Make fishing great (for the first time)

Fishing is important for people who think it is important. Many games make fishing boring and/or pointless. How would you make fishing great? Here are my ideas.

Engaging gameplay
Don't just make us click a "fish" ability and then wait for the bobber to move and then make us click it. Make it more fun, maybe throw in some timing, reflex bonuses, speed clicking bonus. Make it varied, skillful engaging and interesting.

Progression
Many games simply make you spam fish non stop. Sometimes in different zones. Give us fun quests. Give us fun events. Make us travel. Make us prepare. Make us unlock different stuff and perks. Make us upgrade our fishing rods and bobbers. Give us flexibility. Make us feel like we are getting better at fishing. Make it more dangerous. That epic rare shark that rarely spawns? Dont make it purely RNG based. Make us prepare for it with the right rod and bait. Make us scream of happiness when we catch it. Make that shark be valuable through other professions

I really want a journal with about 100 different fish, all of different rarity, sizes and requirements. Make us fill up this journal with fish we find. Give us titles and mount skins for doing so.

Fishing rod & bobber
This is the soul of the fisher. Give us different fishing rods good for different things. Make us craft those epic special rods that are good for different things. Make us work hard for them so the rods are rewarding to use. Give some rare rods special abilities. Maybe walk on water for 10 min? Maybe underwater breathing? Maybe swimspeed? Maybe teleport to nearest water once a day?

Cooking synergy
Everyone knows fish oil gives BIG BRAIN. Make our fish be useful for cooking. Make those rare fish become ingredients for raid wide feasts with buffs. Give us fish that give fun effects when eaten.

Tournaments
Give us the ability to do tournaments with other players and NPCs. Make us climb the ranks of fishing gods.

Decoration
After grinding 7 months to finaly catch ol'jackjaw, please let me display him on my house or guild hall. Also give me the option to display fishing rods on the wall.

Multiplayer
We have cool ships in the game. Why not use them? Let us fish with friends. Let us fish whales etc or big sharks or maybe a massive squid. Make it a team effort.

Do you have any other ideas? I like fish

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Nagash

kengar wrote: »

I liked FF14 fishing a lot. And im liking these ideas you're giving here

ff14s fishing is so adictive

Sathrago

Nagash wrote: »

kengar wrote: »

I liked FF14 fishing a lot. And im liking these ideas you're giving here

ff14s fishing is so adictive

Ill be honest, ff14 fishing is not my favorite fishing. Archeage was with its deep-sea fishing/lake fishing schools and the cool mini game where the quality of your fishing pole+ your fishing proficiency increased the "damage" the fish took allowing you to catch them faster as you upgraded gear and your proficiency.

I got all of the gathering professions to 80 on FF14 and felt pretty drained afterwards. Especially with fishing... Even the boat event you can do I went and got the shark mount from that. It was fun for a bit but after repeating it constantly it just leaves things to be desired.

So all in all I would rather like to see fish be valuable individually, similar to large fish trade packs in Archeage, rather than fishing in games where you pull in insane amounts. Perhaps there is room for net fishing for certain fish that can be caught in bulk but that should be something locked to high level fishers. For example, Sardines or minnows caught in bulk that can be used for bait or cooking. Hm... perhaps what I am saying here is that there should be different types of fish for different types of fishing?

So fish caught by pole will be more valuable individually and perhaps be harder to catch via a mini game, where as net fishing allows for bulk catching of smaller less valuable fish or odd types of creatures that wouldn't normally bite a hook.

Then you have Trolling, where you set up fishing poles on the back of your boats and drive around slowly waiting for a bite, this is used for many types of sports fish both on the sea and in lakes.
Next there is setting up jugs, traps, or otherwise stationary "farms" that will over time attract and capture fish? Maybe they could create a special fishing contraption for this that focuses on capturing bottom-dwelling crustaceans, like a magical vacuum that you have to "drive around" on the bottom of the ocean to suck up the fish.

The last suggestion we could have is Noodling. This one in a fantasy world could be a hell of a lot of fun. For those that don't know, this is the act of searching the river and creek banks for holes to stick your hand in to catch catfish. They bite your hand and you pull them out. Sometimes, you don't get a catfish... hehe. So this would be where the fantasy comes in. We are hardy people so accidentally having a snake bite your hand and then come out and try to eat you could be an entertaining way to gather resources and some experience as well. Imagine sticking your hand in a hole to have that swamp monster showed last stream give you a firm handshake before bursting out and attempting to drown you.

Sorry for the explosion of suggestions, but hey if something catches your eye it was worth typin.

Nagash

I never realy did fishing in archage but it does sound great

daveywavey

Nagash wrote: »

I never realy did fishing in archage but it does sound great

What, you mean you levelled 'properly', by killing mobs and doing quests and stuff.....?!

