The Judgment-LBP Union Conflict was a period of tension between the an allied coalition and Judgment from October 2014 to March 2015. The allied coalition opposed Judgment's leadership and ideology. Judgment sought its own preservation and to revive core aspects of Fallen Republic such as creative elitism.
The conflict resulted in greater creative output on both sides. Although Judgment failed to expand its organization and grow, its conflict with the LittleBigPlanet Union laid the groundwork for the foundation of the Visarian Mandate.
Prelude[]
Judgment[]
Sometime in 2014, a Kik group chat was established between a number of individuals such as Nick-C11, PolarisPhaedra, XFinal_IsaacX, RaymenBadcookie, Forceman11, TheTornTerraform, and several others. [1]
Nick-C11 soon invited Jukewannabe to the group chat. Jukewannabe and TheTornTerraform discussed forming Judgment as a new clan, deriving stylistic and ideological aspects from Fallen Republic.[1]
Jukewannabe's return and the discussion of a new clan caused concern between the members of Silentium Contra, the Remnants Union, and the Axis Alliance that were in the group chat. This was especially the case because they were aware of Jukewannabe's leadership of Fallen Republic and Blood Star Rebellion.[1] [2]
Judgment, from this group chat, soon recruited Chimerandinos, Huntsman007, and Lewis300199.[1]
The Coalition and the LittleBigPlanet Union[]
The LittleBigPlanet Union Protectors became aware of Judgment in August 2014.[3] It wasn't until October 21st that the Union was made aware that the Silentium Contra, Remnants Union and the Axis Alliance were uniting to stand against Judgment.[1]
The LBP Union was not initially convinced to join this coalition, as the coalition was composed of its former enemies, the Axis Alliance and the Remnants Union. The threat of the Evurikal Legion's Operation Exclave infiltration into the Union also made President M88youngling paranoid. [4]
On October 22nd, Union Bureau of Investigation Director The-Pool_is-Open was discovered to have had a friendly relationship with Judgment leader Jukewannabe. This perceived loss of Pool to Judgment was a critical factor in the Protectors' decision to align itself with the coalition. The Union administration feared that Judgment would attempt to establish a 'new world order' and destroy other clans to accomplish its mission.[4]
Judgment's flag.
Preparation and Establishment of the Coalition[]
LBP Union's Initial Preparation[]
In October, 2014, The Union Protectors did not trust their new partners in the coalition. The Union referred to the coalition as the Independent States Allied Forces. This title was later used as the defensive coalition of the Union after the passage of the Novus Carta in 2015.[5]
President M88youngling and the Protectors were adamant about ensuring that the Union Task Force could operate independently of the coalition if needed. To accomplish this, a a recruitment goal was established for the UTF. This was meant to bolster the Union's grief reporting abilities to counter Judgment. This rests on the assumption that Judgment would produce content that violated LittleBigPlanet's End User License Agreement (EULA). Initially, the Union referred to this campaign to contain Judgment as Operation Magatama. Not only would the tactics of this campaign involve grief reporting, but also rating brigading. Operation Magatama eventually was renamed to Operation Lunar Storm.[5]
The-Pool_is-Open Fiasco[]
Following the discovery of The-Pool_is-Open's relationship with Jukewannabe, Union President M88youngling was made aware that Pool had threatened Cold_Wolf102, the leader of the Crimson Blades as well as another member of the Blades named Kyuubi_Youko_9. The Crimson Blades administration directly informed the Union Protectors with photographic evidence of Pool's harassment. Pool had also in these photos revealed that he opposed the LBP Union in favor of Judgment. Despite this, Pool declared that he retained Union citizenship. In response, M88youngling began to support prosecuting Pool for treason in the LBP Union Supreme Court to revoke Pool's Union citizenship. M88youngling was worried that the trial might inadvertently advertise Judgment and its message to the community, which led him to be hesitant about proceeding.[6]
Pool's Manifesto.
