One topic that has come up during my quest is that a certain segment of the fan base wants the game to be easier. As you can imagine, I am against this idea, because any easier would go to belittle my record just like a longer season, steroids, and smaller ballparks have made a joke of the home run record. However this is just my selfish thinking seeping through, so lets see if we can reason about it.
First of all, what are some of the suggestions given to make the game better? Here are a few of the one's I heard.
1. Auto stocking of fish.
2. Adding a fish that matures in two-hours.
3. Make higher level fish worth more XPs.
4. Remove the 15% commission on auto selling.
5. Reducing the number of XP needed to level up.
There are others as well, but let's just take these 5 into consideration while we talk.
For the first idea, I am against it because it deters too far away from real life. In real life you generally have to put your fish in one by one. You can't hook them up a hose and pump them in! Tap Fish's appeal is that it resembles real life! Auto Stocking is just too unrealistic.
The second one is flawed because it would make the game go too fast. It also knows no end. If they introduced a two hour fish then someone would then start screaming for an hour fish, then ten minutes. In the end our fish will end up being mature before we buy them, and the game will finish in an hour! Financially, it doesn't make sense to have a game that completed to soon. People will get bored and soon delete it without ever buying any fish bucks. Tap Fish is not a Space Invader shoot em up; it is a strategy game that needs time.
I am against the third one as well because it kills strategy. Higher level fish are already worth more coins, why should their XPs go up as well? No one would bother using the starter fish like Green Snappers anymore if they did not have some sort of advantage over their cooler companions. Pondering over whether to go for XPs or coins is part of the fun of Tap fish!
The fourth one is much like the first one. Auto-selling and auto-buying are unnatural acts that are not done in real life aquariums. If you want the auto selling option, then by all means you should pay for it! The 15% commission seems about right to me.
Lastly, reducing the number of XPs has actually been done before, but I think they have it right now. It would also be insulting for all those who sweated it out to level 80 just to have the game made so easy that anyone can get there. Part of the joy of reaching level 80 is that it was so bloody hard to get there. As I said before, it is the difficulty of the task that makes it so rewarding to achieve it. The joy of reaching the highest level shouldn't be cheapened by people who find it too troublesome to strive for.
Tap Fish is different things to different people. For people like me, it is a mathematical strategy game; for others it is an artistic hobby of designing new tanks and breeding fish. I can see why people who like the latter more would like to see Tap Fish made easier. They want all their tools made available to them as quickly as possible. However if there was no game play,Tap Fish would be little more than a painting app. The beauty of Tap Fish is how it manages to balance these two aspects into a product that appeals to two very different types of people. Let's try not to tinker too much with this winning formula. Let's keep Tap Fish as it is.
Have a great day everyone!
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