Game Mechanics Quest Fish Rework

[Aceplante]

Problem: Quest fish are currently able to be stockpiled via bypassing an intended game mechanic. It is clearly unintended, yet possible anyway. I have done some reconsidering since my previous thread in which I proposed actually limiting quest fish to one per day. People want to and are going to stockpile quest fish, so why not let it happen?

Problem 2: It feels weird to me that cool looking quest fish are completely useless other than for turning in to the angler, unobtainable if not manifested into the world by the angler's whims of the day, and have that weird unstackable/can-only-catch-one-but-only-if-you-have-one-specifically-in-your-inventory-and-if-you-put-it-in-any-storage-you-can-bypass-the-check-to-stockpile-infinite-quest-fish issue.

Therefore, what if quest fish were able to be caught in their usual conditions anytime, allowing them to be reliably obtained, but in exchange be made about biome crate rarity. With this change, we could make the quest fish also have some other uses, be it a food item, vanity sets, blocks, and more! Jewelfish could be cracked open for gems like a geode, dynamite fish could be used as a REALLY big explosive, flinxfin could be turned into a large amount of flinx fur, etc. With these fish being able to be reliably obtained and no longer tied specifically to quests, they can now be given other uses! This also opens the door to potential new "quest" fish locked behind other milestones in the game, each a perfect opportunity to make some items renewable that currently aren't (A temple fish that can be crafted into temple brick?)

Lastly, according to my count of the quest fish wiki, there are currently 41 quest fish, 10 of which are hardmode exclusive. This, as I couldn't help but notice, is more than 30 (the current last quest milestone reward). Therefore, it could be possible to rework fishing quests to require turning in unique fish. You can still turn in fish anytime for rewards, but the number of quests completed would only go up if it was a unique fish you have not turned in yet. This in my opinion, would make completing all the quests actually mean something. Especially if you try to complete it entirely in pre-hardmode, since that would require 30 out of the 31 available fish (including the one from the opposite evil), but is still possible to do!

Suggested Changes:
1. Make quest fish stackable (to 99) and no longer prevent you from catching more.
2. Make quest fish able to be fished up anytime, but at biome crate rarity.
3. Make quest fish able to be turned in anytime for loot, but the number of "quests" only goes up if it is a unique fish you have not turned in before.
4. Make quest fish useful in ways other than just for quests
5. This is the perfect opportunity to add more quest fish
6. Make quest milestone rewards re-obtainable in case you lose them (angler armor/fuzzy carrot) after 30 unique fish.

 

[Asternove]

I'd change the achievements to be "Fish up all the unique fish" instead of "suffer and do 200." Would still be a chore but a more fair one. YOU actually control how fast you fish and where you go hunting, and going to a new biome to see if you can find anything would be kinda fun. I'd also lock the "good" stuff to X amount of unique fish handed in (ie Angler hat after 3, Sextant after 10, just example values but you get my point) with bait, coins, decor, and extras of the items being given upon duplicates.

 

[Talerax]

1. Make quest fish stackable (to 99) and no longer prevent you from catching more.
2. Make quest fish able to be fished up anytime, but at biome crate rarity.
3. Make quest fish able to be turned in anytime for loot, but the number of "quests" only goes up if it is a unique fish you have not turned in before.

I'd change the achievements to be "Fish up all the unique fish" instead of "suffer and do 200." Would still be a chore but a more fair one. YOU actually control how fast you fish and where you go hunting, and going to a new biome to see if you can find anything would be kinda fun. I'd also lock the "good" stuff to X amount of unique fish handed in (ie Angler hat after 3, Sextant after 10, just example values but you get my point) with bait, coins, decor, and extras of the items being given upon duplicates.

I like those ideas, it's a clean way to rework the fishing quests without making it too much work.

 

[Aceplante]

I'd change the achievements to be "Fish up all the unique fish" instead of "suffer and do 200." Would still be a chore but a more fair one. YOU actually control how fast you fish and where you go hunting, and going to a new biome to see if you can find anything would be kinda fun.

That seems best as a new achievement instead of completely removing the 200 one. First, because plenty of people have already completed it and deserve to show it off, and two, it would now be far easier to do now since multiple quests could likely be done each day with enough fishing power!

I'd also lock the "good" stuff to X amount of unique fish handed in (ie Angler hat after 3, Sextant after 10, just example values but you get my point) with bait, coins, decor, and extras of the items being given upon duplicates.

As mentioned, the amount of "quests" completed (the way the current system works) would only go up with each unique fish turned in. Turning in 10 of the same fish would not get you the fishing armor, for example. So this is already handled and I do not think changing any of the existing milestone rewards is needed. Edit: although you do have a point with the info accessories, including sextant, pocketbook, tacklebox etc