Grand Theft Auto V affair

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Grand Theft Auto V affair

The location of the main incident.
Date28 January - 5 February 2020 (8 days)
Location
Result Status quo ante bellum, Amelie Björk uninstalls Grand Theft Auto V voluntarily
Belligerents
Aenderia
New Eiffel (unofficially)
Wegmat (unofficially)
Ponderosa Hills

 Paloma (unofficially)
Commanders and leaders
Jayden Lycon
Zabëlle Skye
Cole Baird
Amelie Björk

Free Socialist State of Paloma Aidan McGrath
Units involved
Aenderian Coast Guard National Liberation Army

The Grand Theft Auto V affair was an incident involving several micronationalists which centred on the underage Amelie Björk owning the mature game Grand Theft Auto V. The affair began on 28 January 2020, when Jayden Lycon confronted Montan with a sarcastic message, with Zabëlle Skye and Amelie Björk then joining. The affair escalated on 4 February 2020 after intervention by Aidan McGrath. The conflict ended the following day, and Montan uninstalled the game soon after the controversy died down.

The affair spawned various pop culture mediums, including a film and expansion for the game 911 Operator. Since the incident, various attempts were made to alert the Coast Guard relating to other underage players playing Grand Theft Auto V, with minimal to no response from the organization (except on 15 October 2020; see below).

Background

Grand Theft Auto V is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games.[1][2] The Entertainment Software Rating Board, also known as the ESRB, rated this game as mature, due to its use of blood, nudity, language, alcohol, etc.[3] On 26 January 2020, Björk complained to TOES concerning his slow download speed when downloading the game.[4][5] This was noticed by Lycon and was later confirmed by Montan on 27 January 2020. As Montan was 13 at the time and the ESRB having jurisdiction in his area (that being North America), it would have been against the rating to play the game.[6][7]

Timeline

Amelie Björk playing Grand Theft Auto V on 27 January 2020.

On 28 January 2020, Jayden Lycon, then-commander-in-chief of the Aenderian Coast Guard, issued a sarcastic warrant notice named "delete gta V"' stating that Montan would be arrested for downloading Grand Theft Auto V while being underage. This was despite Lycon having no jurisdiction over Montan, and also owning the game himself while underage.

Letter sent by Jayden Lycon formally requesting Canadian assistance to this affair.

the Aenderian Coast Guard issued a warrant that we found you downloading grand theft auto V but it says it is rated for mature and amelie björk page says you are 13 so uninstall or else we will arrest u Jaydenfromcanada (talk) 01:31, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

ESRB's mature rating, for games rated 17 years and older, which GTA V got rated as.

Zabëlle Skye of New Eiffel would also criticize Montan shortly after. A day later, the message was received by Montan and he later responded, preparing the National Liberation Army to intervene Jayden Lycon's buttocks. The conversation was later forgotten.

On 4 February 2020, Aidan McGrath from Paloma intervened, criticizing Lycon for threatening to arrest Montan despite having no jurisdiction and that Lycon would just start even more drama. McGrath also challenged Lycon to do the same, as McGrath owned a copy of Grand Theft Auto V and was lower than 18[8] (despite the fact that the game is rated 17 or over).[3][9] In response, Lycon sent an image of Carl Johnson from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,[10] later removed by McGrath 26 minutes later.[11] Zabëlle Skye later threatened war between New Eiffel and Paloma, which McGrath scoffed at. Afterwards, Montan and Smith told McGrath that the whole conflict was purely non-serious and a joke. Zabëlle would later inform that New Eiffel was mobilizing 200 troops armed with Nerf guns in an attempt to assassinate Montan, despite the fact that the United Armed Forces lacked the resources to fulfill such a task. Cole Baird from Wegmat later criticized Montan for downloading the game and was planning to sue Rockstar Games for the bad game.[8]

Aftermath

Montan showing interest in re-installing the game on 15 October 2020.

The affair was largely joked about within TOES, as well as in private correspondence between Lycon and Montan. Montan would later delete the game near the end of the affair as he didn't like the game, as well as taking too much space on his hard drive.

On 19 June 2020, after rediscovering the chat, Lycon noticed that McGrath challenged him to do the same with him. There were plans to start another conflict, with Lycon mailing Justin Trudeau,[12] the Prime Minister of Canada,[13][14] for military assistance using his powers prescribed in the Statute of Westminster, 1931,[15][16][17] including a request to declare war on Ponderosa Hills and Paloma despite the fact that Aenderia does not hold a military treaty between Canada and Trudeau not having jurisdiction in Michigan, the state where McGrath resides in. As McGrath reached the threshold of 17 to play the game on 7 July 2020, as well as no response from the Canadian government, plans to continue the war were scrapped.

