What active BBS would you suggest. reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- knightwize · 2022-05-14 06:08 Hey everyone, I'm currently reading 'The modem world' [The Modem World (yale.edu)](https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300248142/the-modem- world/) and I want to find out more about BBS's that are still being run today. I'be found syncterm and hit up a few BBS's on the list, but not all of them are very active. Which 'living' BBS's would you suggest I visit that have regular updates and online users ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gnu2tux · 2022-05-14 07:43 Check out this documentary on BBSing in the 21st century: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLop3s1hMlSJKXqmuFjK7gbJh2WAyllTTY It makes a few recommendations, but you can also head go the Telnet BBS guide. Finally, check my own BBS: bbs.alsgeeklab.com:2323. There are a few personal recommendations on the logoff page there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rlauzon · 2022-05-14 10:26 https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/ has a list of BBSs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2022-05-14 11:48 LOTS of active BBSes out there. Diamond Mine Online BBS ([bbs.dmine.net](https://bbs.dmine.net) port 24) is quite active. Over 30 local games and 200 games via BBSLink and Door Party. Several BBS networks including Fidonet, FSXNet, DoveNet, and just recently ArkaNet It even has dial in capability! (540) 369-2900, and our new toll free line at (833) 473-5400 And someone else listed the Telnet BBS Guide at [https://telnetbbsguide.com](https://telnetbbsguide.com) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dialsoft · 2022-05-14 12:36 Check out our actively developed new bbs system. written and designed with ddial/sts/gtalk/ in mind and run by former hardcore bbs sysops in the US and canada. www.ddial.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pdog1926 · 2022-05-14 13:57 reddit.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- auric0m · 2022-05-14 16:01 telnet.holdfastbbs.ca:2323 (mine) 20forbeers (one of my favorites/very active) you will find the address for 20 in hold fasts bbs listings section :) any araknet or fsxnet member board is a good place to start ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SqualorTrawler · 2022-05-14 18:32 There are more BBSes than BBS users. They are not very active for this reason; they are a niche hobby with a small user population. It used to be a lot different. Try [20 For Beers](https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/bbs/20-for-beers/) -- the SysOp puts a lot of work into that one. As for activity, you'll find it on the message networks, but not all of it is very good. A whole lot of old men acting like adolescents, for reasons that escape me. Or maybe it is more fair to say, a few old men acting like babies, and driving other people away. Hard to tell. I will say this much: the spirit has left the body. Fidonet is full of echoes of people in bitchy little fights with each other, and certain other networks are so scared shitless of this happening that conversation is very "small talk" in nature (almost stilted), neither of which represents what I remember. DOVE-net seems a little more balanced. Most people I run into seem to think of the 90s as the golden age of BBSing, but for me it was the 80s. The 1990s became too much about form - a whole lot of ANSI - and while I like that stuff, there is something about old GBBS Pro (Apple 8 bit) and C-Net/Image (Commodore) systems I used to call where there was a sense of danger that's missing now. A sense of using a true underground medium. Some of this is probably through a haze of nostalgia and who knows what I'd make of it if I took a time machine back and looked at those systems now. I was an adolescent and then a teenager at the time, and revolution, extremist politics, blood and drugs and guns and basement explosives and getting into computer systems I wasn't supposed to, and making long distance phone calls for free (not an issue anymore) was very interesting to me back then, as was software piracy. Those things aren't interesting to me anymore. Reddit is closer to the spirit, if not the form, at least in terms of the content, which is why I'm here. Not the whole of it but you can find some niche subreddits that are interesting. There is still some tech discussion which is okay I guess. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Iron_Slug · 2022-05-14 18:45 Large list of BBSes: [https://www.ipingthereforeiam.com/bbs/](https://www.ipingthereforeiam .com/bbs/) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- danav · 2022-05-14 19:27 sdf.org edit: why are you nerds downvoting me? because the menus are boring? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mhmrules · 2022-05-14 19:47 The Quantum Wormhole https://www.erb.pw/the-bbs/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PaulLee420 · 2022-05-14 20:28 Don't forget 2o... :P [20ForBeers.com:1337](https://20ForBeers.com:1337) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- denzuko · 2022-05-14 20:32 Fidonet is still quite active and so is FSXnet hosted by https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/bbs/agency-bbs/. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nevarro · 2022-05-14 21:41 The Realm of Serion BBS ([https://serionbbs.com](https://serionbbs.com)). The BBS has been very active for years. We host the LORD tournament and several other door games as well as a custom bulletin board, news feed, etc. The community is friendly and fun. RIP graphics, too ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2022-05-14 23:10 [removed] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- resmungomandinga · 2022-05-14 23:27 This one is pretty slick : https://undercurrents.io/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- opicron · 2022-05-15 00:02 Second this! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- leafleap · 2022-05-15 02:45 This is an excellent assessment. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- brighton_on_avon · 2022-05-15 13:32 Haven't looked at Fidonet but did try lurking in DOVEnet last year and it was full of slightly unhinged rows about Covid, and at least one deliberate troll. Was fun messing about with old messaging technology but as a system to actually use on a regular basis for any reason, the echo mail makes it a bit of a turnoff. