To fish or not to fish, that is the question...

Started by Slasher, Mon 27/07/2015 09:11:38

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Slasher

Hi

the title says it all.

Whilst some take the view that fishing is barbaric and should be banned others think it is a harmless way to spend time, provided of course that any fish caught is handled with care and respect and returned as safely as possible (unless as a food source).

So, what are your views regarding fishing games?

Just a note that I was a keen angler 1968 / 1984.

slasher

Crimson Wizard

Human organism kills myriads of bacterias and viruses all time, protecting itself. Unless we replace our bodies with synthetic machine, we will keep killing living creatures.

Mandle

Well, in a few days I will be going on a summer camp with 33 kids here in Japan and one of our activities will be boat fishing in the ocean...This will be my first time doing so and I'm looking forward to it the most as we get to go back to port with our fresh catches and eat them raw as sashimi right there on the dock...

OMG it's going to be sooooooo delicious!!!

AprilSkies

In the early 90's I spent a lot of time playing this game made by the Italian developer "Simulmondo":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAG1DlBDP6A


www.apemarina.altervista.org

cat


Crimson Wizard

Quote from: slasher on Mon 27/07/2015 09:11:38others think it is a harmless way to spend time, provided of course that any fish caught is handled with care and respect and returned as safely as possible
Frankly, I find this argument too ridiculous to take seriously.
What kind of "respect" is it when you interrupt fish's personal life activities, getting it out of water, endangering its life, in the first place?
I mean, either you care about respecting fish, and then you don't touch fishing pole at all, or you don't care about respect and just do your business.

Quintaros

I haven't fished since childhood when my father would take my brothers and I on fishing trips at different lakes in the region.  I liked the camping and the canoeing but didn't really like eating fish back then so I was ambivalent to whether or not we ever caught anything.  And though I haven't fished as an adult I mostly expect I'd feel the same way (although I do enjoy eating it now).  It's not entirely harmless of course but to me it's less objectionable than speedboats and jet-skis. 

Slasher

#7
I understand both sides of the 'argument'.

But it slightly sidetracks the actual 'argument' which is: would a fishing computer game be acceptable to both sides or would the way you feel about sport fishing in real life affect the way you would feel about it in a computer game?

I might be wrong but i seem to recall a fishing game someone made with ags about five years ago, can't find it though..

Crimson Wizard

#8
Quote from: slasher on Mon 27/07/2015 14:59:17
But it slightly sidetracks the actual 'argument' which is: would a fishing computer game be acceptable to both sides or would the way you feel about sport fishing in real life affect the way you would feel about it in a computer game?
I guess its the same as with human killing, the opinions will divide. For example, I consider acceptable to play games where main character kill people, while I do not welcome that in real life. But someone may not accept either.

OTOH in contemporary society you may expect people care about digital animal life more...

Stupot

I'm not overly keen on fish being killed for sport and I have spent probably about 3 or 4 hours of my entire life fishing and I don't think I caught anything. That said, I probably clocked up 3 or 4 hundred hours on Sega Bass. And a similar amount just in the fishing mini-game on Ocarina of Time. so yeah, whatever, it's fun if animals aren't getting hurt.

Quintaros

Quote from: slasher on Mon 27/07/2015 14:59:17
... would a fishing computer game be acceptable to both sides or would the way you feel about sport fishing in real life affect the way you would feel about it in a computer game?

Man, you can't please everyone. Some people will see harm in the mere depiction of fishing as sport.  So be it. 

I think the tranquil setting and slowness of fishing is its primary appeal so I don't think it would make a very compelling computer game. But the right game could certainly prove me wrong.




Snarky

With all the games where you kill people, objecting to a fishing game is just ludicrous.

I rather enjoyed the fishing minigame in Okami, for example. The "collect them all!" aspect of it appealed to my OCD.

I personally think sport fishing is somewhat ethically problematic (and don't tell me fish don't feel pain: of course they do!), but in the bigger scheme of things animals suffer and die for our pleasure by the kiloton every day, so unless you're a strict vegan there's really no moral high ground there.

cat

Quote from: Snarky on Mon 27/07/2015 17:46:01
I rather enjoyed the fishing minigame in Okami, for example. The "collect them all!" aspect of it appealed to my OCD.
Me too!

