Jeremy Hoyle's Thoughts on the Future of the Current BBS!

      The future of the BBS is said to be greatly at risk. I read a 
statistic the other day that said 99% of all BBS's that were getting 
200 calls per day a year ago are now lucky to get 20 calls a day. It 
seems that we shall soon see BBS's as we know them, die. OR we can go and 
revitalize them. What we need is what I call the BBS revolution. I mean 
look how do BBS graphics and content compare to AOL,Prodigy,Compuserve 
etc... They Don't! At least most of them don't.

     Graphics are one of the main things we need to deal with. For 
instance does ANSI and RIP graphics compare to the graphics people see 
on the Internet? Heck no! Most Sysops are not graphic artist anyway.  I 
know I am not for sure. What we need to do is get something that will 
compare to AOL and other such on-line companies. Lets face it where is 
all the business going? The Internet of course. People want to see 
stuff that is going to catch their eye as cool, not make them groan.
If you think it is impossible to get that kind of graphics on a BBS, 
trust me it's not, the stuff is out there to do it with.

     Now we have the problem of content.  Lots of BBSes do not have 
a whole lot going for them unless you are a computer buff. The average 
person is going to say what the heck is on it that I want to pay good 
money for. To be truthful there usually is not a whole lot. First we 
need to have Internet and Web access for people to want to get on a 
BBS. You know kind of like being an Internet service provider or 
something like that. Next, there needs to be a wide variety of things 
for people with different interests, such as files, forums, and on-line 
stores. For an example of what could be on there: major Star Trek nuts 
might be interested in having different kinds of information for them 
on-line, like a checklist of all the different Star Trek cards and 
their prices. Most importantly everything needs to be updated regularly.

    Of course there is the door games too. (you didn't think I would 
forget them did you? Besides this is called DOOR WORLD). Doors are one 
of the main things that attract a lot of people, but don't think you 
can survive with only doors unless your running an 8 line game BBS.
Door games have quite a few problems. For one, there are very few 
original Door games as most of them are clones of games that first came 
out five or six years ago. What we need are Doors that are a little more 
up to date. Who wants to play the same game for three years, not very 
many people. The Industry(if I might call it that) needs more original 
games that are more complex and of course have better graphics. Most 
door games have lousy graphics If any.

    Advertising is also one of the most Important things also. Most 
people out on the street have no idea what a BBS is but they know all 
about AOL and other related on-line services. Advertising needs to be
done in places where BBSes have not been advertised in before. We need 
to draw in people who are unfamiliar with the BBS world and get them 
hooked. 

    I guess the whole thing boils down to either current BBSes change 
or die.  Without change there is no more life because change is a 
part of life and the very essence of being alive is change.


                               Jeremy Hoyle 
                               Sysop of Stardock 7
                               Jeremy14@ix.netcom.com




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