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VSysop III: The Virtual System Operator Simulation. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ (Virtual Sysop III, 3.00df (DropFile Version)) Copyright 1999, by Darryl Perry All rights reserved. This is a simulation of what it may be like to be a system operator on one of the larger data services in the nation. It is not designed to be 100% accurate or resemble any one BBS. The problems and situations found in this program are the result of many years of running a BBS. INSTRUCTIONS FOR PLAYING THE GAME ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── "The local system operator's group welcomes a new member to their community! Most of them wish you the best of luck with your BBS and users." GENERAL INTRODUCTION Every effort has been made to make this game true to life whenever possible. There are some areas that have been changed to make the game more enjoyable and less like work. After all, if you would put up with the pain of being a real sysop then you would be running a real BBS. Most of the users that you will find in this simulation will not take up any of your time, as do many actual users. The few that will use up your time are the ones to watch. They will be giving you the most trouble. YOUR GOAL Your goal is to get your BBS to grow. You must attract the most users and get them to take part in your system. This will make up the larger part of your score in the game. Hardware and software don't count much if you don't have any users. For the most part use the golden rule and you will do ok. PROMPT LINE The prompt line is made up of 3 (or 4) parts: (non-paying users : paying users : actions left today) The first part tells you the total number of non-paying (free) users that may be talked into paying for your system. You must have more than 50 users to start charging for access. The second item is the total number of paying users. These people are paying for your system and you should make sure that they have enough phone lines to use. They tend to be very easy to make mad because they are putting their money into your system. Too many busy signals and they may even demand their money back. The third part is the number of actions you have left today. There is only so much one person can do in a day. Even a super sysop is limited. Keep an eye on this number until you find out what takes up your time and what doesn't. If you hire employees a "point" number will be added to your actions. This shows the number of employee actions available. Most employees are limited in how fast they can do a job compared to the main sysop. It might take an employee 2 or more actions to do something you could do in 1 action. You will find that most of the prompts are easy to understand so feel free to explore. ANSWER MAIL Answering mail is one of the jobs that every sysop must decide when and how often to do. Most of the mail sent to a sysop is nothing more than questions that the sysop has answered many times before. These are called "no-brainer" messages and any sysop can answer these in his sleep. It still takes time to answer them, but you are not shown the text of each one as they are answered. It is a good idea not to let the mail pile up in your box for too long. When the users see that it is taking a long time for you to get back to them they may get mad. This normally starts with more messages, but may end up with them leaving your system. PROBLEM MAIL When your system gets larger, the co-sysops will start answering more and more of the "no-brainer" mail. If they find a message that they can't answer, or is a problem that they don't want to answer, they will send it to you. These messages are called "problem" mail. They are normally from mad users who are upset about something to the point of being rude. It takes special care to answer each message in a way that will either cool the user down or stop him from bothering you again. Don't be so eager to lock out a user or ignore his mail. Bad things can happen if you get a reputation as a censor or make the wrong person mad at you. It may even get to the point that you will be forced to take your system down or end up in a lawsuit. MAIN FUNCTIONS The following commands should be the ones you spend the most time with. They are (W)ork, (V)irus scan and (S)tore. Be careful. It is easy to forget to keep up with your (M)ail or to keep the number of free lines ahead of the number of users calling your system. PHONE LINE LOAD The (U)sage function will show you a quick overview of the work load percentage on each group of your phone lines. The numbers are split into two different sections. The slow modems and high speed modems. The slow modem users are any user with a modem not capable of 9600 bps. They are happy to connect with any of your available modems. The high speed modem users have paid extra for their hardware and only want to use the high speed lines on your system. The users will start to complain about the busy signals if the load on your phone lines starts to get too high. They will only complain for a short time before they leave your board. When users leave your board they normally take their friends with them. This can take a big chunk out of your customer base. It is suggested that you spend part of your time each day installing modems until you are well ahead of the number of users. This will give you some time to devote to building up your user base without fear of overloading your phone lines. CHARGING FOR ACCESS The method you select to charge your users for access to your system is up to you. Just about every option is available, some more successful than others. You are encouraged to consider several things about charging before you actually start taking money. First, what is the main thing that you will be selling. Is it bytes or time? Will the users re-subscribe for more of the same access? What would you be willing to pay if you were a user? You will be able to change the way you are charging once each day by going into the (C)harge option. It is suggested that you not change the way you are charging very often. It can make your paying users unhappy which may cost you both money and subscribers. FREE USERS Keep an eye on the number of free users you have on your system. They don't have anything invested in your service and can cause problems between you and the phone company. It is a good idea to keep the number of free users as low as possible. Some of them will subscribe on their own, but others need to be "reminded" why they should subscribe to your service with the (C)harge option. VIRUS CHECKING When you work around communications it is likely that some point in your many connections that you will attract a virus or