Developer(s) Frogdice Initial release date 17 June 1996 Mode Multiplayer video game | Genre(s) Fantasy RP MUD Engine LPMud | |
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Similar MUD games, Other games | ||
Threshold is a roleplaying enforced MUD (text-based online role-playing game) that has been in operation since June 1996. Its focus is on providing a place for roleplaying in addition to traditional MMO/MUD style gameplay. It has as many as 70-100 players online at any given time.
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Owned and operated by Frogdice, Inc. in Lexington, Kentucky, Threshold was originally created by Michael A. "Aristotle" Hartman.
Gameplay
Threshold is a text-based MUD running on a custom server. The focus is heavily on role-playing, and the enforcement and stimulation of roleplaying motivate the bulk of its rules and cases of administrator intervention. It has a long-standing policy disallowing minors and one must be over 18 to play.
The game itself may be accessed via a telnet client or a MUD client. The player goes through a brief character creation, and may then begin interacting with the game world.
Setting
Threshold is a fantasy based MUD set in a world with three main continents and a chain of islands. Religion based on a pantheon of Greek-like deities plays a dominant role in the story of the mud, with the ability for players to rise through the ranks of religious organizations to gain divine powers. The concepts of good and evil serve as a core driving force of the roleplay within the game. Threshold provides a framework for a player-driven legal system where players can take the role of judges, lawyers, and the jury in order to prosecute players who are accused of breaking the law. There are fourteen guilds in Threshold which are equivalent to character classes in Dungeons & Dragons, one being a secret, unlisted guild. Players can diversify their characters further with skills acquired by joining a clan.
Business model
Since 1996, Threshold has always used some version of what is now known as the "free to play" business model. It started out with a donation system where players donated towards server upgrades and hosting costs. Then Threshold evolved to a registration system which encouraged players to spend at least $50 per year. In 2007, Threshold transitioned to a pay for perks system where players can purchase virtual items.
Technical infrastructure
Threshold is written in LPC, running on the LDMud server with a highly customized mudlib based on TMI-2.
Reception
In 2001, the game was mentioned by Computer Gaming World in an article about online games.
Threshold was the primary MUD example quoted and discussed in Edge magazine's article, "Lost in Transition" which discussed the preservation of gaming history.
For three consecutive years, Threshold was The MUD Journal's highest-rated role-playing game. Computer Games Magazine listed it as a highlight of less popular MMOGs, describing it as being particularly focused on role-playing, and noting the distinct passion of its players.
Richard Bartle described it as possessing an "individuality" lacking in other, contemporary graphical MMOGs, citing its in-game legal system as an example.