6.3 Fish Guide Update was nearly pointless

When the other DoL got their log updates for unspoiled nodes it was done well. You have previously gathered an item and now you know all about it.

For fishing on previously caught big fish, what do we get?
Preferred bait: ???
Weather Restrictions: ???
Time Restrictions: ???
Special Conditions: ???

Ok, so, it is only big fish like this and normal fish have all the information... right?? Nope
Preferred bait: Mooching / actual bait name (well they got this part right, yet Versatile Lure makes this pointless)
Weather Restrictions: None/Yes
Time Restrictions: None/Yes
Special Conditions: None/Yes


The 100 fish per page is nice enough. The lack of information is very disappointing. I would rather the log continue to have never been updated than receive this very disappointing "Improvement".

What we need to make this a truly valuable update would be:
Preferred bait: Mooching: Name of mooch fish
Weather Restrictions: Rain, Showers (these could be the same weather icons used in skywatch instead of text)
Time Restrictions: 19:00 - 00:00
Special Conditions: Snagging, Intuition from the name of fish
Bite Strength: ! or !! or !!!

As someone who asked for Fishing guide & log update, I can't say "I'd rather they didn't update it".
Now we at least know someone from the Dev team is able and willing to update the system.
So sure, it's not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction, and for that they deserve credit.

The conditions DO need to be more detailed. At least the weather and a semblance of time frame, if not exact to 'keep immersion" but I'd want an alert setting anyway.
I'll take the current state as "Dev-san couldn't update the full system in time because spaghetti code or server resources or because SE have them working on animating a dumpling" for now and hope it continue to improve.

Big fish info is another problem. It seems at the start, the lack of info in game was so players would share between them. It's not working that much, it's mainly outsourced to a few websites (or maybe it's working as intended for JP-DC)
For that to work IG, I think you'd need to be able to link a fish and/or fishing spot (since you probably don't have the fish anyway) to the person you're asking so they can help.

It's basically all the same info as was in the Fish Log anyway.

Thing is, unlike Mining and Botany, there remains a great deal of discovery and investigation with fishing. Even with the normal fish. Randomly catching something new and having the guide tell you exactly what its requirements are that you just happened to be lucky enough to accidentally hit just ruins a lot of that player investment.

Well the update was just the 100 page thing, no? Similarly to the inventory display update way back. And to backpack what Hasrat has already said; fishing is very mysterious which is why its so fun. I love fishing, even spearfishing however similar to btn/min it may be. Right now, Phyllinos is eluding me and my friend. We're both figuring out breakpoints/fishing windows/weathers/fishing hole/bait and the like.

With mining and botany you have a sledgehammer and pickaxe, a one size fits all tool where you walk up to a node and mine a chunk of salt the same way you mine a chunk of gems.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AlereRaeder

Well the update was just the 100 page thing, no?

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Not entirely, no. The guide now also displays preferred baits, as well as the "additional information" that would also appear in tooltips in the log (whether fish requires special weather conditions, time conditions, or "other.")

(I think, anyway... I keep forgetting to actually open the Fish Guide and see for myself...)

The bait info alone was plenty for me to be happy with this update. It saves steps looking up info. Mooch being vague doesn't seem like a big deal as most of those holes only have one moochable fish.

I agree with OP that we need more and agree with Calysto that they deserve credit for giving it any attention at all. I'm happy they're working to reduce our reliance on outside websites.

The guide change was a huge quality of life improvement. 100 fish per page, searching, impactful filters. Preferred bait was a massive add, and the conditions are what we've been using, and with the exception of Big Fish, give you what you need to know. Most of them are going to be any time/weather fish, so it would be excessive to add weather icons when they could just say "None" like they have been.

Special condition fish, like Petal Shell, is going to give you the information you need in the quest when you have to catch it. Wouldn't make sense to put it in the guide.

With a huge part of fishing's design being about exploring the world and its waters, these changes make sense and help preserve it.

DEVS! Please update the description or the log with icons or something to show a fish is Collectible or Mooch eligible so we can filter out what we don't need with Release List.