Can I make a non-violent MUD?
Question
I am setting up a MUD for a school. Can I make it non-violent?
Answer
Yes you can. The simplest way is to choose a "code base" that is for a social MUD (eg. a MUSH or a MUCK) rather than a combat-oriented MUD. Most social MUDs do not have any inbuilt violence anyway.
Another approach, if you prefer code bases like SMAUG (because of their built-in wandering computer-mediated characters) is to remove the ability to do violence in them. For example, you could mark all rooms as "safe" so that you cannot start a fight in them. You could also edit COMMANDS.DAT and SKILLS.DAT to remove any commands (such as "kill") or skills (such as "backstab") that might be used for violent purposes.
Another approach, if you prefer code bases like SMAUG (because of their built-in wandering computer-mediated characters) is to remove the ability to do violence in them. For example, you could mark all rooms as "safe" so that you cannot start a fight in them. You could also edit COMMANDS.DAT and SKILLS.DAT to remove any commands (such as "kill") or skills (such as "backstab") that might be used for violent purposes.