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Catch your limit with FishBrain Fishing Reports
When you get to your favorite fishing spot whether it is a lake or a river, or the ocean, you always wonder if the fish are biting and if so what are they hitting, and where can you find them. FishBrain Fishing Reports should offer some answers to those questions and more. The app runs on all iOS devices running iOS 6.0 or later. Once you sign up for the app, you will get a menu that allows you to explore fishing spots all over the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central, and South America. You can get information on spots in Europe and Asia too. Just about anywhere you can find fish you will be able to see what's biting. Zoom into where you want to fish and click on the blue fish to see what was caught at that location. Once you open the catch you get a picture of most of the catches and lots of helpful information. Anglers upload specifics on their catch and can include when it was caught, how big it was, what type of bait was used, what fishing method he used: trolling, free casting, jigging, etc. You can discover the depth the fish was caught, the depth of the water, wind speed and direction, barometric pressure. It even includes sky condition: sunny, cloudy or raining; water and air temperature, and water visibility. With all that information you should have plenty to go on when you put your line into the water. Once you have a successful trip, you can upload your own catches and information for others to use. FishBrain has a a list of about fifty different fish species, both fresh and saltwater, to choose from. You will find a picture of the fish and how many catches of that type of fish have been recorded. You can check out all the catches to see where and how they were caught. The app also provides an extensive listing of baits including flies, natural baits and artificial lures. In the lure area you will find hundreds of brand name lures and then under each brand the app provides a list of the various lures available from that manufacturer. For example, under the Rapala brand you will find more than a hundred individual lures: top water, spinning, deep diving baits, and jigs. Then under each of those you will find specific lures by color or what bait fish they match. You can add any of the baits you use to your tackle box and use that information when you upload your catch. FishBrain allows you to follow other anglers: those near where you fish, the most active ones, or individuals you may know or ones who are very successful. You get a list of all their catches and all the specifics of how they caught their big fish. With all the information packed into FishBrain Fishing Reports you could soon be one of those successful fishermen.
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.
Did you miss in Pandaria?: The Pinch King
A few days ago, I was fishing along the coast of the northwestern Dread Wastes and something caught my eye: a red-named mob pathing back and forth behind a rock. It was a pretty obscure location, and the only enemies nearby were swimming in the water, so I decided to investigate. It was a makrura named Odd'nirok. It wasn't considered a rare spawn or a quest objective. Curious, I killed him. He put up a tougher fight than I expected, though by no means difficult. He dropped Odd'nirok's Clamshell and a book called Troubles From Without. The book reads as follows: Brothers and Sisters, We need to keep our eyes beyond our shores. The mists have fallen. We, the Shado-Pan are the next and final line of defense. The first to come, as you know, were the Horde and Alliance. While they have not shown themselves to be hostile, we continue to follow them with a wary eye. The next to come did not arrive by air, but from beneath the sea. The makrura have shown increased activity on our shores, which suggests a possible future attack. I will highlight a few high-priority targets to look out for. As I read through the book, it became clear that I had stumbled upon something awesome, and also something very much hidden. No skull marker or exclamation point indicates this "quest." No achievement hints at it. You just have to find one of these makrura, like I did, and then you're off. I was determined to find the five others that the book identified and see where this crazy clamshell led me.
Warlords of Draenor: Recruit Nat Pagle for your garrison
The folks over at El's Extreme Anglin' have provided a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to obtain legendary fisherman Nat Pagle as a follower for your garrison in Warlords of Draenor. Over the years Nat Pagle has become somewhat of a beloved figure in World of Warcraft, and has been the focus of numerous fishing quests -- some obscure, some mundane. In Warlords, you're going to have to have him as a follower if you want a shot at fishing up the rarest and most difficult fish in the expansion: Lunkers. To get Nat, you'll first have to unlock the garrison Fishing Shack, which becomes available at level 96. From there, your garrison fishing vendor will send you on a quest to catch a specific type of fish from a specific place. Once you turn that in you'll get a quest to go find Nat Pagle, and from there begins his recruitment questline. Once you complete all his requirements -- to fish up various Lunkers throughout Draenor using special bait -- you'll be rewarded with Nat as a level 100 rare-quality garrison follower. You'll also be able to start catching Lunkers throughout Draenor without using bait. No word yet on what Lunkers do, but my guess is that they'll be required for certain high-level cooking recipes, so devoted raiders or guild suppliers probably want to make sure to schmooze Nat into their garrisons! Happy fishing!
