Key Points
- It seems likely that reducing fishing time in Sea of Thieves can improve player experience, with research suggesting a 50% reduction in struggle time for regular-sized fish while keeping trophy fish times unchanged.
- The evidence leans toward this change increasing engagement and accessibility, especially for players with limited time, without disrupting game balance.
- There is some controversy around making fishing too easy, but this proposal maintains challenge for valuable trophy fish.
Problem and Proposal
Fishing in Sea of Thieves is a popular activity for earning gold and reputation, but many players find the struggle time to reel in regular-sized fish, like Splashtails, too long, often taking over two minutes. This can be frustrating, especially for players with limited playtime, and makes multitasking, such as fishing and cooking (which takes 35-45 seconds per fish), difficult.
The proposal is to reduce the struggle time for regular-sized fish by 50%, while keeping the struggle time the same for trophy fish, which are rarer and more valuable, often worth up to 1,000 gold. This aims to make catching common fish quicker and more enjoyable without affecting the challenge of catching high-value trophy fish.
Benefits
This change would:
- Make fishing less tedious, enhancing enjoyment for all players.
- Encourage more participation, enriching the community and economy.
- Preserve the challenge for trophy fish, maintaining game balance.
- Improve accessibility for players with limited time.
- Allow easier simultaneous fishing and cooking, improving resource management.
- Enable quicker responses to in-game events, like attacks, while fishing.
Addressing Concerns
Some might worry this makes the game too easy, but the challenge remains for trophy fish, which are meant to be more accessible for basic needs. There's also a concern about economic balance, but since common fish offer little gold compared to other activities, this shouldn't unbalance the game.
Detailed Analysis and Survey Note
Fishing in Sea of Thieves has been a significant feature since the Anniversary Update in April 2019, offering players a way to earn gold, reputation, and engage in a relaxing activity. However, community feedback highlights a persistent issue: the time it takes to catch fish, particularly the struggle phase after hooking, is excessively long for many players. This survey note explores the problem, proposes a solution, and evaluates its implications, drawing from extensive player discussions and game mechanics, with data up to date as of February 2025.
Understanding the Problem
Player complaints, as seen in forum discussions like Sea of Thieves Fishing Takes Way Too Long, reveal that catching even small, regular-sized fish can take over two minutes. For instance, one player noted spending three minutes to reel in a fish worth only 25 gold, which feels disproportionate given the minimal reward and reputation gain. This issue is particularly acute for solo players or those with limited time, as it conflicts with other game activities. Cooking, which takes 35-45 seconds per fish according to recent guides like Sea of Thieves: Complete Fishing Guide, further complicates multitasking, as players often cannot fish and cook simultaneously without significant time investment.
The fishing process involves casting the line, waiting for a fish to bite, and then struggling to reel it in by moving the rod opposite the fish's direction. The struggle phase is the most time-consuming, with players needing to tire out the fish before reeling it in, and this duration is a major point of frustration. Reddit threads, such as Fish Take Too Long to Land, echo these sentiments, with players feeling "worthless to the crew" during long fights, especially on moving ships. Research suggests that the average struggle time for regular-sized fish is approximately 45 seconds, while trophy fish take about 90 seconds, based on player reports and recent guides like Fishing Guide: How to Catch Fish, published in April 2024.
Proposed Solution: Reducing Struggle Time
The proposed change is to reduce the struggle time for regular-sized fish by 50%, while maintaining the current struggle time for trophy fish. Regular-sized fish are the smaller, more common varieties, such as Splashtails, worth around 25 gold, while trophy fish are larger, rarer, and more valuable, often fetching up to 1,000 gold compared to common fish, as noted in Sea of Thieves Fish Guide. This adjustment aims to make catching common fish quicker and more efficient, addressing the core complaint without altering the challenge for high-value catches.
Implementation would involve a simple adjustment to the game's fishing mechanics, halving the duration of the struggle phase for regular-sized fish. This change aligns with player suggestions from forums, where one user proposed reducing fight time by half for low-value fish, ensuring it remains interactive but less time-intensive.
Benefits and Impact Analysis
The benefits of this proposal are multifaceted, catering to diverse player needs:
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Improved Player Experience: Reducing struggle time for common fish makes fishing less tedious, enhancing enjoyment. Players can spend less time on each catch, making the activity more appealing, especially for casual players who may find long fights discouraging. Recent patch notes, such as Sea of Thieves - Release Notes, published in February 2025, highlight the focus on player experience, and this change would align with that.
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Increased Engagement: Shorter times for common fish could encourage more players to participate, particularly those deterred by the current length. This could enrich the game's community and economy, as more players engage with the Hunter's Call faction, potentially increasing activity around fishing-related content. The Season 15 update, detailed in Sea of Thieves Reveals Season 15 Update Patch Notes, emphasizes Hunter's Call expansion, making this change timely.
