Trans Fishing Hole

Tina

So, I'm opening this up to see if anyone else is having these same issues or not, and how big of an impact it has. The payoff to transing fishing is you get to fish in the one of a kind elemental vortex hole and get all kinds of neat things. And the biggest fish in the world without question. They also seem to grant more experience and gold for catching them. It was a decent reward for the long grind of transing fishing.

As time has gone on and more and more people have gotten to that point, the amount of fish I've been able to get from the hole has been getting lower and lower. Since we all share the same hole and fish pool this was understandable at first, and I didn't mind a little ding. Was still making good gold and getting plenty of fish.

As time got on though it got less and less, to the point I can't even use the hole at all anymore. Despite checking the hole multiple times almost every day, I haven't been able to catch a single fish from it in over 2 RL months. As the big payoff for transing fishing, it's turned into a big taunt instead, and a point of frustration.

It seems to me something needs to be done with this. We either need more than one trans fishing hole, a greatly increased respawn rate of the fish there, or maybe instance the hole so we all have our own personal cache of fish to get from it.

How do my fellow trans fishing people feel about the elemental vortex hole?

Fezzix

I like it, but the sand manta is the only thing worth it. Everything else except one other species is tiny, and the fish are always sparse.

And I'm not sure the lures from the shop make a difference at all.

And why does Fishing Discern still show fish there alongside "You can't catch anything else here"?

Aloli

I've had the same problem too. I haven't been able to fish there for a while and I've tried checking it at different hours, weekdays, and weekends. 

Tiur explained this in a different post, there is something wrong with the way fish are completely cleared and respawned in a hole so you'll see that you can't fish because it's empty and the ones lingering there are supposed to be hidden. I'm sure I'm not understanding this part particularly well. 

We could use more transcendent fishing holes or an increase in the spawning rate for this one. 

Tiur

Literally supposed to be hidden. Like someone made a testfish "an old boot" and it spawns, gets counted, but isn't actually there.

Agothaxl

Just to add a quick note on this whole, which probably applies to others: as a trans fisher, I can fishing discern with no pole out and see fish and it acts as if I can fish in that hole. As soon as I whip out that venatium pole, however, and do discern again? Nope, no fish for me. That makes no sense at all.

Ansidia

There needs to be more vortex rooms. I stopped trying to fish there ages ago because Tina was there practically 24/7.
It was frustrating there was only one place for vortex fishing and it was always being fished or fished out.

I'd like to see the out to sea tease allowed, that would be a good place to throw an instance vortex thing. After you trans you get told you can ask to go out again but are never able to.  Just mean!

Kalinaar

More fishing holes will just mean more fishing holes that have been fished out by those that fish the most honestly. I like the idea of increasing the respawn rates and perhaps raising the max amount of fish the hole can hold.

Iazamat

I don't have any stake in fishing - I don't have the skill, nor have I ever fished - but AFK fishers are the perfect example of why instancing content like this and balancing it around being instanced is the way to go.

Aloli

That means a specific and steady supply of gold into the economy.

Rhyot

Aloli said:

That means a specific and steady supply of gold into the economy.

Into an economy with no gold sinks??

Aloli

I suppose there aren't many "hunting" related sink holes unless you consider your curing supplies, but that's a different issue altogether. 

Most gold sink holes available now are cosmetic. 

Kalinaar

Wouldn't the credit market be considered the main gold sink? 

Emir

A gold sink is when gold disappears into the void, not when it goes from one player to another. 

Rhyot

So much like Iazamat, I dont fish... I will never fish because 1) thats not Rhyot and 2) i refuse to pay 100 credits and then spam quests for a month to trans the skill...

That said, I dont think that fishing areas should be instanced. Much like bashing areas where we have to compete with other bashers, fishing areas should be available to have competition. If an individual is slow and cant fish the best areas, spend some time and learn the respawn rates so you maximize your profits. 

We dont need to instance everything just because theres competition. 

Alternatively, fishing holes being fished out is a great way to start conflict. Kill the competing fisherman, force competing fisherman to leave, make competing fisherman to unwield their poles, etc. OR you can pull a more friendly route and fish alongside them and make a new friend, roleplay with them, gather information from them so you can learn how they run their fishing hole cycles.

Theres many avenues one can take beyond having the admin get involved. 

Ayukazi

Ok, I fish a lot too and I am almost always getting the "You sense that you will be unable to catch any of the fish that remain here." for a couple months as well, even at times there are barely any players online.  I have only been able to fish there once in a whole month. I was about to bug it before reading this post.  A couple months ago even with a ton of fishers on I could still hit it up several times in a day but now nothing.  I've got the artis rod too, so it seems weird seeing all the fish and not being able to catch any at all here. Are we sure its because it is getting fished out or is there something wrong with the hole itself?

Ayukazi

As far as instanced goes, we really don't want to see another rerun of Lusternia with their influencing.  Opening up other trans holes, sure.  Out to sea, this would be nice to see completed.  However, if we create an instanced hole you'll just see people gathered around it spam fishing all day.  It gives nothing special to being trans.  It is a shame to be trans and not be able to fish in trans areas, though.

Emir

I would like to think whatever instances thing happened in Lusternia was just super poor implementation. 

If you don't automate whatever it is you're doing in Aetolia, you're losing out to those who do. If you instance things and then balance accordingly, you remove the need for automation to keep up.

I can imagine the idea is very unpopular to those of you who have gotten away with X activity for years and have had 0 contest. 

Sarita

I just want to start by saying that I generally support most of what's been said in this thread, and there is something I'd like to point out that hasn't really come up.

Fishing tends to be an alternative or supplement to bashing and questing as a way of gaining experience and gold. Both take time, and you generally can't do both together. Both also require an initial investment in time and credits/lessons, and both have the end goal of being able to be the most effective at it, and there is certainly competition to get the best and most effective results.

That said, bashing has undergone lots of changes and rebalancing since Aetolia was created. The overwhelming majority of the endgame bashing areas didn't exist at all when the game began. Yes, the most active bashers still tend to compete for the "best" areas, but there enough other options that people are still able to get level 99 and higher fast if they really want to.

I don't think anyone is asking for the ability to get unlimited numbers of the best fish all the time, but it is worth looking at the current number of holes, spawn rates, and things like that to account for the fact that there are just more people who fish now than there were when the skill first came out. This could just flat out be a matter of increasing one or both of those, or it could include things like having instances (similar to Xaanhal, with set limits on the number of mobs/fish and with a cooldown period) or even areas that are more similar to the Beneath instance which require more people to complete or reward honors lines for completing a particular goal.