two. It is strongly suggested that you use the scanning option at least once for every ten "working" actions. There are some situations that a TurboScan mode will be available. But remember that this faster scan may not catch all of the infected files as the regular scan. If a virus is found its name will be displayed. If it is found in more than one place it will be shown more than once. SHOPPING The store menu allows you to purchase a wide range of items. You will need to go to the store to buy just about everything for your system. Not every store on the menu has the same price on the same item. You should shop around until you find what you need. It is possible that the "discount" stores may pull you in with a false price and charge you a higher price than the full retail stores. (PHONE SERVICE) Much like the real world, the phone service in this game is not 100% reliable. If you have to deal with the phone company try to keep it as simple as possible. Errors are likely when you start placing orders while asking for other services. When calling for repairs remember that the service trucks must charge you for every trip even if they don't find anything wrong with your line. When you start adding large numbers of phone lines you will quickly out grow the local phone services which will require them to run special lines just for you. This will cost time, money and actions so think and plan carefully before jumping into that first multi-line order. PERSONAL OPTIONS There are several options not directly related to running a BBS that are available in this game. They range from going to school to get a higher education and buying insurance to illegal activities like hacking or burglary. These options are not available to the very new player to try and make things a little less complicated for them. (EDUCATION) There are different types of education available. The public education is the kind of information found most often in schools or from tutors. The personal education is more of the "secret" stuff normally found out from direct word of mouth. Each type will allow you to do different things. A good public education will make it easier for you to run your BBS or if you are in the mood, break into someone else's office or take something from the store without getting cought. A good personal education will make it easier to hack a BBS or rob the bank. (CALLER-ID) The most useful of the personal options are the protection devices. These come in two forms; Caller ID and Office Security. The Caller ID is rated with a number showing the level or strength of validation that is used by the hardware. Different hardware has different caller validation abilities. Sometimes this equipment can be damaged by someone trying to break into your system or by "age". Check it every so often to make sure that it is still operational. (SECURITY) The Office Security ranges from locks on the door to very complex security and access management services. Like the Caller ID it is rated with a number showing the level or strength. Burglars can do more damage to your system than hackers so a good security system can be a very smart investment. These systems are more robust than Caller ID systems, but they also have a limited lifetime. (INSURANCE) The only insurance company we could get to open an office in this game was not very well known. They do cover most damage from hackers or burglars, but the coverage for the first 60 days is limited. They also retain the right to cancel your policy if the claim is too high. The good thing is that they don't keep good records so you can sign up with them as often as you like. Illegal activities are not suggested but are there just for those who can't resist. These options have a risk of being detected by the police. Jail terms are stiff and can take you out of the game for several real days. You must serve your time. If you don't call back at least once each day you are in jail your term will grow one day for each one you skip. (HACKING) Hacking is the safest of the "dark" actions. This is where you use your "personal" education to break into other systems. You must be able to out smart their validation system to gain access. Otherwise the police will be notified. What you do once you are on the inside is up to you. (BREAKING IN) Breaking into an office is more risky but allows you to steal items and do things that hackers can't. For example, a hacker can't destroy backup tapes or take a modem or computer from a BBS. Since you are in a hurry, some items may break. So get all you can in the limited time you have. (ROB BANK) Rob the bank is the hardest of all the options. It really is for the very very experienced and should not be attempted without much strong drink. The odds of you actually getting even a part of the funds from the bank are so small that if you put the same time into working you would be a multi-billionaire. The chance is there and the prize is not small either. (SHOPLIFTING) Shoplifting is available for those who are so experienced that they either want a larger challenge or a chance at the big stuff. This option is very hard! The store is always trying out new security hardware. The Bank is the only thing harder to break. There is a difference in the score you get from items you steal and items you buy. Sometimes the difference is small, but often it is much more noticeable. Every illegal activity leaves some kind of a trace or clue. The police are not always bright enough to pick up the clue so the player may have to look at the damage report in person. If the hacker or thief was very good the clue will be too small to use in court. But not too small to allow the player to track down who the criminal was. Watch out for mad victims. A byproduct of being the victim of a crime is that you get "mad" and have an extra boost of energy. This is shown as extra actions on the command line. Even if you are in jail or in debt for education you can still find those extra actions. Use these wisely. Protect yourself before you go off in a rage to attack your attacker. It is also possible for the hacker or burglar to "lie" and leave a fake clue. So you may end up venting your anger on the wrong person if you are not careful. SCORE CALCULATION The score is calculated on the main parts of the BBS. They include: Computer type and operating system, file storage, BBS software, number of phone lines, number of modems, number of users and how long it takes you to answer your waiting mail. Each part of the calculation can be affected by other parts. Keep an eye on your score in the (R)eport option until you get a feel for how things work. The largest part of the score is the number of users. Keep your users happy and your score will grow faster.