The League
| The League | |
|---|---|
| Clan | |
| |
| Name: The League | |
| Status: Inactive | |
| Formed: October 2017 | |
| Disbanded: September 28th, 2018 | |
| Members: Listed in the "Members" Section | |
| Bases: Estevez, Struthio, Oberstein, Grasstle, Argemone, Majula | |
The League was an organized clan co-founded by Porkington, ostrich1414, and Master_Xybot in October of 2017. Conceived shortly after the War of Monarchia and the fall of the United Alliance, the League aimed to be a powerful and influential force in server history. Containing a number of bases both close to and far from Spawn, the League was set upon expanding its grasp on the server by forming strong connections with players and bases, as well as growing its own personal interests for the good of the organization itself.
On September 28th, 2018, the League officially disbanded, with ostrich1414 and Porkington both agreeing that it was time to abandon the constantly stagnant team.
Members
These were the members of the League prior to its collapse on September 28th, 2018:
- Porkington
- ostrich1414
- Master_Xybot
- Cinnablaw
- b9tumor
- ChiefRice
- Rumpslem
- emarshall01
- Xenagie
- Atroxes
- ae0
- corncorn1
- cappoz
- Sir.Phenhex
There were also several neutral players who The League cooperated with, though they were never official members or allies of the team:
Philosophy and Goals
The League was not only dedicated to establishing its own wealth and power, but also to undertake great and difficult endeavors for the lasting benefit of the entire server. The team was organized around several core principles:
Principle of Greatest Need
The League believed that members of its team, as well as individuals aligned with it, should be generously given items if the need of the recipient significantly outweighs the need of the provider. For example, a new member of the server may be in desperate need of food, while an experienced member has a great abundance of it. At intermediate stages, players may still benefit greatly from relatively basic items such as iron blocks, lapis lazuli, or other things which can be spared at no great expense by advanced players. The League even gave fairly valuable items such as diamond tools, shulker boxes, and beacons to its members and allies, if they are deemed to need them more than the central leadership does.
This principle was not meant to foster complacency or encourage exploitation. All individuals and bases are meant to eventually gain self-sufficiency and contribute to less advanced bases in turn, as those bases attempt to gain self-sufficiency as well. The principle of greatest need was intended to expedite the independent economic growth of new bases rather than prevent it.
The principle also extended to actions which would help the server community at large. For example, The League maintained public roads, farms, and nether portals for the general benefit of the server, and also maintained bases perilously close to spawn, because the risk and expense incurred by The League was considered to be less than the overall benefit gained by the server having an active and somewhat hospitable spawn region.
Since the greatest overall need of the server was an increase in the population of new players, The League had made this one of its fundamental goals.
Principle of Regional Autonomy
Another guiding principle of The League was the concept that separate bases within the team should maintain some independence and autonomy, even when participating in larger team efforts. The local leader of each base was meant to have local control over it, making key local decisions such as who to bring and what to build.
Members of the team were not meant to have more coordinates to bases than was deemed necessary and safe by the local leaders of those bases. This is so that if one member betrays the team, the other bases could continue functioning independently without risk of being attacked by the traitor. Even founding members or leaders of the team do not necessarily need to know the coordinates of all member bases.
Overpopulated bases or highly rigid command structures were a source of potential instability and chaos, because then the loss of a single player or location may have disastrous results for the entire team.
Principle of Historical Permanence
Members of The League were meant to be aware of the uncertainty of the future, as well as the fragility of the server community and any teams or locations within it. Any base, no matter how well hidden, could be attacked at any time.
Therefore, League bases were meant to be built mostly of durable materials and in styles and sizes difficult to destroy. The most important bases of The League were usually vast structures made of stone, meant to leave impressive ruins even years after the inevitable collapse of the team. League members were not only building bases for contemporary use, they were building what would become the history of the server.
Another aspect of this principle was the maintenance of preexisting server history. Members were encouraged to preserve bases of historical importance, as well as accurately record server history on this wiki.
History
Secret Origins
The League began as a small secret society within a larger faction known as the United Alliance and later as The Royal Allegiance. During this time, The League did not officially exist, but this period laid the groundwork for the later formation of the team.
