Giving Data A Voice, The Evolution Of The BBS

In this information age, all of us are likely aware of the exponential growth and increased popularity of the Internet. This ever-expanding resource has evolved, with the aid of many of the same people who may have initially become interested in online activities through participation in a BBS.

The Internet can be thought of as a global network of BBS-like systems, tied together with a common thread. BBS is an acronym for Bulletin Board System or Service, which is a hobby or commercial service which you can hook into with your computer and modem. Such systems provide everything from messages and files, to games, chat, and a host of other online services. BBS message bases are often specialized to a special interest topic that the board is geared to, and only visible to users of that BBS. Other message bases are echoed and shared with a network of many BBSs. Files such as games or productivity software, to compressed documents can be traded.

Before the Internet craze, I used to run a BBS for about three years in the Toronto area devoted to fringe research and related activities. I soon found myself falling into the "computer nerd" profile, and wanted to get out of my shell, especially since I was starting university. I wanted to expand my BBS-offerings to people not typically found on a computer. Since the simple interface of the touch-tone phone would allow intuitive exploration of a system, I decided to port over my BBS to the auditory world of the phone. The VoiceBBS was born!Typical computer data based BBSs are in the visual domain, but since the telephone is strictly auditory, some important considerations had to be made. On a computer screen, menus give the user various options to navigate the system. The advantage of a screen is that you can visually scan to your choice. With a VoiceBBS, you must listen to the menus, so it is crucial to keep them concise It is also important to combine the elements of specific sounds to create an enjoyable, vibrant atmosphere. If you have ever listened to just the audio portion of a TV from another room, you'll realize that its blend of dialog, music and sound effects gives enough information for you to discern what it going on.

My first VoiceBBS was run on a single telephone line and a 286 computer, with custom software that a friend and I collaborated on. Through word of mouth, I received an average of 100 calls daily, so I implemented a maximum time limit of 15 minutes a day. Sometimes a user would want more time on a certain day, so I drew upon the timebank concept from traditional BBSing which lets the user deposit leftover time on a day when it wasn't used as much, and withdraw more time when it was. Since my original system didn't have a timebank, it was fairly limited. The main focus on the public message areas and the online entertainment section. We had only one game, Blackjack, pitting the caller against the computer as the dealer. This was a good start, as the rules are well known, and play is fast enough to sustain long-term play interest.

I teamed up with another friend in University, and soon we were adding roulette, slot machines, poker, craps and keno to the gambling line-up. I wanted to have games that would play well, even after heavy usage, and the combination of the timebank and the gambling games gave rise to a unique new feature. An added option to the timebank menu allowed callers to convert online time to virtual dollars, used as currency in the casino. Thus 60 minutes became sixty virtual dollars, allowing players to win (or lose), time on the system, after converting back. A high score list for each game also recorded the top five records.

Consider a multi-player fantasy roleplaying game, such as Dungeons and Dragons, and cross it with an auditory choose-your-own-adventure book. This was the foundation for our Explorer game. Visualize the keypad of a touchtone phone. "Press 2 to go North, 8 to go South, 4 to head West or 6 to go East." A virtual three dimensional environment resides within the computer, encouraging players to explore and conquer in a medieval dungeon game, or travel and trade in the sci-fi version. The setting is up to the SYStem OPerator, or SYSOP as they are known in the BBS community, all they do is modify the voice prompts to reflect the focus of the game. Callers can meet each other in real-time, talk, trade or fight, to further their quest. NPC's (non-player characters) are computer controlled and may help or hinder. Objects are tracked by the computer's database if you drop a sword in one quadrant and if an NPC takes it, it won't be there when you return. Careful game design and descriptive recording has strengthened the fantasy. Our current software has a scripting language that lets those so inclined to design their own games or complete custom applications from scratch.