Pool's Manifesto[]
Pool responded by publishing Pool's Manifesto on October 23rd, a document containing his legal defense and a sharp critique of the LittleBigPlanet Union administration and its policies. By pointing out that President M88youngling had attempted to blackmail The-Pool_is-Open for information on Judgment, even though it was a bluff, this document opened up further dialogue and debate about the presence of corruption in the LBP Union. The Union Protectors interpreted it as a dangerous attack meant to destabilize the Union by swaying the opinions of the masses to Judgment's side. It was also thought that the Manifesto was part of a plot to remove M88youngling from office and to bring about the end of the Union itself. The Manifesto can be linked to Judgment as it's likely that Chimerandinos, a Judgment member at the time, was the true author of the document. The Manifesto resulted in a fear that the Union was being maliciously targeted by Judgment to advance their interests.[7]
End of The-Pool_is-Open Fiasco[]
After the publishing of Pool's Manifesto, the LBP Union administration sought to organize a trial in the LBP Union Supreme Court to convict The-Pool_is-Open of treason. Pool demanded that Jukewannabe be his defense attorney. Although Jukewannabe was not a Union citizen, there were no rules stipulating that a defense attorney must be a Union citizen.[8]
Following this, The-Pool_is-Open was removed from his position as director of the Union Bureau of Investigation. Since he was not a member of any Union clan, this meant that he no longer held Union citizenship and was ejected from the Union. This meant that his treason trial in the LBP Union Supreme Court was no longer necessary.[8]
The Operation Lunar Storm plans recognized that this decision sidestepped the democratic process. However, it justified the decision by claiming that without a properly functioning judicial system, the trial would have been impossible and might have benefitted Judgment or even destabilized the Union.[9]
Disagreement Within the Coalition[]
Throughout the conflict, the Union was concerned about the apathy and perceived irresponsibility of their allies in the coalition. The Axis, Remnants Union and Silentium Contra often directly argued with Judgment members. The LBP Union believed that this only made the problem worse. The Union's plan focused on 'starving' Judgment of attention. To accomplish this, a full termination of communications with Judgment and its supporters was required. The Union also pushed for the use of grief reporting to cause the moderation of Judgment levels and rating brigading to prevent them from gaining top reviews and popular levels. Worrying that the coalition allies were only going to hinder the campaign against Judgment by refusing to follow the UTF's doctrine, the Union Protectors began to plan ways of sabotaging their coalition allies. This never came to fruition. The Protectors were also focused on keeping the coalition a secret. However, this was spoiled by XFinal_IsaacX, the leader of the Remnants Union who mistakenly told a Judgment member about the coalition.[10]
Pirate Dinosaur Alliance Secedes From the LBP Union[]
The Pirate Dinosaur Alliance secession on October 29th certainly contributed to the anxiety of the Union's conflict with Judgment. Without a clear answer as to the cause of why its members voted for the referendum to secede, the exit of PDA from the Union was speculated by the Union Protectors to be orchestrated by Judgment.[11] Judgment involvement in the secession is unverified.[citation needed]
Coalition Offensive[]
First Moves[]
The LBP Union's Operation Lunar Storm report alleges that Judgment initially sought to convince members of the coalition to join forces with them, going so far as to attempt to convince XFinal_IsaacX to give them control over the Remnants Union. The report also alleges that Chimerandinos attempted to win the Axis's election for Lord President. If he would have been successful, the Axis would have been under the control of Judgment. Although it seems likely that Judgment attempted to utilize political manipulation of Coalition clans prior to LBP3's release,[12] the exact details of their strategy and tactics are unknown.
On November 6th, the Union Task Force collectively grief reported a Nazi-themed level published by Huntsman007, a known supporter of Judgment. The operation was perceived as a complete success, as the level vanished the following day. President M88youngling suspected that its deletion may not have been from UTF action alone.[13] Unlike other missions conducted by the Union Task Force during this period, this event has no formal documentation.
Union Task Force Reports Judgment Press Conference[]
Days later on November 8th, the Union Task Force began Operation First Strike, a similar mission to grief report a Judgment level parodying an LBP Union press conference. It was selected due its references to illicit drug use, which the Union administration believed made it likely to be deleted by moderation.[13]
On November 9th, the UTF observed that the level had vanished, suggesting that it was deleted by moderators, which led to the Union administration to claim Operation First Strike as a success. More importantly to them, they had accomplished their goal without the aid of the coalition. Since the reporting was done covertly, Judgment was unaware that the LBP Union had potentially played a role in the deletion of the level.[13]
Dadehboh and Union's Next Plan[]
On November 11th, president M88youngling wrote about an individual known as 'Dadehboh' who claimed to have information about Judgment. Dadehboh and two others attempted to convince the Union president that the LBPU's minister of domestic affairs, Spleentastik, was a traitor. However, M88youngling dismissed Dahdehboh as being a Judgment spy attempting to spread disinformation.[13][14]
Also on this day, M88youngling wrote about his interest in finding someone to fulfill the role of commander of the Union Task Force. Up until this point, M88youngling himself had been taking on this role, diverting his attention from other aspects of the Union.[13][14]
Confident that the Union could handle Judgment in the future, President M88youngling on November 12th wrote about adjusting their strategy. Since he perceived that the other coalition clans were too weak and disorganized and may only aid Judgment by giving them more attention, he proposed luring Judgment to focus on the Union instead.[15]
New UTF logo.
