SMPEarth

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Fandom
Name(s): SMPEarth
Abbreviation(s): SMPE
Scope/Focus: Minecraft YouTubers, Web Series, Roleplay, Twitch streams
Date(s): November 2019 - April 2020
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SMPEarth (abbreviated as SMPE) was a private Minecraft survival roleplay server. It is a sub-fandom of the Minecraft YouTube (MCYT) fandom. The server takes place on a 1:3000 scale replica of the Earth, and players create their own countries and politics. The server was created by Wilbur Soot, chippledipple, and JoshA20 on November 22, 2019, and lasted until April 11, 2020.[1]

A large portion of the fanbase came from the predecessor SMPLive, which shared a large overlap in players.[1] Many SMPEarth players later went on to be a part of Dream SMP, such as TommyInnit, Tubbo_, Wilbur Soot, among others.

Canon

SMPEarth focuses on political roleplay, with groups of players founding their own nations and going to war with each other. In addition to the actual live-streamed server events, SMPEarth had a large amount of lore that was revealed over the course of two ARGs - the 7 ARG, created by JoshA20, and the Octangula ARG, created by chippledipple. Both ARGs are canon to the server and to each other, and together form the backstory of the server.

Nations

There are many nations in SMPEarth’s world, with some being more plot relevant than others, as some players leaned heavy into roleplay while others just played the game normally and had fun.

Some of the more story relevant nations include:

Antarctic World Takeover & Saint-Malo Trials

The Antarctic Empire planned on claiming the entire map, with the explanation being to show the flaws in the faction system in use on the server. Technoblade and Ph1LzA began to claim huge chunks of the map, angering other players. One of the server's "gods" (administrators), JoshA20, attempted to stop them though various means to no real avail.[2]

Following this world takeover, Wilbur Soot called for a trial against the Antarctic Empire, which came to be known as the Saint-Malo Trials. The defendants were charged with war crimes, with all but one of the defendants being declared guilty. This event led to the server's first three official laws.[3]

The Great SMPEarth War

The Great SMPEarth War was an overarching plotline involving world war on the server. It began on December 7th, 2019, and had six battles take place. The war largely centered on Business Bay vs. the Antarctic Empire.

The first battle started when TommyInnit decided to try to kill Ph1LzA after receiving a $20 hit (fans donated money to him on stream to kill the other player). Technoblade enlisted the help of Wilbur Soot and Charlie Soot, who were in an alliance with Tommy at the time, to help him, as war waged on the Business Bridge. The battle ended with a treaty being signed.

The next major battle involved Tommy setting traps for other players and catching Sylvee in one, who later seeked revenge by raiding Tommy's base with Krinios and Jack Manifold. Tommy, along with his fellow faction members Wispexe and LukeOrSomething, decided to raid Bean York City, only to fail. This battle led to Wisp betraying Business Bay for the Antarctic Empire.

The next battle took place after Wisp taunted one of Tommy's new faction members, TimeDeo. Deo, who had shown himself to be particularly violent and aggressive, waged war on the Antarctic Empire, leading to one of the most destructive battles in the server's history. The battle ended abruptly when Deo and Tommy combat-logged (logging off in the middle of combat to avoid death).[4]

Following this, the next conflict took place at Business Bay's casino, and broke out as a result of Phil watching Deo torment Icebomb, which irritated him. After accusing Tommy of rigging the casino against him, and seeing Icebomb cower in fear when he approached him, he stole 50 diamonds from the casino and flew away to watch from afar as Icebomb lashed out at Tommy and Deo in retaliation for his torment. He joined the battle when Tommy shot at him, which he took at as a sign of aggression, and he easily took out Tommy before turning his attention to Deo. Phil and Deo proceeded to engage in a long stalemate battle, which only ended when they got bored.[5]

Bitzel of Business Bay later attempted to infiltrate the Antarctic Empire but failed, being captured by the Empire before being released as an act of mercy.

