Teach Someone To Fish...

I've always wondered why every MMORPG feels it absolutely has to include fishing. Is fishing really that popular in real life, this far into the twenty-first century?

It used to be, or so we all thought, once. Back when I was still in school - and we're talking the 1970s here - I remember hearing people claim repeatedly that fishing was the most popular participation sport in the UK. I was never entirely convinced. I guess it depends whether you're willing to define "Sitting on a fold-up canvas chair drinking warm, flat beer out of a can" as a) sport or b) participation.

In those unenlightened days, I think the general assumption was that most men who went "fishing" (And it was almost always men who I saw doing it.) were really just using rod and line as an excuse to get away from their wives, children and responsibilities as an adult. Sure, there was a competitive sport called "angling" but it was hard to imagine that most of the huddled, humped-over heaps of clothing lining the banks of desolate rivers or deserted urban canals having anything much in mind beyond getting through another Sunday without having to put up a shelf or mow the lawn.

Back then, of course, fishing was also one of those things all boys (Again, just boys. Definitely not girls. It was a very different time.) were supposed to enjoy. It was meant to be every boy's dream to own a fishing rod (And a bike. And a dog. And if you were working class and/or Northern, an air-rifle and like as not a pigeon.). If you couldn't persuade your father or uncle to buy you one, you were expected to make your own out of a stick, a length of string string and a bent pin. 

Seriously, I did that. It doesn't work. Well, it didn't when I tried it. Then again, I was only about eight.

I never owned an actual fishing rod. Not a real one. I think I might have had one that wasn't much more than a toy, for a while. My cousin did, though, and since I grew up almost next door to him, we spent most of our childhood doing stuff together. I tried fishing with his gear and we did occasionally catch something. I think the biggest fish we ever caught might have been six inches long. 

It was also one of the most tedious things we ever tried. I'd had enough of the whole thing after a couple of afternoons. I think he persisted a little longer.

By the time we were ten or so, though, I don't believe either of us would have gone fishing unless you'd paid us. It's very boring until you catch something and then it's gross, disturbing and messy. I can think of a lot of more interesting things to do that meet those criteria now and I could have thought of a few even then...

Fishing in MMORPGs, on the other hand, neatly avoids all the drawbacks of its real life model. You don't get wet. You don't get cold. Your clothes don't get covered in fish guts and have to be boil-washed to get the stink out. 

There are no excruciating moral dilemmas to contend with: does the worm feel pain when you impale it on a hook? Does the fish feel pain when it impales itself on the hook you impaled the worm on? Do you keep the fish or throw it back? If you keep the fish, do you eat it? Do you even like fish? If you throw it back, why the hell did you catch it in the first place?

Best of all, in an MMORPG you never have to wait more than a couple of minutes at most before you catch something, as opposed to several hours in real life. . Often in a game it only takes a couple of seconds. Okay, rather more often than seems statistically likely, it might be an old boot or a piece of wood that you catch, not a fish at all, but then again it might be a treasure chest or a diamond necklace, which seems even less probable - and yet somehow it keeps on happening.

The depth and quality of the experience varies widely. In some games it's perfunctory. In others it's practically a complete game all its own. I prefer something towards the simpler end of the curve.

My first introduction to fishing in MMORPGs came with EverQuest, where it was a skill that increased with use, as all skills did in the original game. You did have to own an actual rod and equip it in your main hand, something that caused much amusement when a gnoll or a wolf snuck up behind and attacked you as you were standing on the river-bank and you tried to fight back, forgetting all you were wielding was a long stick with some string hanging off the end, but other than that all you had to do was click and wait. 

As often happens in online games, after a while things got added until a few years later there were all kinds of baits and lures and tackle boxes to keep them in but as far as I know, even now, all you have to do in EQ is click once and wait to see what you've caught. Such skill as there is lies in your character and their gear, not in anything you, the player, might do.

Rather than leave things to the character in that old-fashioned way, most MMORPG developers prefer to create a mini-game for the player instead. Complexity varies from a couple of simple clicks to the equivalent of a boss fight but you always have to do something active to land your fish. 

I confess I quite enjoy it. I use the word "confess" advisedly because, as must be clear from the introduction, I'm no fan of fishing per se. I do, however, rather approve of mini-games in MMORPGs, a point of view, I know, not shared by everyone.

It's not to say I don't see the merits of a good old "one click and it's done" mechanic and I definitely do not endorse the addition of gamelike elements to basic gathering functions, of which fishing is arguably one. When it comes to mining or logging I draw my line at a few animations but for some reason I'm fine with fishing being a lot more hands-on.    `

At this point I would start to describe just how fishing works in Once Human, only I really haven't done enough of it to say. So far I can confirm you need a rod, which you have to make for yourself and bait, which you also craft. It's possible you can buy either or both from vendors because the game has NPCs who sell you stuff but if so, I haven't run across the right vendor yet.

I can also say that you need to find a particular body of water but not a specific marked spot. I tried fishing in the sea with no effect before I noticed the tool-tip mentioned rivers. When I moved to one of the many inland waterways leading to the coast, I was able to find fish right away.

The mechanics for casting and reeling in are not the most intuitive I've ever used and they're not explained as clearly as they could be either. Even so, it only took me a few experimental casts and some trial and error to figure it out. I managed to land the second fish I hooked.

I'd love to able to tell you I cooked that fish and it kept me fed for a day. I did hear someone in General Chat claiming fishing was one of the best sources of food in the game and I was keen to try it for myself. Unfortunately, I got involved in something else (Killing and looting, most likely.) and by the time I remembered I had a fish in my bag, it had gone off.

With my time in the game now severely curtailed and the beta slowly meandering towards a close, I don'tknow if I'm going to find the time for another fishing trip but at least I have the basics down. 

Then again, I do have a few balls of dough left for bait.

Pity to waste them.