Union Task Force Growth[]
The Union Task Force continued to grow despite the Union's insistence on keeping their role in the conflict as covert as possible. Union Minister of Defense MidnightLights10 was in the process of training Greenfoxthe1 for a squad-leadership position within the UTF around November 13th.[15]
M88youngling wrote on November 13th that he planned for a number of UTF members to act as 'expeditionary forces' once LittleBigPlanet 3 launched to grief report Judgment content that might not be accessible to those without the new game.[15]
Defense and Dissension Within Judgment[]
Throughout this period, Judgment felt that its objective to grow their organization could not be realized until they could deal with the hostile allied coalition. They referred to the allied coalition as 'the Allies'.[16] It is not clear if Judgment was aware that the deletion of four Judgment-related levels prior to LittleBigPlanet 3's UK release on November 28th[17] was due to coalition action.
Pressured by the coalition, Judgment built a variety of high-quality assets and trained new members in their unique creative style that was based heavily on the former Fallen Republic.[16]
Jukewannabe throughout the conflict paid little attention to the personal behaviors of the group's members, focusing chiefly on content creation. Particularly, Judgment members independently and cooperatively engaged in harassment of furries and other players they referred to as 'spergs',[18] an ableist slur with the implication that a person has Asperger's syndrome.[19][20]
Jukewannabe took no action to remove or discipline these members, leading to some dissension within the organization. Those concerned with the behaviors of Judgment members placed blame on TheTornTerraform was in charge of recruitment. Believing that he had low standards for the organization, Terraform was soon forced out his recruitment role. Terraform denied responsibility.[18]
According to a journal entry written by M88youngling, the Union president observed that there was news of a 'rift between Juke and Chim', referring to Jukewannabe and Chimerandinos. However, it's possible that this was a mistake and in fact referred to the removal of TheTornTerraform from his position. In this case, the event took place sometime around November 14th.[21]
TheTornTerraform Approaches the Coalition[]
Frustrated that he had been removed from his position in Judgment, TheTornTerraform contacted coalition leaders with the hope of aiding them. The coalition leaders were suspicious of him, especially Union President M88youngling. However, Nick-C11 of the Silentium Contra was the most trusting of Terraform.[22]
However, before TheTornTerraform could be much aid to the coalition, he was offered his position back in Judgment. Coalition leaders responded with anger, especially Silentium Contra. [22]
Release of LittleBigPlanet 3, Crimson Blades, and Spleentastik[]
LittleBigPlanet 3 was released in North America on November 18th, 2014.[17] M88youngling also wrote on this day that Spleentastik had resigned as Minister of Domestic Affairs and left the Union, implying that her clan the Order of Chaos had seceded or disbanded as well.[23]
Additionally, OjibOgichida-78 was appointed as commander of the Union Task Force on November 18th.[23]
The LBP Union also learned that Judgment would be attending a meeting on November 22nd hosted by the Crimson Blades that Union leaders were also invited to. M88youngling planned to attend the meeting and try speak over Judgment representatives.[23]
On November 20th, Union Minister of Foreign Affairs CCSocalGamer was contacted by Judgment members. He decided to lead them to believe that he was willing to help them in a bid to gain more information from them. This led to plans to lure Judgment members into the Union's IRC channel and IP ban them to prevent them from accessing future meetings. However, the results of this plan are unknown. [23]
The Coalition Grief Reports Jukewannabe's Reichstag Level[]
On November 24th, the LBP Union proposed a plan called Operation Arrowhead to the coalition. This would utilize organized grief reporting to lead to Jukewannabe's permanent suspension from PlayStation Network. The coalition was motivated to attempt this plan due to Judgment's development of DyOS, a fully-fledged operating system built in LittleBigPlanet. However, according to the official Operation Arrowhead plans, the LBP Union mistakenly thought that DyOS was a 'complex calculator'. The coalition feared that DyOS would become successful with the general LBP community and might even be chosen as a Team Pick which might legitimize Judgment's status.[24][25]
Operation Arrowhead targeted Jukewannabe's Reichstag level due to its Nazi imagery even though the level was not directly related to Judgment. The raid was planned to take place on November 26th, however after the mission was potentially leaked by UTF member Nathan-Holdridge, the coalition launched the operation on November 25th at 4:00 PM EST instead.[24]
The report following the operation stated that results were seen within two hours of the raid. Jukewannabe's Reichstag level had disappeared along with another level he had published called Battle Planet Syria. The official report states that the operation lasted from 16:00 to 17:30 EST. However, it also states that the time elapsed was two hours.[26]
Despite the efforts of the coalition, Jukewannabe was not suspended from PlayStation Network following the raid.[24]
End of the Year[]
Holiday Preparation and UTF Training Exercises[]
A bridge in the South Las Calles Union Refoundation Day level.