The final battle involved Business Bay raiding the Port-aux-Francais, and Deo killing Technoblade's dog, Floof. Because of this, Deo became the main target of the Empire's wrath, getting trapped by himself after his allies escaped, and forced to fight in a 4v1 battle. He was unsurprisingly killed by Phil, and Techno later demanded reparations from Tommy for the death of his dog.[4]

The God War

The God War was a war between Business Bay and JoshA20, an admin. After a long fight, Business Bay is victorious, and Josh rewarded the faction with various effects and items, including two command blocks (blocks that can be used for god commands). Josh also left a sign in Business Bay, stating that "God is always watching".[6]

7 ARG & Octangula ARG

SMPEarth also had two ARGs which centered on a fictional company known as Laramie Online. The first, the Octangula ARG, was created by chippledipple, and the second, the 7 ARG, was created by JoshA20. The two follow different characters but take place in the same canon, and together form the server's lore. The 7 ARG is much less documented than the Octangula ARG.

The Octangula ARG's story takes place in an alternate universe where the United States went through another civil war, leading the country to break apart into new states, one of which being Laramie. In this state, a company known as Laramie Online began working on a computer, codenamed BIGPRISM, designed to allow for digitally-assisted astral projection. Another group, a religious cult known as Merkabah, has their own digitally-assisted astral projection system, codenamed ONEPRISM, which is much less stable and is directly connected to SMPEarth.

An employee of Laramie Online, Mariah, went behind the company's back and as a result, her mind was forcibly separated from her body to silence her, using BIGPRISM's astral projection technology. The followers of Merkabah were able to retrieve her body, presumably with the help of her grandson, Warden. Mariah was left on life support as they wait for her mind to return to her body, being last described as being in a catatonic state.

At some point, the BIGPRISM system completely collapses and Laramie Online is abandoned, leaving behind their experiment in simulation, SMPEarth, to likely be abandoned forever. Despite this, clues are scattered inside the server, and the players slowly learn of Laramie Online through these clues.[7]

Fandom

The fandom for SMPEarth during the duration of its existence was mostly in the form of fans on Twitter and Tumblr discussing the events, some fanart, videos analyzing the events of the server, and very rarely, some fanfiction. While it was successful, it pales in comparison to the later, much more successful Dream SMP.

In 2021, the server gained a bit of a cult following in the MCYT fandom on Tumblr, and while it is still somewhat obscure, the server does have its dedicated fans even after its closure, with some writing fanfiction, making fanart, and making other forms of fan work for the server.

The early fandom for SMPEarth seemed to focus more on the streamers themselves, whereas the later fandom is more commonly based around the lore and story of the server, as well as the characters played by the members of the more story-involved factions, largely centering around two in particular, being Business Bay and Antarctic Empire.

One streamer, sophietexas, interacts with fans on Tumblr[8] and gives further insight into her character’s life post-closure.[9][10] It is possible that this may have contributed to the resurgence in SMPEarth’s fandom on Tumblr.

Fanart

Visual

Video

Animatics are the most popular form of vid in the SMPEarth fandom, though edits aren't uncommon.

Fanfiction

Meta

Music

Links & Resources

References

  1. ^ a b SMPEarth, SMPEarth Wiki. (Accessed October 3, 2021)
  2. ^ Antarctic World Domination, SMPEarth Wiki. (Accessed October 3, 2021)
  3. ^ Saint-Malo Trials, SMPEarth Wiki. (Accessed October 3, 2021)
  4. ^ a b The Great SMPEarth War, SMPEarth Wiki. (Accessed October 3, 2021)
  5. ^ The Casino Conflict, SMPEarth Wiki. (Accessed October 3, 2021)
  6. ^ The God War, SMPEarth Wiki. (Accessed October 3, 2021)
  7. ^ Octangula ARG, SMPEarth Wiki. (Accessed October 3, 2021)
  8. ^ @realsophietexas, Tumblr. (Accessed October 3, 2021)
  9. ^ @realsophietexas - #smpearth, Tumblr. (Accessed October 3, 2021)
  10. ^ "smpearth lore to make myself and everyone cry", Tumblr. (Accessed October 3, 2021)
MCYT
Subfandoms Dream SMPQSMPHermitcraftLife SMP SeriesMC ChampionshipSMPLiveSMPEarthLifesteal SMPEmpires SMPThe YogscastArtist SMP
Creators TechnobladeDreamCaptainSparklezWilbur SootRanbooTommyInnitTubboBadBoyHaloXisumavoidGrianInTheLittleWood
Fandom List of MCYT Fests & ExchangesList of MCYT ZinesMCYT Fandom and CharityMinecraft Fandom GlossaryPenis SMPTruthingDuo Name
Notable Fanworks Heat WavesMangoballPasserineSMPRonpaSAD-ist Dream SMP Animatic SeriesReafyStats
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