The question of why anyone would run a BBS in this day and age, the age of the Internet, has been floating around quite a bit lately. And they make a good point, with few exceptions the Internet does everything a BBS could do and better while reaching thousands of more people.
Message Bases/Email: In the time of BBSs it could take days to receive messages, the message would be processed at the originating system and sometime during the day it would transmit that packet of mail via dial up modem to its hub, this process would repeat itself until the mail reaches its destination usually taking several hops with many hours in-between, now with the internet and broadband it can literally take seconds to transmit mail. Message bases as well have been usurped by web based message boards, mailing lists and the like, where you voice can be heard buy hundreds of people just by pressing a submit button.
Files: BBSs used to carry hundreds of files that matched the personal tastes of the SysOp. The files ranges from applications and games to music and text files. To find these files you would have to go to each BBS you were interested in and find out what they had. There was no Google to help you find your way, now you just go to your favorite search engine and type in what you are looking for and within seconds you can be at a page downloading a file.
Games: this is the one area where the Internet has failed to overtake the BBS. No, other things have done in the games on the BBS. The primary thing is, most games on a BBS are text based or have ANSI graphics, which are blocks of colors and high ASCII characters, which are very primitive to today’s super games like Need for Speed Underground or Unreal Tournament. BBS Games, However, are still unique, they can still be played and most are well written and entertaining if given a chance.
So why do I run a BBS? Obviously a large chunk of it is the nostalgia factor, BBSs were a large chunk of my life back in the early to mid 90s before the Internet took off. They allowed me to interact with other people I may have never met before plus the introduced me to games I had never played before, considering I bought my first computer specifically for games. The second reason is I like the games, and other people still like the games. Just because they are old doesn’t mean they aren’t enjoyable. Barren Realms Elite and Falcon’s Eye are still great empire building games, while Legend of the Red Dragon is still a great Hack and Slash RPG… Speaking of Legend of the Red Dragon, there is a web-based version of the game out called Legend of the Green Dragon, and after playing it once, I found it to lack the something “special” that the original version has.
Ill admit I neglected my BBS for a couple of years while “real life” took over, and I lost a lot of my user base, but new people are signing one all the time, and some of the old core is making its presence known. So is this The Gargoyle’s Landing last hurrah? Only time will tell, but Im going to ride this wave as far as it will take me!
Visit: www.gargoyleslanding.com for more details
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