I wanted to bring this up before I do any more runs, because the update changes the run a lot, and in many ways trivializes it. It wouldn't be a "meme" run per se, but I still want to propose a split for the FishES% category into normal FishES% (allowing voyages) and FishES% "No-Voyages" (besides raid voyages). It may simply be a good idea to do a Legacy/Non-Legacy split if that is easier for the mods (that doesnt restrict voyages generally, but only restricts the use of the season 15 stuff, or even just the new fishing voyages). Not having access to voyages (again not including raid voyages) would prevent you from cheesing almost all the fish in the game immediately by simply putting up the new voyage. The spirit of the run before this update was traveling to every region in the game as fast as possible while trying to weave in fishing whenever you could, with a good amount of RNG sprinkled in throughout (with some very interesting routing requirements regarding some fish types). This is a unique run in this game that doesnt share a lot of gameplay with other categories, but is radically simplified and made generic by the new content. After the season 15 update it would be just voting up the new fishing voyage, fishing up literally 8 of the 10 fish you need at one island, then teleporting to your ship and fishing for the last two. The unique nature of the category will be gone, along with the skill expression and even luck elements. This would be fine to some extent, but I say we should split the categories to keep the older run style avaialble. I havent done any runs with a new route using the new voyages, but I am guessing the run can easily be done in well under 10 minutes, so anyone wanting to try out the traditional routes in this category will not be able to compete in the slightest. This is on top of the fact that the no-voyages run finally has the chance to break the 20 minute barrier, and I dont want to lose out on that opportunity. Also, splitting the category in this way allows the voyages allowed run as a more accessible version for any incoming players, possibly getting more people to do runs in both categories. Being the person who has held the record for most of the last few years, I will continue to do runs in a "no-voyage" environment regardless of whether or not there is a leaderboard to submit to, but it obviously would be nice to still be able to publicly compete in that regard with a split FishES%. To be clear, the category as it stands now with the times it holds today, would be the FishES% No-Voyages (or simply "Legacy") category. The new category (that could probably just be called FishES%, as it has no restrictions) would be the one that allows the use of everything, including the new fishing voyages. Sorry for the massive essay here but I really do care about the health of this category and want the best for it.
I want to clarify a bit on top of my original post about the concept of raid voyages versus normal voyages in the run. Raid voyages allow you to move your ship around the map or gain access to gamestates in interesting ways (such as being in a battle event for battlegills). These do not take away from the run, and make the entire experience less clunky, especially because it mostly removes the need for serverhopping. Non-raid voyages on the other hand are not really ever used, but the new one obviously would be, thus making the voyages/no-voyages category distinction make sense. Though, it is possible that someone can have the chance to find a route integrating a normal voyage that doesnt trivialise the run in any way, thus creating rationale for splitting the category in a Legacy/Non-Legacy capacity instead. Either way, they both fix the main problem of the new fishing voyages trivialising the entire experience.
Moderators and Admins have been discussing fishing in regards to the new update. I want to point out that the fish in the voyages behave as loot, not fish. This makes them more of an interest to making a completely different category. There are currently no plans to allow voyage fishes into the old runs. It does not make any sense to do so, and as you stated severally damages the integrity of the existing category runs. I will say, the current discussion leans toward a separate and new category. You may be aware that we generally do not add new runs or rule adjustments within the first 2 weeks and sometimes within the first month of ANY update due to the nature of a live service game. This is the ideal time to provide this kind of feedback.
In live services, updates are often patched within the first month and those patches can make a huge difference in how any given run plays out. Any runs submitted that do not fit current rulesets, or are content considered for a new ruleset will sit unverified until Admins and Mods make a final decision on how to appropriately address the dynamics of the new content.
Thank you for your input!