The Fall of the United Alliance and the War of Monarchia
The beginnings of the League can be traced as far back as late September of 2017, before the War of Monarchia and the fall of the United Alliance. Ostrich1414, who was the leader of the United Alliance at the time, was simultaneously in talks with his close ally and fellow UA member Porkington about forming a new clan, one of their own. Ostrich1414 was also slowing becoming weary of the UA and secretly wanted to withdraw. During this time, tensions between the UA and clipchip were thickening, so ostrich1414 and Porkington devised a plan to use an imminent war as a pretext to withdraw and focus on their potential idea.
On September 27th, 2017, the ostrich1414, on behalf of the United Alliance, declared war on clipchip's "Clipiiii's Gang" over land disputes in the UA's capital city of Monarchia; during the length of the war, however, ostrich1414 planned to surrender quickly and resign from his position.
The aptly-named "War of Monarchia" ended on October 6th, 2017 as the UA officially surrendered to Clipiiii's Gang, and ostrich1414 formally resigned from his position as Leader of the United Alliance. The end of the war saw clipchip's inheritance of the UA, which he later discontinued to found The Royal Allegiance, and his acquisition of all former UA bases. Clipchip also appointed ostrich1414 as his so-called "Indentured Servant", while Porkington became the Lord of Tamarisk. Nevertheless, ostrich1414 and Porkington were free from the UA's grasp, and their new membership in the RA proved to be no issue either as clipchip frequently neglected his new clan, allowing it to fall into a state of inactivity and questioning.
A World Underground
Almost instantly after the end of the War of Monarchia, in early October of 2017, ostrich1414 and Porkington found a spot for their newest base: "Estevez", or "Vez" for short. The first base of The League, Estevez began with the creation of a massive underground dome, decorated with diorite, stone brick, and red nether brick. From this dome, the pair expanded the base, connecting lengths of tunnels and other underground rooms into what would become a massive underground complex. During Vez's early days of construction, the two recruited former UA member and fellow ally Master_Xybot, bringing him to Estevez to assist them with their construction; Master_Xybot worked feverishly, creating many new rooms and tunnels within the complex.
Over time, Estevez grew massive in size and magnitude, and new rooms and wings were being added weekly. To them, Estevez was seen as an aesthetic utility base: one that would contain every form of self-sufficiency possible whilst keeping up a dignified sense of aesthetics and grandeur. In the midst of creating Estevez, the three began to talk more seriously about their clan; at this time, the clan did not have a name, nor did it have any true sense of purpose or goal. Simply put, they wanted to grow and expand, and would only announce themselves to the public when they felt ready to do so.
Struthio
While working on Estevez, ostrich1414 located a new spot for another team base: Struthio. Located at the mouth of a river in a savannah biome, Struthio was a small town made exclusively out of acacia wood and stone brick. Wanting to create a town out of the little-used material, ostrich1414 took up the challenge, and began the project in October of 2017. Struthio was partially modeled after his own creation, Quinsigamond, due to its congestion and soaring towers, this time with a vibrant orange hue.
The Great Leap Forward
Simultaneously, ostrich1414 and Porkington began to work on an assortment of villager farms nearby Downtown Struthio: these included breeding farms, iron farms, and modes of villager transportation. These developments, along with improvements to the farming of both passive and hostile mobs, greatly enhanced the clan's ability to produce resources. This is also when The League began to harvest large amounts of elytra from the End, as well as Wither skulls from the Nether.
These advancements are what allowed The League to stand on its feet as a major faction.
Early Spawn Endeavors
In late October - early November of 2017, the League began to focus on secret spawn-related projects to tighten their grasp on the spawn area and to connect with new players. Their first major spawn project was an ever-expanding city known as "Oberstein": located on an extreme hills biome, Oberstein consisted of stone brick structures using Imperial Architecture as a guideline. Porkington, using his alt The_Fulgurator, and ostrich1414, using his alt OstrichsGayAlt (now OstrichsCoolAlt), along with Master_Xybot, worked quickly on Oberstein, constructing as many as five buildings per hour. This base was created in the aftermath of the annual spawn map, released in mid-November, in the hopes that it would stand out on the next released map.
