sport and news: Warlords of Draenor introduces social fish

Saturday, 16 August 2014

Warlords of Draenor introduces social fish

Fishing has always been a niche activity in World of Warcraft -- the few who fish love it and everyone else finds it loathsome at best. However, over the years, fishing has been given access to some truly unique items and/or adventures: the hunt for Mr. Pinchy, fishing up sea monsters, and totally rad fishing pole models, for example. Now Warlords of Draenor will be introducing social fish -- fish that can be used to buff fellow anglers, and fish that can label a fellow player's general demeanor for all to see. Via Wowhead and El's Anglin, Warlords introduces:

"Fragrant" Pheromone Fish Coat a friend with Fish Pheromones, increasing their Fishing by 100 for 5 min.
Awesomefish Use on a player to debuff them with "Awesome! Someone thinks you are awesome!"
Grieferfish Use on a player to debuff them with "Griefer. Oh dear."
Tyfish Use on a player to debuff them with "Thank you! You did a nice thing for someone. :)"

According to El's Anglin, Awesomefish and Tyfish are more common than the Grieferfish and the Fragrant Pheromone Fish. All can be caught in Draenor's open waters except for, it seems, Frostfire Ridge. While the Pheromones only last 5 minutes, the debuff applied by the other fish last a full 24 hours.

Personally, I doubt I'll make much use of the Pheromone Fish, given it can only be used on other players. I'm not a completely asocial gamer, but when I'm fishing, I like my solitude. If someone butts into my territory, I pick up and go as fast as I can. How am I supposed to watch Netflix while I fish if I don't know which bobber is splashing around in the background? I also wonder as to the actual value of the Grieferfish. I suspect genuine griefers will accept the debuff as a badge of honor while innocent players will feel labeled unfairly if they've been hit with it for laughs. I can get behind the Awesomefish and Tyfish, though.

Filed under: News items, Warlords of Draenor