Wizard101 introduces Fishing
Fishing is the eternal side activity of MMOs, the reason for players to sit about and cast their line over and over in the hopes of receiving something worthwhile. Wizard101 joins the lineup of fantasy games offering a fishing option today with a new patch, although you will be fishing in an appropriately magical fashion. Rather than a mundane line and sinker, players summon magical orbs to help snare fish; the ones they catch can be sold, used for crafts, or displayed as trophies around your house. If this is the one thing you've been waiting for before you get into the game, you can also take advantage of the new promotional bundle on sale at Target. The Spiral Cup Gauntlet Bundle includes a new housing item, a new pet, new clothes, and a new mount for players, along with either a month's subscription or 5000 crowns. You can pick it up for $39 and then jump right back into casting orbs and looking for fish. Or doing other things, presumably. [Source: Kingsisle Entertainment press release]
Fishing in Warlords of Draenor
Back in April, we were all trying to make some sense of the datamined cooking and fishing items -- fish, as a base item, didn't appear to be used in cooking any longer. Instead, the flesh of the fish was used. For example, Blackwater Whiptail Flesh. Now that the alpha is available, and more items have been populated, the process has become a little more clear. Using the Blackwater Whiptail example, the following fish can be caught: Small Blackwater Whiptail Blackwater Whiptail Enormous Blackwater Whiptail Each size of fish yields a differing amount of flesh. The larger the fish, the more flesh. It can be assumed, then, that fishing skill translates to the size of the fish being caught. If you have high skill, it will be easier to gather cooking ingredients. More, in Warlords of Draenor, each type of fish has its own form of bait. It's too early in the alpha to say whether those forms of bait are required to catch that particular form of fish, or if it will simply make the process easier. It may be that without bait, the best you can catch is a small or standard fish, and with the bait, catching an enormous fish becomes more likely. While it all seems far more complex than fishing used to be, the Warlords model of fishing makes a lot of sense when viewed through the context of profession catch-up systems. It's no different than leveling herbalism in Mists of Pandaria -- you can pick Pandaren herbs at a low level of herbalism, but at a much smaller yield.
Breakfast Topic: Professional
Let's play pretend for a moment: imagine an Azeroth that is at peace. The wars have ended, we've beaten all of the bad guys, and it's time to rebuild. Your class no longer matters. There's no need for violent adventurers, your skill in murder and mayhem is obsolete. You are now defined by your profession. Your profession is, in essence, your class. In such a scenario, what profession would you take up? What would you choose as your daily grind? Let's assume secondary professions are included here. The fun option, in my opinion, would be archaeology. You'd still get to explore the world and have adventures! Realistically, though, I don't think I would mind being a full-time chef. Within the rules of Warcraft, cooks gather most of their own ingredients. As a player, I like killing things. In real life, I love gardening. Skilled cooking requires both, so why not be a chef? I even briefly considered attending culinary school. In Azeroth, maybe I'd do it. What about you? Maybe you'd be a full-time angler. Heck, El already does it.
Warlords of Draenor: Garrison to have its own fishing hole
Cory Stockton has teased us yet again with news on the upcoming Garrisons for Warlords of Draenor. This time, he's working on fishing. @MatthewWRossi Alliance and Horde both have fishing spots built in. Planning to let players unlock a fishing building as well. - Mumper (@mumper) April 3, 2014 What is becoming ever more clear with each successive tweet (many of which we've covered) is that the Garrison is more expansive and a lot more content than anything like the Farm we've gotten before. Cory confirmed this in a followup tweet, promising some new blogs on the feature and what to expect from it in the near future. Honestly, I'm starting to get the sense that I need to pay a lot more attention to the Garrison and that it's going to be a big new part of how we play WoW in this expansion. We've seen that they'll have portals to major cities, be a place where you can display achievements, work on professions, there's a follower style minigame planned, pets and mounts displayed via stables, and I find myself wondering just how big the Garrison is intended to be. Very interested in those promised blogs.
Tamriel Infinium: A hitchhiker's guide to The Elder Scrolls Online
I believe we can all agree that The Elder Scrolls Online is not a sandbox in the MMORPG sense. However, the game starts to branch out as your level increases. Although it will never be an MMO sandbox, it does start to resemble the single-player sandbox, except there are tons of other people playing at the same time. Just like those single-player sandboxes, ESO allows us to do pretty much whatever we want when we want to. It's an explorer's dream, if you ask me. Of course, we might be able to find some of those explorable items on the in-game map, but many of them remain hidden until we just land on them. Today, I'd like to talk about a few of the items that I think every ESO explorer should be aware of.
