The Shadow Epoch was the time period that lasted from the Great Union Schism to the end of 2012 or 2013. This era is notable for having the greatest activity of clans on LBP in history, but also has an extremely high frequency of clan warfare, bullying and harassment. It is considered to be the dark age of clanning, and it's effects resonate even to this day in the community.
Overview
The Shadow Epoch is typically considered to have begun after the Union schism, however it is not known if the activities of the time had begun before that. Many of the clans that lived in the Shadow Epoch had already been established during the days of the Union and even perhaps before that. These clans were groups like the Red Skull Republic, Red Eagle Army and Akatsuki. These clans would be extremely influential in the time period, however they would not be the only parties involved.
Dozens of clans were established and many began to have spats, which quickly escalated into huge, global flamewars. In order to settle these flamewars, clans near the top of the scale adopted a policy of 'warfare' called 'create war.' Create war was a practice where the two warring parties would create a level, and the level with the most likes would be considered a victor. This put smaller clans without many allies at a disadvantage because they didn't have as much influence and also not as many members to rate up the level, meaning that the larger clans could not only get more community influence, but they could use underhanded tactics like using side accounts to boost their ratings higher and also downrate enemy levels. One of the largest problems that played into the favor of the larger clans was the existence of the downvote on levels. Rating warfare became the standard, and larger groups were able to set an elitist standard that allowed them to socially rule over the clanning community.
History
Many conflicts were fought during the Shadow Epoch, and though much is lost and unknown, these are some events that are known.
The Rise and Fall of the Akatsuki
While many stories of the warring factions of the Shadow Epoch are lost to improper recordkeeping, one of the known, disputable conflicts in the Shadow Epoch was the rise and fall of the Akatsuki. At this time, the community looked to the Fallen Republic and it's subsequent puppet states and allies for order. Utilizing create war to make their name in the world, the Fallen Republic set it's sights on gaining even more social strength through destroying a major clan. As such, it set its sights on eliminating the aging Akatsuki. The Fallen Republic began a campaign to mass bully emos, a certain subculture of players. This campaign was likened to the holocaust by its participants. The goal of the campaign however was not to eliminate the emos, but instead to augment the hate against them in the community towards the Akatsuki. This was done with great success, and many clans turned against the Akatsuki, rallied up by the Fallen Republic.
Akatsuki was also having internal strife. Though it was one of the largest and strongest groups, there was internal tension in the group that the Fallen Republic perhaps sought to take advantage of in their campaign. By driving away the Akatsuki's leader Chriswolf119 with harassment and essentially stressing him off LBP, the Akatsuki fell into civil war between many factions which simply fizzled out of existence. The Akatsuki was no more, and the event empowered the Fallen Republic to rule for the next year.
Events like these on a smaller scale were commonplace between clans in the Shadow Epoch.
Red Eagle Army vs Anti Red Eagle Army
Sometime early in the Shadow Epoch, the Red Eagle Army found itself in a civil war with an organization developed by a defecting REA member called Anti-Red Eagle Army. The conflict lasted several months and resulted in the REA falling into inactivity, though it is not known if AREA was completely responsible for the fall of the REA. AREA eventually also fell into inactivity.
Legacy
By the end of the Shadow Epoch, nearly every single clan present during this time had collapsed from over two years of war. The primary legacy of the time period was create war, which was subsequently adopted by some remnants of former Shadow Epoch clans. Create war was adopted by the reformed Axis Powers during the time of the refounded LBP Union and the tactic was used against the LBPU. However, the LBPU stood firm and refused to accept the challenge, leading to the end of mainstream create war.
After the Shadow Epoch, the quality of clans in terms of creating skill dropped massively, but the fighting and strife has gone down to a minimum.
Most importantly, the general non-clanning community watched the Shadow Epoch from the sidelines, and grew to fear clanning because of the intense harassment and bullying present in the many wars. This grudge lasts to the present day, and affects clan recruitment in the Union, despite the clearly stated intentions of the LBPU to help the community. Clanning is perhaps forever stained by fallout of the Shadow Epoch's bellicose history.