Are BBSs killing the scene?

acheron.org discussion board: ANSI Threads: Are BBSs killing the scene?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By dangermouse on Wednesday, January 27, 1999 - 06:19 pm:

This may indeed turn into a controversial topic, but I thought I might raise some interesting points that were spawned by Konami's recent post in 'Why the disrespect for BBSs' thread.

Are BBSs indeed killing the scene? By that I mean the need for some people to link the BBS with the very roots of the scene, when in fact the very roots of the scene are the talented artists of yesteryear..

Ralgoth mentioned that BBSs indeed are the very reason we are all here -- that was the gist of his post anyhow. I don't think we should all forget the very reason the ANSI scene exists, but that doesn't mean we have to cling to it obsessively and create BBSs just for nostalgia sake.

Many people no longer call BBSs just because they are inconvenient and costly. Although Telnet BBSs have somewhat worked around this problem, I think a lot of people are now fused with the Internet too tightly, and indeed now find the Internet to be a more convenient and powerful communication tool.

My central point is: I personally think that this clinging to the traditional 'BBSs are the scene' mentality is the very thing which is causing ppl to say 'But why draw ANSI (or even ASCII) when there are no BBSs to put them on', and hence the age-old phrase 'The scene is dying!!' shortly follows.

This is not the case. BBSs are no longer the lifeblood the scene, which should be obvious to anybody. They once were, but no longer. I am not saying that BBSs are bad, I;m just saying we don't have to rely on them, but merely enjoy the few remaining ones for whatever reason somebody would call a BBS these days: namely door games as an example.

Btw, I'm not just saying this cause I myself am an advocate of the web, but rather because I see it how it is. Please, if you disagree with me, voice your opinion.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By filth on Wednesday, January 27, 1999 - 09:04 pm:

i don't know about killing the ansi scene, but i do think that it really impacted it. i honestly think what keeps a lot of it alive is people thinking they'll put up boards, and never do. :)
i'd guess that out of all the ansis i've ever drawn for boards 90% of them never seen the light of day on a bbs.

some say that the ansi spirit remains even though bbs's are almost dead. i hope that's true. i wouldn't mind drawing ansi for the hell of it. whenever i do finish an ansi i just either give it away in my mag, or hop on irc and have fun asking trivia for it. so it's no big deal if my ansis have a font or not. so i hope it does, i'd hate to see a great medium die.

and about all you wimps that don't wanna call telnet boards becuase they're so slow. screw you babies, it beats asking your dad for money to call ld boards. :)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By Leonardo.iCE on Wednesday, January 27, 1999 - 10:13 pm:

BBSs aren't killing the scene. There was a time when we depended on them. In the beginning most of the ansis were warez bbs advertisments, and it was a GREAT way to advertise your BBS to an underground audience. BBSs also were a vital link to communications (as to everyone else online at this time). With message bases, and files, people could talk and distribute files all over the the world. It was the ONLY way to do it.

Now with the popularity of the internet, and no BBSs to advertise for, were still here. Developing are art skills, communicating, learning even faster, easier AND cheeper. The scene isn't dying, its just changing. Artpacks aren't just for advertising anymore, its more about artwork.

btw, wouldn't you consider acheron.org a BBS?? I would, it has all the elements. The scene needs more BBSs like acheron, with discussion bases, and other goodies. They don't have to be primarily art-related either. there is SO many personal websites that mainly just information, there not interactive AT ALL! people should be making more internet BBSs, and make them unique so people will use them. and ya know it would give alot of us reason to draw... if everyone puts up web BBSs, then thier going to need artists to advertise.

about the lost NEED for ansis. yeah, its pretty much gone. but its STILL an art, it still takes skill and talent to make a good ansi.

Leo


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By dangermouse on Thursday, January 28, 1999 - 12:04 am:

To tell you the truth I have never thought of acheron as a BBS, until you said something Leo. You're right, it has all the elements of a bbs -- a message base, files to download (not as many as the traditional BBS mind you!), and a community feel.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By Cthulu of Mistigris on Thursday, January 28, 1999 - 03:03 am:

Let's look at the origin of the term BBS: Bulletin Board Service, so named because a post could be left by one user for other users to see, in an assumedly non-instant sense. Most web pages' guestbooks work under this principle, as so lagged IRC statements and of course the most important parts of Acheron, the parts that involve user-input.

This is definitely a bulletin board, but it is definitely not a dial-in BBS, which is what most people mean when they say it.

Clarification of terms may work wonders.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By God among Lice on Thursday, January 28, 1999 - 11:37 am:

I'd like to see more web boards, too. I think ice's V2 site will be interactive in this sense, though I'm not sure. I think the biggest problem is that it seems like it's a lot harder to set up a web bbs than a traditional bbs.. A BBS software usually had everything more or less built in, whereas a webmaster would have to build more things from the ground up.

