Let's talk about BT

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.

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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.

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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.

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 :)

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Originally Posted by KushBlow

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.

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Not a problem :P


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?

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Originally Posted by kallieb

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..

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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. http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/../im...lies/smile.gif

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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steal w/o getting caught :whistling

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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.

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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).

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Originally Posted by R0D3NT

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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steal w/o getting caught :whistling

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Points for succinctness :happy:

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Originally Posted by duckater

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

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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.

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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Originally Posted by R0D3NT

steal w/o getting caught :whistling

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Points for succinctness :happy:

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Originally Posted by duckater

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

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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.

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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 :)

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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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.

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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....

Nice thread mate.

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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I started using BT just as a means to get media that's not available to me. Where I live it takes a long time for good things to come out. It's gotten better but when I started it wasn't uncommon for movies to be about a year behind the US pretty much the same for music while TV could take 2-3 years if it ever arrives at all. Once I learned about filesharing I started using Napster though that was at the end of its run and I quickly moved on to Kazza (gnutella) and when that turned to shit I started using BT.

I pretty much still use BT for those reasons though I like the community and interaction it entails that other forms of file sharing haven't offered me.

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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The ideal tracker for me is one that has the content I want to download within a reasonable time frame at reasonable speeds without sacrificing what I see as the spirit of sharing. By that I mean I'm not interested in money making p2l p2i sites that spend thousands a month on their scene access and servers just to be a second or two faster than their competitors. Even worse are the few sites that are actually geared towards making money. That for me is completely evil and turns BT from sharing into stealing.

And yes my needs are filled quite nicely, but then again I've been around a while so I would expect them to be.

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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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.

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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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.

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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.

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Yes I think there is personal ethos and morals to be adhered too as part of this community. It's important that people (particularly site staff) treat everyone with respect and as a fellow human. It's too easy to start writing people off because you're in a position of power or even just because you're sitting behind a computer.

For me it's all about treating people as I want to be treated, but I guess that attitude is important for all aspects of life not just this online hobby. When it comes to getting along in the BT world remember sharing is caring ;)

Thanks again for the good topic mate it's been quite some time since I've been inspired to actually write a post on this board that's more than one line or isn't because someone made me angry.

Intr4ns1t, thanks for opening such a thread.. After all the innactivity and unproductive threads that have been going here lately, this is what was missing

I don't have time atm to reply or read everyone's opinion but I'm definitely going to drop by later and throw in a few paraghraphs of my history with bt

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

I use it to illegally download any copyrighted material that I want.

I don't use bittorrent as much as I once did since I've kind of moved on to other methods of file sharing. But I still download from a tracker usually once or twice a week.

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.

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

Yes. I am on more than enough of trackers. I personally think a handful of trackers is all a person needs to belong to. One tracker, maybe two, for each type of content that you are interested in is more than enough. These people that belong to ten, twenty, or more trackers are, well...obviously collecting. There's no need to be a member at that many sites.

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

"Bt politics" interest me none. I just do my thing and try to stay within the rules of each tracker I belong to(whether I agree with them or not).

By this I mean what do you think the "morals" of BT are, if you think there should be.

I think kallieb said it best with consideration and respect.

Nice thread.

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Originally Posted by nemrac

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.

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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.

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Originally Posted by sear

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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.

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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".

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Originally Posted by sear

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.

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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...

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Originally Posted by Funkin'

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.

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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?

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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".

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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.

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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...

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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.

Why do you use bit torrent, and why to the degree that you use it?
I'm an absolute media hog, and I can occasionally get stuck in a collecting mode where I try to collect media and sites and everything. I just hoard data. Then I reach a point where I ask myself what the benefit of that is in relation to time spent - then I take a break from the acquisition... but not from downloading media. I can't get enough of that.


What do you feel is the ideal tracker for you, and are you a member of a site that fills those requirements?
The thing I love about bit torrent is that it's never about one tracker. It's the hydra, baby. Yes, I have pretty much what I need in all my trackers though.

Do you feel you are on enough trackers, and what do you think is too many trackers?
Too many trackers is when you spend more time logging into each tracker and trying to get invites than you do perusing the contents and actually using the buggers. I've done this before when I was using something like 47 trackers on a weekly basis.

What do you see the politics of BT entailing, and does it affect your actions in this field?
As far as I know, bit torrent is not illegal. So doesn't affect me.

