Metagroup is a term originating from the early iterations of /int/craft used to describe a group of players or friends who consistently play together, typically in the same nation or geographical area.

The development of each group through the ages and how they interact with eachother –be it enemy or ally– has shaped the course of not only the politics of individual iterations, but the overall dynamic of /int/craft itself.

In the early iterations of intcraft, the majority of the playerbase were unrelated posters from int. Most towns created across these iterations were ad-hoc, or ghouliphates and retained little group identity.

It was also commonplace to play with past enemies, and attack past friends, as the high frequency of iterations in 2015 allowed interpersonal conflicts and drama many opportunities to be acted out with the server constantly being reset.

This method of ad-hoc, 'startup' towns in early intcraft iterations oftentimes had major structural problems. It was common for towns to be plagued with unstable and ineffective leaders, coups of these leaders, griefing, Jinxing, military incompetence, and an overall lack of organization.

The few metagroups that did exist in this time were existing groups of friends from other minecraft servers. Chief among these proto-metagroups was the Norse, whose dominance and influence characterized much of this era in /int/craft's history.

The Bronies, another 'proto-metagroup' also began playing in this era. They faced the wrath of the Norse on numerous occasions, most notably in the Siege of Cadiz in 10.0.

The Norse would prove early on that the inherent structure of an established metagroup was far superior to that of both the ad-hoc town and the ghouliphate in almost every aspect. Higher quality towns, stable leadership, trust, and military coordination were luxuries for most towns, but the norm for the Norse.

Much of the meme culture of the day was centered around the Norse. Their victims would bitterly recount the Norse misdeeds , and the Norse themselves would proudly flaunt the superiority of their beautiful cities and power.

Intcraft in 2016 saw the demographics of the server shift in unprecedented ways, causing the community to adapt to the changing times in two key ways:

First, /int/craft by now had seen enough wars and memeraids for the beginnings of the overall meta to develop. Basic walls, early chest room designs, diplomacy, and skype/discord/teamspeak communications became standard for most players in general, not only metagroups.

Second, By 16.0, most of /int/craft's old guard -including the Norse- had been burnt out of the server. Player numbers dropped off signifigantly for most of 2016, beginning the dark age. Iterations then were many in number, but few were of much quality. This resulted in metagroups (now the majority of the playerbase) selectively choosing which servers were worth their time, and conversely motivating them to invest much more heavily into the servers they did play. This trend continues into the modern era, really.

The increasing scarcity of servers in general, the increasing competitiveness of war, and the growth of new Metagroups desperate for bigger walls and armies as a result all contributed to War taking prevalence over most other aspects of /int/craft. By 24.0, it is probably not wrong to say that /int/craft was fundementally a different server than that of 11.0 despite the many mechanical similarities.

The two prominent metagroups to form in this era spanning late 2015-2017 serve as a great example of how critical the