The End of Jolt Country BBS

[pinback]

Jonsey and I spoke at length over the past few months about this, and almost just as much about when to reveal it to the rest of you, and while neither one of us is certain that this is the right time, we had to choose some time, and today was the "lucky" day.

Over the past six years in this format, and many years previous in other formats, this BBS has provided you -- has provided us all -- a means of self-expression, and a conduit for our humor, our passions, our interests, and for all of the ways that we could (and did) enhance each other's lives by way of this medium -- a medium at once strangely impersonal, and yet at the same time intimate to a degree never thought possible before the internet.

To say it has succeed wildly is an understatement. Though some have come and gone, those who truly felt the magic of Jolt Country BBS at one point in their lives or another, it became an indispensable, integral part of their days, and of their lives. For many, visiting and participating in the forums became as second-nature, as tightly woven into the fabric of their lives as reading the newspaper, as talking with friends, as smiling at a cool breeze, as breathing.

It was truly a magical place, at a magical time.

There can be no denying, however, that the BBS has experienced a decline. Depending on your perspective, it has been a violent decline over a short period of time, but those with a little more perspective and insight would surely say that it has been a pattern of entropy and disintegration, infecting the place slowly but steadily for quite a while now.

I knew it. Jonsey knew it. And though we all feel that you are a part of this experience, as much as the hands are a part of the arm, and the arm a part of the body, there has to be an authority -- in this case, an equal partnership between Jonsey and myself -- to be able to make the hard decisions when the time came.

It has not been easy. Both of us have such strong feelings about the BBS that even discussing this seemed distasteful and ridiculous at the beginning. But as time moved on, and our discussions continued, it eventually became clear what we had to do.

That is why it is with a bittersweet firmness, but no small bit of sorrow, that we must announce the the Jolt Country BBS will be dismantled and closed, permanently.

We did not want this to be a "sudden" thing, so we chose today as the date of announcement and chose March 31, 2008 as the final day. We felt this gave everyone enough time to come, express their thoughts, get the most out of the BBS while it was still a remnant of its former self, but not so long that it became a death march, or that the BBS would be allowed to decline any further.

We will be here to listen to your replies, your concerns, even your arguments, but know that this decision was not reached lightly, and that we are committed to this plan.

For those who may suffer from this, we sincerely want to express our remorse and regret, but we hope that you will learn to appreciate the bright sides, the way we are allowing the BBS to go out with dignity, and will see that this is a time not for mourning, but for celebration, of the wonderful ways in which the Jolt Country BBS made all of our lives a little more fun, a little more special, and at the end of the day, a little more livable.

Thank you all.

[AArdvark]

[Raises hand]

Will there be some alternate incarnation? I seem to remember some kind of spider videogame bbs that nobody ever posted to. I simply cannot see the internet as it is now without RobB having some kind of personal venting ground.

Will all the posts entered here be archived in some mechanical, electrical or paper form?



THE
AARDVARK IS
IN THE DETAILS

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Well, the threads all seem to have good Google ratings. So that's appreciated. We can just turn off posting, so people can read what has been written before. There's good info in the arcade base for arcade game owners.

But also, Varkus - do you ever go back and read threads from 2004 or so? They were great! I mean, over Christmas vacation I was doing that and I wanted to put each thread into the "Best of" base. The average old thread now teabags the current great thread.

But, like boiling a frog, it creeps up on you slow and you only notice if you go back and check old threads.*


*See, in the old days, this analog would apply perfectly to a frog. Now it's like I gave up as soon as the going got tough. I, too, am part of the problem.

[Locked-Out Pinner]

Unfortunately I'm one of the victims of the "AcidTechBlood" bug, so am not able to log in currently, but I wanted to stress that while we are still hammering out the details, the plan is to close the page completely. The main Jolt Country site will still be up and running as usual, but the BBS will be removed.

Among "softer" alternatives are, as Jonsey says, just turning off posting, but if we had to go the "soft" route, I would much favor sifting through the current bases, finding the real cream of the crop and archiving it in a separate website, like a "memorial site" or somesuch.

Just make no mistake, the BBS in its current form will no longer exist.

If you have other ideas for preserving the quality material which still pervades this site, let us know.

[Locked-Out Pinner]

I just want to make sure people realize this is the original thread, and the Level 9 one is a parody done by someone I don't know who it is.

That one was a joke, this one is not. As I just told CGG over IM, "...I guess there aren't enough people around anymore to much care, but for me, this is kinda big. With few exceptions, it's a site I've visited every day for the past several years." Which is true. I'll probably miss it more than anyone.

[Molly Muffsweet]

Can't you horrible, horrible people let this place die with just a little shred of dignity?


Only the Sweetest,

Molly Muffsweet

[Knuckles the CLown]

huh? I dont post for 3 months and look what happens.

[Molly Muffsweet]

No amount of "large meals I have not enjoyed" posts can save us now!

Knuckles the CLown, what will you miss most about this place? Me, I'll always remember Jolt Country as a place where I could really let my hair down and not just in a Nelly Furtado sort of way.


Only the Sweetest,

Molly Muffsweet

[ChainGangGuy]

It was truly a magical place, at a magical time.

