Patch 3.3: Fishing pool guarantees and what it means for the market
by Mike Schramm 
Dec 1st 2009 at 6:00PM
The other issue is that this may destroy the fishing economy -- if even low level characters always get the fish they want 100% of the time, that means more fish in the market, which means any money high-level fishermen would have made off of rare fish will probably go bye-bye. But Wryxian says that's OK -- people will still use fish for themselves, and he believes that the pain of losing that AH sale will be solved by the bonus of always getting the fish you want. We'll have to see -- it's true that between the updates to cooking lately (and the future fishy updates we're expecting), Blizzard is making sure the secondary professions are much less exclusive, which means there has to be the balance of also making them less lucrative.
Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.Filed under: Fishing, Items, Fan stuff, Blizzard, Making money, Wrath of the Lich King, Forums
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Tolkfan Dec 1st 2009 6:12PM
So what's the point in leveling fishing skill if I can catch anything at skill level 1? What will be the point in using lures? Are they removing that or something?
biohazard Dec 1st 2009 6:15PM
yeah that does sound very odd, it would basically remove the need to even level fishing past 1 since you would always catch what you want every cast
PSUjebus Dec 1st 2009 6:18PM
well you would still have to wait and find the pools and with more people being able to fish out of them i doubt they will last long
Nicknin10do Dec 1st 2009 6:30PM
I barely fish at all so i dont know much, but If you're too low level to fish in the area and you reel in, doesn't the fish get away?
Doesn't say that the fish will always be caught, just that you wont get any junk from the pools.
Pemberton Dec 1st 2009 6:44PM
Honestly, I just leveled fishing on my main and it doesn't take a long time to start to get stuff out of pools with a fishing hook.
Cephas Dec 1st 2009 7:01PM
@Tolkfan As I understand it, you can still catch junk if you are not fishing in a pool. I admit, it's not a big incentive.
@Nicknin10do Before 3.1 if you're level was too low, fish had a chance to get away. After 3.1 if you're level was too low, you had a chance to catch trash. After 3.3 if you fish in a pool, fish won't get away and you won't catch trash.
Qot Dec 1st 2009 10:17PM
You're right, it makes lures useless everywhere except Wintergrasp.
Quite honestly, they did this backwards. Fishing in pools should require training, but fishing in open water should get you the non-buff fish without any problem.
The Exiled Warlock Dec 1st 2009 10:21PM
So if it just changes it so you can't get trash out of pools in 3.3... What does that mean for the non-pool dwelling Bonescale Snapper market?
Urza Dec 2nd 2009 9:23AM
I can't wait until the first level 1 fisherman wins the stranglethorn extravaganza.
Sarabande Dec 2nd 2009 10:04AM
I leveled my fishing up when it was painful - if you were too low for an area, you had to sit around in some boring, lowbie area to level up. (Though I found it more fun to do in Durotar, as a human just thinking I might get puzzled looks, and in the Barrens, where you can get the Savory Deviate fish).
BUT for me, it was worth it, because I could fish anywhere I wanted to. Not everyone could. With my epic fishing pole, fishing hat and lager and some water-walking elixirs to make things better, I was all set. My reward for all the hours spent, getting useless low-level fish, suffering mind-numbing boredom? BEING ABLE TO FISH ANYWHERE AND GET THE BEST FISH ANYTIME i WANTED. Along with maxed cooking, I was able to provide myself and my friends with all the best buff foods anyone could have wanted.
And a few times, I made good amount of gold on my fish.
So, now I have to compete for those pools with people who've spent ZERO time leveling fishing?
I think if they are going to do this, they should give those of us who DID level to max some kind of reward. How about . . . . higher the fishing level, the better chance you get to have multiple fish (and get MORE fish as you go) without depleting the pool any faster? OK - max level, fishing in Dragonblight, you get FIVE dragonfins. OR . . . a MUCH MUCH better chance to get the fish you actually WANT from the open waters around it. So, instead of sculpin or snapper, you might have a 90% chance, at max level, to get dragonfin angelfish in the lake at Indu'le Village, outside of the pools. So, when all the people too lazy to level fishing take up all the pools, I can still get what I need, and also, not have to move around all over the place looking for a pool or waiting for respawns or getting frustrated when another person appears to fish there as well.
