Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Comments
Having it be a nice anti-bot measure is an added bonus. Sure you can just make people able to fish anywhere they want to, and make it so there are places where no fish can be caught, but I feel that just adds a level of frustration to something that I think most people like to be relaxing. I also find that when people can fish anywhere they often choose the most remote hidey holes where they won't be spotted, which just always made me think BOT (that just might be the cynic in me though).
Instead of it being an arbitrary measure of move away sooner or later, or trial and error finding spots to fish, I just like the pool mechanic. I find it clean and easy to implement, and easy for players to understand - fish in a pool until it disappears, then move to the next one.Fish em all out, then wait for them to respawn, or move to a new area. Sometimes I like the game to actually do some of the work for me.
I am not really into the whole "everything must be a sim" style of play that some advocate for MMOs - maybe we have a mini QTE event for putting the bait on the hook, then a swing timer for the cast, and constantly rolling the mouse button to reel in when you catch, until the fish is on the shore. I know this is a system that some would like, but I would like something more simple.
100% percent chance to catch? Well I thought with all the bonuses possible it would provide a 90% catch chance if you missed the sweet spot - so the entire cast would not be wasted if you missed it. You would only guarantee the catch if you hit that sweet spot in the QTE.
I like the QTE mechanic in this case, but I don't like it being the only way to catch, so if you miss, you miss entirely. No big deal if this isn't the case. Without it, it's like other fishing where you miss the few seconds after the bobber and the fish goes free. Maybe the catch percentages are too high, but I'm not designing the actual system, just throwing some stuff out there.
I can see how some would rather a system where you miss that sweet spot for the catch, the fish just gets away. Fine I guess, I just thought it was a nice way for using the right bait and bonuses for fishing skill and accessories to make a difference. Other ideas for how bonuses make a difference to the actual act of fishing?
Channel isn't necessary, not sure if you meant the visual kind like in WoW, or just an internal timer for how long the cast lasts. I don't think the visual kind is necessary but a timer for sure: X amount of seconds, that would be variable. Somewhere during that channel the QTE would appear, however they decide to visually implement (smarter people than me could come up with a nice UI).
Bearing this in mind, fishing needs to be complex enough to justify the decision to be a Master Angler and lock yourself out of all other professions. It needs to be complex, dynamic and simple, a tough job for Intrepid.
I like the pools idea (hopefully bots will be stopped by the software Intrepid have partnered with so designing a system with them in mind wont matter) but with some solid changes. How about having pools but having a cast circle that will initially be twice the size of the pool. Then as your skill increases or you get a better pole or lure, the circle shrinks until it is the size of a pool or smaller.
This means that you would place the targeting circle down and your cast would land somewhere within it. So your cast would not be guaranteed to land in the pool, if not you have to cast again. As you get better the circle gets smaller and once you are at the top of your game, you should be able to always cast into a pool.
This would be a way for skill and bonuses to actually matter in the act of casting (like they haven't in everygame I have played. So annoying to have zero control over your cast in WoW).
So completely scrap any guarantee to catch, but you can have a guarantee to get in the pool. Then the catch could be a QTE bar where you hit a sweet spot so you still have to pay attention.
Maybe even for the super tough fish you have one QTE to hook, and another to successfully reel in. For the average fish just the one QTE and you have caught, but for the bigger specials, hooking triggers a second QTE and you need this to catch.
I just think fishing needs to be a little more dynamic in the actual catch mechanic but not in the finding. I think being able to catch fish everywhere, but not have fish be everywhere is just annoying and frustrating. Nope, no fish here, five yards down the beach, none here, five yards down the beach, none here, ten yards down the beach, ah finally found a fish. No thanks.
I actually plan to be one of those people who chooses fishing as their profession and will actually be participating in this in game. I hope that fishing is at a minimum as in depth as ESO, but really a lot more interesting and dynamic. If it is the only profession you can do, it better be.
That only works with pools, but I like pools
It solves the problem I had with both WoW and ESO. WoW you couldn't control where your cast went at all, no matter what, so skill meant nothing and hitting a pool was 100% luck and with ESO you just always automatically cast into the pool if you looked at it - but then in ESO you couldn't fish outside of a pool.
@DevonMeep I haven't played FFXIV. Why was the fishing so much fun in that game?
I also like the idea of Anglers being able to set traps for crabs and lobsters too. With these you would have to set them down and check them a little later, so not totally dynamic, but probably not too long, maybe 10 minutes. So you could pop out a trap and do a circuit of a harbour and come back and your first trap would have a lobster in it.
It is enjoyable to fish in FF XV
I would like to discover fishing spots, not have them marked as pools* based on my understanding of the environmental factors and skill.
casting/rod angle, equipment/tackle, terminal rigs/bait/lures. seasons/weather all relevant factors.
I am guessing* there will be a tension (line) meter/QTE UI element. Using the mouse peripheral to cast and control rod angle, scroll wheel to perhaps manipulate line/lure micro retrieval and space bar to set hook/rapid retrieve. Success based on all cumulative factors.
tackle will need to be maintained, baits will be perishable and lures can be lost.
will there be a crafting as well?...I'd like to think so.