Message networks - yes or no? reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- garyb122 · 2021-11-05 01:38 Some of the most fun times I remember on BBSes from back in the day were just local, unconnected boards. No Fidonet or any other inter connectivity. Just little, isolated islands. They had chat, files, games, etc - just no connectivity with other boards. And they were fun! Are there any BBSes that still operate that way? Or is everyone connected to message and door game networks these days? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rlauzon · 2021-11-05 01:46 You still see both types. Particles and Level 29, for example, are still local only. Others, like Diamond Mine or Communications Connection, have networked message areas. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nevarro · 2021-11-05 02:00 My sentiment is exactly the same! All of the BBSes I connected to were local - they didn't offer any messaging networks. They mostly offered files, doors and multi-node chat. When I began creating my own BBS, message networks were cut right away so that I could focus on the things I enjoyed most about BBSing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PotentialDeadbeat · 2021-11-05 03:20 I feel like it was a growth in tech that caused the changes from local and unique to SysOps trying to plug in to a global community. My first attempt at building my own BBS was using Waffle, I loved the built in tongue-in-cheek attitude of the platform. I tried WWIV and some mainstream software of the time including others I forget, I settled on VBBS and never looked back. I ended up running probably 5-6 different systems and was having fun being local, but my users kept pushing me and asking for more. More doors, more nodes, more access to networks and then eventually the death nail, the thing being called the world wide web. It was a death spiral, my "free" BBS was always being challenged to provide more, more and fresher files, more games, more photos, and everything else. I have said it before, porn images were a big draw, eventually allowing me to offset costs by having subscription areas and offering more access from soft core to harder core. It started fun, but became a competition...I mean who really anted to run a BBS that no one ever dialed in to? Sadly for me, it was a very competitive market until BBSs just hit their experation date. I started my first BBS in 1991 and then built my first website in 1997, the stuff in between now feels like the the wild wild west of the tech sector. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Farpoint_Farms · 2021-11-05 09:24 I always visited local BBS's and now Telnet BBS's for the message boards. I was never a gamer, so my nightly rounds were always about catching up on whatever topics were of interest to me on the local boards. I did however love the "Nets" as well, and can remember buying some computer gear from 4 states away from a person over WWIV-Net in 1993. We had local smaller Geo-net, and two or three others, but I wasn't to big into Fidonet, and this was all before I had ever heard of Usenet. I run a BBS now, and it's totally a message board, There maybe some games that came preloaded with Syncronet, but I've never checked them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- codefenix · 2021-11-05 14:39 There was a time when having your BBS connected to FidoNet meant your BBS "made it". To many sysops, having your BBS accepted into a global community, and seeing it listed in globally distributed nodelists was something to boast about. There are probably many sysops who still feel that way today, but the idea of a globally connected network of BBSes is greatly diminished by two things: 1) the internet, which lets one easily access any telnet'able BBS anywhere in the world anyway, and 2) the fact that most messages that get circulated around modern nets (with some exception) are test messages and BBS ads. That's not to say that some nets aren't worthwhile. In fact some are very well organized and active with meaningful conversations among friendly users. So if you're a sysop, maybe consider picking just one or two nets to join up with (fewer the better in my opinion), and then also try to foster your own local message base and make it as welcoming as possible. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- denzuko · 2021-11-05 19:22 Only bit I can give until I get online later is that fsxnet, retronet, and fidonet are all very active and rather great places to connect with fellow sysops ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Del_Capslock · 2021-11-05 22:49 Hell, I honestly don’t even care that much about door games and file sharing. I pretty much just log on to read the messages people post and maybe shoot an e-mail to someone. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2021-11-06 00:27 I'm a fan of messaging, so nets are a big thing. FSXNet is probably one of the more active networks out there right now. I plan on adding a few more as time permits. Maybe this winter when I can't do outside activities. LOL! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- viroiddfi · 2021-11-17 00:58 defile has always had a local message board, and it was pretty active at one time. After [darktech.org](https://darktech.org) shutdown, and took my hostname with it, it's been tough trying to re-establish a following. ...viroid +o defile.dynu.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HarunaFujiwara · 2021-11-17 07:58 I'm on ubuntu 20. 04 so I can't install dosemu but my board is not connected over fidonet I wanna downgrade to an older OS later so I can actually run the games myself ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kamitsuruyoshi · 2021-12-23 22:22 My BBS is connected to DOVE-net, but I keep these boards hidden for new users. Furthermore, I've made some boards available over my own NNTP server.