#coffeemud

Hello World!

We are pleased to announce that our game has entered its first stages of development.  The game is currently being hosted at aworldadrift.mudhosting.net Port: 8000.  While it is far from operational, it currently has four zones to explore, which are under construction, but we welcome anyone to stop by and say hello!

What is a ‘MUD’?

A World Adrift is a new, text-based RPG, much like the classic games Zork, DikuMUD, or its many derivatives such as CircleMUD.  In this game, everything is done via text.  Areas are described, and a list of current occupants and items are shown for each ‘room’, each of these also being described with words, rather than images.  Players then enter commands to move about and perform actions.  These actions range everywhere from taking a drink of water, to attacking a monster, wearing new gear, or even roleplaying their characters!  Player Characters have a class and race, much like Dungeons and Dragons or World of Warcraft.  They also have skills, spells, equipment, useful items they carry, and other such quantifiable traits.  Additionally, characters may learn languages, form a Clan, craft a truly exhaustive list of items (Seriously, even the creator of the CoffeeMUD code-base lost count, apparently!), and even sail the seas.

How do I play a MUD?

Playing a MUD is as easy as downloading a client, which can be used for almost every MUD ever made, or accessing it via Telnet, if your current OS allows Telnet access.

Popular MUD Clients include (with links!):

SimpleMU

GMUD

MUSHclient

ZMUD

CMUD

(Please note that we are not associated with any of these sites, and that many alternative sites exist to download from if you are unsure of the source.  SimpleMU is by far our preferred client, followed by GMUD.)

Many MUD clients do not even need to be installed, merely unzipped!  Once you have the program open, they will allow you to save your preferred games.  Usually by selecting something along the lines of “New Server” or “New Connection Wizard”.  The information you will need is firstly, our site address:

aworldadrift.mudhosting.net

Secondly, you will need to enter the Port Number:

8000

Some may ask which Type of game it is (MUD, MUX, MUSH, MUCK, etc) these are simply different names for varying styles of MUD.  For the purpose of simplicity, ours is a MUD.

When you do connect, you will be greeted with a banner which reads “A World Adrift” in large ASCII art.  The very same found in this tumblr’s avatar.  The system will ask for a name.  This is the name of the character you wish to play as.  It can be anything containing letters, though it is advised to use a fantasy-sounding first name or nickname.

After that, you will be asked to enter a password, and if you so choose, an email.  We promise to never, ever, ever send you spam.  This is purely for lost password resets.

After this is race, class, and alignment selection.  The system will give you more information at that time, to help you make a selection after you have rolled your stats.

And voila!  You are now a player at A World Adrift!

If you like, you can type “help” to learn more about useful commands.  Any subject can be specified, such as “help race”, “help class”, “help cure light wounds”.  Or if you just want to hop into the Global Chat and say hello, type “OOC (followed by your message)”.  For example, if your name were Kvothe:

“OOC Hello, everyone!”

would cause your character to speak into the global Out Of Character channel:

“Kvothe OOCs ‘Hello, everyone!’“

And there are many other channels to use, for different purposes.  Try typing “channels” to see them!

When in doubt, you can always type “who” to see who is online, and ask them for help, or just strike up a conversation.

What is the setting of A World Adrift?

The setting of A World Adrift is an archipelago of city states, each existing in their own various geo-political balances between each other and the natural threats of a fantasy world.  Whether it be by trade, military might, or magical prowess, each seeks to maintain their power and safety.  Adventurers, too, can stake out a plot of land, individually or as a Clan, allowing you to ensure your own success.

The above is taken from the first post on the Public Message Board in the game.  What this means is that the world we are building is diverse, and multi-faceted.  There are multiple nations that exist, with a variety of cultures, races, religions, and economies all intermingling in various ways.  The players take on the role of adventurers, gaining levels and notoriety in this world.  Each class has its own way of leveling up, it isn’t all about killing monsters.  Sure, a Fighter gains levels by fighting, but a Bard can gain levels by playing at different pubs, and an Artisan can gain levels by crafting items.  In fact, the Artisan gets very minimal experience from fighting monsters.

The theme of A World Adrift has alternatively been described as “Loose Fantasy” and “Fantasy, But With T-Shirts And Punk Rock”.  Our pop culture influences for this game include:

Log Horizon (both the anime and West Wind Brigade manga)

Rat Queens, by Kurtis J. Wiebe

Critical Role, on Geek & Sundry

The Earthsea novels, by late beloved author Ursula K. Le Guin

The Discworld series by late beloved author Terry Pratchett

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, by Japanese light novelist Ao Jumonji

And, of course, the countless works of art, whether fanart, fanfic, musical or other, of our fellow fans.  Truly, the passion that fans hold has become our biggest inspiration for this project.

Some locations and NPCs have satirical or pop culture-inspired names, while others simply flaunt the fantasy label as a whole. Such as:

The Queen’s Legs Pub, which sells mini pizzas

In Like Flynn Outfitters, LLC, which sells sundresses and skinny leg jeans

Argus Harfaoll, the Dwarven smith that runs Bloodbath And Beyond

We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised when all is said and done.

Join The Team

With all that said, let’s not leave out the best part!  We are a relaxed crew, not some profit-driven or deadline-bound company here.  We strive to remain a casual place where anyone can feel welcome.  In fact, the project got started just as a place for our main admin, Heimdallr, to share his gaming with friends and family, and to chat with fellow gamers while enjoying a creative outlet.  If you think you’d like to have a go at designing a town or dungeon, swing by and learn the ropes.  Thanks to CoffeeMUD’s excellent coding, we are able to simply create a zone for anyone who wishes to try, and let them have-at, without any security risk to our other areas.