Adding my name to the list of people greatly impacted by BBSs in the 80's and forward.
I became good friends with some locals that ran a WWIV board. I'm still friends with them, and a few others that used their BBS, to this day.
My favorite though was TProBBS that incorporated a D&D style game. I remember there was an option to buy and upgrade a ship, too. Then you could explore the ocean looking for treasure and sea monsters and sometimes battle others.
You could upgrade your "bank" for better security, which hardly anyone did. I played a rogue character and was able to steal a lot of money from others before they realized how important it was to upgrade your security systems.
Fun times. Good memories.