Overview
The LittleBigPlanet Union is an alliance of clans and organizations dedicated to making the LittleBigPlanet community a better place and bringing peace and cooperation between groups. It is best known for bringing nearly the entire clanning community together in the name of peace after the Shadow Epoch.
History
The Old Union
Origins
The LBPU was proposed by Godman2k7 for the newly aligned Anti H4H Bounty Hunters and the Agents. in June 2009. The goal of the Union was to create an alliance of Anti-H4H groups (Namely three H4H Bounty Hunter groups
that were around at the time) with the joint capability to reduce Heart for Heart to a level where where they believed it could not harm the LBP servers. In that respect, it was a huge success, with H4H never being a serious problem from Fall of 2009 onward. Gradually the ideologies of the LBPU had evolved over the course of time, but it always kept a zero tolerance approach to H4H and other anti-LBP practices. As construction of the Union HQ began, some of the first groups began to join the H4H Bounty Hunters' project, including the Agents, Cheating Resistance Organization, the Hawks, the AHG and other familiar faces. War was not a major issue in formation of the Union, members were loyal to their groups and united in the conflict with H4H, and the member states were all part of the original friend circle. Aside from a pocket rebellion and civil conflicts between member states, the Union remained very united until the First Union Civil War in November 2009, dictated by Scorpitom355 and creating the common rift between the (by this point) two primary groups of the LBPU, the Agents and the BHers.
DELBOY_102's Rebellion
DELBOY_102's Rebellion was the first Anti-Union movement that the LBP Union had encountered after being founded. H4H Bounty Hunter DELBOY_102 broke away from the Union to form his rebellion to oppose the rest of the Union. His intentions were unclear.
While most of the Union continued to argue with DELBOY_102 about his irrational behavior, M88youngling from the Agents decided to trick DELBOY_102 into thinking they were allies in the matter. This was advised by Kazmord. M88youngling recovered information about how small and undeveloped the rebellion was, and chose to pull out from the operation by betraying DELBOY, ultimately resulting in DELBOY pleading for forgiveness and joining the Agents.This event helped set the Union up to cooperate effectively.
First Union Civil War
The first Union Civil War mainly involved a rift between the H4H Bounty Hunters and the Agents leaders over the recent insurrection led by BarneyTremwoc in 2009. The leader of the Agents had taken the side of Tremwoc and argued in his favor. However, this rift was mainly backseated by Scorpitom335, who drove a wedge between the Agents and the H4H Bounty Hunters for his own personal gain. Eventually, after several days, the bickering and flaming calmed down and peace was restored. The Union was united again, but the scars left from the conflict remained.
The Red Skull Republic / Union War
The Red Skull Republic was soon brought to the Union's attention in the late Winter of 2009. The idea that RSR may have been a malicious organization that harassed and bullied others was a concern to the Union, and Godman2k7 agreed to back the Agents in an espionage effort to find out more about the RSR from the inside. The Agents soon were fooled by false information provided by the Elite Force, which were being attacked by the RSR. The Elite Force lied and said that the RSR had started the fighting unprovoked, but it in reality was a member of Elite Force that had started the fighting. The Union would not find this out until later, however, and it began to prepare for a conflict. The RSR was onto the Union's movements, and after several attacks on Union levels, fighting broke out between the two superpowers. The war eventually ended with a truce, and the Red Skull Republic and the Union became good friends, but the RSR refused to join the Union as a member state.
The Great Schism
In early 2011, President Godman2k7 resigned from office and left MRLane1 as a provisional President. Godman2k7 instructed the other Protectors to decide who to make President and what to do with the Union. Shadow-Man100 from the Bounty Hunters argued that there should not be a President, while M88youngling from the Agents argued that there needed to be a President to maintain stability. Without Godman2k7 to quell their fighting, the arguing soon spiraled out of control and split the Union in half, creating the New Union led by elected President M88youngling and the Loyalist Union, led by Godman2k7 who was incredibly disappointed over the situation. The New Union and the Loyalist Union clashed for a few months or so before they both collapsed.