On 24 June 2020, due to unclear communication, the affair re-escalated[18] but was later corrected by Lycon.[19] No fighting was conducted but the Cubian DEFCON system was tripped due to this incident.

why does the date on the Grand Theft Auto V affair say "20 June 2020 - present"? does that mean there is going to be nuclear war--BSMMedia (talk) 11:39, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

— BSMMedia, 24 June 2020 at User talk:ThatMLGDorito[20]

On 15 October 2020, Montan showed interest in re-installing Grand Theft Auto V,[21] leading to the Aenderian Coast Guard to transmit various messages to allies including Essexia, Iustus, Yu-Xia, and James Bornstein for assistance to the possible conflict.[22] An invasion plan to various parts of Ponderosa Hills was also drafted later in the day,[23] crossing through Highland Creek to invade Lafreniere, an autonomous province of Ponderosa Hills west of Aenderia.[24]

On 13 November 2020, Lycon received a reply from the letter he sent in June 2020 regarding the affair from the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada.[25] The letter later got 3.4 thousand upvotes on Reddit.[26] On 18 November 2020, Montan was noted as playing Grand Theft Auto V without intervention from the Aenderian Coast Guard.[27]

On 26 April 2021, Addison Dillon wrote plans to assassinate Björk. She later got ghosted.

International reactions

The incident was mostly only known to the people who were involved in it. Though, there have been some micronations who have reacted to this incident. As Foreign Minister of Iustus, Lycon attempted to add a statement on behalf of the Empire of Iustus but was later denied by Ashley Jaax.[28]

A transmission was sent by the Coast Guard after receiving a notice stating that Montan was going to download Grand Theft Auto V, with a few micronations responding to the transmission.

  •  Commonwealth of Essexia: After receiving the transmission on 15 October 2020, Lord Matthew of Essexia simply responded with the word "bruh", implying no interest in this event.[29]
  • Jamez responded to the transmission with a recommendation to indict him.[30]
  •  Principality of New Eiffel: Zabëlle Skye responded with an inappropriate image from the Independent.

Film adaptation

grand theft auto v affair
Directed byJayden Lycon
Produced byJayden Lycon
Based onGrand Theft Auto V affair
Garfielf
American Revolution / Independence in a Nutshell
StarringMicroball adaptations of Ponderosa Hills and Aenderia
Edited byMicrosoft PowerPoint
Wondershare Filmora 9
Release date
21 November 2020
Running time
1 minute 37 seconds
CountryCanada
Budget$0
Age ratingAFRB:

The conflict has appeared in a film of the same name, made by Lycon on 21 November 2020, featuring the microball versions of both Aenderia and Ponderosa Hills. The film parodies Garfielf by PilotRedSun and American Revolution / Independence in a Nutshell by Kaliningrad General as it features poorly drawn art and the same text to speech software.[31]

Production

The film uses animations from Microsoft PowerPoint and is made to look like a PowerPoint presentation. The countryballs were made on Paint 3D and were purposely drawn badly, like in both Garfielf and American Revolution / Independence in a Nutshell; with the latter being heavy inspiration of scenes for the movie.[32]

Synopsis

The film starts with the narrator accidentally messing up PowerPoint settings leading to the presentation being viewed in narrator mode. This is rapidly corrected and starts with Aenderiaball supervising Ponderosa Hillsball. Ponderosa Hillsball suggests downloading Grand Theft Auto V, causing Aenderiaball to become angry and claiming that Ponderosa Hills was too violent. Ponderosa Hillsball prepares for battle and installs Grand Theft Auto V against the wishes of Aenderiaball. Aenderiaball warns that this is a serious offence, but Ponderosa Hillsball dismisses the warning and destroys Franklin's car, managed to force the Royal Navy to withdraw, as well as manages to kill Franklin, a character in the game. This leads to Aenderiaball giving up. The film later cuts to a viewer watching the film which leads to the Federal Bureau of Investigations raiding the viewer.

Historical accuracy

Though the film was based on the conflict, the film overlooks and adapts various historical events, including:

  • Aenderia does not supervise Ponderosa Hills in the video game industry
  • Aenderia does not officially say that Ponderosa Hills was violent when downloading Grand Theft Auto V; the reason cited for the arrest was because of the game's ESRB rating
  • The film does not mention the interventions of Paloma, New Eiffel, nor Wegmat
  • The film mentions the Royal Navy, despite nether Aenderia nor Ponderosa Hills having a military branch named "Royal Navy"

Critical reception

The film garnered 201 views within its first 50 days, with Lycon gaining 4 additional subscribers.[33] Isaiah David described the movie as being the "best movie [he has] seen in [his] life".[34]

911 Operator expansion

Screenshot in 911 Operator with the Grand Theft Auto V Affair modification.

