Please don't add falconry

[Xanton]

So I've noticed that falconry is something the devs are interested in and have included on the survey. While I appreciate this might seem an attractive idea, I think people have a lot of misconceptions about falconry. As somebody with a lot of experience working and hunting with birds of prey, I can tell you that this will not create interesting gameplay. At best it would be a minigame.

The truth of it is that in real life, the bird does all the work. The role of the falconer is primarily in the training and preparation of the bird, flushing out the desired game, dispatching prey, and selecting a location and overall strategy. Strategy may just includes the start location of the hunt, according to wind direction, topography, most likely location of prey etc...

I've been on hunts with harris hawks where we've arrived, released the bird into a nearby tree and before we've even had the chance to get out the ferrets, she's already caught a rabbit. For this kind of hunting, the skill is in the knowledge and dedication of the falconer over the months and years leading up to the hunt. You could have just basic experience with falconry and take out an experienced and well-trained bird and it will likely catch something, provided you're in a good location and the weather is right.

I don't see how this could be implemented into a game in a way that would be rewarding. At best it would be a visual spectacle that's completely luck-based... at worst it would be some horrible minigame where you have to actually control the bird. Unlike shooting, the reward for falconry is all in the training of the birds and enjoyment of seeing them hunt.

My advise is to not waste your time with this. There's a reason there's never been any falconry games... and where falconry has cropped up, it's always been a side-activity or minigame.