Back in the 1980s the barriers were relative low to run a BBS. A computer, a phone line, and a modem. Since the vast majority of BBSs only had one modem and o

Back in the 1980s the barriers were relative low to run a BBS. A computer, a phone line, and a modem. Since the vast majority of BBSs only had one modem and one phone line, virtually all imposed a time limit on how long you could connect (often 30 - 60 minutes depending on the board). Different BBSs had different focuses. Most had some sort of message forum. Many had different "doors" or games like Tradeswars or The Pit or huge variety of other ones. These games were multiplayer in the sense that you would take your turns each day against other people who would also log in and play. There were also file forums, where people could upload and download software, often trading "cracked" games and warez. ANSI art was also huge back then. There were whole organizations devoted to creating ANSI art (some of which was pretty insane). UAA is one that comes to mind: https://16colo.rs/pack/uaa4-93/ https://16colo.rs/pack/uaa4-93/ There were also several BBSs devoted to hacking and phone phreaking, which stands to reason since most BBS users back then were techies (modem and BBS use was not widespread in the 80s). Back then, the laws didn't keep up with the technology, and a lot of activities that today can land you in jail for decades weren't even crimes. Eventually the laws caught up and by 1990 and Operation Sundevil you had a lot of old school hacker BBSs closing up as it wasn't worth the risk. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Sundevil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Sundevil It was the wild west back then, a bygone era!