Whether you're a neophyte BBSer or a hardened Cyberspace astronaut, it wouldn't hurt to know some handy tips on BBSing in general. This discussion is divided into several parts which will tackle each aspect of BBSing.
When you log in as a new user, and remember you do this only ONCE, first impressions matter a LOT! So, you must at least appear to be a responsible, law abiding, and educated individual. The first thing that a board asks you is certain baseline information. Try to answer these questions as efficiently and as neatly as possible. Try to understand what is being asked for and use correct punctuation and capitalizations. If a specific format is being asked for, follow this strictly. When asked "Where are you calling from?", don't answer "Home" or "Office", when you know very well that what is being asked for is a geopolitical name.
When you enter your address or country, don't answer "qc" or "u.p. diliman" or "phil.", this gives the sysop the impression that you're lazy or ill educated or was poorly brought up, or all of the above. You could at least capitalize these proper names, or avoided the use of abbreviations since space is available. This is definitely a bad start. Remember, you will have to do this only ONCE in that particular BBS, so make it count. The next is your password.
Next is the questionnaire. You may wonder why questionnaires at times duplicate questions already asked, such as birthdays, telephone numbers, and addresses. This is because the data file containing the answers in the preliminary database is different from that of the questionnaire. In the questionnaire, TAKE ABSOLUTE CARE in what you answer and how you answer. Personally, I dislike people who write <confidential> or <secret> as responses. These users I don't upgrade. The point is, the sysop is allowing the user access into his board, letting him look into the files and read the messages. Some also provide information about themselves. In effect, the sysop is trusting you to use his expensive and time consuming system, what is the user giving back in exchange? How will the sysop know that you are trustworthy if you don't give information about yourself? Consider this as a trade...tell me about yourself and I'll let you use my system. Answer truthfully and neatly. This gives the sysop a hint in what kind of person you are. Capitalize and punctuate correctly. Avoid non standard abbreviations. Be as detailed as space allows.
Many boards require that you be upgraded before you get to enter messages, download files, play games, in other words... to get to use the juiciest functions of the board. Don't expect the sysop to check his logs everyday to see if there are new users and then just upgrade them just like that. SEND A MESSAGE informing him that you are a new user, whether it is required or not. Try to make some small talk and not just leave a message saying..."Upgrade please." Complimenting a sysop on his board and perhaps even leaving further information about you and how he can verify you helps immensely.
As you gain greater skill in BBSing, you tend to ignore the Bulletins area. DON'T! Never remove the "Bulletin" from Bulletin Board System! When entering a BBS for the first time, read ALL BULLETINS! You may have questions regarding BBS policies and services that are answerable by the bulletins. You can usually judge the skill and love for the craft of a sysop by the quality and quantity of his bulletins. It isn't easy to make a bulletin... it is time consuming and draining. In the classier BBSes, bulletins are updated at a regular basis, thus don't forget to recheck the bulletins after some time, there may be something new and interesting.
In the course of my sysoping, I've noted that many users download OMR packets but rarely if ever respond. Many users are thus just readers and not message writers. This practice should be discouraged. Message areas are also known as message conferences. A conference, implying a dynamic interchange of ideas. If users just read messages, then who'll write the messages? If you're just shy, don't be! Feel free to interrupt any message thread, butting in is the name of the game in BBSing! A lively message writer also gets to be popular. Many of the more prominent names in BBSing started out this way. If you wish to respond to a question or butt in a discussion or even ask a question yourself, DO NOT HESITATE! Do it!
So now you're writing messages like crazy, how do you write messages? For one thing, there are numerous idiosyncracies when writing BBS messages, example... abbreviations: BTW (by the way), IMO (in my opinion), IMHO (in my honest opinion), TNX (thanks), BCNU (be seeing you). There are also characters called Smileys.