Get your Winter Squid and Snowy Owl while you still can
Pet collectors and fishermen take note -- the wintery months are almost behind us, and with them, the appearance of wintery pets and fish as well. The Snowy Owl, located in Winterspring, will be gone as of March 20 -- the onset of the Spring Equinox out here in the real world. Pet collectors should head to Winterspring now to capture these pets, as they won't be making another appearance until December of this year. This pet is part of the Kalimdor Safari achievement, so if you'd like that Zookeeper title, head to Winterspring and grab an owl of your very own today. In addition to the Snowy Owl, the sly Winter Squid is also prone to disappearing come spring. For most players, the apparent hibernation of squid won't really amount to anything. However, if you're working on The Oceanographer achievement, you'll want to catch a squid before they disappear until next winter. The pesky squid can be fished off the coasts of Swamp of Sorrows, Blasted Lands, Tanaris, Badlands, the Cape of Stranglethorn, and also around Sunken Temple. Both the fish and the pet have their own summery counterparts. However, while players may begin finding Summer Bass in fishing pools immediately after the Spring Equinox, the Qiraji Guardling for pet collectors will not be appearing until the onset of the Summer Solstice in June.
Grab your rod and reel: It's open season in World Tour Fishing's open beta
Why chance seasickness and sunburn while trying to haul in the biggest catch from the world's open waters when you can kick back in your chair and fish from the comfort of your own computer? World Tour Fishing invites players to hop on board and experience the thrill of nabbing a prize catch in its open beta that started today. Of course, there's sure to be plenty of opportunities for some impressive the-one-that-got-away stories as well. Try your hand at various open beta events, like synchronized fishing and hide and seek. Intrigued? If you haven't seen it before, settle back and let World Tour Fishing's original CG trailer below reel you in! [Thanks to Snap for the tip!]
What to do in a raid while waiting to raid
My guild is moving right along through heroic 25-player content -- we're 10/14 currently, and happily working on Thok. Part of the reason I enjoy the guild is the progression, but the other part is that no matter how bad things get, nobody ever takes things too seriously. To us, raid nights contain endless games within games to be played while groups are being set up and in between wipes. If there is something weird to be done in the Siege of Orgrimmar, something that has nothing to do with the actual killing of bosses at all, we've either done it, or we'll discover it soon. But before you get started raiding, why not get some fishing time in? The other day we discovered that the small pool of water right in front of the instance portal is just deep enough to allow fishing -- something we thought removed with the destruction of the Vale. To our knowledge, you aren't going to find any fishing pools in the little puddle of water, but you can still fish. Not only can you fish, but there are Jewel Danio still lurking in the water.
Field Journal: Seeking instant gratification in RIFT
I've always been pretty open about my feelings on RIFT: I have an immense admiration for the mechanical ideas and the sheer effort Trion makes, but the world-building and aesthetic choices put me to sleep. The game firmly belongs in the category of those games I wish I liked but don't. While I played the game's first 20-something levels (not to mention trying out several alts into their teens) early in its existence, it just could not hold me. Further attempts, such as during free weekends, in the unlimited free trial, and after the conversion to free-to-play, uniformly resulted in my milling about for a couple of hours before getting bored and uninstalling yet again. Maybe if I ignored the world entirely and focused purely on constant activity, I could get into it. Fortunately, RIFT's Instant Adventure system offers just what I need to test that theory.
The Daily Grind: To what lengths will you go for 'free' limited-time goodies?
I like to think of myself as a person who covets his time and won't spend it frivolously grinding, but once in a while I fall for it. "It" in this case being a limited-time event in an MMO where a particularly tantalizing reward is dangled in front of me. Common sense will flee and I'll find myself neck-deep in an obsessive grind to get this free goodie. Neverwinter was the most recent that trapped me. I couldn't help it, you see. There was the promise of a cute little healing fawn companion if I'd only go fishing during the winter event. That sounded pretty doable, that is until I hit hour five of non-stop carp capture and realized that I was in for a real grind marathon to pull this off. Very long story short, I got the fawn but really wish I hadn't wasted so many hours doing it. That's my story. What's yours? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Breakfast Topic: Things you just can't bother to do in WoW
I've played World of Warcraft for a long while now, which means at one time or another, I've at least tried most of the things the game has to offer. I've done PvE and PvP; I've played as a hard-core raider and a total casual; and at one point or another I've at least dabbled in all of the game's professions. For quite a while, the one in-game thing I just wouldn't do was fishing: it seemed tedious and I could never find the time or interest to level it very far. But lately, that's changed: a recent venture into fishing has shown me that it's not nearly as tedious as I remember it being and dailies for the Anglers are not un-fun. This has reduced my list of things I can't be bothered to do in-game to just one item: archeology. Tempted by the appeal of high-level items and lured by the new-found ease of leveling fishing, I gave archeology a go only to discover that leveling it goes well past my tolerance levels for tedium. Maybe next expansion? So today, tell us, WoW-ers, what in-game tasks -- professions or not -- can you just not bring yourself to do?
