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Author Topic: When did internet message boards become games?  (Read 2564 times)

Neoplatonist1

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When did internet message boards become games?
« on: November 13, 2021, 11:32:52 PM »
Is this a nerd thing, that glommed onto message boards with the eager urge to transform them from simple communications platforms into text-based games, complete with thick rulebooks, characters, and "gamemaster" moderators?

Venka

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Re: When did internet message boards become games?
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2021, 02:27:32 PM »
Man people used to run campaigns on BBSes in the 90s, AD&D and White Wolf stuff.  I doubt there's much fundamentally new under the sun here.

Neoplatonist1

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Re: When did internet message boards become games?
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2021, 05:26:47 PM »
Man people used to run campaigns on BBSes in the 90s, AD&D and White Wolf stuff.  I doubt there's much fundamentally new under the sun here.

That's not what I mean, Venka. People have used platforms to play games, but, when did the posting of non-game messages itself become a game? You know, getting +1 Nerd Points or having a book of do's and don't when it comes to posting, power levels and persecution points, etc.? It's like the people at TBP are running their board as if it's a big game in and of itself, regardless of what is actually discussed there. When did that kind of thing start?

Venka

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Re: When did internet message boards become games?
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2021, 02:30:34 AM »
Oh, I see what you are saying now.  To be honest, I'm not real sure.  As early as the early 2000s, SA had become gamified with everyone trying to hold closer and closer to some pure ideal post- terse, blunt, and in support of some political value.  At that time I'd argue it was a new dissonant type of poem, these days I'd say it has become a performance art, a measure of adherence to an infernal standard.

Spinachcat

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Re: When did internet message boards become games?
« Reply #4 on: November 22, 2021, 07:07:17 PM »
Power corrupts.

It's HARD to run a free speech forum because you have to accept / allow / deal with / tolerate speech you don't like. It's much easier to censor, especially when you have the power to censor.

It's why I have great and enduring respect for RPGPundit, even if I disagree with something he says, I know he's dedicated to keeping theRPGsite free speech first and foremost.


Null42

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Re: When did internet message boards become games?
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2021, 08:11:36 AM »
Man people used to run campaigns on BBSes in the 90s, AD&D and White Wolf stuff.  I doubt there's much fundamentally new under the sun here.

That's not what I mean, Venka. People have used platforms to play games, but, when did the posting of non-game messages itself become a game? You know, getting +1 Nerd Points or having a book of do's and don't when it comes to posting, power levels and persecution points, etc.? It's like the people at TBP are running their board as if it's a big game in and of itself, regardless of what is actually discussed there. When did that kind of thing start?

I don't know when chronologically it started, but while I suspect video gaming is a much bigger part of the younger crowd's childhood (I'm old enough to have had a physical Transformer collection), so they're applying the rules of video games to forum posts. They go in with that mindset and look for stuff to 'gamify'.

Horace

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Re: When did internet message boards become games?
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2021, 11:51:17 AM »
Man people used to run campaigns on BBSes in the 90s, AD&D and White Wolf stuff.  I doubt there's much fundamentally new under the sun here.
That's not what I mean, Venka. People have used platforms to play games, but, when did the posting of non-game messages itself become a game? You know, getting +1 Nerd Points or having a book of do's and don't when it comes to posting, power levels and persecution points, etc.?
I'd say it started after the advent of Facebook. By 2010, social media companies had hit upon the idea that Likes, Upvotes, and Notifications are addictive. Web-forum companies started implementing those features for the same reason: to keep users engaged and coming back.

The fact that this board doesn't utilize manipulative features like Likes, Upvotes, and Notifications is a plus to me. People actually say what they think here rather than what they think will reward them with the most Like-induced dopamine hits. But that's also why this forum (and others like it) aren't as popular as modern social media sites. People who live on social media all day feel lost in an environment like this where they can't get instant positive reinforcement for group-think.
« Last Edit: December 07, 2021, 01:04:22 PM by Horace »

Timothe

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Re: When did internet message boards become games?
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2021, 11:56:49 AM »
I was playing message board RPGs on Prodigy Classic somewhere around 1995-1996, at which time most of them moved to web-based Microsoft FrontPage discussion boards. I recall http://star-fleet.org/ and the once-popular but killed off by the admins Star Wars D6 Roleplaying Club http://starwarsclub.org (originally kenobi.com).