Following the raid, the LBP Union administration focused more on content creation for the upcoming anniversary of the Union's reformation on December 14th. Although the publishing of three levels was meant to celebrate the anniversary and engage Union members, another motive was to draw attention away from Judgment.[27]
On December 7th, the Union Task Force participated in a rating brigading training exercise called Operation Round Table led by new UTF Commander OjibOgichida-78. The exercise was successful, surpassing its expected metrics. However, there were rating counts on the level used for the operation that could not be accounted for by UTF members. This led to the conclusion that there may have been outside interference, possibly from Judgment.[27]
Remnants Union Diverges In Tactics[]
On December 11th, the LBP Union administration observed that the Remnants Union's new president, Thomahawke142, had begun to engage in slandering and flaming with Judgment members. This went against the Coalition's agreement to contain Judgment. Despite the LBP Union's protests, Thomahawke142 continued in his efforts.[28]
This led the LBP Union administration to further distrust their allies in the coalition.[28]
Judgment Increases Public Activity[]
Contrary to the LBP Union's expectations, Judgment did not attempt to challenge or interfere with the publishing of Union Refoundation Day levels.[29] Union Refoundation Day was a success, the levels unintentionally being placed in the 'lucky dip' level pages where it gained more community attention than anticipated.[27]
However, around December 16th, Judgment members fixated on furry creator Ground_Patrol. M88youngling noted that Ground_Patrol claimed that he was unable to block Judgment members on LBP.me and had to delete messages from them individually.[30]
On December 19th, negative reviews from Judgment members were discovered on a Union member state level belonging to the New California Republic. President M88youngling indicated that he wanted to respond to this 'attack' via rating brigading rather than deletion.[29] It is unknown if his plan was ever successful.
Judgment also attempted to gain control of the Evurikal Legion. In response, Evurikal Legion Hardware34 disbanded the clan to avoid it being assimilated by Judgment. Despite opposing Judgment, Hardware34 refused to delete comments posted by Judgment when asked by the LBP Union.[29]
January to March 2015[]
Judgment Targets M88youngling[]
On December 28th, M88youngling wrote that he believed that Judgment was losing interest in LittleBigPlanet and the conflict might soon come to an end. However, a month later, Judgment threatened M88youngling, accusing him of sexual harassment around January 27th. M88youngling offered a ceasefire between the LBP Union and Judgment in order to deescalate the conflict. Judgment backed away from the accusations of sexual harassment, but refused to agree to a truce.[29] The Union president denied the accusations.[3]
LBP Union Leaves the Coalition[]
After observing coalition leaders bullying Judgment member Chimerandinos, LBP Union president M88youngling expressed outrage. Despite the coalition's protests, M88youngling brought Union representatives and Protectors to the attention of the issue. True Mandalorian Empire's Union representative TeamHeidi and the other Union Protectors agreed that it was necessary to leave the coalition immediately.[31]
By this point, Judgment did not consider the Remnants Union or the Axis Alliance to be active members of the coalition. Thus, they believed that the LBP Union and the Silentum Contra were their only opponents. However, once the LBP Union left the coalition, Judgment interpreted the move as being that the LBP Union had withdrawn from the conflict completely. They also observed that the Silentium Contra had distanced themselves from the conflict and from the game itself.[32]
Because of this, Judgment felt more comfortable focusing on its internal structure and style because it believed that there was no one left to oppose them. The work completed following this directly led to the group's evolution into the Visarian Mandate.[32]
From left to right: Spleentastik, Soldier Wolves leader Soldier-Boy_714, and Ground_Patrol's alternate account Bocaj12345689
A censored version of a Judgment anti-furry propaganda poster.
