StickMUD Logo
StickMUD is a MUD, a text-based online role-playing game, founded in 1991.
A screenshot of the login sequence from StickMUD
History[]
StickMUD opened to the public on June 17, 1991. The founding wizards, Pekka "Frobozz" Timonen and Niilo "Graah" Paasivirta, got permission to run the MUD on a server at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland, from a local admin, Otto J. "Extechop" Mäkelä (who later participated in administration of the MUD). The name of that server in English was "stick", and thus StickMUD was named.
Over the years the MUD has been in operation, it has seen numerous players and admins. Thanks to donations from numerous players, StickMUD eventually secured its own server but still retained its name. The new server continued to be housed for some time at the University of Jyvaskyla until the original creators/owners of the MUD left both the MUD and the University.
Another game administrator, Tero "Tron" Vaananen, later offered to host the MUD, which ran from Nova Scotia, Canada, with Vaananen as head administrator for many years.
In 2017, StickMUD was moved to a data center in Toronto, Canada, with an updated Debian operating system, game driver, and a quest to revitalize the game with the latest common MUD protocols such as GMCP by Mike "Tamarindo" Conley, who serves as the game's operating administrator and founder of StickMUD Entertainment, LLC. Most players access the game through Mudlet, mobile, and browser based clients today that offer TLS encrypted connectivity. A number of new races, areas, and features have been added, as well as multi-play, which will help StickMUD continue to thrive for years to come.
Game characteristics[]
The world[]
StickMUD's setting falls into the medieval fantasy genre. Special areas have been created for those that have donated to StickMUD.
The world is filled with many different races and monsters of varying difficulty. To aid players, there are many different types of armours, weapons and magical items with which to adventure with. There are also unique and rare objects that offer even more power.
Player races[]
Every player starts off as human, but may choose later to be of a different race depending on how they want to play or which guild they join. There are 20 races in StickMUD.
Player guilds[]
Every player eventually joins a guild which grants them skills or spells to aid them in their life in StickMUD. A guild in StickMUD more closely resembles a character class than a traditional guild. These known guilds of StickMUD are the Bards, Fighters, Healers, Mages, Necromancers, Ninjas, Priests, and Thieves.
Player abilities[]
Typically a player is granted abilities when they join a guild. These abilities can be anything from fighting with different types of weapons, casting powerful arcane spells or crafting items like traps or scrolls. The more a character uses an ability, the more effective the relevant skill becomes. Some abilities are common to multiple guilds, so that training in a previous guild may be useful in a new one.
Quests[]
There are a number of quests in StickMUD of varying difficulties, styles and themes. These may vary from battling hordes of orcs to seeking out hidden items to solving puzzles. Players do not have to perform every quest, nor perform the quests in any particular order. Some questing is required in order to advance in level. Additionally, some guilds have their own quests. These are typically optional, but usually give the player something special to aid them in their journeys or improve their status within the guild.
Player versus player[]
PvP combat is optional, everywhere in the game with the exception of a few PK-free zones.
Clans[]
StickMUD features a clan system, allowing players to form their own organizations.
Multiple characters[]
StickMUD allows players to create multiple characters, but there are strict rules regarding them. They must be registered before they can be played, cannot be on at the same time (which is not possible when registered properly) and cannot transfer gold and equipment amongst themselves.
Multiple characters of a player are not known to other players unless revealed by that player in some fashion. Some players try to play their alternate characters completely differently so as to not link them.
Technical infrastructure[]
StickMUD is an LPMud running on the LDMud game driver, with a mudlib originally based on LPMud 2.4.5, called StickLib.