One interesting thing about message writing is quoting. Let me explain, when you become an accomplished message writer, you may not be able to keep track of all the messages you've sent or responded to such that when you read a message you would need a reminder of what was being discussed, that's where quoting comes in. Before you answer a message, you can quote some of the original text to remind the receiver what you're responding to. Many beginners make the mistake of quoting EVERYTHING. Don't do this! It is very irritating and space consuming. Quote just enough to remind the receiver of the gist of what you were discussing. Also, don't quote taglines (unless this is what you're talking about), origin lines, already quoted lines (unless you think these are essential). Before you embark on message writing, familiarize yourself with the controls and commands of the text editor a sysop is using.
In particular, find out how they quote messages. The easier editors to use are full screen editors, but may seem slow in < 2400 bps modems. Even so, these are the best choice. Echomail message areas contain messages that are sent to other BBSes,in many cases around the world. To keep the traffic organized, each echo usually has a moderator. It is his job to make the rules for each echo. The rules differ for each echo depending on the moderator, but most areas have the following common rules:
It is a good practice to familiarize yourself with each areas rules before writing a questionable message (with graphic characters, advertisements, etc.). The echo rules are usually posted at least once a month, so just search for this message to keep safe. When writing opinions or arguments, three words should be foremost in your mind... TACT, DIPLOMACY, and TRUTH!
TACT - Always make your messages tactful. Even if you haven't seen the other person or other people, they are alive and have feelings to hurt. If you wish to reprimand or criticize someone, you may, but always be tactful. With tact comes humility. Be humble at all times, if proven to be wrong, accept it with dignity, and always keep a cool head.
DIPLOMACY - When writing messages that can potentially cause conflict with the receiver or another user, remember to keep it diplomatic. Even if they criticize or reprimand someone, your message shouldn't produce anger, but instead encourage the target to apologize and or refrain from doing it again.
TRUTH - When making arguments, are the facts that support your message true? Be ready to back up whatever sources you have, because some people ask for them during hot debates! If you're not sure about something, then be sure to state this.
Now let the truth be known... why did you ever start BBSing? I'm sure most if not all you answered "Files!". I admit, I started the same way, and only later discovered the message areas and found them to be even more addicting. Sysops usually prefer users to frequent the message areas rather than the files. One, downloading of files takes more time and decreases the number of users who can log on in a day. Two, file downloading is the chief reason why users are tempted to create multiple accounts, so that they can download more files. And three, posted files occupy the bulk of hard disk space in a BBS. Secondly, File vampirism can be seen as a sign of rudeness. Say you hold a party, stock up on food, all the guests come, then just eat and run, hardly saying a word. What would you do? You'd probably never hold a party again would you? That's one of the impressions you can give a sysop when you suck up files and leave.
So if you're a file hog, you may find out later that your access level or download limit has been lowered a tad. How do you prevent this from happening? First method is simply by frequenting the message areas. Participate in the conferences. Sysops usually disregard a user's file vampire reputation if he is a frequent message participator. But you ask, reading and writing messages are time consuming and would take a bulk out of my online time which I need for the files I want to download? Then use an Offline Mail Reader and download your messages, answer them while you're offline and upload your replies. The second method would be uploading.
Third, if you're really into downloading files, the best solution is to get a hi speed modem. Most BBSes have an increased download limit for high speed users. Also, many sysops don't mind file vampirism very much when they use high speeders.
At some point in BBS'ing, you'll find this certain little option in the menu leading you to the Live Games area. These are mostly text or ANSI games thus, compared to the Super VGA PC games they're not much... or are they. With live games, you get to play against a real live flesh and blood opponent with human reactions and strategies. The most popular of it's kind is the multi player interstellar / trading genre. Some of the most notable games of this type are Barren Realm Elite or BRE, Tradewars 1000 or 2001 and Interstellar Annihilator. In this other world, the sky's the limit. Anything is possible. The only purpose in life is to rip the hearts out of your fellow players.
BBSing is a highly addictive hobby. It is very demanding both for the user and the sysop. But it won't keep flourishing if there are no users. So, invite more of your friends, give them these tips on how to enjoy BBSing and keep in touch!