205 chunks and a build battle: kicoder's July
Montreal's July mayor hands over a town that grew by half, climbed 31 places in the rankings, and picked up a few stories along the way.
kicoder's term as mayor of Montreal ends today, and the numbers make the case on their own. The town went from 437 chunks to 642 — a little over 205 claimed in thirty-one days — took on 32 residents net, and crossed 110 residents on the final day of the month. Montreal climbed 31 places in the server's chunk rankings and 35 in population.
The month's centrepiece was the Citywide Build Battle, the biggest event Montreal has run. Contestants claimed plots along Riverbank Road in the north and built whatever they wanted, judged by the town on looks, quality, and how well the build fit the city around it. Entries came in from Billi003, Smurfv_, FTCF_Xlax and Mr_Herobrine, and the deadline got extended a week to let more people in. Billi003 led the vote early with 30 points before Mr_Herobrine overtook the field and took the 35 gold with a modernist block that would not look out of place downtown.
North of the river got most of the construction. Montreal-Nord was claimed and roaded in what kicoder called less time than he thought possible, and the Billi-Obrine Bridge — formerly Hero Bridge, renamed by a negotiated settlement between the two players who built it — was finished on July 11. The town was formally split into districts: Brossard through the centre, Sainte-Julie to the mid-east, Montreal-Nord across the water, with Toutef and Sainte-Hyacinthe as smaller neighbourhoods. On July 30, Papineau County opened in the northern forest for anyone wanting something more rustic — reachable with the warp command t warp Montreal papineau.
Two Montrealers left to found towns of their own — Toutef's Axolotl Paradise and Smurfv_'s Avelin, a city modelled on 1900s North America. The role system was rebuilt so Councillor tracks the in-game rank and Cabinet is the mayor's own appointments. Shops went in behind the town spawn, a looting-expedition tracker went live for raiding falling towns, and every channel in the Discord got a description, some of them useful.
"Thanks so much to all of you — nation members, residents, foreigners — for following along with Montreal," kicoder wrote in his sign-off.
