So, I've had Sea of Thieves since launch day but I've never been here to post anything or look at much. So here goes my first post and my first suggestion. While food is already quite plentiful on the Sea of Thieves be it in barrels or in meat from animals, fishing has been unequivocally the worst method of stocking up your food supply. It's the most time consuming and labor intensive method of putting food on your sailors plate, and with this suggestion I aim to solve this issue in a fair and balanced manner.
My suggestion: Fishing Nets
While this is probably nothing short of unoriginal, I would like to explain how these could be incorporated in a balanced manner to make fish a viable food source, but not a dominant one to replace your coconuts and pork.
Location and size of nets:
On the Sloop, two small nets would hang off of the balcony where the map table sits, one on the left, and the other on the right side of the ship. These nets will be about the same size in width as an average pirate, and only capable of holding three fish in each.
On the Brigantine, two slightly larger nets would hang off the side of the boat where the stairs to go below deck are. These nets will be about the same width as one-and-a-half average pirates and will be capable of holding four fish in each.
On the Galleon , two even larger nets would hang off of the back balcony where rowboats are docked, one on each side of the balcony. Each of these nets would be about the same size in width as two average pirates standing next to each other and would hold 5 fish each.
Game mechanics of a fish net:
An un-deployed fish net would be rolled up, similar to how an undeployed sail would look, and can be shot through and not walked on, providing no strategic advantages or barriers in PVP scenarios. When deployed, a fishnet would lower below where the water level is on the ship and resemble a net pouch with a larger opening for fish to swim into. The only type of fish that can be caught with a net will be Splash Tails, so don't think you need to throw that fishing rod away if you think you can get away with easily completing everything for the hunters call. Furthermore, fish bait of any kind will be required for the fish net to catch anything at all, finally giving a proper use to all those grubs and worms that so many pirates reluctantly shove into their second food barrel and never use again on their voyages. Lastly, savvy pirates will be able to steal fish out of a net that is in the water if they manage to swim to it, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled if you think anyone is capable of nabbing some of your next meal.
Net operation:
To operate a net, a pirate would approach the net while holding any type of bait in their hands, to which they will be prompted to put the bait in the net with the "F" key, if bait is already in the net and the pirate has room in their inventory, a prompt to take bait out by pressing the "R" key will also appear. If the net is full or empty, a (Net Full) or (Net Empty) status similar to barrels will show this to whomever hovers their cursor over it. Each net will be able to hold one bait per fish that it is able to catch, so the nets on a sloop could hold three bait each as an example. For the final requirements to catch fish, a net must then be lowered into the water and the ship must be moving. Every three to five minutes of sailing, one bait from each deployed fish net will be consumed and there will be a seventy percent chance to catch a fish. Once all the bait in a fish net is used, the ropes holding the net will go taught, thus indicating that the net is done and ready for harvesting. The pirate can then pull the net back up and harvest their fishy dinner ready to hit the skillet. Once done harvesting the net will revert back into its bundled up un-deployed state, keeping your ship looking just as good as ever.
And this concludes my suggestion for a better fishing experience in the Sea of Thieves. This suggestion aims to make use of all the grubs and worms that clutters up so many ships that end up going unused, make the ocean life a more viable option to put on you're next meal, as well as give a needed update to the fishing system that has stayed pretty much stagnant since release. This is my first post on these forums, so any feedback you have for me would be greatly appreciated. I hope to see if anyone else here agrees with this, or if there's any changes you would make to this system I would love to hear about them and discuss them. Thank you for taking the time to read this!
