Moving Forward: Big Fishing Contests
A fishing linkshell I'm in was having this discussion and I thought it would be a great idea.
We all know fishing is the real end game; T9 is for casuals. Outside of a few special fish for popping S-ranks and desynthing, there's no real reason to go for most of the big fish. They should deserve something more. One possible solution: fishing contests! (Honestly surprised this isn't a thing yet)
Basic outline:- Create a new "record" field that will be wiped at the start of every contest.
- Randomly select a big fish to be the objective for the contest.
- Time frame for each contest will be approximately one week. This will help even the playing field for those who have less time than others (e.g. busy on weekdays) and bad luck with RNG (e.g. appropriate weather doesn't appear, fish simply doesn't bite, etc).
- Goal will be to catch the largest objective fish. Combined with RNG, this will ensure healthy competition by requiring participants to be in the best gear possible while not making BiS strictly mandatory (i.e. having a supra doesn't guarantee you will catch a larger fish than someone with a forager's). It will also encourage contestants to fish for the entire duration of the contest in hopes of catching an even bigger objective.
- Objective fish must be turned in for your entry to count (for thoroughness, since if you buy the fish you have no record).
- Prizes can include gil (don't complain about this please, something like 1 million in one week is a joke compared to the amount of gil generated via dungeons, maps, etc. but still enough to entice people to participate), special fishing-related minions, vanity, or consumables like fireworks (imagine fireworks in the shape of a shark or something).
- Make the contest weekly with minimal downtime.
This would keep fishers involved and give some meaning both to "personal records" and many of the neglected big fish, as well as provide another side activity in the game.
Thoughts?