End of an era....

[xmanii]

Just got an email today from WotC, which I had to use the forward using http://oracle.wizards.com/scripts/wa.exe?P1&L=dnd-l as the email addy was down

Hello!

On February 15, 2015, Wizards of the Coast will terminate our LISTSERV system that manages this (and other) mailing lists. We've watched the usage of these mailing lists dwindle due to the rise of other communication platforms, such as forums and social media. Given this decreased usage, we have made the decision that it was time to turn them off.

Please take these two weeks to back up or archive any emails you wish to keep. After February 15, 2015, they will no longer be available and these lists will cease to function.

—Wizards of the Coast

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Keywords: ADMIN,BUSINESS,CUSTOM,FLUFF,MISC,OLD,REVIEW,ROLE,RULES,STAFF
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[fjw70]

I have heard of these new-fangled LISTSRRV things but what was the purpose of them? Were they pseudo-message boards where you were emailed everyone's comments?

 

[Janx]

I have heard of these new-fangled LISTSRRV things but what was the purpose of them? Were they pseudo-message boards where you were emailed everyone's comments?

hard to tell if you're joking or serious.

ListServ's were simply an automated mailing list so you could do message board posting via email. You'd email or reply to the listserv address and get flooded with messages in your mailbox.

My wife used to use them a lot. I couldn't stand them as it flooded my mailbox, which I prefer to reserve to actual dialog with real people (as in ask me a question or tell me to do something and I respond).

I preferred UseNet instead, as most of those clients kept track of the last time I read a forum, so I could load up rec.games.frp.dnd and see the latest posts since I last logged in. Nice and simple, and separate from my mailbox.

forums on web sites took over that functionality, and UseNet is largely defunct (though I supposed technically still in operation).

Not much call for BBS's either, which predates most people dialing up to an ISP with their modem.

 

[fjw70]

Thanks, and yes I was serious. I was not into Internet stuff in the 90s.

 

[billd91]

I used to use them, particularly ADND-L (which is still semi-active). Yahoogroups too. Most of them had a "digest mode" you could activate and just get one message a day rather than lots of separate ones.