I almost always fish in the pools because I'm there for a reason - to get something very specific. Only in Wintergrasp (where there are no pools but all the fish are useful) can I feel like it was worth it. Of course, people ruin that too by ganking people who just want to get mats for the fish feast. HEY, maybe they should put 5000 resilience and 300 stam or something on those fishing poles too . . . so we can at least have a chance when we get attacked . . and there would actually be a purpose to the fishing equipment we've collected.
At least with things like gear, the best raiders will always be ahead . . by the time other people catch up, the good raiders have moved onto getting even better gear.
With fishing, I feel like those who have worked hard and attained max level really get no advantage - seems completely meaningless somehow.
Oh well . . guess I'll take advantage of it . . . I'll take my lvl 50 Lock with low lvl fishing to Moa'ki or Unu'pe and get some haste fish or something, instead of fishing in the Dalaran fountain. Her cooking's been over 400 for months so she can actually cook them too. OR get the man-o-war . . the only items that will actually level her cooking atm.
***sigh***
Azizrael Dec 1st 2009 6:16PM
Eh. It does make me a little sad that the seconary skills are getting nerfed while the primary professions are still such a pain in the ass to level, but I don't think it'll hurt the AH profits too much - just because anyone can catch, say, Salmon in Grizzly Hills pools, doesn't mean my stacks of 20 Firecracker Salmon will stop selling for 120-150g every weekend.
The casual or semi-casual WoW player is still more likely to just run the dailies for the money and buy what they need for whatever the cheapest price on the AH is, no matter what the "real" in-game value is.
Pemberton Dec 1st 2009 6:48PM
Nothing will nerf people leveling cooking and too lazy to go fish for mats.
Slaytanic Dec 1st 2009 6:19PM
Lame. Next thing you know, I'll be able to wail on (and hit) the Lich King and hit him with my lvl 1 toon, "regardless of weapon level." Why don't you just play the game for me, Blizz?
On another note, I don't really feel that this will affect the fish economy on my server much, if at all. You still need to be able to find ppl willing spend the time and effort to find AND fish those pools. I certainly am not going to be one of those, I find fishing boring as hell, and will continue to buy completed Fish Feasts from the AH, rather than make them myself.
(The article does say fishing "pools". I'm assuming all other fishing areas will be unaffected.)
Anthony Dec 1st 2009 6:20PM
perhaps the only reason to skill now will be to have access to the dailies?
Amak Dec 1st 2009 7:56PM
I did all the dailies after 3.1 at fishing level 75.
Urza Dec 2nd 2009 9:26AM
You forget, the turtle mount still requires you to almost max out fishing and have full lure buffs to get.
Valt Dec 1st 2009 6:19PM
Everyone atleast 350 cooking and guaranteed fish pools.. it sure will be exciting..
Hopefully certain items still sell that some people might not know about.
Xaverius Dec 1st 2009 6:20PM
Has anyone really been inhibited by fishing if they truly were going to spend the time flying to the spawn points they need, casting every 15-30 seconds until they get the fish they want?
It only took 2 days or so to max out fishing to the point where you could fish most places in Northrend with a lure. I didn't think it was that big an issue ... is the market really going to be flooded by all these people saying "omg I can haz fish in northrend now!"? If they weren't fishing before, what are the chances that a massive influx will come in now solely because of this change?
Lucera Dec 1st 2009 6:24PM
Err... is there any point in having fishing skill ups at all then? (Aside from the OCD need to fill up the blue bar to make it 450/450?) Why not just make it a learned skill with no numbers?
Kinda reminds me of when they took away the rogue poison-making skill.
It's just kind of an o.O eh? thing. I mean, huzzah I don't need to level up fishing on a third alt, but wouldn't just making fishing skill ups easier (like skilling up every time you catch a fish) be a more reasonable thing to do than just making no difference between a 1 and 450 fishing skill?
Zanathos Dec 1st 2009 11:26PM
Fishing in open water.