get Crab Pots back only with pickaxes

[Freizeitfarmer]

I have some crab pots close to each other. When I want to collect from the crab pots I often get another crab pot itself instead.
So my suggestion is to get crab pot back only with pickaxes similar to other tools.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Fully agreed! I pick them up way too easily while harvesting the sweet, sweet broken Joja CDs from the Crab Pots and that unwarranted extra effort makes it look like I'm a little too proactive and enthusiastic about working.

I have a reputation to uphold, you know.

 

[imnvs]

I'm assuming you're a Luremaster? That's why I don't pick that profession. Saving on bait? I'll have at least two worm bins by the time I get to fishing 10. I don't need to save on bait. I'll just get better catches from my pots, thanks. (Not only does Mariner eliminate trash from crab pots, it evens the chances for all possible catches which heavily increases the chances to catch the more valuable and useful crab pot fish.)

 

[SuperChouette]

I'm assuming you're a Luremaster? That's why I don't pick that profession.

I kind of like trash… that’s why I’m always a lure master.

“Come on over here sweet little trash!” I never have to convert quartz, I just save them all until I’m a gemologist. I had too many torches so I lit up the entirety of Stardew Valley. I never run out of coal.

Except I guess I’m too alluring and the crab pots (so full of trash I might as well call them “crap pots”) jump right into my back pack.

Food for thought! And I’m hungry.

 

[CryogenCrystals]

While I agree with the luremaster profession to some degree (while at skill level 10), I will add some perspective that having to be at a certain skill level and/or pick a certain profession to avoid what is essentially a problematic game mechanic, skirts the issue a bit. There's some other platform complications along with slow play that would make it a very helpful thing to fix.

Even though I use luremaster, I still have to collect my catch from the crab pots, this is actually when I accidentally pick them up (mobile), not when I put bait into them (figured that out long prior to getting to level 10). So the luremaster, thing is unfortunately somewhat irrelevant to mobile for me. Where to exactly tap when collecting is partially obscured by the notifications if crab pots are close together, worse though if not tapping in the perfect very small square (even on an iPad) when using a finger (that is not as small, even though I have skinny fingers lol), it goes very wrong and I have to put a bunch back down every time. The issue with tap area happens even when I place crab pots a mile apart lol. Alternatively, I have to pinch/zoom ridiculously far and make getting to the rest of the pots a pain. Or zoom in/out rapidly--nauseating. So, I pick them up by accident all. the. darned. time. It is enough annoyance to make me entirely ignore crab pots after I've gotten a few of each thing. So to me, it is a valid game mechanic issue that is easy to fix and needs fixing. Fixing it would could address the issue for all platforms and skills.

I'm also thinking of new folks not playing to max things quickly, (edit: or know to make what is perceived as the right skill choice, there are different play styles and skills for a reason I think). Also, remembering many new folks play at a leisurely, relaxing, and explorative pace to keep game experience novel and fun as long as possible. That means they might be stuck with the issue longer. I wish I had not looked at the wiki until after I finished my first game, and just let the Stardew exploration magic override my initial compulsion for knowledge and efficiency, and instead just relax into gameplay. If I refer friends to the game, I encourage them to avoid looking stuff up until after first play though or until they get seriously stuck. Crab pots do become an annoyance for longer in this case, though on mobile they are always an annoyance.

I'd definitely appreciate crab pot mechanics problem being fixed, thanks for mentioning Freizeitfarmer!

 

[imnvs]

I kind of like trash… that’s why I’m always a lure master.

“Come on over here sweet little trash!” I never have to convert quartz, I just save them all until I’m a gemologist. I had too many torches so I lit up the entirety of Stardew Valley. I never run out of coal.

See, I can get trash easy peasy, because on most farms you can just fish an afternoon away and get a big pile of trash. I don't need crab pots for that.

While I agree with the Luremaster profession to some degree (while at skill level 10), I will add some perspectives, that having to be at a certain skill level and pick a certain profession to avoid what is essentially a problematic game mechanic, skirts the issue a bit.

You misunderstand. You don't have to get to 10 and pick Mariner to avoid this issue, typically. You have to avoid getting to 10 and picking Luremaster. Luremaster CREATES the problem (or at least it does on PC) because you're not using bait and that means your inventory slot could be open and thus you're open to picking up the pots. With Mariner and before that at fishing skill level all the way up to 9, you'll have bait in hand and collect/rebait in one fell swoop.

 

[CryogenCrystals]

The point holds, the OPs post is valid, it is still a mechanics problem regardless of workarounds ("you have to pick or avoid a certain profession" or "you need to have your inventory full" etc) is a workaround.

Suggestions for improvement are important in development. As someone with UX/UI, usability eval and IxD training, It seems fairly straight forward that there should be no intended feature (in this case a profession) which must be avoided or can't be played without causing a perpetual mechanical problem or annoyance, otherwise it becomes redundant to include. Usability issues often get caught and rated in usability testing in terms of its impact, then addressed in order of rated importance. Some usability issues inevitable slip through the cracks, so feedback is there to help address it. Annoyance-rated things tally in a usability heuristics evaluation at a lower priority, so they sometimes get fixed later/eventually. Though if it makes people avoid a feature or prevent them from using it (as was mentioned in this thread), it typically rates a bit higher on the eval results and gets addressed a little faster (though still not nearing "high" or "critical" depending on the type of heuristics or other dev eval used).

Feedback is important, and it is also important not to negate what might be useful feedback for a developer (it also can discourage players from posting things, I know it has for me and some others). I always appreciate additive discussion around this. Adding that there's a workaround for some until there's a proper fix is great, so thank you for that. I tend to enjoy the different professions in early games and when I'm exploring functions in late games, because that's what they're there for, and so they should be usable. I agree with Superchouette, doing so is part of the fun for me too. The nice part about the different professions is they cater to different play styles different benefits at different times, which I think is their intent.

 

[SuperChouette]

See, I can get trash easy peasy, because on most farms you can just fish an afternoon away and get a big pile of trash. I don't need crab pots for that.

I would only spend time purposely hunting trash if they gave us some reward for removing all that junk from the ecosystem. But thanks for the idea!

 

[imnvs]

I would only spend time purposely hunting trash if they gave us some reward for removing all that junk from the ecosystem. But thanks for the idea!

Pssst... in 1.5 there's an occasion when you're asked to do exactly that.

 

[DemiserofD]

You can avoid picking them up by accident if you target a full crab pot, and then hold down the collection button.

As long as you keep it held down, you will only collect the contents, not the crab pots themselves.

 

[hexnessie]

Luremaster CREATES the problem (or at least it does on PC) because you're not using bait and that means your inventory slot could be open and thus you're open to picking up the pots.

I found it the other way round. I kept picking up crabpots accidentally UNTIL I finally go Luremaster. Now if I left-click to collect from the pots, I don't pick them up by accident (as happened with right-clicking to apply bait).

I use my crabpots exlusively for trash (and maybe some seashells) so I really like Luremaster - it not only saves me the headache of right-click applying bait, but also produces the thing I need. I just plopped a full shore of them on the beach and collect whenever I'm there.

(I like trash, OK.)