Alright, folks, the cat’s out of the bag. Let's stop weeping and start posting!

Pinback and ICJ have divulged the exact date and time the death bell will toll for the Jolt Country BBS, and I, for one, have cracked my knuckles and am ready to get down to work. It sure as fuck's big news to me, but I'll allow it to be wonderful news as I hope JC's final moment can also be its very finest!

Now then, let's PUMP IT UP one last time. k.roo, why don't you start us off?

[Knuckles the CLown]

No amount of "large meals I have not enjoyed" posts can save us now!

Knuckles the CLown, what will you miss most about this place?

being a bully, reading 40 people who get their politics from the New York Times, endlessly reading the thread about Freemessers broken garbage can, large meals, threads involving just my brother and Dayna (when they just as easily could've just turned around and talked to each other).
Making jokes about the fat guy on the lawn mower, that picture of Vitriolas ex-boyfriend, Bruces binge eating, that thread where Robb kept posting pictures of bacon and frosting to Bens fat friend(im gonna go read that right now)and finnaly sending Lysander in 10,000 word post tizzies and never reading said posts.

Also why would you actually cancel the site? To save $10 bucks a month? Knowing Robb he will create a new site called Joltland and then Joltpus only then can Berkeley Breathed sue him for copyright infringment.

[pinback]

Also why would you actually cancel the site? To save $10 bucks a month? Knowing Robb he will create a new site called Joltland and then Joltpus only then can Berkeley Breathed sue him for copyright infringment.

Hey Mike. Although when it comes down to it I can only really speak for myself, I think both Jonsey and I agree that the path this place was going down wasn't a path either of us wanted to see it go down. Sure it's not much money, but I think when it came to this it didn't have anything to do with it. This is something we cared about, and we want to see it go out on its own terms.

I don't know how else to explain it, but that's how it is. For me, at least.

[hygraed]

My best friend dropped out of college and he's moving to Texas in March.

March is a bad month :(

[Guest]

Were taking a "Goodbye dear world!" message from a guy who ended up crossing Starcraft with work place drama?

Its a forum. ICJ could just keep it around for feedback on his text games, instead of crying over the quality of posts.

[ChainGangGuy]

My best friend dropped out of college and he's moving to Texas in March.

March is a bad month :(

Geez, man, I'm really sorry.

Been there, hygraed. Almost two years ago. My heart totally goes out to you. I know this is a huge understatement, but it sucks losing a best friend to Texas.

[Guest]

Texas doesn't just spit you back it, but grinds you around to Austin and El Paso until your bones are a fine, powdery mush.

[Knuckles the CLown]

Also why would you actually cancel the site? To save $10 bucks a month? Knowing Robb he will create a new site called Joltland and then Joltpus only then can Berkeley Breathed sue him for copyright infringment.

I don't know how else to explain it, but that's how it is. For me, at least.

NO THE BOARD STAYS YOU GO!

[youtube][/youtube]

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Also why would you actually cancel the site? To save $10 bucks a month? Knowing Robb he will create a new site called Joltland and then Joltpus only then can Berkeley Breathed sue him for copyright infringment.

Did I ever tell you how I got the name "Jolt Country"? Gather round, friends... I guess there is no point in saving the story any longer.

When I was 15 I logged onto a Commodore 64 BBS called the Skull Squadron. It was run by a skinhead in Rochester, NY. The guy's handle was Roy Fokker, and I guess it was based off a Robotech thing that had similar names.

Roy hardly ever checked his BBS, and you had to apply to get posting privledges. You'd list your name and location. I saw everyone else with aviation themed names, so I put down "Captain ICJ" or something, with the location "Jolt County."

There was no "copying and pasting" back then, and I guess he only granted military titles to his friends. So I was listed as "ICJ" from "Jolt Country."

I could have said something, but I was afraid that drawing attention to myself would get my account deleted. The Skull Squadron was completely out of the loop, as far as its relationship with other bulletin boards. There were only a few posts a week, you really got the sense that the SysOp (who I never, ever saw directly post) just turned this thing on in a spare bedroom and checked it once a month for new account requests. It makes you wonder why he bothered, but at the same time there was a certain appeal in accessing a bulletin board system that was "abandoned" by its owner. It was like my first experience with a forum that had no oppressive moderation.

A year later I ran my own BBS and just took that goofy name as the title.

The Skull Squadron eventually disconnected, and taking a quick look, there does not seem to be any evidence of the BBS on the Internet. A shame, it was a fun place to access growing up, but just one of those things that disappeared into the night.

(In fact, it is frustrating to not be able to accurately describe the thrill of dialing someone else's phone, connecting as a single user to their computer, and quietly reading messages. Even a sentence like that doesn't explain the very quiet, and now quaint, cool factor of it... I wish I could describe it better.)

[Bugs]

BEST OF

[Bugs]

Srsly, though. What the fuck?

[gsdgsd]

that thread where Robb kept posting pictures of bacon and frosting to Bens fat friend(im gonna go read that right now)

When I first read the news, my first thought was "geez, that sucks" and my second thought was "I need to reread all the Finsternis threads, ASAP."