LBP Union Counters Judgment Harassment of Furries[]
On January 27th, the Union Task Force initiated Operation Sitting Duck, a campaign to counter Judgment's harassment of furries. The plans drew parallels between the goals of the alleged 'emo holocaust' perpetrated by the Fallen Republic and harassing furries might benefit Judgment. The UTF speculated that Judgment might have been deliberately harassing furries to gain more attention to their cause.[33]
In an attempt to counteract this, the UTF's objective was to contain Judgment by encouraging users to block and report Judgment members and refrain from responding to them. It was hoped that without attention to their cause, Judgment's support would evaporate.[33]
One of the main challenges of the campaign was that Judgment members frequently engaged in flaming with the Soldier Wolves and Ground_Patrol. The Soldier Wolves were openly hostile toward the Union and refused to block and report Judgment members. Ground_Patrol on the other hand was unable to block Judgment members and was at a disadvantage in responding to the threat.[33]
LBP Union's Further Concern Over DyOS[]
Union President M88youngling drafted plans on January 9th to potentially counter Judgment's DyOS project. This time, M88youngling described DyOS as a 'hyper-complex logic calculator', which failed to capture its true purpose as a fully-fledged operating system.[34]
However, the UTF was at a loss as to how to respond to DyOS. It was predicted that there would be little-to-no content in the level that DyOS would be published in besides the device itself and therefore there would be no content to report that might violate the game's EULA. this meant that new tactics would have to be devised if the UTF was to actively counter DyOS. [34]
DyOS was published on January 30th, 2015, gaining over a thousand plays in the first few days of its release. The Union Task Force found itself unable to respond, especially with its commander OjibOgichida-78 on leave.
The Union Task Force did not attempt to counter DyOS, but plans did exist to make an attempt to destroy the level through Operation Crusher. The first tactic the plan discusses was to create a new LittleBigPlanet 3 headquarters for the Union and new levels for the Union's capital city of Las Calles. This was hoped to outshine Judgment's project and draw more attention to the Union.[34]
Another tactic proposed was to plant copyrighted material in the level and then grief reporting it.[34] However, this was seen as a last resort and was likely not carried out due to being very unethical.[3]
End of the Conflict[]
The Judgment-LBP Union Conflict came to an end sometime around March 2015. The LBP Union recognized the end of the conflict by officially concluding Operation Lunar Storm on March 7th.[35]
Judgment[]
Although relatively disorganized and focused on dealing with their enemies, Judgment completed a great deal of work that would later lead to the foundation of the Visarian Mandate. They also completed DyOS, one of the most advanced logic creations ever developed in LittleBigPlanet.[36]
However, Judgment's reputation declined over the course of the conflict. Already infamous due to its members' former affiliation with Fallen Republic, its elitism and negligence toward the harassment its members took part in, Judgment was often referred to by the Union as trolls.[36]
LittleBigPlanet Union[]
The tactics developed by the Union Task Force to counteract Judgment persisted well after the end of the conflict, consisting mainly of grief reporting, rating brigading, and strategies involving denying attention to 'trolls' to contain their influence.[36]
However, the LBP Union's great attention to the conflict meant that it was not able to focus as strongly on other parts of the Union's internal structure and growth. The failing judicial system led to the forced removal of The-Pool_is-Open from the Union, an action that can be interpreted as corrupt despite the regret voiced by the Union administration.[36]
The most important creative development of the LittleBigPlanet Union during this time was the Union Refoundation Day project which resulted in three new levels being published.[36] However, the groundwork was also laid for a new LittleBigPlanet 3 HQ for the Union.[3]
Other Coalition Members[]
The Remnants Union, Axis Alliance, and Silentium Contra were perceived by both the LBP Union and Judgment to have fallen into inactivity by the end of the conflict.[36]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (p. 4)
- ↑ Biography of Polarlab
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 M88youngling's Testimony
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chronology of the Judgment-LBPU Conflict (p. 5)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chronology of the Judgment-LBPU Conflict (pp. 6-7)
- ↑ Chronology of the Judgment-LBPU Conflict (p. 7)
- ↑ Chronology of the Judgment-LBPU Conflict (pp. 7-8)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (pp. 19-20)
- ↑ Operation Lunar Storm Plans (pp. 9-10)
- ↑ Chronology of the Judgment-LBPU Conflict (pp. 8-9)
- ↑ Chronology of the Judgment-LBPU Conflict (p. 9)
- ↑ Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict - (p. 21)
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (pp. 9-10)
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 M88youngling's Journal #2 (p. 16)
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (pp. 10-11)
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (p. 21)
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 LittleBigPlanet 3 - Wikipedia
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (p. 22)
- ↑ Sperg - Wiktionary
- ↑ Sperg - Urban Dictionary 3, 4, 5
- ↑ M88youngling's Journal #2 (p. 18)
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (pp. 22-23)
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (p. 12)
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (p. 13)
- ↑ Operation Lunar Storm reports (p. 10) - Operation Lunar Storm.
- ↑ Operation Lunar Storm Reports (p. 6) - Operation Arrowhead
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (p. 13-14)
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (p. 15)
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (pp. 15-16)
- ↑ M88youngling's Journal #2 (p. 21)
- ↑ Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (p. 17)
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (p. 23)
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (pp. 17-18)
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (pp. 18-19)
- ↑ Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (p. 19)
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 36.3 36.4 36.5 Chronology of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict (pp. 24-25)