Let's talk about BT

[Snow Fall]

duh.. retards like ya make FST 'out Fucking STanding'.. :frusty:
refrain from posting if ya have no idea what you are on about..

the truth hurts

You're probably right mate about too much to offer and no one to enjoy it. But yes people do enjoy the trackers they belong to. Every site has their diehards and you can see the enjoyment they get out of it easily. I'd also say that the vast majority of members that you never see and just download are also enjoying it well at least enjoying having access to free media.

you're right sear.... but imo ppl who create places such as fsc with an awful tracker and a forum slower than dialup on a t1 connection ...dont give us torrenters much to enjoy except that it is ranked 9 on a traders level list

[ghost_monkey47]

I BT because it's an addiction. Same with stats and getting to those uber ranks. It's not even about the content anymore for me, unless it's a music tracker.

[First on the way!]

To answer your question I agree with you. I think there is no 'one' ideal type of member. Everybody does what they can. Some just download and help that way. Others seed till it bleeds and keep torrents alive. Some people might bring their fast pipes while others participate in the forums and IRC while some just live in the IRC and you never see them on the site hardly at all.

Every 'good' member just does what comes natural to them really and take part in the way they feel like. Just because someone doesn't want to take part in the forums doesn't make them a bad member lol it is a tracker after all.

You reassure me because I was beginning to think that I was really a bad member. :P

[Carol R]

I use bittorrent because im too cheap to actually buy all the stuff i want. Besudes this is much more convenient.

S*T is prolly the best for me(tv shows, movies, some games). S*C is basically interchangeable with it except S*T gets some soccer games for me once in a while. For a bigtime action movies ill head over to hdbits for a proper high qual user rip. For most music i use what. BCG, KG, TT and bitme round out my other needs.

I'm lookin for one or two more trackers that have eluded me for some time.

I really don't care what politicians say I don't trust any of em.

Morals of BT? Keep seeding for a couple weeks and don't hide some malware in your ups.

BT will live on forever. Distributed file sharing systems cannot be stopped. It might have to evolve but the idea will be the same. (Such as using http prot)


Love all my torrenters! ;D

[bryndan]

Sorry Intransit hes still asleep...

Idoleyes this no pm rule for 30 days is really shitty.

U dunno what is IC ? its a forum. Nothing like tr or tps or cfs, ppl dont beg for nothing... or suck...

Anyway....

Back on topic boys and girls

@leech i dont think so, but im not all that active so...

[Stranger In Floridaâ„¢]

This point is part of why I included the "moral" question, as all of it is based on the fact that we are unequivocally stealing. There is an accompanying excitement when you start stealing better, faster, longer higher quality, so it's really no surprise that people get worked up I guess. The question becomes what lengths would you go to sate a desire for rebelliousness and the rush that comes from it. But that's kind of veering toward human psychology and prolly left out of this thread for now.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t
What do you see the politics of BT entailing, and does it affect your actions in this field?

Now this is a massive question. I'm going to try not to go into a long rant on the politics of BT, but it's a doozy.

The worst part of BT is the ugly side of the politics and the egos. Too many times I've seen people's character assassinated and the massive shit storms that ensue can I admit be fun to watch but are sickening to be a part of. I guess it comes down to a large group of people interacting. Once that happens you're bound to have some ugly politics because lets face it the world is full of people with low scruples or who are just downright vindictive.

Part of the problem as I see it is the age and maturity level of members of the community. As the age of BT users has gotten younger and it's become the dominant form of file sharing the politics have become much harsher and there's a tendency to gang up on people much like in high school. Personally I try to stay out of it, but that's not always possible for whatever reason.

First off, awesome post sear, and yeah the politics is a doozy indeed :P As I see it, politics is natural. It's the execution that leaves something to be desired and I fully agree that the boom of BT has dramaticly lowered the mean age of torrenters, and hell even staffers for that matter. Not to disparage any younger members, but with age often comes the experience to know how to respond in different circumstances.

So how to temper that lack of experience? I personally try to be at least a moderate role model ( not trying to sound self righteous, really) for newer members of the BT world in the hopes that it'll sink in and help raise the quality of everyones interactions. I know there are a few folks that inhabit this section here and other forums as well, that do try to be a betterment to the bt community, and they are often the people that have been around for a good bit of time. Now, I'm no perfect example by any stretch of the imagination, but I try, and that is important to me. Most likely it's the sole reason I still enjoy this "hobby".

IMO I'm on too many trackers. I've culled them down over the years and I have a few that I use regularly. The rest that I haven't abandoned I keep because of personal relationships.

Generally I think 5-6 trackers is about right. You'll want two 0-day in case one goes down then a few that are specialised to meet your particular needs. In my case I have a few music trackers. One that has everything and others that specialise in the type of music I like to listen to. On top of that you'll want a good user upload site for interesting different content and of course demonoid for all the rare stuff you can't find.

There is a tendency for people to become obsessed with getting on as many trackers as they can. Members always think the next tracker could have that upload the others don't and when you first get on the BT scene you'll find that you quickly have 20-30.

Now most people will look at this and say to themselves well they actually all have the same stuff and I don't really need all these sites to fulfill my needs and start letting them go inactive. Others however get caught up in level chasing and treat them like Pokemon cards for collecting and trading.

