Possible Tackle Box - W/ Low Cost Implementation (server/memory concerned design)
Was thinking of a low memory low server load tackle box system that doesn't require a restructure of the bait system and I think I have something that could work. This is important as SE has said in the past they can't make a tackle box as it takes too much info to store/send all the time, so this is an attempt at making it possible (memory/cost effective).
Quick point on why I think it's important to avoid restructuring the bait system (probably obvious to catch em all fishers) is that the bait system acts as a way to narrow down what you're fishing for and increase the chance of it as well. (As some the bait can remove or add types of fish and also affects the % chance therein).
The idea [two parts]:
(1) As you level you will automatically unlock some generic lure / baits. They'll keep you being able to level for the most part and get some normal fish, nothing too special or too plentiful - it just keeps you moving forward.
(2) Whenever you catch a new fish it's put onto your fishing log (this is true already), now when you collect a new fish you will gain Fishing Lore (FL). The higher your fishing lore the more lures and baits you will unlock. Depending on how the fishing log itself acts (how it's stored / shared) you may use specific fish caught for the case of unlocking a bait/lure, but I don't think that info is passed by default (is called when specifically clicked on, and by area viewed) so I'm not going to reference it again (but I think it's something to think about if it's accessible/usable in that way).
Some examples:
... 2 FL
...
Chocobo Fly: 25 FL
...
...
...
Kupo's Pom: 100 FL
...
...
...
Leviathan Lure: 250 FL
...
For FL there is some play in how the numbers work out so that the Fishing designer can set a sort of progression path how they think is best.
(a) For example they may determine that you will get a certain amount of points for each new fish, bonus for big game fish, and that if you want the specialized lures for late game areas you'll need to have quite the history behind your back.
(b) They may determine that later game fish have a slight exponential value to them so that you can use your generic lures (from level) to catch some of the later game fish and gain a nice advantage on the earlier game fish for easier progression when you're late to the party.
(c) They could also design it so that there are base tiers like "100 fish, unlocks shore fishing lures for your level and below" and the extra fishing points go into rare special lures for specific rewarding fish/content. So you could have something like:
...
25 basic river [all basic lures are unlocked applicable to your level and below]
50 basic lake [" "]
55 basic ocean [" "]
175 advanced shore [" "]
...
...
500 Shadowbringer tier I
...
600 Leviathan Lure, regenerates gp while fishing + repeat fishing in the same watering hole increases big game catch or something
1000 Lu Shang's Lure, catch triple moat carp for that 1 billion moat carp achievement
Keeping in mind that as you level you'll gain access to some generic lures as well (so the divide between one basic to the next or one tier of basic to second tier of advanced isn't necessarily that scary).
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There are a few ways to lay out how the point values are received and what they do and I just wanted to draw attention to it to alleviate some concern that the system is too rigid, I believe there is enough room to play with the numbers to make it more to designer's taste.
So besides level and fishing log there will be one new variable for this system which would be Fishing Lore. When you catch a new fish the system will update fishing lore. When you open your tackle box the system pulls two variables "what level are you? what's your lore?" and that's it.
Both part's have a really nice feature of them in that they are easy to move into, such that Fishers who have already unlocked many fish then SE's system can count them up and add it to their lore. Their level automatically making lures as well. In other words your work from before is counted for now, unless I guess you only fished one fish (in which case you'll have like 2 FL + your level lures lol).
Addressing Possible Market Concerns [possible options]:
1) Bait is free, Fishers no longer have to buy it - end of story. Good because other DoL don't have to do that kind of stuff, bad because you took away some items from the market.. but eh whatever right? This would mean there are no consumables, appearing much like the current secondary fishing gig's are.
2) Introduce basic bait that is a consumable like arrows were for archer/ranger. Stacks up to 999. Good because it's easily manageable, bad because it'll hardly be worth what old bait system was worth but I guess if it's important to SE to keep a gil sink in fishing this could do some of that. Could also have certain bait cost more of this generic stuff, like using Leviathan Lure costs 10 basic bait per cast, which could further address the gil sink difference (in fact probably complete restore it). Good because gil sink could feasibly go no where (same sort of sink as before), bad because other DoL don't have to deal with this and I imagine players would prefer not to bother with it.
3) If Fisher's gig (secondary) is always going to be a generic item then we can introduce a tackle box to that slot - maybe call it the Fishermen's Kit. Here the tackle box would be combo'd with a gig (maybe a chair), and if SE wants could have a physical model next to you while you fish. There doesn't need to be many, and each tackle box could come with it's own type of fishing gig (because there are some old use-able models for other fisher gigs). Anyway onto why you'd buy these, and again this works well IF SE doesn't intend to put stats / progression on them like other DoL gathering professions.
(a) In this each tackle box would give "up to" a Fishing Lore value to your character. For example let's say you are FL 200. Your tackle box gives up to 272. Your FL is now 272. Let's say you have 280 and your tackle box gives up to 272. Your FL is still 280. There can technically be an additive option (adds to your current FL), but just have to be mindful of the tackle box killing the whole system. You can always shift all the FL value into the tackle box (rather than relying on players gathering information from the sea), but I think that takes away from some of the growth which I think is fun and lore friendly to the concept of how fisher is designed (but does make it more accessible to people coming in late who don't care about doing any thing but new content).
(b) "WHAT?" You might ask. Well the point here is if you start playing fisher right now and everyone else is rocking 800 FL (because they caught everything), then you can use the tackle box to accelerate your progression and unlock the ability to fish in areas you normally couldn't. Also again this is all tracked by a single variable (FL), or two if you count the item but we're already passing what fishing gig you have every time you enter a zone so /shrug lol.
(c) Finally SE if they felt like it could add to the glamour side of things with different chair models or even could introduce some sort of special affix to the tackle boxes or add unique materia / tinker system to the tackle box. Like a special fishermen's materia that gives you a new ability or way to approach some content. Simple example might be a tinker (materia) that delays how long till a fishing hole is dead. Or a unique lure that is stored via materia, but these sort of things should be considered very carefully as the whole point of going to tackle box in the first place was to reduce inventory spam (so make sure players aren't expected to carry 5 different secondary items, that'd be BAD). Complex example might be being able to send fish directly to retainer / chocobo saddle bag.
So you could see people buying crafted tackle boxes to accelerate their growth or make up for a gap they currently have and also be a way to personalize their fishing experience either through glamour or a few quirky affixes (I'd buy at least one to make my chair fancier). They're not consumable so they'd be built around something like how lure's cost but a bit more (but there shouldn't be too many of these either).
Aside: With the tackle box interface please add filters so you can search by name and type (shore, sand, etc). The sorting and searching would be client side of course, just something to help navigate all the lure and bait options.
Tl;dr: Using a new single variable (Fishing Lore) and using other systems already in the game like Fishing Log tracker and level, we could have a fishing tackle box that has growth and stores all of the options we're used to (without all the consume-able clutter). With some side options to get fancy like using secondary slot information (something that the server already deals with). This is extremely smaller task than storing 20 (or more) different baits and lures with different item counts (a normal tackle box people request).
So to introduce the tackle box will cost SE one variable new, and the rest are variables they already pass/share. If SE want's to get creative they may be able to store the FL into the secondary slot (if they could abuse durability, spirit bind status, materia data, or something) and in this way the system costs even less as you call the FL variable less often as it's baked into the item (may need to have an NPC update your FL then, rather than it be automatic to prevent any issues - can work lore wise as you share info with a ichthyologist).