Refoundation
Prelude
The Union remained disbanded for three years or so, and the Shadow Epoch raged on during this time. As the fighting died down due to the many clans involved in this era collapsed from the constant state of war, M88youngling saw opportunity to rebuild and correct his mistakes during the schism. With some encouragement from friends and others, M88youngling reached out to some other clans and wrote a new constitution for the Union, resulting in the Union's refoundation on December 14th, 2013. The new 'refounding fathers' were
- M88youngling - Unaffiliated, President of the Union
- Cold_Wolf102 - Leader of Treynota Wolfpack
- Soldier-Boy_714 - Leader of the Soldier Wolves
- I_Keel_You_2001 - Lone Wolf Dynasty
- Lgmpm - President of the New California Republic
- Kazmord - CEO of the Sunrise Corporation
President M88youngling and his cabinet worked together to rebuild the infrastructure of the Union and to make it better than the original Union. They also worked to eliminate the weaknesses of the Old Union to prevent an event like the schism from occurring again. Youngling's administration established the Union census, which would play a major role in the organization of the Union for years to come. It's only major internal problems stemmed from the unstable relationship between the Soldier Wolves and the Brotherhood of Steel, which resulted in the Soldier Wolves being threatened with Union Peacekeeper action after an argument between SW leader Soldier-Boy_714 and the BoS leader ProtectmyBanana, who also happened to be the Union Vice President at the time. Soldier-Boy_714 admitted to the acts but remained bitter and hostile for some time after. The LBP Union would decide how to handle the situation sometime later.
Early Foreign Affairs
Conflict Begins with the Remnants Union
Following refoundation, President M88youngling sought out other clans who would be willing to join the Union. One of these clans they found happened to be the Autobots, who agreed to join the LBP Union as a member state. However, the Autobots failed to inform the Union that they were already a member state of the Remnants Union, a strict federation of states headed by President XFinal_IsaacX. Isaac demanded that the Autobots not align themselves with the LBP Union and threatened the LBPU with hostile action if they did not comply or provide another clan as a trade to replace the Autobots. The Union refused to offer up another clan and insisted that it would be the Autobots' choice of whether or not to leave the RU to join the LBPU. The LBPU and the RU agreed on a verbal non-aggression pact after this circumstance, but the tensions continued.
United Clans Federation and the Axis Alliance
Around a similar time to the Autobots fiasco, the LBP Union was made aware of the United Clans Federation and their bickering with the Axis Alliance. The LBP Union attempted to resolve this problem to little avail, however the Axis appeared to have disappeared soon after the fighting. The United Clans Federation saw a shift in leadership to ProtectmyBanana, making the UCF a topic of discussion for possibly uniting it with the Union. However, ProtectmyBanana saw the UCF as an opportunity to lead his own superpower of allied clans.
While the Axis seemed to have dropped in activity, Lord President PolarisPhaedra soon questioned President M88youngling on the state of the Union's affairs with the Axis. The two met and during this meeting, Polar treated the Union as if it were simply another clan rather than as a full fledged alliance of multiple organizations. President M88youngling saw this as slightly threatening, as Polar was suggesting that the Union join the Axis as a member state, effectively putting the Axis above the Union in hierarchy. This was not the LBP Union's vision, as the LBP Union was intended to be a broad alliance of many clans on LBP much like the United Nations. Put off by this, Polar requested an alliance instead. M88youngling refused, citing that it would still reduce the Union to the same level as the Axis when in reality the Union was not meant to be a single power, but rather a voice for a collective community of clans. Polar, upset with this result, informed M88youngling that Nick-C11 would be returning with the Silentium Contra to oppose the Union. This never occurred.
Dissent in the Remnants Union, February Summit of 2014
LBP Union interest in the Jedi Order soon rose. The Jedi Order was an old clan that President XFinal_IsaacX claimed to be part of the Remnants Union. However, the leader of the Jedi Order, Grandmaster Rebeller93, had been missing for nearly a year. A member of his, RenegadeRhythm, had influence in the clan and believed that the LBP Union had better intentions than the Remnants Union and started participating in Union meetings.
On February 15th, 2014, a summit was held in the LBP Union to discuss how to handle the incident between Soldier-Boy_714 and ProtectmyBanana. After some discussion, Lgmpm, Ferbfan01, RenegadeRhythm and M88youngling decided it was best to allow Soldier-Boy_714 to defend himself in the Union Supreme Court for his trial, however Soldier-Boy remained incredibly bitter and left the Union on his own whim, bringing the Soldier Wolves with him. Treynota Wolfpack and the Brotherhood of Steel also left shortly thereafter, citing the instability of the incident. Treynota Wolfpack left to join the Axis Alliance, while the Brotherhood of Steel left to pursue its interests with the United Clans Federation. However, the BoS cited 'anarchist beliefs,' despite the federalist nature of the UCF. All in all, the startling secession of the three clans showed that the Union had lost over 80 members, but over a 100 remained.
