Thoughts about Breeding Trophies

Good evening everyone. You may have thought I would be talking about the decision of Tap Fish to put all the high Level Fish on Fishbucks instead of coins, but since that idea lasted a total of two hours due to the incredible backlash they got, I decided not to touch it as well.

No tonight's topic is something I don't know much about: Breeding Trophies. To me breeding trophies were never a big part of my Tap Fish game; it seemed to be more of a distraction as I waited for my other fish to mature. I didn't count, but I would be surprised to learn if I had bred over 20 fish.

However as it turns out Breeding has become for many people, one of the most enjoyable parts of the game. In fact, when Bayview Labs announced on Face Book that I had set the Tap Fish Record, many people thought it had something to do with breeding. "Did he breed all the fish?" "How could he breed them all without Fishbucks?" "You can't recognize the record unless he had all the breeds!"

I couldn't help but chuckle over this, because breeding is actually a very easy thing that had nothing to do with the game play aspect. You could breed all 500-odd fish if you had 2 hours and about a hundred bucks. Nevertheless, it is interesting the passion people put into breeding. It matches the passion of leveling up.

One interesting question is question that comes up from time to time is this: "I bred a fish, now where is my trophy?" Given the little icon, some people assumed they would get a little electronic metal trophy indicating their success. They don't realize the fish themselves are the trophies.

Perhaps it is a regional thing, or perhaps many Tap Fish players know little of fishing, but sport fishermen call big-sized fish "trophies". A trophy fish is a big fish that you take to a taxidermist, which stuffs the fish for you to hang on your wall above your bear rug and next to your deer head. Where I grew up in Canada I saw many such trophies. In Japan, they put an interesting twist on this trophy idea. They the fish they caught in ink, and then lay it on a big piece of paper for it to make an imprint. This type of calligraphy is really quite beautiful and conveys the size of the fish caught quite accurately. Taxidermy and calligraphy would be called true trophies which Tap Fish conveys, but it is not surprising that many people who have never fished would not know this.

Still, getting a little bonus for breeding a fish is actually a little interesting. It could add a new fun element to the game if Tap Fish did it. This is what I propose: make decorations locked the way high level fish are locked. After breeding a certain about of fish, say every thirty fish, you could then unlock a new decoration or plant for your use. That plant of decoration could then be considered your trophy. This would give a sense of gameplay to breeding and make the game even more enjoyable than it is now.

Finally,I would like to thank Sarah for providing me with today's picture. She has successfully bred all 500+ fish. Good job!