Fish. Swim. Faster!

 I did some fishing in the post-1.05 patch world of Call of the Wild: The Angler.  For my thoughts before I gave the patch a try read my last post.  For my thoughts after the patch; read on!

It is changes like this patch to games where I wish I did video content as it would be much easier to explain and show the difference before and after changes.  So you will just have to trust me that fish swim faster.  Fish. Swim. Faster!

When the game first launched fish were painstakingly slow to the point that players had to reduce the speed they fished at to the lowest setting and even then it was a slow motion activity to watch a fish "strike" a lure.  I use quotes around strike because can it really be considered a strike when the fish nibbled on the bait after taking a leisurely stroll through the water?

Fortunately the slow motion fish are gone and in their place are the proactive fish the patch notes promised.

• Fish are now more proactive when chasing the lure.

For anyone that played before the patch the difference is night and day.  For any new players playing now it will feel good right out of the box.  This was the right change to make and the game feels better because of it.

Speaking of the game feeling better; the action of catching fish feels better.  There still isn't any real skill to getting a fish to strike or to reel them in, but there is at least some semblance of a fight that matches the animations with reeling and the rod bending.  It's not "entirely new game" difference but again for anyone playing before the patch and now they will notice a difference.

The other changes all seem to be in good shape.  Reeling speed feels spot on, floating lures don't sink, and moving water/shorelines continue to look better.  The only fix that I didn't see a change in is with my line snapping.  My line snapped on my first couple fish in the spot where the line always snaps (which sucks because this spot is loaded with fish... the spot just requires some rock climbing to get to and fishing from rocks seems to be the trigger for snapping line).

 Over all I am very happy with the patch and fishing in the game is at a tolerable level now.  Still not much of a reason for me to fish since I am maxed out on gear, but I have confidence the team will add in some form of progression system soon.  

And in true fisherman showing-off fashion here is my latest diamond catch:

Think the fish are still too slow?  Leave a comment.

Call of the Wild: The Angler Hotfix 1.05 Comments

 Call of the Wild: The Angler has hotfix patch 1.05 released and here are some thoughts on the notes before I give it a whirl later today.  I'll share my thoughts tomorrow as well after I get a chance to give it a go.  Anyways; here are my before-trying-it thoughts.

First off there are four banger of release notes right off the bat:

• Frog and popper lures have an updated buoyancy setup to prevent them from sinking too fast.
• The animations for reeling speeds are now faster!
• Fish are now more proactive when chasing the lure.
• Players’ lines no longer snap so easily.

Floating lures not sinking is a good fix; hopefully we no longer have the rock-that-sinks-immeidately-to-the-bottom experience.

Reeling speeds being faster is huge.  It ... was ... so ... slow.  Now my guess since it says animations it won't speed up the actual retrieval which will still be a problem -- it should not take over a minute to reel in 90 feet of line.

Fish being more proactive hopefully means they are faster and strike faster.  Fish in this game are another ... so ... slow.  Looking forward to seeing this in action, but suspect there is still a long ways to go to replicate that real life fishing feeling of a fast moving pike slamming your lure out of nowhere.

Lines no longer snapping so easily is a welcome change; assuming it fixes some of the areas where if you fish from an obstacle near the shore it was 100% line breaking everytime you tried to bring a fish in regardless of line strength or fish size.  I tested a specific spot near a waterfall where with the highest strength line/reel/rod and catching anything (bass, pike, perch) was 100% line break; assuming because of some issue with object collision that was not visually obvious to me as a player.

Moving further into the notes the are more fixes to water; water being key to a good fishing game (duh!).

• We’ve calmed the waters so that it ripples and flows more naturally.
• We’ve touched up some water seams and shoreline transitions, and corrected some water-type blending issues.
  

And 3rd times a charm for this fix (hopefully!).

• Players can now move their Buckwheat Rod and Cria Reel from their inventory to storage.

That is it as far as patch notes of import, but the developers also left a message at the end talking about whats next for the game.

Now that Patch 1.05 is out, we’ll batten down the hatches for a bit and focus on our first major update since launch. It’ll bring more of the player-requested improvements you’ve come to expect from us, but also add new features that should satisfy those who like a challenge.

We’ll share more about this upcoming update as we get closer to release, currently scheduled for the end of October/early November.

This was interesting to read; especially with the date noted for end of this month.  My current feeling on the game is that its a paid alpha.  It is very feature incomplete and the fishing experience is basic.  The open world is fun but much of that open world has no relation to fishing and thus makes no sense.  My wish list at this point for the first major update:

1. Significant speed increase for fish.
2. Significant speed increase for how long it takes to reel in a cast; goes with #1
3. A progression system of some sort with skills/perks; anything to give me a reason to play
   
4. More fish species; ideally in specific locations and conditions only
   
5. Speaking of conditions; let players see altitude, water temp, etc.

The fishing experience needs to see significant improvement with this update and there needs to be more reasons to come back and fish (i.e. progression system).  More fish species would be a good show of confidence for the community. If there is add-on content released that players have to buy this game will be run into the grave by the community.

What are your thoughts?

New World: Start now, return now, or wait for the patch?

 With New World's recent upswing in population and upcoming changes there are many players debating whether they should return now (or start now if they are new to the game) or should they wait for the patch.  To encourage some players to return now and to help them get ready for Brimstone Sands there is an experience boost event starting tomorrow (10/5 - 10/17 players get 1.5x experience gain).  Here are my thoughts on the matter.

For players that played at launch but left some time afterwards my recommendation is to return now.  If you are still leveling to 60 this event is perfect.  If you are already 60 but quit before the expertise/umbral shard system was introduced there is no better time than now as the expertise system is in a sweet spot.  If you were 60 and 600+ expertise but left the game then there is still plenty to get yourself back and familiar with and if anything start caching some chests (like OPR or PvE arena chests) to help rapid fire increase Greatsword expertise after the patch.  

If you are a player looking to return and start over with a new character or are an interested player looking to start I'd recommend waiting for the patch.  Why?  Mostly because there are plans for fresh start servers where you can join a ton of like minded folks starting fresh alongside you.  Also the level 1-25 experience has been entirely revamped: new quests and zones changed -- basically it is a legit new experience.  Players coming back for a fresh experience will get to relive a launch-like experience all over (or for the first time!).

I have no plans to join fresh start servers and plan to stick to Castle of Steel and my daily activities along with exploring the new zone; PvP flag on of course!

What are your plans?  Do you play every day like me or are you a returning/new player looking forward to the patch?  Comment away!

Get Ready! Oct 18th date set for Brimstone Sands update in New World!

It's time to get sandy!  Oct 18th is the release date for the massive Brimstone Sands update for New World.  See the announcement here.

Sunday 10/2/2022 Post

 

A little too close for my comfort but the boys sweated it out in the end.