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You’ll be asked a series of questions to create your account press Enter after you type each answer. Simply type “New” in the “Login:” prompt, and then press Enter. On “The Cave,” you can create one for free. If the BBS is available, you’ll see a screen like the one shown below.Īlmost every BBS requires you to login with an account before you can use the system. We then select “The Cave BBS” from the Directory list using the arrow keys and press Enter to connect. When it asks for an address, we type the following: SyncTerm will ask for the “Connection Type.” Use the arrow keys to select “Telnet,” and then press Enter. We’ll type “ The Cave BBS” (it’s run by the author). A popup will appear asking for the name of the BBS. When you see an empty “Directory” window, press Enter.
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You can’t go wrong with SyncTerm, which is available as a free download for Windows, Mac, and Linux.Īfter you download SyncTerm, run it.
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Ideally, you’ll want a client that supports the full IBM PC character set, so you can see ANSI block graphics as they’re intended to be seen. This is a program that simulates the computer terminals of the past and connects to a BBS. To use a modern Telnet BBS over the internet, you need a Telnet client. People leave messages for each other, play against each other in text-based games, and (less commonly, now) share files that are only available on that particular BBS. This means, generally, you can’t reach the resources of a BBS openly from a website (although exceptions do exist).Īs a result, each BBS feels like a private club that reflects the personality of the administrator, or Sysop (system operator). You can’t get to a BBS through a web browser without logging in through a terminal emulator. Unique Cultural GroupsĮach BBS is a cultural pocket that’s usually insulated from the reach of Google’s indexing or viral intrusions from social media. A heated game of TradeWars 2002 in action. This is proof that many people still enjoy the text-based delights of BBS retrogaming. Classic BBS door games, like TradeWars 2002, Legend of the Red Dragon, Solar Realms Elite, and Operation: Overkill II, still attract a legion of players. One-of-a-Kind Gaming ExperiencesĮven in 2020, there are still some gaming experiences on a BBS you can’t get anywhere else. Operation: Overkill II, a BBS door game classic. Some hobbyists even use vintage computer systems with a special serial-to-internet adapter to call a BBS. Many would like to relive those times, so they head to a modern BBS. Today, many people are recalling their early online experiences fondly (and, perhaps, sharing them with their children). There are no concrete numbers, but hundreds of thousands of people might have used BBSes in the ’80s and ’90s. Today, because dial-up phone lines are scarce, and we have the internet, most BBSes utilize the Telnet protocol for connections (although some dial-up BBSes still exist). Classic 1990s ANSI art from The Cave BBS. Usually, only one person could call and use the BBS at a time (although some multiline BBSes existed). In the pre-Internet era, most BBSes were run by hobbyists on personal computers with modems connected to dial-up telephone lines. They originated in 1978 in Chicago, and their popularity peaked around 1995, just as the internet began to go mainstream. What’s a BBS?Ī Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer-based electronic community on which its members can read and write messages, play text-based games, and download files.
Each BBS is its own retro-flavored community with messages, text-based games, and files you can download. These days, social media gets all the attention, but the Bulletin Board System (BBS), a relic from a kinder, gentler time in computer communications, persists.