As I embark on a timeless fishing expedition, after Northrend’s elusive Sea Turtle, I’m reminded how incredibly boring fishing actually is. If only it had a more engaging GUI or gimmick to keep fans of the profession entertained. While Blizzard has done a nice job of rewarding us for our troubles, the journey itself is rather lacking.
There are many people out there who enjoy the optional games most RPG’s contain. Final Fantasy VII did a fantastic job of this with Chocobo racing, and the Gold Saucer. Blizzard has also been quite successful with extracurricular outlets such as professions and battlegrounds. Unfortunately, the depth to some of these additions is noticeably mind numbing; to the point where the community has revolted with parody and satire, e.g. Fishin’ Kids .
A simple solution might be to implement an attractive gimmick, much like “rare loot” and “bigger bosses”, a visual reminder that something is happening outside of algorithms and random numbers. My idea for fishing would be to add some flair by replacing the [ Fishing ] bar with something more interesting, a slot machine perhaps.
Imagine this, a typical three column’d slot bar popping up everytime you drop your bobber; it would contain 3-6 images of whatever fish or junk is in the water and would work like a traditional slot machine. Every cast of the reel would act as a 6-9 second timed pull of the handle, eager players would watch as a sucker fish, sea turtle [jackpot], manta ray, rock lobster, neddle fish, and salmon spun round and round. It would be visually pleasing and offer transparency to the player; waiting for that third turtle to lock into place on a slot machine is much more rewarding than an invisible roll of the die everytime I throw my bobber in the water.