I actually see it as a kind of sickness and it's done a lot of harm to the BT world. People never end up giving back to the communities they're members of and just do the bare minimum. It's actually quite sad because there are some good friendships to be had and it can be quite satisfying to focus your efforts and see a positive result.

There's also the tendency to allow this hobby to interfere with RL. If you can't find that balance then get out now. Nothing on torrents is worth sacrificing a second of real life for.

It's a huge leap from mininova to any of the myriad of private trackers that exist now and that search can be a very consuming one. I'm glad you point out the obsession factor that has to play some sort of role in how things happen especially when people get very passionate about that search.

Honesty with ourselves in how much is too much is hard to achieve when we get our eyes on a prize, and if that prize is as vaporous as the "best tracker in the world" we can maybe never know if we found that perfect place. I guess you know it when you see it.

That last bit you wrote makes me wonder where the line lays between interference and accessorization. I mean, as time progresses, life in a good portion of the world is fast becoming intrinsicly tied to the internet, and real life is intertwining with it like vines intermingling on a trellis. Makes me wonder...

What do you feel is the ideal tracker for you, and are you a member of a site that fills those requirements?

My ideal tracker is one that would have every single file that I, personally, would ever be interested in. Combined with nice and understanding staff, and without having to worry about ratio requirements.

And no. There's not one single tracker that exists(not even Demonoid) that has every single file that I would ever want. I do belong to a tracker or two that have some of THE nicest and most understanding staff that you could ever want, along with basically no heavy ratio requirements. But no tracker will ever have all the content that I'm interested in.

I like your answer as I think it's an honest one and a demonstration of the fact that no tracker is perfect. There will always be something, even if we don't know what it is at the time we ask ourselves that question, that any site is lacking. How picky we are determines when we feel we've got what we want?

[Shawn L.]

You raise a great point Bad-Day. Market saturation I guess. Perhaps the boom in the number of trackers doesn't parallel the boom in torrenters and it's thinned the available bandwidth out to all trackers. It is an observable fact that many trackers have gotten proactive in the search for active members what with the rise in the number of interview channels on irc for a number of trackers, and the idea of "recruiters"

Trackers want more members, but they also want safer members and it's created a sort of forced socialization, in that it's fast becoming a prerequisite to have a demonstrable community activity level on the trackers people already have. That activity is a commodity in the trust equation. But there are only so many active folks for now and barring turning people into torrenters that otherwise wouldn't is not really an option.

@ BrianH or whoever you normally are, do you need a hug man?

[The Candyman]

[QUOTE=sez;3294942]

for some strange reason whenever I read any of your post it always sounds like you've been sent by TPS or something.

And about the being nice part,it doesn't take half a brain to figure who's being nice coz they are nice and who's being nice coz they want something but still refuse to admit it(what kinda idiots do they think we imiz).For starters just dig through your post history here and those other places then compare it with that of dawn-6 or lisabritpop or the guy dishing polish tracker invites or the guy who got banned by what for doing a giveaway here and eventually getting re-enabled(jincandoit was his nick) then see whether your 'niceness' doesn't warrant cabalo's distaste.

Being nice is good but i think it goes hand in hand with honesty.I'd rather an IRC stranger who chats me up coz he knows am on tracker X and may potentially have invites than someone who is being nice with me over pm or pretends to share similar interests with me only to stop upon realisation that I don't got shit for him but then continues to deny that they were/are nice only coz of the invites

[midnitewhispers23]

I BT because it's an addiction. Same with stats and getting to those uber ranks. It's not even about the content anymore for me, unless it's a music tracker.

Well, I think you should be applauded for being honest. You actually are bringing up something that probably should be addressed if we are really talking about all aspects of BT. I am positive that there are quite a few folks that also find themselves unable to stop, much like gambling, the feeling of elation at achieving some transient goal driving them well past sane usage levels.

I mean, I'm sure most of us have at least heard reference to internet addiction, so it can only be worse in BT as there is a semi tangible reward to it, in the speed you get your files, or the esteem of the trackers you gain entry to, or the selection you have to choose from. It's easy for someone to say "use moderation" but there is always the crutch of community there to help us convince ourselves that it's a valid use of time.

I wish you luck in dealing with your addiction bas1c, and only wish I could tell you something to make it easier to unplug, other than just saying "you should unplug" but there's not really much else to say.

[Timberton4]

Indeed there are some people in BT that have an amazing amount of knowledge and experience, whether it be technical personal or both. I know some of the people that I've looked up to (and still do) have taught me some really valuable lessons that I've transported to my real life.

Leading by example is all we can do to try and raise the bar.

That last bit you wrote makes me wonder where the line lays between interference and accessorization. I mean, as time progresses, life in a good portion of the world is fast becoming intrinsicly tied to the internet, and real life is intertwining with it like vines intermingling on a trellis. Makes me wonder...

I often think about this too I think as time goes on the lines will become more and more blurred. It's an interesting new world we're forging for ourselves here.

Realistically though it can become a problem for many people (myself included). I guess it's a personal thing but for me when I'm spending more time online then I am hanging out with my family or going to parties and pubs and just generally socializing then that's how I know I need to take a step back.