[spelk]

I'm keen to introduce my nipper to MUD's to sort of show him how you can use your imagination to enjoy gaming as well gawping at the pretty graphics, I wondered if anyone knows of a child friendly MUD as such, my nipper is 10 years old. He's well versed in the usual fantasy themes.

Also I know many MUD's don't allow multiple accounts, how does that pan out if two PC's are on the same router? What are the acceptable rules for two people from the same family connecting?

[Angie]

You can give a try. It has a friendly community, no explicit or overly brutal game content, and it's not a playerkilling mud, so griefing is minimal. It's a hack'n'slash mud with plenty of questing and social interaction, and unless you want to roleplay seriously (or PK), you should be able to enjoy the game in a way you like.

Multiplaying is not allowed (or rather, restricted until you reach a certain level with your main), but the staff is reasonable. If they see two people playing from the same IP, somebody will eventually drop by, but if you explain your situation, you won't have a problem.

Edit: Also, the playerbase is European for the larger part, so it's mostly busy during the hours you'd be on.

[TheSoftwire]

Don't mean to plug my own site but the is quite kid friendly. I do a lot of work with schools so we aim to keep it clean. There is no playerkilling element either. It has a science fiction theme and I do believe the site might be considered a PBBG, although I'm not really sure about that.

[Newworlds]

I would say MUDs in general are bad for underagers. Because of the book style theme, regardless of the type of MUD, they tend to draw into adult content much faster than their graphical counterparts. I'm not saying your child can't play a mud, but I would be very very careful about researching the game deeply first.

One of NW's staffers used to play a MUD with Smurfs. That might be a place to start.

[MudMann]

As opposed to the murky depths of online gaming, why not fuel the imagination with some plain, offline, Interactive Fiction.

Text adventuring without those pesky real life players. There are some aimed at the younger player

From fantasy, to super heroes.. all tastes and genre. And once he gets the text gaming bug... in a few years, who knows!

[Disillusionist]

I'm a little surprised at some of the questions that weren't asked.

I'd be happy to look around to help you.
How old is your child? What reading grade level? What sort of mud experience have you the parent had?

I'd suggest looking first for a text-based PvE game (player versus environment) as a way to ease him/her into some of the content that can be found, even in 'kid-friendly' games.

Personally, I wouldn't let a child 12 or under play most muds, as much as to keep that content out of my kid's hands as for many players' personal preference not to play in muds that allow minors (or to play them anyway, and display covert hostilities). Nothing I'm aware of keeps adults from playing such games, and all that that implies.

Still, my kid is 6, so that may change, and I may be something of a dinosaur. I don't let him play video games for more than 60-90 minutes a week, and muds can be just as, or even moreso, addictive as graphical games. I guess you've given me a wake-up call to see what's out there for kids, because he's well aware that Daddy works on and plays text games, and he'll probably at least tool around with them.

[MudMann]

What reading grade are you :-D .. suggest you re-read the opening topic for answers you your own questions

[Valg]

The original poster mentioned that the child is 10 years old, but didn't comment on his relative reading proficiency, which is more important than biological age for this topic.

If you're going to be unhelpful, at least be accurate. :P

(Spelk: Carrion Fields should be off your list. Not at all appropriate for 10-year-olds.)

[Disillusionist]

My point was that some of the answerers didn't ask these questions, although I did miss the kid's age.
Thank you, Valg, for getting the point of my questions.

However, I did check my own post for typos, punctuation and grammar before posting.
A ten-year-old might be on his third trip through second grade, or reading at a high-school level.

Reading level, and all that.

[eax]

Actually a mud I'm on with a really good bunch of newbie helpers (actually they are surprisingly friendly) is aardwolf, however I am not sure what there rules are? I actually think though if you emailed some of the muds and told them the situation well the fact a parent was involved they may be fine with the idea? (Just trying to think how you can get access to the most muds here)

In regards to aardwolf well the only reason I mentioned it was because of the great friendly atmosphere but I'm not sure as to whether that has more grusome elements later? + I don't want to be responible through advice for giving your kid knightmares . I think finding a mud with a reasnable bunch of staff is key as well when a child is involved, I will try and keep an eye out for something appropriate as I am trying out lots of muds at the momment. I think you may find it difficult to find something 100% suitable, It's just some of the muds I have been on have some gruesome elements which even turn my stomach from time to time!

What a great way to spend time with your kid though! (Wish my parents did that with me when I was a kid! - I still am a kid hehe, just a 28 year old BIG kid! ) Anyway good luck finding a mud , if I come across anything thats genuinly child friendly I will post again, however in regards to the multi-play aspect with yourself and child well email some of the admins and explain your situation as I'm sure you will find some who will be happy to let you kid play if they know a parent is near!

Good Luck!
Eax

Actually just looking at the majority of helpful! posts well that has given me an alternate idea for you if all fails, you could always try the old infocom interactive fiction games, although I still think it would be great if you could get on a mud and be permitted to log in with your child; your childs 10 right? I will be glad to have a look for you.

[Lasher]

Speaking for Aardwolf specifically, but my guess is there are a lot of other MUDs in this situation. The general rule is that cursing and adult content stays off public channels other than channels specifically designated as adult. There is a toggle that defaults to off that can be turned on to access these channels, but there is no mechanism to be able to verify the age of someone doing so.

It also doesn't stop "innuendo" of a more adult nature being discussed on public channels until someone steps in and decides it has crossed the line. It doesn't stop people discussing whatever they like on their "friend" channels or group talk etc. It doesn't stop people sending tells, etc etc.

So while the staff attempt to keep public areas mostly PG, things slip through, they always will. It is extremely hard for any MUD to make the claim "children friendly" without monitoring pretty much everything (well, it's easy for them to make the claim I suppose). Even if you monitored everything, it is still reactive, the damage has been done at that point.

So, most MUDS are not listed that way, even though most of the time they might be perfectly fine for someone under 18 to play.

If you felt so inclined you could even make a character on Disney's Toon Town to fire off a barrage of "adult tells" at the kids playing there, nothing is really safe on the net. Sure they probably have "the 7 words" hardcoded out, but not every possible word that means the same thing or every possible intentional-typo.

[eax]

The above stuff mentioned from the admin makes alot of sense , I'm guessing the best you can hope for is "as close to child friendly" as possible and I also agree that the web by its nature is never 100% safe. I will still keep an eye out for muds but I respect the good points that have been made.

There is a mud based on Lewis Carroll's Through the looking glass book, but I don't have more information

[Mabus]

If it is the one I am thinking of I think Robert took it down for now. Was it ?

Not sure it was "Children friendly" at all.

I know my game is not child-friendly. Death. Destruction. Extreme violence. Mature players that babble on about anything. A "remort" style that includes mating, pregnancy and raising children...

Good luck on your search.

[The_Fury]

I would recommend Land of Legends.

Telnet Address
Website Address IP 68.62.243.201 Port 4000


The owners of this game are a husband and wife team, they go to great pains to keep adult themes and concepts out of the view of minors as they have a number of young people who play the game, it is a warm and friendly place to play with nice and helpful people online.

[Lucien]

Do you happen to know what happened to Land of Legends, or if it will be back up again soon?