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.
The morals are share, leech, and spread the joy. Pretty simple.

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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Initially i started off with Emule for my music!!..But then the best part about BT trackers like TT,Elek and TR are the Forums....maybe i don't post much out there,but its really fun reading those posts/comments which users post on every EP release!!
....Alos use BT for movies....but main priority would be Music,coz i got into "Torrenting mainly for EDM"..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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An Ideal tracker for ME would be a tracker with a good content of EDM.
Yup!!More than satisfied to be a member of those sites

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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Trackers which gets me what i need,are basically enough for me!!...

Too many trackers in the sense people being a member on it and not using it all..a file on elek gets snatched only like 20 times,when there are more than 5000 members out there...most of them are either collectors and traders...its really frustrating to see a good release getting snatched only 20 times....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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..Have no idea about this at all!!

Nice read sear.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sear

Nothing on torrents is worth sacrificing a second of real life for.

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I agree but a passion it's still s passion and for some of us this is all that we have for now. All of us like to hide between masks, we like to create/re-create an image about ourselves the way we would like us to be. This is way we spend ages posting in forums, chatting in irc channels and so on. It's the need of identity and I think that when you gain more and more BT friends gives you a dose of self esteem, that, sooner or later, will help us in real life too.

Now to quickly go thought Intr4ns1t's questions I will tell you that I use BT only because I still can't afford to pay 20 quid for a film I 'll stop watching after the first 10 minutes or for a game that will end up in the atic the next week.
My ideal tracker...it's a toght one, hmm... I used to really like file**st.org because they were only uploading filles that I wanted, that's for oday and it's forums were friendly and active. Now, like most of today's BT users i like P*N because I ve realised I don't need any of the 0day stuff and I love to discover new-old films I ve never seen before. Thanks Intr4ns1t. And to answer your question the ideal tracker for me would be a union between demoniod, P*N and old fil**ist.org.
I was a member of way to many treackers imo. It hurt when I was deleting trackers from my bookmarks and others were begging for an invite here on fst for their "dream" tracker. Now I only use one 0day tracker, one music tracker, 2 films trackers and demonoid but not as often. I had enought of all them ratio problems, silly new staffers on new trackers... in one word BT drama. Now I like to chill out on safe trackers, posting among friends, really enjoy a forum and a tracker. "and what do you think is too many trackers?" what does that supose to mean ?:P
We should never forghet that what we're doing its illegal and one day it may cost us. Most of us respect BT rules which I dont consider too harsh but it's silly to think that we'll all do it, its just like asking a murderer not to steal.
The "morals" of BT... Do we all agree with Robin Hood and his actions? I bet anyone reading this is so BT (illegal filesharing) its a win against multi billion corporations who don't even have the decency to give us back a bit of quallity we paid for.

Scuse My French
Tara

Thanks for all the input folks, I do love a good discussion :)

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Originally Posted by ovisan

I agree but a passion it's still s passion and for some of us this is all that we have for now. All of us like to hide between masks, we like to create/re-create an image about ourselves the way we would like us to be. This is way we spend ages posting in forums, chatting in irc channels and so on. It's the need of identity and I think that when you gain more and more BT friends gives you a dose of self esteem, that, sooner or later, will help us in real life too.

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I think that's a very good observation. Especially when talking about the newer discoverers of the community side of bit torrent, and the likelihood that they are younger, still looking for their real "self". Voices carry far in this type of communication, and to find your own voice in the midst can really help hone your ability to socialize in real life. I have to say though, that it's an insightful person that sees that end in the things they do and say at trackers and forums.

The worth is in the reward of kudos when you help someone who needs it, or being treated according to what you give, not what you look like. Cumulative respect is a great ego boost, but it's easy to overvalue that respect when you get it too quickly, resulting in e-peen syndrome.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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.

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I use bittorent to download free stuff, obviously. I also feel more organized having everything on my computer.

My ideal tracker would have a lot of seeders/leechers, all the content I need, great speeds, and members with torrent experience. Maybe if you took ScT and added the content and members of 3-4 of my other sites, then you would have the perfect tracker.

I am on more than enough trackers, I don't even know how I ended up with so many. I remember about 3 years ago I was only on torrent damage downloading my ass off, I was so happy. But over the years you get offered sites that promise something different, then when you join them you realize you won't use any of the content at all.

