I, and I imagine, a lot of people, do not find the fishing very fun in TU. I say this as someone who really loves grinding activities in TU, but fishing in particular is really unenjoyable to me.
I have a number of ideas for ways to improve Fishing, but I think overall the biggest issue is a lack of reward for an event that takes a lot of time, and generally, also costs units to do. The fishing milestones are genuinely a bigger incentive for fishing than the actual fish, and I say that as someone who likes sea critters a great deal.
First and foremost:
GETTING A RARE FISH SHOULD GUARANTEE A FISH THATâS AT LEAST RARE
I think the current system of the appearance of the fish only increasing the odds of getting that kind of fish makes the entire system feel a lot less engaging. Iâm not excited to find a rare fish when I still just get a broken bottle or a trout from it.
Along with this, I feel like there should be more fish types (eg small, large, rare)- this would make it feel a lot more engaging to actually search for a specific type of fish, as well as diversifying bait types to make more bait than the curved bait and the worm relevant.
I understand that the point of fishing is that you donât know what youâll get, but at the same time, I think the current system is entirely too unengaging when you can get Virtually Anything from Any Fish with the only separation being objects and fish.
I would make something along the lines of:
- Tropical Fish (Large/Small): I feel like a lot of tropical fish are just sort of shoved into Rare+ ranks when they shouldnât be. Consider just having large/small tropical fish as a sort of ârareâ category of its own.
- Seafloor Fish (Large/Small): This would include fish such as starfish, mussels, the crabs, as well as deep sea fish like the blobfish. I donât wanna sit here and as you to make Even More Fish but Iâd also like a barreleye and a football fish⌠But I digress.
- Trophy Fish: This is another ârareâ category unto itself, without diluting the abnormal pool with normal fish. These are real fish that are notable, such as the Marlin, the Sunfish, Sting Rays, Manta Rays, the various cephalopods, and Koi. I would also like for there to be several varieties of koi- I wouldnât really expect a variety of textures for most fish, but Koi in particular are such a huge collectorâs fish that I think people would really love having a variety to get.
- Common Fish (Large/Small): This basically just includes everything that is a âNormal Fishâ that doesnât fit into any of the above categories.
- Magical Fish: This is the big one; this is where all of the weird fish, like the skeleton fish, the FISH fish, the fortune telling pufferfish, and so on, go to. I feel like something missing from fishing is the excitement of finding something rare before you actually get it- itâs a lot more meaningful, for example, to see a Magical Fish spawn and know youâre going to get something special if you get it.
This is also a silly idea, but as a Magical Fish drop, I think itâd be neat to have a Catfish Sack. A catfish sack would give you a pool of Magical/Trophy fish or one of the Treasures, nothing too crazy. I just like having different catsack types. - Item Fish (Normal/Rare): I think the current system of item fish is fine, with the change of rare item fish actually confirming a rare item. I might add some more items to it though, like I would absolutely love some coral items, or just general fish-bowl-decoration-type-things.
- Furniture Fish: I think it would just be a funny idea to have a fish that can give you any normal furniture item (IE purchaseable condo items in particular) in the game. Plus a chance for silver/gold catsacks. Just a little funny RNG fish.
- Wealthy Fish: This fish can give units, with payouts ranging from $5k to exceedingly rare $100k. Additionally it has a chance to drop 1-10 Sea Dollars, or any other currently active event coins. I think having a chance at big payouts is something Fishing is really missing- and Sea Dollars in particular are WAAAAAAY too rare.
As for bait, I feel like a lot of the current bait is kind of useless, but thatâs mostly because of the fact that current fish types donât guarantee the fish shown.
A part of me feels like it would be neat to have fishing bait that has to be crafted, but thinking about crafting is probably way too wide of a scope for this already pretty broad post, so Iâm just going to talk about the baits themselves for now:
- Lure: Only attracts Large/Small Common Fish
- Clump: Attracts Small Common, Small Seafloor, and Normal Item fish equally. Occasionally attracts Small Tropical, Furniture fish, and Rare Item fish.
- Gummy Worm: Attracts Common, Seafloor, and Tropical fish equally.
- Worm: Attracts Common, Seafloor, and Tropical Fish equally. Occasionally attracts Trophy Fish.
- Minnow: Attracts Large Common, Large Seafloor, and Large Tropical fish. Occasionally attracts Trophy Fish and Furniture Fish.
- Meatball: Attracts Small Normal and Small Tropical fish.
- Maggot: Attracts Large Common fish. Occasionally attracts Furniture and Normal/Rare Item fish. Rarely attracts Magical, Trophy, or Wealthy fish.
- Magnet: Attracts Normal/Rare Item fish. Rarely Attracts Magical and Wealthy fish.
- Curly Grub: All fish caught with the Curly Grub are either Hard or Very Hard. Attracts Furniture and Normal/Rare Item Fish. Occasionally attracts Magical and Wealthy fish.
- Mighty Ball: All fish caught with the Mighty Ball are Very Hard. Attracts Large Seafloor and Large Tropical fish. Occasionally attracts Trophy Fish, Magical Fish, and Wealthy Fish.