RetroMC and BetaLands Merge and Split (2018)

ℹ️ Notice: This incident occurred in 2018. Johny and Sweetz have since reconciled their friendship. The information is retained for historical purposes only.

This incident serves as one of the major events that has occurred throughout the history of RetroMC and BetaLands.

Background

RetroMC and BetaLands, two of the largest legacy Minecraft servers in 2018, merged in mid-April of 2018 to create a unified server called Retro Lands due to  Swetz’s plan to shutdown BetaLands; this partnership aimed to combine resources, player bases and to save BL.

The Split and Events Leading Up to It

The collaboration lasted until the 1st of June 2018, when significant differences arose between  JohnyMuffin and  Swetz. These differences led to the dissolution of the merger and multiple rounds of negotiations on how BetaLands and RetroMC would continue into the future. Initially, the split stemmed from community management disagreements between both owners, and the issues escalated when personal Discord accounts were blocked, leading to the usage of alternative accounts to continue server management tasks, further complicating communication. The major incidents are as follows:

• Communication breakdown: Johny Muffin was blocked on Discord by Sweetz, leading to him having to use an alternative account for communication.
• Ownership disputes: Disagreements over server management roles and responsibilities became increasingly contentious, particularly in regard to the RetroLands Modern Server (2018).
• Public fallout: The conflict spilled over into public server channels, leading to a division among the community members and staff.
• Server access and security: During the dispute, there were multiple instances of access revocation from Discord and the Minecraft Server exacerbating the situation.

Resolution and Reconciliation

In late 2018,  JohnyMuffin and  Swetz began to work together again with RetroMC's assistance to BetaLands bringing an end to the “Cold War” which had occurred since the split.
In the following year, 2019, RetroMC took over BetaLands.