Maybe we as a scene could work to create code for the shell of web bbs so that others could easily put up their own board?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By Leonardo.iCE on Thursday, January 28, 1999 - 12:13 pm:

" Maybe we as a scene could work to create code for the shell of web bbs so that others could
easily put up their own board? "

I think thats a great idea!

Leo


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By dangermouse on Thursday, January 28, 1999 - 03:37 pm:

God, Shit yeah.. Good idea.. Now all we need is someone to code it :) But, surely there must be pre-made webBBS software floating around?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By filth on Thursday, January 28, 1999 - 06:32 pm:

a www board? would that really help? i mean it wouldn't be ansi gfx, unless you went and converted the ansis to jpgs or whatever. and that'd just look pukey. why not just stick with telnet boards?

note, regular vga based message boards aren't a bad idea, but i don't see it helping the art scene any. er, except the vga scene. :)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By dangermouse on Thursday, January 28, 1999 - 07:15 pm:

Haha.. I see your point.. All I think God was getting to was somebody making a system similar to the old BBSs that could be used on the web. BUt then, granted, why not just use the tried and true system of Telnetable Bulletin Boards?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By Leonardo.iCE on Thursday, January 28, 1999 - 07:48 pm:

because so many more people use the web as oposed to telnet. you can basically do the same stuff with webbased BBSs, but now with VGA graphics!

If we could get some coders, webmasters, and artists together I think we could make a shell WebBBS, just like the old BBS programs. I'd be willing to help out with artwork for the default screens and stuff. Anyone want to help????? coders??? webmasters???

filth, and no, it probibly wouldn't help the ansi scene at all :) (maybe I'm getting off topic here)

Leo


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By God among Lice on Thursday, January 28, 1999 - 09:11 pm:

Hehe, this conversation has indeed gotten off the original topic, since admittedly I'm not really thinking about ansi in any of these future plans. But, it's still heavily inspired by ansi's legacy.

Since I've been drawing hirez I've always been jealous of the fact that ansi artists were creating artwork for BBS's... Sure, I could draw vga for web pages, but I always hated the static nature of them.. they typically had no life. What I would LOVE is to be able to create artwork for the online environments in which I communicate and share with others.

Ansi artists were (and are) unique in that they were actually creating the Architecture for these shared spaces; together with the sysop, they'd create an entire estate complete with fancy gates, tree-lined driveway, mansion with lots of different rooms all completely decorated, recreational facilities, paths running through the woods, gazebos... everything. When I get on IRC I feel like I'm in a land made up of a bunch of crude huts, all of them with identical huge flat yards, and all separated by ugly, crude little fences.

I think of it almost as our duty to the world to take the next logical technological step and apply what we know to these more widely populated spaces. Think about it.. this scene was created entirely within online spaces, and its purpose centered around creating the artwork for bulletin boards, the very Architectural framework of these online spaces! Who better to lead the way for humanity than us?! We truly are the most qualified to show to others what a real online community consists of, so let us do it!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By filth on Friday, January 29, 1999 - 10:35 pm:

yes i agree 100% with god. and god among lice. bahahaha.

anyways, i could see us scene of slackers going on putting a place on the computer world map. as i said in the real discussion for this, it's a really good idea, and gives me chills thinking that if this would work, it'd be a grand time to be around

btw god, you sure have a thing for this gate leading up to a mansion with trees lining the driveway. :)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By Clean on Saturday, January 30, 1999 - 11:23 pm:

why is it that filth is always living in the past?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By rippa (melnc01.bigpond.com - 139.134.27.10) on Wednesday, February 10, 1999 - 02:23 am:

after replying to a million of these messages.. ive made the descision to STOP WRITING BULLSHIT that has already been written and to go and draw.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By filth (svcr-94ppp76.epix.net - 199.224.94.76) on Wednesday, February 10, 1999 - 01:34 pm:

clean, what are you referring to?

and rippa, wuzz wrong with having a discussion? i mean that _is_ what this is for. :)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By ingenious thext (cr618396-a.crdva1.bc.wave.home.com - 24.113.55.86) on Tuesday, February 16, 1999 - 11:14 am:

If "accessibility" is a problem, why not make a goddamn Java applet that turns the screen to textmode and telnets directly to a BBS? :]


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message  By song yong (ppp64-240.lino.sympatico.ca - 142.217.240.64) on Tuesday, February 16, 1999 - 08:34 pm:

hey, the obloid sphere: a bbs that feels like renegade but is written in perl and is web-based (but you have to pay for it).. if dto.net is still up, there's a link there.


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