Shattered World
Encyclopedia
Shattered World is a long-running MUD
founded in August 1990, and is the first Australian LPMud
.
world with a player-run legal system and economy. "Guilds" are found as an alternative to character class
es. Player characters may choose from eight races: humans, aracheans (fast, poisonous giant spiders), archons (demons of darkness), draconians (winged dragon-spawn), galandrians (golden masters of psionics), grmkels (large slug-like creatures with a deadly stare), mephits (small demons of fire) and tritons (giant rulers of the seas).
' s economic crash, this stands out as a remarkable accomplishment. The necessity that the system lack "faucets" that produce money ex nihilo
means that newbie
s must start the game completely destitute, however, and this raises concerns as to whether this model could be made to scale successfully to larger player-bases.
, an LPC derivative forked
from LPMud 2.4.5
. SWLPC was originally distributed privately, but was later made publicly available. Its primary maintainer is Geoff "Dredd" Wong.
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
founded in August 1990, and is the first Australian LPMud
LPMud
LPMud, abbreviated LP, is a family of MUD server software. Its first instance, the original LPMud game driver, was developed in 1989 by Lars Pensjö...
.
Game characteristics
Shattered World is set in a medieval fantasyMedieval fantasy
Medieval fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that encompasses medieval era high fantasy and sometimes simply represents fictitious versions of historic events. This subgenre is common among role-playing games, text-based roleplaying, and high-fantasy literature....
world with a player-run legal system and economy. "Guilds" are found as an alternative to character class
Character class
In role-playing games, a common method of arbitrating the capabilities of different game characters is to assign each one to a character class. A character class aggregates several abilities and aptitudes, and may also sometimes detail aspects of background and social standing or impose behaviour...
es. Player characters may choose from eight races: humans, aracheans (fast, poisonous giant spiders), archons (demons of darkness), draconians (winged dragon-spawn), galandrians (golden masters of psionics), grmkels (large slug-like creatures with a deadly stare), mephits (small demons of fire) and tritons (giant rulers of the seas).
Economic model
Shattered World has drawn attention for the success of its "Loans Standard" economic model. In this design, all businesses are player-owned, and players may set prices to any level desired, with the only central control imposed being on the amounts banks may loan, yet the system has produced reasonably stable prices since the 1990s. In the wake of Ultima OnlineUltima Online
Ultima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 24, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
Ex nihilo
Ex nihilo is a Latin phrase meaning "out of nothing". It often appears in conjunction with the concept of creation, as in creatio ex nihilo, meaning "creation out of nothing"—chiefly in philosophical or theological contexts, but also occurs in other fields.In theology, the common phrase creatio ex...
means that newbie
Newbie
Newbie or noob is a slang term for a novice or newcomer, or somebody inexperienced in any profession or activity. Contemporary use can particularly refer to a beginner or new user of computers, often concerning Internet activity, such as online gaming or Linux use...
s must start the game completely destitute, however, and this raises concerns as to whether this model could be made to scale successfully to larger player-bases.
Publications
Shattered World developed, maintains, and operates using the SWLPC programming languageSWLPC (programming language)
The SWLPC programming language, "Shattered World LPC", is a variant of LPC developed and maintained by the staff of the MUD Shattered World. It is a fork of the LPMud 2.4.5 server. The SWLPC server software was originally distributed privately, but was later made publicly available. Its primary...
, an LPC derivative forked
Fork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
from LPMud 2.4.5
LPMud
LPMud, abbreviated LP, is a family of MUD server software. Its first instance, the original LPMud game driver, was developed in 1989 by Lars Pensjö...
. SWLPC was originally distributed privately, but was later made publicly available. Its primary maintainer is Geoff "Dredd" Wong.