The Hall of Vatlos
As work on Estevez slowed down and Downtown Struthio was nearing completion, ostrich1414 and Porkington looked for their next big project: this happened to be the Hall of Vatlos, located about two hundred blocks from Downtown Struthio. Perched atop a desert biome by the ocean, the Hall of Vatlos began as a massive structure inspired by Porkington's own Strawman Temple at Forsta Stad. Supported by large stone brick columns and soaring arches, the Hall of Vatlos held a large, decorated hall, consisting of quartz pillars and dark oak fixtures; the largest single project the team had taken on thus far. It was during this period that Cinnabars joined The League and took up residence at Estevez.
Grasstle
The League's spawn-related endeavors only grew from here, and their next base close to spawn, Grasstle, was conceived in late December of 2017. Grasstle became the sole recruitment center for newcomers and noobs, where they would be assisted and pampered by the League in preparation for an (often-times optimistic) long-term career on SimPvP. Commissioned by Porkington and ostrich1414 and built by Xenagie, Atroxes, and LetsGetTr0pical, Grasstle consisted of a large cobblestone castle adorned with grass and trees on top of it; the castle itself was surrounded by smaller buildings, houses, and farms, created by the new players that inhabited it. Porkington, using his alt not_pippenger, would frequently lead new arrivals from spawn to Grasstle, were they would be assisted and prepared before they officially joined the League and moved onto a better base farther from spawn.
The League is Born
Between January 4th and 5th of 2018, Porkington, ostrich1414, and Master_Xybot finalized their team name, "The League", and officially announced their team's existence to the public.
Prior to this, growing speculation of the League was common, and their public work at Grasstle and their spawn recruitment only furthered these thoughts. Thus, upon their announcement, all three members formally withdrew from the Royal Allegiance, abandoning their former posts and solidifying their positions held in the League as co-leaders. The server's response was mixed: while many were intrigued by the new team, there remained some players who grew skeptical or even agitated: this included a few current RA members, who had, by this time, lost four members with the withdrawal of worldruler086 upon his admission. Regardless, now with a sharper focus, the League was able to continue their many goals and projects now that they were a fully public and independent team.
Public Works Begin
After the League's official announcement, the team began to solely focus on their many spawn projects for a period of time. As they began to recruit many new players at Grasstle, Porkington believed that there should be a second step for the recruits once their initial training at Grasstle is complete. This reminded him of Argemone, a castle-town he built alongside SirTashingdon (a.k.a. Master_Xybot) in 2016 as a part of The Principate. After being abandoned and later forgotten about, Porkington and Master_Xybot believed that the base could be beneficial as a center for new League members to continue their progression through the ranks, and thus Argemone was officially annexed by the League on January 7th, 2018. Shortly afterward, Porkington officially made the base's coords public, putting them on the wiki and informing new player's of its existence.
Around the same time, Yukarion and morl0ck began working on repairing the nether subway system, which had largely fallen into disrepair and was very unkempt from years of use and griefing. The League jumped at the opportunity to assist the two and began to tirelessly work to repair the nether subway, helping record the many tunnels onto a public map and sprucing them up for later use. Wanting to appeal to the server as beneficiaries with the server's best interests in mind, the League's actions during this time, from the annexation of Argemone as a public base to the nether subway repairs, reflect its growing desire to bring good to the server and to foster new players as regulars on the server, assisting them with their many needs.
Population Growth
During January 2018, The League grew substantially in size, along with the general server population. Both the increase in its own size and the overall player increase can be partially attributed to the spawn efforts of The League, as well as various other factions and neutral individuals who made similar efforts during this period.
Another highly significant effort was undertaken by B9b9 around this period. In December 2017 he began posting advertisements for the server, and by mid-January 2018, this had resulted in a noticeable improvement in the daily player count.
The Cold War
Throughout the few months that the League had existed, an ever-increasing rivalry between themselves and The Conspiracy began to reach a boiling pot. As clipchip and JavelinFury remained angry with Porkington, ostrich1414 and Master_Xybot's decision to leave the Royal Allegiance, an intense rivalry had been brewing, and by mid-to-late January of 2018, The Cold War truly began to reach its climax as both the League and Conspiracy inched closer and closer to open hostility, with threats, griefings and espionage dotting the period.
The Quinsigamond Incident and Majula
On January 19th, 2018, ostrich1414 discovered an incident of minor griefing at his former United Alliance base Quinsigamond; to him and the League as a whole, this was a directly acted-upon threat by Conspiracy (both clipchip and JavelinFury had access to the base). Though Conspiracy denied this, and continues to today, the League was not so sure, and the incident only worsened already deteriorating tensions between the two teams.