War With the Remnants Union
Sa'Reth Rebellion and Denouncement
The Remnants Union in March denounced the LBP Union to new clans such as the Yautja Predators and the Masquerade Society, warning them not to join the LBP Union and instead join the Remnants Union. President XFinal_IsaacX also accused the Union of being responsible for a troll who claimed to run an organization called the Sa'Reth Rebellion. The Sa'Reth Rebellion posted levels depicting the capture of Union leaders and Middle Eastern racial stereotypes regarding terrorism, though this was never directly referenced by name in the Sa'Reth levels. The Union had never authorized the activities, though they were being carried out independently by a Union endorsed artist named Huntsman007, who was ordered to shut down the Sa'Reth immediately. The Remnants Union continued to blame the Union and began a series of flamewars and operations that became known as the Remnants Union / LBP Union War.
Overview of the War
The war started out as mainly flamewars between the Remnants Union and the LBP Union, but later the stalemate resulted in the Remnants Union trying to ruin the LBPU's reputation with propaganda. During this time, remaining active members of the Jedi Order split from the group to form the Knights of the Force under Grandmaster RenegadeRhythm, which assisted the LBP Union in the defense against the Remnants Union. The Remnant's Union's last stand at the end of March was to attempt to sway several key Union leaders to their side. XFinal_IsaacX contacted CCSocalGamer, Lgmpm, Spleentastik, Hoeflers4 and Halkoonen. No immediate success arose from this due to the swift response of the Protectors. The LBP Union however had rebuilt the Union Task Force and scored several victories through tactical reporting strikes in April as retaliation. As the LBP Union continued to grow and the Remnants Union poured more energy into discrediting the LBPU, the RU began to weaken. Isaac saw no immediate success and the Remnants Union continued to plummet into inactivity, leaving the Union standing as the dominant power and it continued to grow. Some arguing with Isaac continued after this, but the Remnants Union was effectively crippled.
Axis Conflict
After the collapse of the Remnants Union, Lord President PolarisPhaedra took note of the state of the Remnants Union and the ongoing rise of the LBP Union. Threatened by the defeat of one of his best friends, Polar prepared to take on the LBP Union alongside what was left of the United Clans Federation and the Remnants Union. However, this was initially quelled by LBPU/Axis peace talks. Polar actually seeked to work alongside the LBPU to take on the Red Skull Republic, as HomocidalChicken had been trolling Polar and tricking him into thinking the RSR was going to make a comeback to destroy the Axis.
Later however, the Axis declared war and Polar personally challenged M88youngling to a create war duel. Citing opposition to create war, M88youngling refused. The Axis soon collapsed within a month after a power struggle and multiple administration changes stemming from a failed election.
Operation Lunar Storm
After some time of development after the Remnants Union and Axis conflicts, the Union mainly faced threats from small troll organizations. However, in the Fall, The LBP Union found itself aware of an organization named Judgement which was formed by former leaders of the Fallen Republic. Forced to form a secret coalition with the Remnants Union, Silentium Contra and the Axis to contain Judgement, the LBP Union spearheaded the campaign and built up the Union Task Force. This massive campaign was known as Operation Lunar Storm. The LBP Union's participation in the operation outweighed that of the other participants, and after the others in the coalition began bullying members of Judgement, the LBPU withdrew from the coalition, effectively bringing the alliance to an end as the LBP Union operated against Judgement by itself. The LBPU's campaign lasted from October 19th, 2014 to March 7th, 2015, officially.
The Novus Carta
Failures observed in the original refounded Union constitution led to the passage of the Novus Carta on April 20th, 2015. The Novus Carta rid the Union of a direct democracy in favor of a representative one, as well as patched many holes in the original constitution regarding membership and definitions for various government programs such as the Independent States Allied Forces and more.
The Visarian Mandate and Großdeutsches Reich
The former leaders of Judgement banded together later in the Summer of 2015 to form the Visarian Mandate, which seemed to exist for the purpose of disrupting the LBP Union. The Visarian Mandate took advantage of the Großdeutsches Reich, a small clan led by MeanieKiller5481 which was once part of the Union. By creating a fake account of the NCR representative VitoCoreleon001 (fix) and using it as false evidence of espionage from the Union, the Visarian Mandate managed to turn the Reich against the Union and the Mandate turned the Reich into a puppet state for several months. The Mandate and the Reich's relationship ended after conflict between the Reich and the Union. The Reich never returned to the LBP Union and both the Visarian Mandate and the German Reich's activities declined significantly.
