Fishing fatigue: why exactly?

[krazyrs]

you know u can take 2 steps to the left/right and cont to fish right?
as for min/btn you are constantly running node to node only getting 4/5 hits in VS fsh standing there and casting 99x + in 1 spot

[StouterTaru]

you know u can take 2 steps to the left/right and cont to fish right?

I've left the zone, logged out, gone to bed, got up the next day, went to work, come home, done other random stuff in game, come back to the previous fishing hole, and the fish still sensed something amiss.

[Ultimatecalibur]

Short Answer: It is an anti-botting measure.

Long Answer: If there wasn't fishing fatigue it would be easy for a bot maker to make a bot armed with a lure that auto-fished until its inventory was full, whereupon it would teleport to the nearest vendor sell its catch, mender gear and then return to fishing.

[Calyanare]

I've left the zone, logged out, gone to bed, got up the next day, went to work, come home, done other random stuff in game, come back to the previous fishing hole, and the fish still sensed something amiss.

It's not 2 steps, it's more like 10 steps. I usually have to move to the other end or something before I stop getting the message (edited to add: this means that if you start fishing in the middle of a given spot, you're kinda screwed). On the small spots, though, you have no choice but to go somewhere else.

[Shadygrove]

Short and long answer rebuttal: Do you seriously think a bot is incapable of hitting your button to stop fishing, move 10 steps, face a chosen direction, and start again? ....

That is far trickier to program without visible glitches occurring than the simple fishing bots fish fatigue stops.

Not that tricky for a good scripter.

A friend wrote a fishbot for FFXI 6ish years ago that could:
1, isolate any fish.
2, when full walk into town and sell the fish.
3, return to its spot and if that exact spot was occupied find another close by.
4, follow GM instructions and carry on a 5 minuet conversation with a GM.