WoW Archivist: Patch 2.4 -- Fury of the Sunwell
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? On March 4, 2008, Gary Gygax, the creator of Dungeons & Dungeons, passed away. A few weeks later, Blizzard dedicated the final and meatiest patch of the Burning Crusade expansion to Gary's memory. Unlike the raid- and druid-centric patch 2.1, the big nothing of 2.2, or the old world revamp (and another raid) of patch 2.3, Fury of the Sunwell had boatloads of new endgame content for everyone. Blizzard also provided a trailer for the patch that showed the history of the Sunwell and revealed Kael'thas' diabolical plan. Redefining realm-wide events Kael'thas had to be stopped. The naaru convinced the Scryers and the Aldor to work together, forming a new faction to retake the Sunwell at the Isle of Que'Danas. The Shattered Sun Offensive represented a massive evolution of the realm-wide event concept after the very popular Gates of Ahn'qiraj event ushered in the idea. Daily quests, introduced in The Burning Crusade, were the key. The Gates event required players to gather and turn in crafting supplies. Though you certainly felt like a contributor by forking over dozens of stacks of cloth, the gameplay aspect was lacking. Only one guild per realm could participate in the complete quest line. On Quel'Danas, everyone could experience the story as it played out. Instead of turning in items, your realm earned credit toward the next phase of the event when players completed dailies. Rather than a one-time event, the phases changed and unlocked different parts of the island to show the Offensive's progress. Eventually the united Scryers and Aldor built a town, complete with a blacksmith for repairs, alchemy lab, portal, and statues to honor the fallen. Each new phase also brought new dailies and new rewards that could be purchased with gold and "badges" (TBC's equivalent of valor points). All of these changes were permanent, so you didn't have to log in on a specific day in order to enjoy them.
League of Angels starts closed beta on December 4th
Who doesn't need a guardian angel watching over their party at times? In the upcoming turn-based League of Angels, players get just that -- a literal angel as a member of the party providing buffs as well as firepower. If that sounds intriguing, you don't have long to wait before you can check it out for yourself; today, GTArcade announced that closed beta testing will commence on Wednesday, December 4th. Additionally, the studio will be providing daily updates on the game's progress starting this week. Some of the features of this browser-based game include mounts with buffs, fishing (which provides soulstones that can enhance your heroes), a daily match-three game that can net you gems for gear enhancement, and dragon races. For a look at some artwork and screenshots of the game, check out the gallery below. Then for a chance to test out the dynamics, sign up for beta on the official site. [Source: GTArcade press release]
Raiders feel the love in Lineage II's Valiance expansion
Raiders have a lot to look forward to in Lineage II's next expansion, which is due to release later this year. Valiance is heavy on additions and updates to the raid systems, including the addition of nearly 80 new level 88-98 raid bosses, updated drop lists for Dragon Raid bosses, a new raid boss summoning system, and a new Adena distribution system for after the raids. The open field raid bosses have also gotten a revamp, as has the raid point ranking system. Did you miss Beleth, Darion, Lilith, and Anakim? Players will be able to once again face these four returning raid bosses. And on top of all that, The Seed of Destruction and Infinity hunting grounds in Gracia have been revamped and changed to instance zones. But wait, there's more! You can head into these new battles in style with a new hairstyle from the beauty shop. Then, when all your slaughtering is done, you can kick back in a new clan hall or relax with the revamped fishing system. Get a peek at all these changes in the gallery below. [Source: NCsoft press release]
Black Desert beta vids show questing, fishing, cinematics, and more
That darn Black Desert! Every time I learn more about it it moves up a spot or two on my must-play list! The sandbox title's Korean beta has started, and according to a post at MMOcast, testers can expect plenty of hands-on with questing, combat, housing, guilds, trading, "NPC relations," and PvP and sieging. The site also has a few gameplay videos that are worth a look. There's footage of the fishing and jumping systems, questing stuff, and the opening cinematic. See for yourself after the cut. [Thanks Dengar!]
The Summoner's Guidebook: Quick League of Legends advice
I can't play League of Legends right now. In the most dire of circumstances, I had to send my gaming laptop back to the manufacturer to be repaired. While I frustratingly pined over not being able to play, I looked over the shoulder of my roommate while he played. He's usually pretty good; he's a better mid player than I am, and he sometimes makes genius plays. On the other hand, he makes lots of little mistakes and is not very good at certain things. While I sat around backseat driving, I made a lot of little advice points, most of which he just whined about sucking at. He came back to me later claiming he was getting better, and of course, like the wise mentor I am, I told him that he wasn't actually trying to improve at any of the things he was performing poorly at. "You have to make an effort to improve," I said. "You can't just play and get better; you have to focus on getting better."
