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. Some Metagroups existed as well.

Ad-hoc towns

It was 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.

Ghouliphates/Ghoul Doctrine

Named after oldfag roguelich, this method of town building relies upon quantity over quality. To follow the Ghoul doctrine is to invite literally everybody to your town in an attempt to gain as much manpower as possible.

Typically the structure of a ghouliphate would center around its leader, and be supported by a small group of regulars –usually repeat members of the ghouliphate– who would act as an upper class of sorts. Below them would be the mass of randoms and newfags invited upon joining the server.

This style of town lacks the cohesion of a traditional metagroup as a consequence of being made up of randoms. Due to this inherent lack of connection between members, ghouliphates have almost always been militarily inneffective (when superior manpower =/= victory) and when poorly led can suffer very unstable internal politics. Ghouliphates are however capable of establishing themselves as proper metagroups in the long run under strong, consistent leadership with Strykergang being the most famous example.

Early Metagroups

The few metagroups that did exist at 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 /int/craft's early 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 begin to 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 metagame begin to develop. Rudimentary meta things such as Basic walls, early chest room designs, diplomacy, and skype/discord/teamspeak communications became standard for most towns in general.

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 (by now the vast majority of the overall playerbase) focusing their efforts on higher quality gun servers. This killed off less dev intensive melee servers, which were seen as stale and less fun, and as a consequence iterations in general became far more infrequent.

Consequences of Server Scarcity and Consolidation

Beginning in 2017 with 24.0, the creeping scarcity of new iterations, the increasing competitiveness of war, and the consolidation of Metagroups desperate for bigger walls and armies as a result all contributed to War taking prevalence over most other traditional 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 between the two servers. Historical roleplay and larping wererelegated to mere set dressing in most cases, as realpolitik took precedence.