In late January 2018, ostrich1414 founded what would be the League's last original base, Majula. Majula was a small town of buildings using Imperial Architecture all situated around the perimeter of a large stone quarry. Aside from being a base for gathering materials, Majula was also used by the League as a second base to bring new recruits; here, new players such as b9tumor, CranberryWarrior and Sir_Phenhex were invited to work and live in the town.
However, things soon soured as, unbeknownst to ostrich1414 at the time, a secret informant for Conspiracy had somehow infiltrated Majula. Around mid-February to earlier-March, Majula experienced data leaking from the informant, and clipchip and JavelinFury were secretly devising a plan to infiltrate Majula and ambush ostrich1414 and/or Porkington. However, by March 2018, the two League members caught wind of this and immediately set an end to Majula, abandoning the town altogether and moving on from it. To this day, Majula remains inactive and abandoned, although for some time afterwards, Sir_Phenhex continued to live and build at the town, before leaving himself.
The Road to Peace
After the infiltration and abandonment of Majula, a few more threats and hostile incidents occurred that furthered tensions, namely the regular threatening and (eventually proven) suspected infiltration of Ascaris, as well as an anonymous griefing of Monarchia. However, after these minor occurrences, tensions and all-around hostility soon softened as the League and Conspiracy began to show interest in saving relations, putting an end to the Cold War. By late March 2018, Porkington was in talks with Conspiracy on behalf of the League to restore relations, and the two eventually signed a peace treaty that ended the period of political unrest; the Cold War was over.
Decline in Activity and Collapse
After the end of the Cold War, the League was severely declining in activity and relevance; by March 2018, even before the Cold War had reached its end, ostrich1414 had left the server and entered a short hiatus, not returning to the server regularly until July 2018. Meanwhile, Porkington began to focus his efforts on other projects, namely working on expanding his megacity Ascaris on his alt Pippinger. Although the League continued minor public service projects here and there during the following months, including maintaining Spawn and constructing new buildings there, its original goals and ambitions took a backseat as its members focused on other things or left the server. With ostrich1414 and Master_Xybot on hiatus and Porkington busy with Ascaris and other server activities, the League appeared to be deteriorating.
Struthio's Renaissance
Upon ostrich1414's arrival in July 2018, the League was a semi-inactive team, not yet dead but nowhere near its peaks of late 2017 or early 2018. Ostrich1414 himself had begun to lose interest in the team, and upon his return, looked for new things to do. That same month, he invited Sengorn_Leopard, an ally of Porkington, to Struthio, which at the time was an inactive town that had not been used or touched in months. Originally, ostrich1414 was to hold Sengorn_Leopard here temporarily until the two moved on to another, completely unrelated project, but this soon changed when Sengorn_Leopard began to build new structures and farms at Struthio.
Soon after, by August - September 2018, Struthio had reached a period of renaissance: massive new buildings and farms were being constructed, including a return to the Hall of Vatlos, which had previously been put on hold. Struthio had arose from its hiatus and once again became a booming base, featuring massive megaprojects such as Sengorn_Leopard's unnamed signature structure and a skyscraper. This reignited ostrich1414's interest in Struthio, as well as Porkington's, and the two saw potential in the previously neglected town. However, no one had even considered these new efforts to be taken in the name of the League; though Struthio was still technically a League base, it did not feel like one anymore, and plans to turn it into its own self-sufficient city-state were being explored as affiliation with the League became irrelevant.
The End of the League
On September 28th, 2018, ostrich1414 officially announced his departure from the League, leaving the team for good in order to solely focus on Struthio and the many massive projects within it. This action appeared to be the final blow for the team, with a vital founding member abandoning it and focusing on other projects. Later that same day, ostrich1414 and Porkington discussed the matter and both agreed to lay the team to rest, thus officially disbanding the League and moving on to other things. The team was in disarray, with many of its members either too busy with more impressive projects or simply unavailable on the server, and the upkeep of a dying team seemed futile. Thus, the inevitable end of the League had come, ironically one year-and-a-day after the declaration of the War of Monarchia, which had laid the groundwork for the team to be born in the first place.