ESO please - Fishing overhaul

MonkeyDojo

I would really like to see an overhaul of Fishing in this game. I know when the game first launched there were people who definitely wanted to fish and have it be a fun part of the game. There were even guilds formed for fishing activities. I don't know if any of these guilds are still active any more. I'd be surprised if they were. Initially, it seemed that there were a fair amount of people excited to go enjoy some relaxing, off the beaten path activity like fishing.

Unfortunately, our hopes I think were deflated once we realized fishing seemed to put into the game as something with very little priority or importance to the game by the developers as something that has very little depth to it beyond that you need to use certain bait from a choice of a few kinds of bait to catch fish at fishing holes in certain water types, then reel in a fish when you hook it(along with very basic/simple mechanics to this process). Then you have a chance to catch either a common fish or a more rare fish that will go towards achievements. Some fish can be used in Provisioning recipes now as of update 6 which is the only improvement so far to fishing since ESO launched that I can think of beside maybe some bug fixes.

That is pretty much fishing in ESO at this time, very simple, perhaps even boring, not an activity you feel you want to go back to much because it's out shined drastically by so many other things in ESO at the moment. Therefore, fishing is maybe at the very bottom of things you want to do when you log into ESO each time.

Times you might want to go fishing could be if you didn't have your friends online at the same time as you. So you might want to go fishing to pass the time or simply because you enjoy this part of the game. Other times to fish might be when you are just tired of questing, dungeons, PVP and want something slower paced and relaxing, something to do while eating dinner or something that requires a little attention in real life that wouldn't allow you to do the activities that require you to pay attention to the screen at most times.

I know many players enjoy the beauty of the scenery in the game and like to step on the brakes and look around from time to time. Fishing is great for stopping to smell the roses(or Mountain Flower) and for dipping your toes or claws in the water and just enjoy your surroundings. I'd like to have that option with fishing but, it just has very little replay value to it right now. I am very saddened by this for I really want to like fishing and have it be a part of the ESO world in a more prominent way.

I'd like to see fishing considered as a type of profession with it's own skill line where you skill up as you catch fish(small skill ups for common fish, larger skill ups for catching rare fish). The skill line could perhaps unlock some of these things to you as you level. Increasing your fishing level could unlock the ability to fish in different types of water). Maybe Argonians and Khajiit could have racial passives to benefit them in fishing or they could eat certain fish raw to gain effects similar to health potions but with weaker effect(werewolves maybe could do this as well).

There could be something like master angler NPC's with quests that could reward you with fishing gear including fishing rods that could give you bonus inspiration or increased chance for catching rare fish. Also, rods that could be more useful for rivers, oceans, or lakes. These NPC's could even give you daily quests once you've maxed out your fishing skill. They could also reward special bait for a better chance of catching rare fish or for catching specific named rare fish perhaps.

Fishing is one of those things that works well with exploration, going to remote areas you'd never try to seek out...unless there's some rare catch to be had at certain exclusive locations. There could be fish you can only catch during certain moon phases specific weather, even certain altitudes, caves, etc. You could have fishing baskets for catching crustaceans(crabs, snails, lobsters, shrimp, sea urchins, starfish, clams, oysters, kelp, etc).

You could also give the water-based world bosses a chance of dropping rare fishing gear, bait, or even maps that point out special fishing holes(could be sort of like treasure maps but for fishing. Also, if there were fishing daily quests they could reward these maps sometimes).

Also, you could have some Alchemy recipes that require fish as a reagent. For example, you could have a poison fish used to make a poison potion or another one that would make a poison antidote or give you some sort of temporary bonus. Maybe werewolves could certain raw fish that would give them some benefit but wouldn't make them overpowered or anything.

Using fish in Provisioning recipes is a small step in the right direction to make it more important, interesting, immersive, and fun. I'm not trying to trash ESO because fishing seems so underwhelming. They've been doing a great job making improvements to the game since it launched. I would just like to see them one day show some love to fishing and make it a real part of ESO. I have full confidence in them to do so if they so wish. I know they have their list of priorities. I just hope fishing will one day in the not too distant future make it onto that priority list of things they will work on improving.