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- codefenix · 2022-05-15 16:29 Far and away the best BBS out there for door games. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- codefenix · 2022-05-15 16:53 As great a resource as the Telnet BBS Guide is, you have to go digging through it to find the BBSes that are active and offer the types of things you're into. One very bad thing it does (in my opinion) is it showcases newest BBSes first on the main page. As a result, newcoming users to BBSing get steered to a list of mostly stock Synchronet BBSes that have no established communities, no messages, and little to no customization or configuration done, and most of those sysops probably don't even realize their board is even listed. If the Telnet BBS Guide did some vetting of its new additions, like say, waiting for a board to be online X number of consecutive days, then maybe fewer of the showcased boards would be like this. While we're at it, why not ALSO showcase short lists of long-established BBSes on the main page, as well as a short random listing. That way, newcomers to the hobby don't constantly get steered to new BBSes with no activity and become disappointed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- knightwize · 2022-05-15 18:19 completely agree on that point lotsa bbs`s but little movement ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AtariBBS · 2022-05-15 20:03 Atari BBS’ are very active [Atari BBS List](http://www.sfhqbbs.org/ataribbslist.php) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2022-05-15 20:48 Sadly I agree with you. But those listed here in this thread are pretty active. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- knightwize · 2022-05-16 04:38 Are you also the producer of that documentary ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- knightwize · 2022-05-16 04:39 Does anyone have the contact details of the sysop ? The auto-mail function of the BBS is broken So you can’t ask for a password reset :( I was on the BBS an couple of months ago and can’t get back in (forgot what password I used). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- auric0m · 2022-05-16 11:50 just male a new account then send him a mail from inside the bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Iron_Slug · 2022-05-16 16:24 While the "Most Popular Sites" section of my site may skew towards sysops voting for each other\\themselves, it does reflect some fairly active boards. [https://www.ipingthereforeiam.com/bbs/](https://www.ipingthereforeiam .com/bbs/) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NuSkooler · 2022-05-16 17:56 Self plug for Xibalba. Pretty active - xibalba.l33t.codes:44510 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- richorr70 · 2022-05-17 14:13 I would also add pyroto.mysticmountain.us port 8086. It has a small but friendly community and is one of the only BBSes that is also a game. Not a door, but a bbs game. One of the most unique BBSes of the 80s. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mro_0000 · 2022-05-17 14:50 bbses have had a huge increasing drop in userbase for the past 3 years. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gnu2tux · 2022-05-19 08:49 Indeed, that would be me 😁 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- knightwize · 2022-05-19 16:19 Let me congratulate you on an awesome awesome job. I really enjoy your documentary. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gnu2tux · 2022-05-20 00:41 Thank you very much, I really appreciate that! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Exodus694 · 2022-05-24 03:07 The Titantic BBS Telnet - [ttb.rgbbs.info](https://ttb.rgbbs.info) 400+ LOCAL Doors Online 152 Shareware CDs Online (809,000 files) Home of Renegade BBS Software. Online since Nov. 10, 1993. ​ http://www.rgbbs.info ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GrimpenMar · 2022-06-10 04:00 Just delving into some BBS nostalgia myself. The message boards a little… niche for sure¹. Still, got multimail installed and dipping my toe in. Found Danger Bay BBS, it has over a thousand old door games installed in it's museum. It seems pretty active for a BBS, but nowhere near enough for the number of multiplayer door games. In my old hometown there was a BBS called the Backdoor BBS which had the best door games and such (no porn, despite the name; it was a simpler time). So that's mostly what I've been doing for the past week. That and trying to remember all the vagaries of BBS-ing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GrimpenMar · 2022-06-10 04:04 I'll be adding this to my fresh NetRunner directory! Not OP, but thanks for the recommendation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GrimpenMar · 2022-06-10 05:04 Just checking your BBS out now! Will watch the YT video in a bit. I haven't connected to a BBS since around 1995, so I've completely forgotten all my ProComm shortcuts and such (was ProComm even my favourite terminal software? It's been so long). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GrimpenMar · 2022-06-10 05:06 The first BBS I connected too, the Sysop was surprised it was listed already. Still, someone has to be first! The subsequent BBSes I used the list for were geographically based, so tended to be a little older. Now I'm on r/BBS, furiously adding addresses to my directory. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gnu2tux · 2022-06-10 05:12 Drop me a message on the board and let me know how you fare. I strongly recommend you use Syncterm or Netrunner in this day and age on a modern computer. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- knightwize · 2022-06-10 05:48 Camped out on 20forBeers at the moment :) There is always a crowd in the chat and plenty of messages on the board. I’m looking forward to getting Syncterm working on my old iMac G3 this weekend (PPC, so I might need to compile it from source). I hope that works somehow. Then i will be truly retro-time :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gnu2tux · 2022-06-10 06:12 Must have just missed you, I'm on mrc and you're not there. Have a great weekend ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2023-09-06 02:05 [removed] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- richinseattle · 2023-10-14 23:26 thanks! A new user mentioned he found my board linked from your comment :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Overlordofgermany · 2023-11-06 23:01 Yeah. What languge does your Lan phone line that doesn't even exsist anymore speak. Huh Huh Zorro traditional "dial-up" (modem) variety.