''3Kingdoms'', abbreviated ''3K'', is a

MUD Mud (, or Middle Dutch) is loam, silt or clay mixed with water. Mud is usually formed after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits hardened over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally cal ...

, a text-based online

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

, founded in 1992.

Game characteristics

The MUD has a

cross-genre A hybrid genre is a literary or film genre that blends themes and elements from two or more different genres. Hybrid genre works are also referred to as cross-genre, multi-genre, mixed genre, or fusion genre. Some hybrid genres have acquired thei ...

setting; the eponymous three kingdoms are

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

Science Fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

, and Chaos, the latter following an anything-goes satirical theme. These settings connect through the MUD's central city of Pinnacle. A main point of

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...

differentiation is in the choice of "guild", which is an option resembling a

character class In tabletop games and video games, a character class is an occupation, profession, or role assigned to a game character to highlight and differentiate their capabilities and specializations. In role-playing games (RPGs), character classes ag ...

, but which, on ''3K'', can only be chosen once the character has advanced through its first few levels. The exception is the Adventurer guild, which new characters belong to by default. The selection of guilds reflects the cross-genre setting, ranging from

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

commonplaces such as knights, priests (formerly called clerics), mages, and necromancers to Jedi, cyborgs, Fremen and changelings (formerly called the animal guild). ''3K''s Web site features ongoing news about the MUD; at one time this news feed was called the ''3K New York Times''.

Reception

The MUD has received positive critical response for its friendliness to and accommodation of new players, and has been noted as "well-loved and full of life".

Technical infrastructure

''3K'' is an

LPMud LPMud, abbreviated LP, is a family of multi-user dungeon (MUD) server software. Its first instance, the original LPMud game driver, was developed in 1989 by Lars Pensjö (the LP in LPMud). LPMud was innovative in its separation of the MUD infrastr ...

running on the LDMud game driver with an unnamed custom mudlib.

References

External links

*
Official forums

Community wiki
{{MUDs MUD games 1992 video games