The Dark Akatsuki
Around August 8th, 2015, the Union took note of a conflict between the two clans of the Dark Akatsuki and Dogs Clan. The Union and its foreign ministry attempted to resolve the situation by setting up peace talks but this had little avail. The Dark Akatsuki's leader, Bzrew45, refused to be part of the Union and insisted on furthering the conflict with Dogs Clan. Dogs Clan agreed to step down its aggression as well, but soon it elevated its actions to trolling, which eventually led to Dogs Clan being discredited by the Union as a troll organization.
A section of the Dark Akatsuki led by Bzrew45's second in command, Harrysboo427, seceded and joined the Union to reform the Dark Akatsuki while Bzrew45 rebuilt the original TDA into the Senkei Dark Akatuski. While this led to some tensions between the two groups due to Harrysboo's youthful immaturity and failure to utilize Union counter-troll policy, the SDA eventually fell into inactivity and no longer was a threat.
Resignation of M88youngling
On July 16th, 2016, President M88youngling and all of the Protectors resigned from their positions at the monthly summit. M88youngling agreed to help author an amendment that would establish Presidential elections for the Union as well as eliminate the ailing Parliament established by the Novus Carta. The amendment was ratified and the Union Commission was established, essentially a council of Union clan leaders and their co-leaders.
Taurian Concordat Fiasco
Tensions were already high between Taurian Concordat and several other Union states such as the Dark Akatsuki and the Pride of the Fallen. This was due to Taurian Concordat's use of reckless espionage by one of its members against the ailing Senkei Dark Akatsuki and the League of Excellence. Despite calls for legislation to regulate espionage and hinder Taurian Concordat's reckless actions, Primevaliam and the leaders of the two clans strongly against Taurian Concordat's actions formed a meeting to vote the offending member of Taurian Concordat out of the Union. However, Primevaliam and the others did not reach a majority. Despite their invalid vote, Taurian Concordat seceded from the Union by choice, feeling betrayed by their allies. This resulted in M88youngling's outrage at the situation, describing the actions of Primevaliam and his followers as bullying and harassment. M88youngling withheld his clan's (the New Lunar Republic) nomination for Primevaliam until Primevaliam could amend his mistakes.
Primevaliam and Visarian Relations
Shortly after this Taurian Concordat Fiasco and M88youngling's resignation, Primevaliam and other Union leaders were approached by a Certain Visarian Lieutenant with the goal of negotiating a formal peace treaty and amending any animosity between the two organizations believing hostilities came from the lack of communication and misinterpretation. After M88Youngling was informed of this he urged Prime to immediately cease any communications with these individuals of concern for Prime's safety. Believing the Visarians were using this as a way to secure administrative power in the Union and use it as a basis for trolling. Prime refused to acknowledge the warning and kept trying to get Youngling to understand that Visaria was trying to improve relations and nothing more. M88younglimg immediately banned anyone suspected with being in contact with any of Visaria's members from the Union discord server. He then locked the Union website, hid the Novus Carta from public view, and locked any Union levels on LittleBigPlanet 2 and 3. This was done, as M88youngling explained, to prevent the Visarians from being able to continue the Union and utilize it for ill intent.
The Union Today
The LBP Union's status today is not clear, though there are a few clans who identify with the LBP Union, but do not meet.
Demographics
Population
Old Union
The population of the old Union was never recorded and thus it is not entirely possible to know for certain how many people were in the Union at any given time. This especially becomes difficult due to the nature of how the H4H Bounty Hunters identified members.
Refounded Union
The population of the Union after refoundation fluctuated quite often, going as high as around 260 members or as low as even 30 members. Generally the Union has seen an average of around 100 to 120 members from all clans combined.
Language
Old Union
The old LBP Union mainly saw English speakers and a select few English/Portuguese speaking players.
Refounded Union
The LBP Union has seen a majority of English speakers, and the second most common language in the Union is Spanish. Some French speakers have been involved, as well as some Finnish and Filipino.
Government
Old Union
It is not known if the original rendition of the Union had a constitution or not. The LBP Union in the beginning was mainly run by the Protectors, which were major leaders in the alliance. Most of these Protector positions had special titles, such as the President, the Vice President, and the Diplomat. Protectors were not given very much power aside from the massive influence they gained from being part of the core leadership of the Union, which gave them the power to discuss and advise others of a course of action that the Union could then take together. The President of the Union was not elected and had little official power.
