Let's talk about BT

[Intr4ns1t]

So, in light of the discussion going on in another thread, I thought I would start a thread for everyone to express what they think about this big ball of hobby that is called torrenting. I'll post some questions, but I'm not asking for a list of answers, more your thoughts on the way the bigger circle of society revolving around trackers looks to you. The questions are just there as an idea of what focus I'd like to see this discussion center around.

Why do you use bit torrent, and why to the degree that you use it?

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

Do you feel you are on enough trackers, and what do you think is too many trackers?

What do you see the politics of BT entailing, and does it affect your actions in this field?

Do you think there is an ethos necessary when interacting, and if so, what does it consist of? By this I mean what do you think the "morals" of BT are, if you think there should be.

I don't know if this is just too general a subject for discussion here, but I'd really like to get a wide view of what people think about this thing we do, and would only ask that people keep it about BT and stay civil.

[KushBlow]

Why do you use bit torrent, and why to the degree that you use it?

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

Do you feel you are on enough trackers, and what do you think is too many trackers?

What do you see the politics of BT entailing, and does it affect your actions in this field?

Do you think there is an ethos necessary when interacting, and if so, what does it consist of? By this I mean what do you think the "morals" of BT are, if you think there should be.

I don't know if this is just too general a subject for discussion here, but I'd really like to get a wide view of what people think about this thing we do, and would only ask that people keep it about BT and stay civil.

Nice thread mate. Due to the long lineup at the store I will take the liberty to answer your inquiries.

I use BT to download, interact with people that are fun to be around, and act intelligent.

The ideal tracker for me is a tracker that has everything essential - speed, content, etc. - along with no stress regarding checking your ratio and stats every 5 seconds, and with a great community that varies in personalities.

Yes the tracker I'm on fulfills all my needs.

It differs for every person. I think the general rule is if you're less active on trackers because of other trackers it's too much. For me 2-5 is ideal.

Not sure about the 'politics' and morals of BT, after all I treat it as a hobby, not a government. I just follow the rules and try to have fun while doing so.

Thanks for killing 10 minutes of the wal-mart lineup, good sir.

[kallieb]

hmm.. that's quite the list.

1. I use BT daily. I have no cable, haven't been to the cinema in years, refuse to pay for a movie rental - and I love film. So yes, if it weren't for the fact that I love watching a good film, or TV series, or what have you, I probably would not torrent.

2. An ideal tracker is one where: You get help when you need it. Staff and members interact and you share laughs and ideas about film and other oddities of life. Requests are filled. Thanks to uploads are granted, and the content of the site is unique to the interests of the user. often this results in users expanding out to other dedicated trackers for other interests: tv sites, MMA sites, e-books and such.

3 Volume of trackers is in relation to use I suppose. Why does one need with 10 0-day sites??? Particularly if the content is pretty much the same. After a bit of trial and error, I would think it makes sense to close off one's account to those trackers that aren't meeting your needs and stick with the ones that do. Over time, i've developed an approach of using smaller, dedicated trackers depending upon need. For example, I have a wii tracker that I recently signed up to for games - as all I have is a wii and its perfect for me I won't be a heavy user as I'm not a hardcore gamer, but I know that when I want to grab a wii torrent I know where to go. The few other sites I have are for music, TV, and movies/apps. That's about it. There is no number to great or to small. What matters is that it is used. Sitting on an account that you don't use at all is rather stupid imho.

4. Politics of BT.. hmm.. I'm guessing part of this comes from how sites are run. If so, my thoughts on that are I am not a site owner, and part of belonging to a site is respecting the rules. If the rules aren't working for an individual user than make suggestions on site. If your suggestions are tossed, try to work with it still, if it still doesn't work - move on. It's their house, they set the rules. There are enough sites out there where everyone can find something that works for them. As far as the politics out there, I think the obsession with having the bigger e-penis is a bit ridiculous, and more evident in those users who either haven't progressed and matured in finding a niche in the sites out there, or don't want to because they like the ego-stroking that comes with bragging. There's loads of asshats out there who care not for the site they belong to, but only care to brag about what site they belong to. Those type are just bottom feeders and n00bs. They're everywhere in life, why not in BT land. oh well..

5. Morales.. Not to many, but consideration and respect are two. First off, you respect the rules of the tracker. Non-negotiable. Reasons said above already - it's their house, you don't like it, i guess you'll eventually have to go elsewhere. Other rules: Say thanks to those who share, offer help when you can, fill a request if you're able, don't bail on a seed if you're the last one, and check in on teh site regularly enough to at least demonstrate that you're not taking up space on the tracker for ego - but that you actually want to be there.

