Computer Bulletin Boards Alive And Well Users Play Games, Chat, Sometimes Even Find Marriage Partners

By tapping on a keyboard, Henry Stevenson fights monsters and dodges slime in fantasy worlds.

The 44-year-old Spokane man also has made dozens of friends. He plays backgammon, yet he rarely leaves his home. He socializes with the help of his computer.

“For me, I’m on Social Security,” said Stevenson. “I’m not feeling sorry for myself, but I have one leg, and I don’t go out very much. This is my entertainment.”

Hundreds of people in the Spokane area go on-line to meet people and entertain themselves. They’re not hopping onto the Internet. They’re using a computer and modem to dial into local bulletin-board systems.

With all the Internet hype, many people predicted the funky old computer boards would die out.

Not so. New boards are cropping up all the time, including one that targets kids, and some are planning to offer limited Internet access.

The advantages of bulletin boards are obvious: They’re cheaper than Internet access. They’re chock-full of games. They’re local and less impersonal than the Internet. And people who meet on-line actually can meet in person.

Users range in age from pre-teens to senior citizens. They’re known by handpicked “handles” such as “Grape Ape,” “Domestic Goddess” and “PurpleBird-LikeThing.”

“It’s kind of cool because you know their personalities before you meet them,” said Lindsay Kuennen, 12, or “Frye,” who shares a computer and bulletin-board time with her two brothers, Steve and Dave, 15-year-old twins.

The more than 150 bulletin board systems in Spokane and 20 in the Coeur d’Alene area run out of computers in bedrooms, computer stores and spare crannies. Many offer only one phone line into the host computer, so only one person can log on to the board at a time. Others offer dozens of lines, allowing people to talk to one another by computer and modem.

Bulletin board system operators usually don’t get into the business for the money. Many bulletin boards are free to users, while others charge a few dollars a month or ask for donations to cover the phone and equipment bills.

Cori and Mike Nagele have been using bulletin boards for years. They decided to set up their own 14-line board, TriLynx, with a third partner in November. They wanted to know where their children were on-line. And they wanted their own place in cyberspace.

“You just want to go out and make your own world, to make your own rules,” said Cori Nagele, standing in an old bank vault that houses the board’s computer.

Planet X, with 30 lines and growing, operates out of a former sewing room in a mobile home. It’s considered the largest board in Spokane, along with the Cutting Edge Technologies board.

Using bulletin boards “provides a way for people who can’t or don’t associate with society for physical reasons or whatever to talk to people,” said Carol Ford, or “Thunder,” one of the two system operators at Planet X. “It makes it easier for people to communicate. The other part is: It just provides entertainment.”

Users play “Wheel of Fame,” with host Pat Majak; enlist into “Major Mud” as a magical dwarf or a spell-casting cleric; or win big points in trivia contests.

People also talk to one another and flash messages from computer to computer.

“I definitely think this modem has introduced me to some of the finest people here,” said Billy Hipkiss, better-known as “Adam Bomb” on his free one-line board, Euphoria! It has had 800 registered users at times.

Planet X just celebrated its first marriage of a couple who met on-line. Another couple just got engaged. Users grieve together when members and friends die. They send computer flowers and pizzas to one another. They fire off quick standard messages, such as grins, snowballs and hugs.

Mike Sirchuk, a 16-year-old home-schooler known as “Chapel,” has made adult and teenage friends across the city. He lives in a three-computer home near Suncrest.

“I don’t really care for the Internet,” Sirchuk said. “It’s mainly just a large encyclopedia. I like the local bulletin boards because you can actually meet the people.”

Kathy Dixon, a 22-year-old student at Eastern Washington University, met her boyfriend on a bulletin board.

“We met on Planet X and went out on a blind date and spent 11 hours on our first date,” Dixon said. “It was cool. We’ve been together ever since. The people on the board are probably our closest friends.”

Members meet weekly for coffee, gather in a park and hold fundraisers.

TriLynx is raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association with its trivia game this month, asking players for a $5 entrance fee. Anyone can play, but paying players qualify to win a new computer keyboard. “It’s time to start talking about what we can do for the community,” Cori Nagele said.

Planet X just donated a dozen computers to the Salvation Army for the homeless.

Ford has taken troubled teens into her home and used the board to help find missing kids. “Some of the places these kids live, the only safe place is on-line,” she said.

For sick kids, on-line is a safe place to talk to people.

Nathan Linde, 16, has been home with mononucleosis for the past two months. He can’t see his friends at University High School.

“It got so bad I couldn’t even talk,” Linde said. “But I could get on the modem and still communicate and have fun.”

Stevenson said the bulletin boards have opened up a new world for him. He spends as much as six hours a day logged on to the boards.

Before finding bulletin boards, Stevenson had a limited social life. He was born with several deformities. Now he leaves home to meet with his on-line friends. In May, they tossed him the best birthday party he’s ever had.

“I have no thumbs. It’s really hilarious I do so well at typing,” Stevenson said. “Half my face is paralyzed, and I have a cleft palate.

“That’s why I was kind of leery of meeting people. I wasn’t some Adonis, you know. But I found out there’s a lot of non-Adonises and Venuses out there.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: HITTING THE BOARDS Most computer bulletin board operators call all new users to confirm names, ages and addresses. Those offering adult discussion topics restrict access by children. The boards have names such as Tomey’s Basement, Utopia, Vipor’s Den, The Beer Zone, Eager Beaver, Cutting Edge, Phoenix and Fishbowl. The bigger boards usually charge users several dollars a month or ask for donations to pay for phone lines. To reach a bulletin board, use a computer modem to call the phone number and follow the instructions. ComputorLink magazine offers a thorough list of Inland Northwest boards. Here are several popular boards: Cutting Edge - 927-9558 Eager Beaver - 891-2383 Euphoria! - 325-2898 Planet X BBS - 468-0664 Tomey’s Basement - 327-4289 TriLynx BBS - 534-2650