I am confused as to why you want to consider whether Fishing Village is as good as commonly thought if we ignore its greatest strength (reliability). To me, that’s kinda like asking how good Bridge is if you don’t reduce all prices to 0 with it.
But I didn't say that we should ignore it, quite the opposite. It was a
question about how good it is considering
everything, I don't know how I could have been clearer. I was pretty sure the answer was that it's still great to have at least 2 FVs after drawing you're deck, but you could ask, how many more FVs should you get while building if there are other villages? I think in the past, the answer would be FVs all the way, but I was thinking that it might be more nuanced now. In the game I referenced, I started bying Villages after I had 3 FVs, and I was wondering what people thought about this (FV vs. Village).
At which point, the FV also provides coin, while most villages do not.
I'm pretty sure this is accurate (when drawing your deck): Having 2 Fishing Villages, playing one every turn, is like having 2 Villages, a Copper and a Peddler - plus the added consistency.