On 13 January 2021, a user-generated expansion for the game 911 Operator was uploaded to the Steam Workshop based on the Grand Theft Auto V affair. The expansion was developed by Jayden Lycon.[35]

Development

Whilst working on his Macbeth assignment,[36] Lycon began working on the modification. The modification was later finished and published on the Steam Workshop 35 minutes later.[37] Though it did not include voice-overs, the Workshop description states that they are "in development". No update, however, has been made since 13 January.[38]

Synopsis

The modification adds a call to the game where a 911 call from a parent, reporting that their 9-year-old child is playing GTA V underage. The player would have various options to respond- these include:

  • "Cut this out. Leave the man be, you will just cause drama if you you do this stuff. Also, I am not 18 years and have GTA, would love to see you do the same thing or try to do the same thing to me."
  • "Is the kid armed?"

The former is inspired by what McGrath said during the conflict. Various scenarios can appear, ranging from the operator asking if the caller knows who Marsellus Wallace from Pulp Fiction is (a reference to a scene from the movie[39]), to the operator telling the caller to lie about working for the Secretary of the Treasury.[40]

See also

References

  1. Hill, Matt (7 September 2013). "Grand Theft Auto V: meet Dan Houser, architect of a gaming phenomenon". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  2. French, Michael (4 October 2013). "Inside Rockstar North – Part 2: The Studio". Develop. Intent Media. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Entertainment Software Rating Board (n.d.) Grand Theft Auto V
  4. Björk, Amelie, and Skye, Zabëlle (26 January 2020) TOESchat part one
  5. Björk, Amelie, and Skye, Zabëlle (26 January 2020) TOESchat part two
  6. "FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS". ESRB. 3 April 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  7. "A Brief History of the ESRB". Gamasutra. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2020. Currently, the United States, Canada, and Mexico utilize the ESRB for games released in North America.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Lycon, Montan, et. al (28 January - 5 February 2020) User talk:ThatMLGDorito#delete gta V
  9. Entertainment Software Rating Board (n.d.) Ratings Guide
  10. Lycon, Jayden (4 February 2020) Edit revision 545589
  11. Aidan McGrath (4 February 2020) Edit revision 545589
  12. Lycon, Jayden (22 June 2020) Letter to the Right Honourable Prime Minister
  13. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada (15 October 2020) Prime Minister's Office
  14. King, Robin Levinson (19 October 2015). "Liberals projected to win majority". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  15. Fortin, Steve (6 February 2008). "Is "declaration of war" an antiquated expression?". The Maple Leaf. Department of National Defence of Canada/Canadian Forces. 11 (5): 6. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  16. Rossignol, Michel (August 1992). "Parliament, the National Defence Act, and the Decision to Participate". Public Works and Government Services Canada. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  17. "Statute of Westminster 1931" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives (UK). 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2020. All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0
  18. Björk, Amelie (21 June 2020) MicroWiki revision 624568, Grand Theft Auto V affair
  19. Lycon, Jayden (21 June 2020) MicroWiki revision 624696, Grand Theft Auto V affair
  20. BSMMedia (24 June 2020) Reivison 626182, User talk:ThatMLGDorito
  21. Björk, Amelie (15 October 2020) Montan showing interest in re-installing Grand Theft Auto V
  22. Lycon, Jayden (15 October 2020) Transmission from the Fifth Aenderian Republic
  23. Lycon, Jayden (15 October 2020) Battleplan for possible engagement
  24. Lycon, Jayden (28 May 2020) Declaration of Independence from the Dominion of Canada in regard to the Autonomous Province of Lafreniere
  25. Lycon, Jayden (13 November 2020) Imgur link containing letters
  26. u/kazoosportacus (13 November 2020) Sent a satirical letter to the Prime Minister named "Baron Shrek", I got sent back a letter and it turns to be a disappointment
  27. Björk, Amelie (18 November 2020) Amelie playing GTA V
  28. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Empire of Iustus (21 June 2020) Lycon attempts to get Iustus to react to the Grand Theft Auto V affair
  29. Lycon, Jayden and S, Matthew (15 October 2020) Essexian delegate receives transmission
  30. Lycon, Jayden and Jamez (15 October 2020) Desert District delegation receives transmission
  31. Lycon, Jayden (21 November 2020) grand theft auto v affair
  32. Lycon, Jayden (21 November 2020) Presentation1222.pptx
  33. Youtube (18 April 2021) Analytics for Grand Theft Auto V Affair
  34. Burdette, Isaiah (January 2021) Comment by Burdette
  35. Lycon, Jayden (13 January 2021) Steam Workshop: Grand Theft Auto V Affair
  36. Lycon, Jayden (13 January 2021) Messages from TOES
  37. Lycon, Jayden (13 January 2021) Messages from TOES
  38. Steam (13 January 2021) Grand Theft Auto V Affair update log
  39. PhilloMN (8 August 2010) What Does Marsellus Wallace Look Like?
  40. Lycon, Jayden (18 April 2021) 911 Operator Call Editor for GTA_AFFAIR