That's it off the top of my head . Should be an interesting convo. Let the talks begin

[Intr4ns1t]

trackers because of other trackers it's too much. For me 2-5 is ideal.

Not sure about the 'politics' and morals of BT, after all I treat it as a hobby, not a government. I just follow the rules and try to have fun while doing so.

Thanks for killing 10 minutes of the wal-mart, good sir.

Not a problem


As far as politics, they are aren't exclusive to government. And we exhibit moral decisions in everything we do that involves other people. So I guess I should ask if your personal morals extend to torrenting, and how do they translate to BT for you?

4. Politics of BT.. hmm.. I'm guessing part of this comes from how sites are run. If so, my thoughts on that are I am not a site owner, and part of belonging to a site is respecting the rules. If the rules aren't working for an individual user than make suggestions on site. If your suggestions are tossed, try to work with it still, if it still doesn't work - move on. It's their house, they set the rules. There are enough sites out there where everyone can find something that works for them. As far as the politics out there, I think the obsession with having the bigger e-penis is a bit ridiculous, and more evident in those users who either haven't progressed and matured in finding a niche in the sites out there, or don't want to because they like the ego-stroking that comes with bragging. There's loads of asshats out there who care not for the site they belong to, but only care to brag about what site they belong to. Those type are just bottom feeders and n00bs. They're everywhere in life, why not in BT land. oh well..

I'm talking about the greater BT community and how people interact with each other on focus sites like FST, TPS, TR, IC, CFS, all the "invite sections" on individual trackers, and anywhere that large numbers of active torrenters interact. Often times our actions and opinions follow us from site to site, as there is a bigger community out there, and we are answerable to it if we ever get involved in the social aspect of torrenting.

[mrnobody]

By this I mean what do you think the "morals" of BT are

steal w/o getting caught

[Duckater]

Why do you use bit torrent, and why to the degree that you use it?

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

Do you feel you are on enough trackers, and what do you think is too many trackers?

What do you see the politics of BT entailing, and does it affect your actions in this field?

Do you think there is an ethos necessary when interacting, and if so, what does it consist of? By this I mean what do you think the "morals" of BT are, if you think there should be.

I don't know if this is just too general a subject for discussion here, but I'd really like to get a wide view of what people think about this thing we do, and would only ask that people keep it about BT and stay civil.

Use bitorrent regularly and down load films, tv shows, music and other things that I think of interest from time to time. I also go on some sites just for the community and chat and very rarely download from them, these tend to be lasser known trackers with sign ups open most the time as I find them more suited to me.

I really dont think one site is totally ideal as I like chatting/interacting with different people that are now friends that are not all on the same site.

I am on probabale to many trackers but the majority of those fall into the lesser known/smaller tracker section and mostly used to chat.

Well my views on BT and its politics might upset a few people but here goes BT to means sharing and that means knowledge and helping people not just the files, I also disagree with sites that have rules stating you cannot upload there files else whereat the end of the day they may pay for axx and servers but that is paid for in most part by donations, some sites are reported to actually make a profit, and the people who upload else where are possible donating as a thank you. I can honestly say I have no problems if some uploads stuff on there site if they have got it from GTi.

The other side of politics in BT is how people behave in places such as here I think there are too many people that think an e-penis is more important than there real lives. People come here to promote their sites and a lot of them get bashed by people who have not even had the good manners to even look at the sites, in fact some one actually said in the other thread that smaller 0day sites should all close and I am betting he has not visited many of the smaller sites where 95% + of there uploads are scene releases. I am on several of those called sites and admit I have no real need to torrent scene stuff but really enjoy the communities on them and the fact the staff are generally very helpful (there of course exceptsions to this).

[Intr4ns1t]

By this I mean what do you think the "morals" of BT are

steal w/o getting caught

Points for succinctness

I think there are too many people that think an e-penis is more important than there real lives.

Doesn't that carry over the entire online world though? It's all in the translation to this focal point instead of whatever other hobby or interest that community is centered around. Or is it really different in BT compared to say, the online MMA community which has alot of shared members through different discussion boards. Or a videogame modding community and all the things that would come from that. Call it a sign of the times I guess.

It could be any thing really, but that drive for status is pretty universal I think. I guess with the fact that there is a commodity involved, namely all that shit we steal w/o getting caught, it gets a heightened sense of passion from those involved.