As long as the game mechanics are fun, I think nobody will have problems with a fishing game.

LimpingFish

Quote from: Snarky on Mon 27/07/2015 17:46:01
I rather enjoyed the fishing minigame in Okami, for example.

I spent a lot of time fishing in Breath of Fire 3, and in Ocarina of Time.

I seem to enjoy fishing only in games where it's treated as a side activity, as I've never been fond of fishing games. Weird.
Steam: LimpingFish
PSN: LFishRoller
XB: TheActualLimpingFish
Spotify: LimpingFish


ManicMatt

Snarky, I understand what you're saying, but there's a difference between a game saying "this is a story, kill people in it" and "this is cabella animal hunting, it's a sport we endorse!"

So in Red Dead Redemption, I don't object to the player killing animals or people.

But if there was a game where the developers had gotten the whole real population of America as NPCs in it and you were given a gun to shoot them all for "sport", i'd take offence to it.

InCreator

I never understood fishing unless you really like to eat what you catch. I know pretty well how to fish (father taught me) and some of my friends invite me to fishing trips, but I just don't get it. If I'm not eating them, why catch them? But I don't have moral qualms about killing fish - if I had a cat, I would gladly fish to feed it. Fishing games, however, feel like waste of time, just like snooker or bowling or whatever. It's wiser to do it in real life and benefit from social side of it or nature and fresh air or whatever.

tzachs

I find fishing immoral, but then again, I find most forms of animal exploiting to be immoral.
My (simplified) point of view:
If you can avoid killing/hurting/exploiting an animal without killing/hurting yourself or others (and without too much self sacrifice), you should.
So with that:
Fishing/hunting for sports- no excuse.
Fishing/hunting for food- since most people can live a healthy life without animal based foods (unless you have a specific medical condition), assuming it's convenient enough to live on plant foods in the area in which you live (a lot of cities today are vegan friendly, and while most cities are still not vegan friendly, there is an improvement all around) there's no moral justification for this.

However, I do find fishing or hunting (for food) much preferable to buying from the meat/dairy/egg industries, as the amount of harm you cause is not even close to the suffering an average animal goes on one of those industries (or to the amount of slaughtered animals: http://www.adaptt.org/killcounter.html). I would recommend seeing the movie Earthlings (http://earthlings.com/?page_id=32) for anybody who wants to learn more on that (warning: it's a hard movie to watch).

Now as for games: I don't have a problem with a game where a character kills another animal (I'm including a human being in "animal") if it serves a purpose which is not glorifying the killing.

David Ostman

Quote from: Snarky on Mon 27/07/2015 17:46:01
With all the games where you kill people, objecting to a fishing game is just ludicrous.
I don't know about that. Let me first just say you'll be hard pressed to find a game that I find objectionable, you'd have to venture into raping simulators for that, but if I was forced to put it on a scale then I'd say killing innocent fish in a game is worse than killing humans in, say, a Call of Duty game, yes.

Darth Mandarb

#19
My father has always been an avid fisher. 

He used to drag my brothers and I along ALL the time. 

I hated [almost] every single moment of it. 

I loved being out on the boats and spending time with my family but the simple concept of fishing was just offensive to me.  I did it, because my father expected me to, but every time I would pull a fish out of the water I was dying inside.  I hid it well (couldn't me a wussy in front of my manly dad and bros!) but I was, in my head, apologizing to the fish each time and would quickly de-hook and release them back into the water.

I always had this vision of my mom and me walking along and suddenly a large hook stabs her, pulls her up into the sky where a group of aliens yank the hook out painfully, stare at here for a few moments while she's struggling to breath, but can't, and then just tosses her back down to earth.

As with other forms of hunting I do not mind the practice if the end goal is feeding yourself (family, others, etc).  I find sport hunting of ANY kind despicable and the worst of humanity's hubris.

Needless to say (?) I haven't been fishing in a LONG time.

I don't have any objection to fishing games though.  I feel it's a way to do something you enjoy, but without actually hurting anything.  Win/win.

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