicated to perform. Why is fishing made more complicated in a game than it is in real life? The real bummer is that your gear break after catching 3 fish. Not that the gear is hard to make, its just very annoying and unrealistic. Why not make the rod almost indestructible? What would be the harm in that? Make the lures last for at least 15 bites (not catches) (With a bit of randomness, some lures might last along time by chance). The fishing process in it self should be limited to casting the lure out and wait. If it bites, you will get the option to reel it in with a random percentage chance of losing the fish. This way it wont be this strange mechanics of hitting almost random boxes. Thanks for reminding me of fishing, forgot about it after trying it a couple of times. Fish can be used to make humus, right?

[Mereni]

I tried fishing a couple times and my bait kept disappearing before I even got a bite. I gave up on it

[Jalpha]

Or even a dowsing rod, made from fish parts collected when butchering fish of a particular type, which could then be used to locate a fishing node of that variety. Just like mining.

[colesie]

Fishing is made too complicated to perform. Why is fishing made more complicated in a game than it is in real life? The real bummer is that your gear break after catching 3 fish. Not that the gear is hard to make, its just very annoying and unrealistic. Why not make the rod almost indestructible? What would be the harm in that? Make the lures last for at least 15 bites (not catches) (With a bit of randomness, some lures might last along time by chance). The fishing process in it self should be limited to casting the lure out and wait. If it bites, you will get the option to reel it in with a random percentage chance of losing the fish. This way it wont be this strange mechanics of hitting almost random boxes. Thanks for reminding me of fishing, forgot about it after trying it a couple of times. Fish can be used to make humus, right?

this

[Procne]

A weird idea. Change current fishing mini-game into something like minesweeper. When player starts fishing he's presented with window similar to minesweeper.
- Cursor is changed into fishing hook, or a fishing pole. Tiles in the window are:

* covered tile = water
* uncovered empty tile = sea / river bottom visible
* mine tile = rocks / seaweed
* plus the number obviously

- x tiles on board contain fish. Or you catch fish every Y tiles uncovered. X, Y, number of mines and type of fish may still depend on type of lure, your skills etc.
- if you clear the whole board you catch some extra fish. Or find some other goodie (pearl or something)
- after finishing the minigame (whether by clearing the board, or by closing yourself) rod suffers some damage
- if you stumble upon mine (rock/seaweed) your hook gets stuck, your rod suffers increased damage and minigame ends

No time limits, so it doesn't suffer from lag.
I am aware this can still be botted, but at least I like to play minesweeper

[Jalpha]

Even though I hate minesweeper, that sounds pretty cool.