Refounded Union
The LBP Union after refoundation used the original Constitution to operate, which allowed for legislation to be proposed by representatives from each clan, and then those proposals could be voted directly by the members of the Union. The Protectors had much more specialized roles. These were the President, the Vice President, the Minister of Domestic Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Security and the Minister of Intelligence. Rarely were all of these positions filled at any one time.
The President was not elected and had little official power, but the Protectors as a whole were a powerful group that could vote to remove member states and mobilize the Union Task Force.
The legislature divided up proposals into two categories, the General Assembly and Security Council, which had their own subcategories. Representatives could participate in both, as these two were not official houses.
Direct democracy failed miserably for the Union, and after the painstaking efforts of passing General Assembly Resolution [R.001], the Novus Carta soon came along to fix the problem. The Novus Carta was a new constitution for the Union that replaced the direct democracy with a representative one. It established a name for the representatives as a whole, referring to them as the Union Parliament. The parliament would not pass very many resolutions, but it was much more productive for the Union in the long run.
Amendment 1 - The Commissioner Accord
On July 25th, 2016, the Union passed its first amendment to the Novus Carta titled the Commissioner Accord, written by M88youngling to help establish a system for Presidential elections and replace the Parliament with a council of clan leaders and their co-leaders. This new council is known as the Union Commission. The Commision is able to essentially perform all the actions the Protectors can, but only as a group. They can also propose and vote on legislation, and serve as the electors of the President.
Foreign Relations and Military
Old Union
The old Union viewed other clans that did not want to join the Union with some suspicion, and often did not speak with them much. It invited most clans to join the Union, (which most of them did) and left it at that. The Union's defensive ability rested mostly in the hands of the H4H Bounty Hunters, but the Union maintained the Union Task Force for joint defense purposes.
Refounded Union
The refounded Union, similar to the old Union, was very cautious of clans outside of the Union that did not want to join the alliance. These groups were thought to not want to follow the basic rules of the Union, which were constructed with the intent of preserving LBP and protecting its players. If they didn't want to follow these rules, they may mean ill will to the community and should not be supported. The LBP Union also wished to maintain a status as a global peacekeeping entity like the United Nations, and was firmly against any sort of foreign relations where the LBP Union was a party like any other nation instead of a broad authority where clans come to discuss their affairs between one another. This was shown during the prelude to the Axis conflict, and it also has degraded the relationship between the Red Skull Republic and the LBP Union. Although the Red Skull Republic seeks a friendly relationship with the Union, the LBP Union does not recognize the RSR or engage in many friendly actions with the group because the RSR refuses to join the LBP Union as a member state, leading many in the Union to worry about the RSR's true intentions. The LBP Union also tends to not recognize states that do not wish to join the Union, as they often are very small and giving them the recognition they desire might lead to them gaining more influence and more members, allowing them to become a problem for the community.
The Union Task Force was reformed by the Union after refoundation and served great purpose in various conflicts. Later, after the ratification of the Novus Carta, the Union established a joint defense coalition of clans in the alliance, which was known as the Independent States Allied Forces.
Culture and Style
The LBP Union uses a fairly bright style, focusing on clean wooden structures and minimalist elements. More recently, the Union has used a darker wooden style for its VIP areas and Executive areas, especially the
McEoin Building. The Union utilizes a predominately azure blue and white color scheme.
Infrastructure
In the days of the old Union, the LBPU communicated via PSN text chats and using the LBP Union HQ's comment section as a sort of forum. After refoundation, the Union is supposed to meet once a month for a scheduled summit. PlayStation Messages is used extensively to get information out to members, and group chats are utilized off PSN to help get around the PS3/PS4 communication gap.
Other
Here is a list off all groups and clans that were in the LBPU before it initially fell in 2011 (Note: List is still missing a few groups):
- The H4H Bounty Hunters
- The Agents
- Cheating Resistance Organization (Later the Commando Recon Operations)
- The Hawks
- Knights of Valor
- Anti H4H Group (Joshyking90)
- Death Grip
- Solar Ice
- CoCo Creators Clan
- Fury Fang
- Union Protection Squad
- The Balance
- TechnoRevolution
- Ninja03036's Clan (Establishment was never completed.)
- ISR