[Duckater]

steal w/o getting caught

Points for succinctness

I think there are too many people that think an e-penis is more important than there real lives.

Doesn't that carry over the entire online world though? It's all in the translation to this focal point instead of whatever other hobby or interest that community is centered around. Or is it really different in BT compared to say, the online MMA community which has alot of shared members through different discussion boards. Or a videogame modding community and all the things that would come from that. Call it a sign of the times I guess.

It could be any thing really, but that drive for status is pretty universal I think. I guess with the fact that there is a commodity involved, namely all that shit we steal w/o getting caught, it gets a heightened sense of passion from those involved.

Not so sure about ones you mentioned but I ran chat rooms on msn for 5 yrs before they closed them and a few people on there tried to act as tho they where special due to having chat rooms above othr peoples but that was the minority most of the other people running them where not so elitist and members of the rooms did not proclaim to be better than others due to fact they could get into rooms near the top.
I have spoke with quiet a few owners/staff of torrent sites and being 100% honest weather they on a 1337 site or a low level site they are, in the majority, level headed descent people. When it comes to some of members of 1337 sites they seem to brag about it and that gets to me as they are no more special for getting on the 1337 sites to the people who are on low level or even sites that have not been mentioned here.

I have been on several of the sites that are considered 1337, and I was on them before I even joined here and found out they where 1337, and it did not alter my attitude towards those sites against the ones who aint considered 1337. I do feel that it is places that rate the sites and the members of those sites that cause the issues not the owners/staff.

I think the owners/staff of any site deservers respect if they act in a decent manner and conduct them selves right on other trackers and places like here.

The real geniouses to me are the people that write the codes that are used in the torrent world as with out them where would we be

[1000possibleclaws]

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

A tracker with lots of good quality music that I like, and yes I got something like that as pretty much my first ever tracker. It's awesome-ness was what got me into checking out other private trackers.

[nemrac]

So, in light of the discussion going on in another thread, I thought I would start a thread for everyone to express what they think about this big ball of hobby that is called torrenting. I'll post some questions, but I'm not asking for a list of answers, more your thoughts on the way the bigger circle of society revolving around trackers looks to you. The questions are just there as an idea of what focus I'd like to see this discussion center around.

Why do you use bit torrent, and why to the degree that you use it?

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

Do you feel you are on enough trackers, and what do you think is too many trackers?

What do you see the politics of BT entailing, and does it affect your actions in this field?

Do you think there is an ethos necessary when interacting, and if so, what does it consist of? By this I mean what do you think the "morals" of BT are, if you think there should be.

I don't know if this is just too general a subject for discussion here, but I'd really like to get a wide view of what people think about this thing we do, and would only ask that people keep it about BT and stay civil.

Intr4ns1t, very interesting thread. I'll try to answer some of your questions as I ramble on with some thoughts.

To begin, a lot of people call Bit Torrenting a hobby. That's fine, but i think that's just a crutch or a safety blanket people use to comfort themselves from the truth that they are breaking the law. Most people here do it, but i don't believe that saying it's a 'hobby' makes it any less wrong. I hear the 'hobby' description a lot in satellite pirating circles. People buy hardware and program it to get free HBO or pron and justify it as a 'hobby'. If that gets you through the day - great, but it's not a 'hobby' you're just stealing. I know I probably will get flamed, but it's the truth. BT is a great way to get what you want. I use BT almost exclusively. It's convenient, somewhat anonymous and generally viewed as a safer way to get anything and everything.

There are tons of trackers out there. Some better then others. Generally, I seem to be able to find mainstream apps, movies and TV on all of them. You can go on the main torrent page of the big 'l33t' trackers and find almost identical listings. Example - Entourage airs Sunday nights on HBO. A few hours later it's on ScL, PTN, FTN, etc... within minutes of each other. So do you really need 10, 20, 30 trackers? Maybe? Maybe Not. Most tracker forums are very similar too. The same discussions, topics, etc...

I belong to several trackers. Sometimes I find it hard to participate in all the different forums. Other times I have to share the downloading so that I am active at all of them. I download one thing from Tracker A, another thing from Tracker B and so forth even thou I could have got all of it from one place. It almost becomes a chore.

As for 'morals', some times it's funny to read some of the posts here. People calling others unethical or bad or traders or whatever as they hide behind their computers secretly 'getting' stuff via BT. It's like the murderer calling the rapist evil. We're all doing something wrong - we just try to justify it by saying the big record companies or movie studios are greedy evil people and it's our right to take what we want.

Just some thoughts....