Sathrago

Nagash wrote: »

I never realy did fishing in archage but it does sound great

Here's how the fishing works.

https://youtu.be/UsawKVNAaqc
Here's the fishing boat.

https://youtu.be/C-jhTdbhcrg

It was truly the best fishing experience I have ever had outside of IRL fishing out in Cali for my 15th birthday catchin tuna.

Sathrago

Made a silly joke in another thread about catch and release but that made me think of a neat idea for the game.

What if there was a "Catch and Release" Mechanic that gave you extra experience (or perhaps a stacking bonus to help fish up rare fish) for letting the fish go rather than gaining materials?

consultant

I would like to see fishing then big game fishing then deep sea fishing then harpooning that is were you go out and hunt giant squids and other sea monsters on a big fishing boat. be pretty cool I think.

And yes think fishing should be one of the features that gets extra attention can be fun actually with quests and goals. Trying to catch the great big one and getting your catchs mounted and displayed in your free hold plus trophies be pretty cool I think.

Also be cool if you could fish up quest items and treasure maps in a bottle or some other interesting things.
Game companies have for those that are free to play have this really smart loot boxes for sale with a cool loot table.....Think that type of loot box or loot table should be used for fishing. This kind gives the feel that you just never know what you are going to pull up. Kind of build ups anticipation.

consultant

Katak wrote: »

@Nagash

Really like that post nagash.

Michael

Stop by the local tavern, get some ale, and hit the water for some fishing. Optional difficulty increase via timed reflex actions or something would be nice.

Wandering Mist

The problem I have with fishing in games is that it lacks the tactile element that is present in real life fishing. One of the biggest draws of fishing in real life is being out in nature, sitting on a calm riverside, drinking a beer and relaxing while waiting for the catch. Then when you get a bite, you get the tug and pull of the fish as you reel it in. These are elements that cannot really be recreated in a game with current technology. The most you can get is some haptic feedback from a game controller, which just isn't the same.

So, in order to make fishing engaging (for me at least) there has to be a lot more than just trying to copy the real life experience. Even things like rewards or progression don't really do it for me if the activity itself is lackluster.

Sathrago

Wandering Mist wrote: »

The problem I have with fishing in games is that it lacks the tactile element that is present in real life fishing. One of the biggest draws of fishing in real life is being out in nature, sitting on a calm riverside, drinking a beer and relaxing while waiting for the catch. Then when you get a bite, you get the tug and pull of the fish as you reel it in. These are elements that cannot really be recreated in a game with current technology. The most you can get is some haptic feedback from a game controller, which just isn't the same.

So, in order to make fishing engaging (for me at least) there has to be a lot more than just trying to copy the real life experience. Even things like rewards or progression don't really do it for me if the activity itself is lackluster.

I see what you mean, and what could help creating this sort of feel would be a few things. First, Increase the time it takes to hook a fish. I know people don't like waiting around forever but you chose fishing so this is supposed to be your forte. Patience. This does multiple things for the game. It makes Fish more valuable, should reduce the amount of fishers, and gives you time to relax and enjoy the next suggestions.

Ingame magic-box radios to bring with you to listen to ingame in addition to the ambience and background sounds of the world. This might not sound great for those that would rather listen to their own music through pandora or whatever, but this would be a neat tool to have to get immersed in the game for a good while.

The last one i would suggest (for now) would be to let us set the poles down in the game, rather than being stuck in the fishing animation. It will allow us to do other activities and once a bite happens we run back to the pole and try to wrestle the fish in. This gives you so much freedom unlike other gathering professions and could make fishing more of a social gathering than an awkward group of silent people occasionally attempting to type to each other inbetween hooking fish.

Sathrago

Temkkey wrote: »

While i agree with you, I also think that fishing has too make way for more important gameplay mechanics.
It shouldn't be the devs priority or any way near it...

Let the devs decide what to prioritize. The thread is about how to make fishing great.

Nagash

I wonder if I can poison the water and then raise the fish????

Katak

Nagash wrote: »

I wonder if I can poison the water and then raise the fish????

Or dynamite magical explosive stuff fishing!
Forgot that Steven already mentioned that there will be no gunpowder.

Nagash

Katak wrote: »

Nagash wrote: »

I wonder if I can poison the water and then raise the fish????

Or dynamite magical explosive stuff fishing!
Forgot that Steven already mentioned that there will be no gunpowder.

Oh but we do have the potion launcher

OnlyOne

Marzzo wrote: »

Decoration
After grinding 7 months to finaly catch ol'jackjaw, please let me display him on my house or guild hall. Also give me the option to display fishing rods on the wall.

