31337 (idea)

The usage of elite (31337) in the "underground" community started back in the days of BBS's. Many such sites were open to the public but as the population of people seeking to leech warez increased, many went to an invite-only format where they only let the most "elite" among them have accounts.

In those days, being elite usually meant one of a few things:

• Knowing the person who ran the board
• Being a member of a pirate, hacking, phreaking, or ANSI art group
• Having tons of H/P text files so you could pretend you belonged to one of the aforementioned groups
• Having some noteworthy skill at graphics programming, reverse-engineering, or social engineering
• Having a lot of time on your hands