=============================================================================== || T.Y.M.E. - Twisted Young Minds Expand || # 17, by vrs || 10/??/94 || =============================================================================== vYrus' BBS Guide ---------------- Well, this is for all the people that suck at BBSing and have been stupid enuff to get themselves blacklisted, (you know who i mean, napalm) and i hope that you all manage to make some sense. It is divided into a couple of parts, Newusers, Messages, Files, The Sysop, and Etiquette (whatever that means. =] ). Enjoy.. New Users --------- Being a new user is easy. If you can meet the Sysop's standard of a new user. Use at least TWO peices of real info. I would recommend a first name and a phone number. I know half the 'ELiTE' (god i hate that word) BBSers would look at me like i belong in Napa State (Hospital) because 'what kind of fool gives out their phone number?' Well, for one, unless you have the type of person in your town that can find out every piece of info about you just by your phone number, give them your data number so it just rings and rings and rings.. =] Most Sysops want voice validation, that's how we do it over at xdus BBS (707-935-6867 =] ) and anyone who can't prove they're a real person and not some lamer using multiple handles (which is a no-no anyway) gets deleted on the spot. So a number and at least a first name will satisfy most. Don't bullshit through NUV Infoforms. If you see ANI, and you don't know what it mean, then say exactly that! You don't know! Don't put some bull- shit like Assholes Need Intelligence. That can bring down your marks with the Sysop. Nobody wants smartasses. Last, don't insult the sysop in new user applications. We saw one dude log on and leave this message: hey i hack for -$50 an hour if that isnt good enough then fuck you Not too appropriate, eh? If you guessed this guy was deleted on the spot, yer right. Not a letter to impress anyone. Message Bases ------------- Anyone who has been BBSing for any amount of time past the lamer 3 months that most 'Christmas Modemers' last can tell you that message bases can be the core a of a great BBS. Before i became a sysop of Exodus, i called it only for messages, and i kept my personal file ratios at a 2:1. Beat that. More on files later, but message can help ya meet new people, get you new friends, new enemies, and new information. Before i went into posting on the FX-Net (also known as the Kurt Cobain-Net) everyone there had an op- inion on every message posted, so you had to watch yourself. It was later nicknamed the 'Kurt Cobain-Net' because after he killed himself, the entire net went up in flames. Quite literally. The whole of every base erupted in to a flame war. You could read the 'Software Developments' section and some dude would have written a Kurt Cobain trivia program. Which set off this 1 annoying little mutherfukker, Skywalker. It's lamers like these that pollute our systems. He had to direct every conversation towards 'Kurt NoBrain'. Of course, this earned him little respect, and although i never heard what happened to him, i think he eventually dropped out of the BBS scene. Haha. What a loser. But in posting messages, if the software has a quote function, USE IT! No one will have any fucking clue what you're talking about unless you quote the person you're replying to anyway. That also helps you stay on track of whatever subject you are all arguing/talking/discussing about. It also helps to keep any unwanted lamers from interrupting your train of thought because without quoting, you wouldn't have any idea what the person was saying, either. So use it. In most ANSi fullscreen editors it's '/Q', or just find out what it is. File Areas ---------- A BBS can also be known for it's extensive fileareas. Boards with CD-ROMs usually attract the most attention, and it's those kind of boards that most of the time, the sysop doesn't care about people downloading a lot, or it's the sysop that complains that people download too much. Hey, if they adver- tise it, LEECH IT! Hell, don't bother if they complain at you. Tell 'em! If the ad where you saw the BBS says '1.2+ gigs online!' then hold them to it. Don't expect a bunch of shit from the sysop for being a leech. If he wants uploads, upload a .GIF. Make sure that it isn't THAT poorly scanned, or else he/she/they/it might just go off again. Quality .GIF's can be found in boards all over. Not mine, though, just text here. Some boards will also have themes in them. Like Meidivel (sp?) stuff .GIF's only of just text or whatnot. Maybe even a board devoted to ONE software company (i.e. Apogee's Support BBS) or it can be a customer service board. (i.e. USR's Service Board) Any way it goes, each BBS has it's own blend of files. Ratios are mantained by many sysops. A 10:1 ratio would mean that for every ten files you download, you are expected/required to upload one. Some boards have ul/dl K ratio. K being Kilobytes, aka, file sizes. So a 10:1 ratio in this case would mean for every 10k you download, upload 1k. You know how it goes. SysOps ------ Key rule for surviving in a BBS community : don't piss off a Sysop. Most likely they will have some sort of connection to get you fucked up. Kiss their ass if you have to, most of 'em love that, especially Power Rat. =] Treat 'em like they were a normal person, another user you're leaving notes to. Treat his system like it was your system, nobody likes it if their fave BBS crashes, and you'll be losing out too. Just because you hate a system, doesn't mean you destroy it with flame wars or virii or whatnot. Some of your BEST friends could use the same BBS and would be mad as hell if it went down. I should know. I would crash Total Anarchy once in awhile so that it went down for a couple hours, but it was nothing permenent. And since i was Co-Sys (Co-Sysop) people called me demanding to know what hap- pened.. so I told them i had no clue. =] To sum it up : A Sysop is just an user with higher privledges then you. Pure and Simple. So don't blow it. Like that dude's newuser message, don't get 'em mad. =] Etiquette (what's that?) ------------------------ Etiquette is basically how you're supposed to act on a BBS. Like be cool while writing message, don't be a dick, treat the Sysop like he was your best bud, and don't do anything that would seriously annoy somebody or damage the system. I know i prolly already said all that, but i'm bored and i need to keep writing.. =] Closing ------- Guess that's it... enjoy... and if someone you know just got a modem for their birthday or something, give them this guide. Maybe i will write up another one for getting through Renegade.. seems to be a popular software. What the hell. It's the best. =] vrs ============================================================================= || Look for T.Y.M.E. on any of the follwing boards: (and get them all! =] || ============================================================================= || Under The Influence...........(ALM)OST-HERE.............World HQ....... || || Narkotik Illusions............(303)PRI-VATE.............Midwestern HQ.. || || Exodus BBS....................(707)935-6867.............Distro Site.... || || Electric Rush (NuP)...........(707)257-7208.............Distro Site.... || ============================================================================= || Leave comments, death threats, ideas to vYrus/napavalley@nova.fred.org || ============================================================================= || 'Life is an Illusion, Death is Reality' || =============================================================================