I agree with this! Maybe Ashes will let us craft small to medium sized fishbowls to keep the smaller ones as decorative pets. And let us craft bigger aquariums for display purposes for if we catch a whopper ol'jackjaw!

subs

I really enjoy fishing at night to relax before going to bed. I also like to cook. So I hope there is a synergy between the two. I really hope this game has good crafting and not an afterthought like most releases of games. It sounds like they have placed a lot of thought into crafting I just hope it is fulfilled

Kenpachi

Sathrago wrote: »

Nagash wrote: »

I never realy did fishing in archage but it does sound great

Here's how the fishing works.
https://youtu.be/UsawKVNAaqc
Here's the fishing boat.
https://youtu.be/C-jhTdbhcrg

It was truly the best fishing experience I have ever had outside of IRL fishing out in Cali for my 15th birthday catching tuna.

I have to say Archeage was the only MMO I've played that did fishing right. "Sports Fishing" was extremely engaging and the amount of PvP over fish was so much fun. I remember going out with about 10-13 fishing boats just hanging out for hours. Really hoping AoC does something along those lines as AA sports fishing.

BlightEmpire

I want to make clear everything i ever discuss is feature creep.... its things i would like and envision months/years down the road. And thats welll after full release not alpha not beta just saying.

Ah archeage. I to can agree that its fishing system was definitely up there in terms of keeping you entertained. Though it wasn't very difficult i had 2-3 accounts going fishing all at once while guildies grabbed em but that was way back when you could effectively multibox. Anyway i agree the mechanics should be entertaining, and engaging i want progression, plain and simple we should scale up and get to the point we can catch damn near anything if we put in the effort. Adding in different levels where we might start with a wooden rod then move up to a metal rod and one day reach a worth adamantite or mithril rod would be awesome also with the lure's or bait we can only craft low tier bait until we raise our ranks and gain the knowledge to make better lure or bait. We are gonna have PvP arena id honestly like to see a fishing arena of sorts. Or at least a large swath of sea for it or lake whatever. But tournaments would be great.
And yes grouping up with friends to all sail on the same boat was a massive amount of fun. Id actually like to go larger on this and have a fishing boat down the road. One that you could go out and fish on for hours and bring in the haul for bigger and bigger rewards. For example in Archeage, you had these fishing boats but could only hold like... 7 fish that's not many if you add one to your back that's 8 fish total you could get and take in. I would love to see some fishing boats at multiple tiers, for example
T1 a small fishing boat the most basic of basic only big enough for 1-2 people and not much if any storage.(no requirement for node other then level 1 or 2)
T2 a modest upgrade big enough to comfortably take 4-5 out as a small group. Would offer the first tier of big game fishing sportfishing for marlin, shark, swordfish things that bring in more then standard fish. (node level requirement would be 3+)
T3 this is where it starts to get good a boat big enough for 10-20 people depending and enough storage to hold a nice cargo hold worth of fish, also a nice juicy target. And would offer bigger targets for big game, like smaller whales, giant squid or octopus and big sharks ones large enough to take a bite from your hull if your not careful. (would require a certain level node 4-5
T4 this ship... would not be achievable alone... not without many many many hours of solo work. so many you'd give up probably. This behemoth would be made for full raids of 40+ if they dont have a hard limit on weight maybe double that, with a cargo hold that would take hours to fill up even with a full raid truly monstrous. The reward could be scaled with percentage filled, so you only go back with 20% reward would be decent but not all that great. Go back with a full ship you get paid handsomely have bonus's as well perhaps add a way to overstock the ship with fish and get a increase, But this also makes you a HUGE target much like bounty hunters youd be hunted at sea. Risk v Reward is a huge part of the game, So you might make huge stacks of money or you might get your ship destroyed and all your hard won loot taken. Im sure piracy will play a large role in economics of sea trade and on regular trades fishing/diving etc. At this tier you would also fight for the biggest targets on the sea. You can add a special harpoon or fishing ability on this ship only with spots out on the sea that could be highly contested because at the "whirlpool" or point of spawning the raid bosses which should not be static it should change even if its a few in game kilometers. But you have a chance with the ship and right bait to lure out a true monster a raid boss leviathan or some similar monster. Which killing it could offer not just unique drops but rare and highly sought after cosmetics/fishing rewards. Archeage had a fun mechanic to one specific raid boss took many groups working together to kill it. Then transport the corpse to a specified location to receive further rewards. (This tier would require a level 6 metropolis node)
T5 ? Would this gargantuan beat even be needed at this point? NO IT WOULD NOT! which is why its fun to just speculate. Now T5 could be introduced a few ways, this could be a legendary drop in the future or one you find as a incredibly rare item drop from say exploration or from one of the above raid bosses maybe they drop fragments or a blueprint with a 0.005% drop chance... as a example. This fishing vessel would "require" multiple people to pilot and use, Not just a pilot it would take skill and communication. It would dwarf all other boats and offer unique bonuses or have unique rods on the boat to fish with that would both speed up and increase the yields maybe even have "nets" of some kind to drag the waters and haul in specialty fish used in rare crafting/cooking etc. Its a reward can also add in the highest fishing level as a requirement to craft it. So you will really limit those that wanna go for it. I also think that IF it was added to create it would require risks as well. It would need INSANE amounts of resources and it should be crafted out in the open water near the node but slightly away where it was attackable. Risk and reward lovely isnt it. (requirements... possibly raid boss rare drop significant risk while trying to make it, Significant resource allocation to make and repair.)

