War Threats

Background

When the 4th SMP began on June 19th, 2023, the Ricelings planned to settle near Spawn but were harassed by Rizztopia. These aggressive tactics caused them to flee to a new location thousands of blocks from spawn. Rizztopia threatened war against the Ricelings, seeking the Rusties to form an alliance for it. The Rusties refused. Following this, Rizztopia then threatened the Rusties also. Bbens, a Rizztopian, was thrown out of the Security Council when they convened to take action on the matter.

Events

On June 19th, Ricelings were threatened by Rizztopia of war because of the increased membership. Later on that day, Rizztopia issued a declaration of war, deeming the Ricelings to have "too much influence far too early in the server's history." The declaration included a clause to avert such conflict only if the Ricelings broke up the faction.

Rizztopia attempted to form an alliance with the Rusties, but their leader, BBLB_YT, strongly rejected it.

The next day, RiceMaster_, the Leader of the Ricelings, responded to the declaration, citing:

"We are an individual team with no relation to any other soloists or any alliances with other teams. Made of asian culture enthusiasts, we want to express those asian details and aethetics in our buildings and structures. Our goal is to build a beautiful asian village, express our creativity, and not get into war with any other teams (cough cough)."

"We're not accepting your declaration of war. "

As a reply, not_Kingpin, Leader of Rizztopia, said, "That's not how war works."

Per not_Kingpin, an attack was to occur mid-day June 21st.

Because of the looming threat, on June 20th, the Ricelings faction split into two teams to address the Rizztopian concerns of the Ricelings' "larger" membership. The split resulted in the Ricelings and Stir Fry (Though later these factions signed a treaty ensuring common beliefs and defense). RiceMaster said to the Security Council that not_Kingpin would retract the declaration if he found a "mushroom biome." Despite fulfilling the demands for breaking up the Ricelings faction, not_Kingpin looked poised to pursue an invasion regardless.

In the early hours of June 21st, the Leader of Rizztopia, not_Kingpin, threatened to "destroy [FrogPixel's] base." FrogPixel was the leader of the new proxy faction, Stir Fry. The faction settled in Bamboo Town, where the Ricelings previously operated. 

Later in the day, the Ricelings and Stir Fry factions entered and signed the Treaty of Shanghan, a mutual defense and free trade treaty.

BBLB_YT, the Leader of Rusties, who refused an alliance with not_Kingpin, who was also the server operator, said he was constantly "backing up" the server, should a Rizztopian invasion occur.

Both BBLB_YT and not_Kingpin wrote lengthy paragraphs in the Discord, criticizing each other and the server rules. These statements ultimately defused not_Kingpin from carrying out the invasion. The Security Council found that the war Rizztopia attempted to start was illegitimate because it was not concurred with the Ricelings. 

On June 26th, after Brodman002 allegedly killed not_Kingpin's horse, not_Kingpin allegedly unjustly attacked Brodman002's base, which was partially destroyed. In response, he was banned for 12 hours. Following this event, he stopped participating in the 4th SMP.

Lasting effects

The War Threats conflict resulted in the server feeling anxious and distrustful. The events could tarnish not_Kingpin's reputation in whitelisting considerations for future SMPs.

From these developments, in future SMPs, war should be allowed as a function of lore and a competitive tool to maintain player engagement, but it requires internal "all-party consent" between two or more parties to develop a future war. There should be established definitions and measures to prohibit and punish war crimes.