Fishing has too much RNG

[Aleczan]

I never really timed it, but I feel that Processed Baits have about the same waiting time as Live Baits. Only the lures and flies have longer wait time before fish bites.

Today I tried using Sinking Minnow at South Umbral Isles for 1 full game day and got 74+16 Red Corals and 27+6 Fullmoon Sardines, which totals to 123 items landed. Then I tried using Herring Balls and got 84+26 Red Corals and 23+7 Fullmoon Sardines, which totals to 140 items landed. However, it was unfortunate that while testing with Herring Balls, I was kicked from the server and got back on immediately to resume fishing, so the number of total fish obtained might be slightly off. Next time I'll try again and will test with live bait like worms too.

[StarMarmot]

Levelling up fishing as well. Haven't read through the entire thread, but I'll just chime in saying I can only agree with the OP. One (or rarely more?) bait exclusive fish and 5 shared fish across all level appropriate baits is just very annoying. Makes it feel like it doesn't matter what bait I pick - and most certainly doesn't feel like it justifies carrying around 500 different baits, and when I'm after a certain catch, I'm pulling my hair.

[StarMarmot]

Trying to do the provisioning missions: Mining/botany - 10 hacks and you're done. Fishing - 100 throws and you might be done.

When you're chasing something specific, fishing is like being a miner with a 5-10% hit chance.

[Riion]

Fishing is a terrible grind and the experience from leves is minute compared to the effort required to complete them.

[ShiroSteve]

Ive spent alot of my time off over the years walking along a river bank with a fly rod in my hand in search of something with no financial value that I have no intention of keeping. In doing this Ive never encountered a man with a pick looking for shiny rocks....

The reality is some days I may catch 25 fish and the next I may walk 15kms in my waders and not catch anything but frostbite. RNG exists in fishing in real life so I think that if SE was trying to make fishing a hobby craft, then they did a decent job of capturing a bit of the real life aspect of it. Its not for everyone, but personally I enjoy the excitement of seeing an HQ fish come out at random then swinging a pick and knowing 100 percent whats about to happen.

So on that I'll modify a quote for this,

I appreciate the existence of RNG and impatientence, it means fewer people on the river.

[LlenCoram]

As someone who's been fishing since day 1 in 1.0 and never stopped, I absolutely love that we're the last gathering class that still has RNG in this way. While I lament the loss of the depth and jig meters from 1.0 (bait being used to target fish was a thing in 1.0, I'm not sure why it's touted as new and amazing for 2.0), I was terrified that fishers would get the same "choose from this list" that botanists and miners have. While it makes sense for botanists and miners to be able to choose what item they're going to grab, it does not make any sense at all for fishers.

This idea that everyone and their dog should enjoy every single aspect of the game is beyond me. In 1.0, people who hated crafting didn't craft, and people who hated gathering didn't gather, and yet it all worked out just fine. Trying to appease every single player is a surefire way of watering down every interesting part of the game. Removing all forms of RNG from fishing is one way to do this.

It's already boring enough as it is. Don't try and make it worse. I long for the day fishers are actually important again.

[Ksenia]

I'm limited in the amount of field work I have done but from what I have seen this is not an RnG class. It's a strategic, spreadsheet class. Having come from EVE Online, .aka spreadsheets in space I saw it a mile a way. I have been able to chart locations on certain fish to 50% drop, 15% HQ and 50% drop, 20% HQ similar to the other gathering numbers on HQ. A fish for a location based on the bait. I'm pretty sure that later in the 50 levels the optimal percentages will reduce and it will be a matter of finding the location and bait for a target fish and never getting above 25% on it, that being optimal. That's not RnG though, that's diminishing returns on high level stuff.

Do I like it? I'm used to it and I can appreciate the mini game value. I'm sure it will frustrate in time if I 'need' a certain fish and can't get it but I get the design.