Boats aside i think that we should have to work hard on any skill in the game fishing included. I think leveling from 0 up to whatever the top tier is lets say 7 should take weeks and months of playing often to get there. I want rewards to be equal to the effort you put in and at T7 you should catch fish in your sleep and do it quickly. Being able to use and craft the best. When i catch "ol'jackjaw" love that name btw. But i want a sense of feeling like it was all worth it. When i hang a massive picture on my wall and just sit in my chair and admire it for a bit and remember it months/years down the road seeing it.

I also would enjoy seeing the bigger beasts have treasure in their belly like sharks in reality are known for sometimes eating strange things. Same deal have a chance on big catch to carve it up for "fish meat or tentacles" but also drop a chest on the deck of the ship with loot or a small pile of coins to loot etc aesthetics really. But you can keep expanding. And the raid bosses can always drop parts of itself. Large slabs of shark or squid to be sold at a high price... if you make it back to shore. If they add raid bosses like this id enjoy some way to know. For example a system message saying what's been engaged and a rough location which sea etc.

Id enjoy seasonal fishing to. Maybe catch rare/divine fish depending on time and where you catch them. Maybe with the highest fishing rank, Rare area's become accessible only fishermen of legend can fish in the sacred shrine and only once a day for a hour to get unique fish prints or perhaps turn in for special coins etc. i don't know, its rewards for specing up into it. And can even add very unique types of fish this is a fantasy game why not creatures in lava lakes... climb up into a volcano to fish down into it only with a highest level rod made of powerful materials. You can even add in special unique rods that are made with very specific materials for specific needs or wants.

In short there are a mountain of things they could do to add to the game sorry this turned into a small book.

Flem

Sathrago wrote: »

Nagash wrote: »

kengar wrote: »

I liked FF14 fishing a lot. And im liking these ideas you're giving here

ff14s fishing is so adictive

Ill be honest, ff14 fishing is not my favorite fishing. Archeage was with its deep-sea fishing/lake fishing schools and the cool mini game where the quality of your fishing pole+ your fishing proficiency increased the "damage" the fish took allowing you to catch them faster as you upgraded gear and your proficiency.

I got all of the gathering professions to 80 on FF14 and felt pretty drained afterwards. Especially with fishing... Even the boat event you can do I went and got the shark mount from that. It was fun for a bit but after repeating it constantly it just leaves things to be desired.

So all in all I would rather like to see fish be valuable individually, similar to large fish trade packs in Archeage, rather than fishing in games where you pull in insane amounts. Perhaps there is room for net fishing for certain fish that can be caught in bulk but that should be something locked to high level fishers. For example, Sardines or minnows caught in bulk that can be used for bait or cooking. Hm... perhaps what I am saying here is that there should be different types of fish for different types of fishing?

So fish caught by pole will be more valuable individually and perhaps be harder to catch via a mini game, where as net fishing allows for bulk catching of smaller less valuable fish or odd types of creatures that wouldn't normally bite a hook.

Then you have Trolling, where you set up fishing poles on the back of your boats and drive around slowly waiting for a bite, this is used for many types of sports fish both on the sea and in lakes.
Next there is setting up jugs, traps, or otherwise stationary "farms" that will over time attract and capture fish? Maybe they could create a special fishing contraption for this that focuses on capturing bottom-dwelling crustaceans, like a magical vacuum that you have to "drive around" on the bottom of the ocean to suck up the fish.

The last suggestion we could have is Noodling. This one in a fantasy world could be a hell of a lot of fun. For those that don't know, this is the act of searching the river and creek banks for holes to stick your hand in to catch catfish. They bite your hand and you pull them out. Sometimes, you don't get a catfish... hehe. So this would be where the fantasy comes in. We are hardy people so accidentally having a snake bite your hand and then come out and try to eat you could be an entertaining way to gather resources and some experience as well. Imagine sticking your hand in a hole to have that swamp monster showed last stream give you a firm handshake before bursting out and attempting to drown you.

Sorry for the explosion of suggestions, but hey if something catches your eye it was worth typin.

Bruh the deep sea fishing in Archeage was so fun. I hope it's similar in Ashes.

Child Item