Tides of Blockville

Tides of Blockville is the town storyline given by Rory MacLeod, the Fisherman at the harbor. Rory's da built the harbor and spent his life chasing Old Whiskers, a catfish the size of a rowboat, until his boat, the Bonnie Gull, went down off the reef one stormy night. The pier rotted and the town's fishing derby stopped. The player joins Rory's crew, rebuilds the pier, fishes the river and the reef, recovers his da's chest from the wreck and brings back the derby - where Old Whiskers finally bites - to become Master Angler.

#Starting

The storyline starts with a conversation: clicking Rory the first time plays his story, page by page, and the last Continue starts the storyline (Not now leaves it for later). Once it has started, its current step is shown in the objective bar at the top of the screen and in /quests, and a marker points to any place or townsperson the step needs. Clicking Rory when he has nothing for you opens his tackle shop.

Every fish counts towards fishing steps, including Blockville's own catches: a step that asks for cod, for example, also counts golden cod and the other cod.

#Tiers

Cosmetic rewards are shown as a mystery until they are earned.

#The Fishing Derby

The last tier is a fishing contest that only exists in this storyline. Clicking Rory on tier 12 offers it, and he explains it once before the first round. The player is taken to the end of the pier (other players can't see them meanwhile), handed Rory's Derby Rod, and fishes three rounds: Harbor Cod, Silver Salmon and finally Old Whiskers.

1. Cast into the water and wait. When a fish bites, the bobber dips with a splash - right-click quickly to strike. Too slow, and the fish takes the bait and the player waits for the next bite.
2. Fight the fish. It thrashes out in the water on the end of the line. Every right-click reels it closer but tightens the line; the bar at the top shows the tension, and it eases off between clicks.
3. Now and then the fish runs - a big splash, a red bar, and it swims away. Reeling during a run tightens the line three times as fast. Let it run, then reel again once it tires.
4. A fish reeled all the way to the pier is landed.

If the tension fills up the line snaps, and if the fish runs out all the line it slips the hook - either way that fish has to be caught again. The Silver Salmon leaps out of the water mid-fight, and Old Whiskers - a catfish the size of a rowboat - runs the longest and the hardest. He is only ever met, never kept: once landed he swims back into the deep.

Three escapes and Rory calls it - the derby can be tried again two minutes later. Dropping the rod (Q) or walking off the pier ends it with no penalty. The Harbor Cod and Silver Salmon landed during the storyline are the player's to keep. A derby where nothing gets away pays an extra 25 Credits. Once the storyline is finished, Rory offers another derby for a best time (no rewards).

#Rory's tips

While a tier asks for a particular catch (cod, salmon, pufferfish, tropical fish or a treasure), about half of all casts land it, in any water. With the Luck effect, about three in four do.

#Rory's Logbook

/logbook (or the Logbook button when talking to Rory) opens a guide to the waters and catches he has shown you so far: sea fishing, tackle, salmon, treasure, night fishing, pufferfish, the reef, the drowned and Old Whiskers. Each page has a few tips. Pages not reached yet show as locked.

#See also

• Storylines
• Order Up!
• Forged in Blockville
• Quests