Even the mechanics for catching a fish could use some more flavor. It could possibly be remade into a mini-game to make it more fun and interesting. At the moment the process of catching a fish is so simplistic it's a pretty mundane experience. When you hook a fish maybe the music could change to “fishing music” or the screen could blur a little around the edges or something like that to further immerse you into the fishing experience. There could even be a chance to catch a monster(not to steal too much from FFXI). Maybe there could even be a chance to catch a rare water creature type of pet.

As mentioned earlier, there was some initial excitement and hopes for fishing to be fun, enjoyable, and a good way to pass time while waiting for other things in game or merely a way to take a break from other activities in game like questing, dungeons, pvp, etc.

So, my wish is for the ESO developers to give fishing a serious look in the eyes and see that it does not measure up to their standards and that they let their wonderfully talented and creative teams work their magic to make fishing alive in Tamriel.

If any of you who've read through this lengthy post have your own ideas for improving fishing please share them in the comments.

TL;DR: Fishing needs a massive overhaul. If you want to bring attention to the ESO devs that you want a fishing overhaul please upvote. Stay moist my friends.

Genomic

You could try fishing in real life. Catch an actual fish that provides sustenance to your body. Get out in the sunshine and fresh air. If you've got a kid or a friend, bring them along so you can bond. Much, much more rewarding.

(I think the point I'm making is when people begin to obsess about small aspects of a computer game, the minutes and hours of their real life are slipping away without them realising it until they perhaps look back on it later with regret).

Nestor

There used to be no point to Fishing. Now we can use what we catch for food, we get money for our Green fish and not just the Blues ones. There is much more to fishing than there was before.

Fishing is just that, a past time.

As for guilds, my guild does a fishing night once a week. We usually get the achievement for the zone we are fishing in when we do this.

Alphashado

Nestor wrote: »

There used to be no point to Fishing. Now we can use what we catch for food, we get money for our Green fish and not just the Blues ones. There is much more to fishing than there was before.

Fishing is just that, a past time.

As for guilds, my guild does a fishing night once a week. We usually get the achievement for the zone we are fishing in when we do this.

It's better but it's nowhere near as good as it could/should be. WoW, UO, Final Fantasy, just to name a few are MUCH better.

MonkeyDojo

I should correct my words about fishing having a skill line, for it sounds too much like the combat skill lines. However; as my post said, I would like fishing to be considered as a type of profession/craft that you can skill up similar to the other crafts. So, to clarify/edit what I said in my post I don't want fishing to level up like a combat skill line but rather like how crafting levels where you unlock passives that would further help your fishing improve in various ways.

Some of the passives you might unlock could maybe be like Keen Eye which would help you see fishing holes from a larger distance like how you can put points into Keen Eye in Alchemy to see reagents/plants from further away more easily. Another passive might let you use certain types of bait or use certain types of fishing rods or wear certain types of fishing clothes or unlock the ability to fish in certain types of water. You could also have a hireling passive like the other crafts that could send you fish, bait, hooks, nets, traps etc. Another passive might increase your chances of catching rare fish. There could be a passive for increasing the gold value of each fish you catch thus helping fishing to be more of an option for making money. One more passive I can think of could decrease the time it takes to hook fish.

Also, I was thinking that Alchemists and/or Provisioners could make fishing bait that only they could provide. This would help those two crafts be more useful, versatile, and have another means added to make money. Clothiers could make some fishing clothing and fishing nets. Blacksmiths could make fishing lures, maybe some rods, and metal fishing traps. Woodworkers could make certain types of wooden lures, wooden rods, and wooden fishing baskets. Sorry to Enchanters(which I am one). I can't think of anything in regards to them unless you could enchant the fishing rods and fishing clothes with some sort of glyph beneficial to fishing.

frould

- Fish underwater shadow to tell the fishing spot.
- Controllable cast distant.
- Fish weigh/size and statistic record.
- Fish shaking try to breaks line, line tension.
- Visual when hook them up.
- Craft-able/upgrade-able fishing pole.
- Tournament!
- More reward.