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Balanced Gameplay: By keeping trophy fish struggle times unchanged, the proposal preserves the challenge and prestige of catching rare, high-value fish. This ensures that the most rewarding catches, such as trophy stormfish worth 500 gold, remain a significant achievement, maintaining game balance. Recent guides, like How to fish in Sea of Thieves, published in April 2024, confirm the distinction between regular and trophy fish.
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Accessibility: For players with limited time, such as solo sloop players, shorter fishing times mean they can still enjoy and benefit from fishing without feeling it's too time-intensive. This aligns with community calls for quality-of-life improvements, as seen in forum posts highlighting solo play challenges.
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Better Resource Management: With reduced fishing times, players can more easily fish and cook simultaneously. For example, they can catch a fish, start cooking it (35-45 seconds), and cast again, potentially having multiple fish in various stages. This efficiency enhances survival and exploration, as cooked fish restore significant health, crucial for combat encounters, as noted in Sea of Thieves Fishing Guide.
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Increased Flexibility: Shorter struggle times mean players are less occupied while fishing, allowing them to respond more quickly to in-game events, such as attacks from other players, Megalodons, or the Kraken. This is particularly important in a game where vulnerability during fishing is a noted concern, as highlighted in recent player discussions.
Addressing Potential Concerns
Two main concerns arise with this proposal, both of which can be addressed:
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Game Difficulty: Some might argue that reducing fishing time makes the game too easy, potentially diminishing the satisfaction of catching fish. However, the challenge remains intact for trophy fish, which are designed to be harder and more rewarding. Common fish, worth less gold, are meant to be more accessible, providing a basic resource for players, aligning with the game's design of varied difficulty levels.
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Economic Balance: There's a concern that players might farm common fish for gold, potentially unbalancing the economy. Given that common fish offer minimal gold (around 25 gold) compared to other activities, and trophy fish remain challenging, this is unlikely to be significant. The game's economy is supported by diverse activities, and fishing, even with reduced times, remains less lucrative than treasure hunting or defeating bosses, as seen in recent updates like Sea of Thieves - Release Notes.
Implementation and Feasibility
Implementing this change involves adjusting the fishing mechanics to halve the struggle duration for regular-sized fish, a relatively straightforward modification given the game's existing systems. The developers could test this in a patch, potentially as part of a seasonal update, and gather player feedback to fine-tune the balance. This approach aligns with past updates, such as those detailed in Sea of Thieves Release Notes Official Page, which often include gameplay tweaks based on community input.
Comparative Analysis: Current vs. Proposed
To illustrate the impact, consider the following table comparing current and proposed fishing times, based on player reports and game mechanics:
| Fish Type | Current Struggle Time | Proposed Struggle Time | Gold Value | Reputation Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular-Sized Fish | ~45 seconds | ~22.5 seconds | ~25 gold | Low |
| Trophy Fish | ~90 seconds | Unchanged | Up to 1,000 gold | High |
This table highlights how the proposal reduces time for common fish while preserving the challenge for trophy fish, ensuring balanced progression.
Community Feedback and Alignment
Player feedback, as seen in forums and Reddit, supports this change, with calls for reducing reel times to make fishing more compatible with other activities. For instance, one forum post suggested, "Make fishing and cooking compatible by shortening fishing time," reflecting the need for efficiency. The proposal also addresses solo players' frustrations, as noted in discussions about solo sloop life being "hostile enough to my time schedule," making it a community-driven solution, as seen in recent threads like r/Seaofthieves on Reddit: The fishing and cooking take too much time per an item.
Unexpected Detail: Enhanced Multitasking
An unexpected benefit is how this change could enhance multitasking within the game. Players can now fish while managing other ship duties, such as steering or repairing, without being tied up for long periods. This flexibility, not initially highlighted in complaints, could lead to new strategies, such as fishing during voyages to islands, enhancing the game's dynamic nature, as noted in recent guides like How to fish in Sea of Thieves: All fish, rarity, sale price & more.
Conclusion
Reducing the struggle time for regular-sized fish by 50% in Sea of Thieves offers a practical, balanced solution to a common player complaint, improving experience, engagement, and accessibility without disrupting game balance. It addresses the community's need for efficiency, particularly for players with limited time, and aligns with the game's design of providing varied challenges. This change could make fishing a more integral and enjoyable part of the pirate life, fostering a more inclusive and active community, as supported by recent updates and player feedback.
Key Citations
- Sea of Thieves Fishing Takes Way Too Long Forum Post
- Sea of Thieves Fish Guide Prices Cooking Time Locations
- Sea of Thieves Fishing Guide Eurogamer
- Fish Take Too Long to Land Reddit Discussion
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes Official Page
- Sea of Thieves: Complete Fishing Guide Gamerant
- Fishing Guide: How to Catch Fish Game8
- How to fish in Sea of Thieves GamesRadar+
- Sea of Thieves Reveals Season 15 Update Patch Notes Gamerant
- r/Seaofthieves on Reddit: The fishing and cooking take too much time per an item
- How to fish in Sea of Thieves: All fish, rarity, sale price & more Dexerto