I don't get involved in politics (e-drama), I just chill.

First of all torrenting is stealing, whether you sugar coat it or not, and therefore you can't really say there are morals in BT. There's being smart, and being stupid.

Nice discourse you have going on here :)

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

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On those rare instants that i'll be on a BT client i'll probably be leeching 0-day material.0-day because its what interests me and its what led me to torrents in the first place plus as of recently,it tends to collect more points if am to re-share on warez by upping to a one click host such as rapidshare.

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

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As you can see,my bar isn't set as high so any good general tracker is more than ideal for me,in which case there exists a plethora although fast pres are a necessity especially when am of the intention to share on RS.This coupled with forum activity that actually interests me puts S*C as my camelot and chalisto as the guy who brought it to me for which am thankful of him.

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

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I've seen a couple of people say that the politics isn't of any significance to them.In which case i'll assume that its upto personal interpretation coz in as far as I know,a people who aren't interested in their politics are a people who either don't care or aren't as connected with their community as they are supposed to be.Sort of like young people with elections and yes it does affect how I torrent.

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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.

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Fact is what we do is illegal but its not necessarily a 'crime'.Even the RIAA knows this.Alot of us probably use pot as much as its proscribed yet we still make good people in our societies.So this notion that a code of conduct is fallacious given that piracy is considered to be outside the law(law that is always subject to change and interpretation)is just wrong.

As to what the ethos entail,its pretty much common sense given that the polarity between wrong and right is crystal.
Though i'll put more emphasis on respect as is in being a two way traffic.It works in maximum security lock-ups with murderers and rapists so I don't see why it shouldn't with mere illegal file sharers.

One more thing,if you have the money it really doesn't hurt to buy.$0.99 is not that expensive to pay for music.

But just my opinion.

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

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Originally Posted by sez

Fact is what we do is illegal but its not necessarily a 'crime'.

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the very definition of 'crime' comes from the notion of breaking a law. So yeas, doing something illegal is a crime.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sez

Even the RIAA knows this.

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sure they do. But there isn't a prison to hold 1/2 a billion or so file-sharers, or is there?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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.

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OK

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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safe filesharing....very high degree i need many movies games music etc... :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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safe tracker...not many know it exist...very hard to fbi and organisitions to find...am not member in tracker with fills the requeirements... i hope one day i can be :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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no...u can never have to many....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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

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yes politic can be hard sometime...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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.

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be good member have good moral.. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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.

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law people dont like what we do....but old news lol... :happy:

RE: the above, BT is one of the most unsafe forms of filesharing since everyone in every swarm can see your IP address, and all of your personal data is stored in giant databases on sites that the feds have most certainly infiltrated ;)

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

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Started with torrents because limewire had too many fakes/viruses/etc and terrible quality. Also, my cousin was on OinK and I was dying to have that much music at my disposal.

Quote:

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

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Content-wise it's What, and yes I'm a member there :) Community-wise it's probably somewhere I shouldn't mention.

Quote:

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

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I feel like I'm on too many, especially 0-days. I'm active on maybe 9 of my trackers and download occasionally from a few more.

Quote:

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

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Having been directly invovled in the BT world's politics, I'd say it does shape what I do. However, I feel like a ton of people have this ridiculous sense of entitlement being members of certain sites, and need to learn to stfu and get back to sharing files among themselves, which is the entire point of BT. However, the politics are sort of like a train wreck, and it's great fun to watch it all play out when you aren't involved in the particular matter.

Quote:

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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.

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This really depends on what your goals are in the BT world, and the site in question. I've found that if you simply be yourself, good things will come to you. Talking to people in IRC and helping out with the site you're on is a good way to get noticed for VIP there/invites to harder-to-get-into sites/etc. Most of my "rare" sites that some people here seem to idolize were simply spontaneously offered to me in IRC, I didn't expect them or ask for them. In most cases I didn't even know they were members of that given site. There's no need to e-dick suck, though some members here seem to believe any time you aren't acting like a total asshole towards everyone else you're kissing their asses.

Deviated a bit there. For the ethos in general, I see filesharing as a try-before-i-buy type thing. I have ~300 CDs and a few LPs in my collection. The vast majority of these albums are from artists and genres that I never would have discovered without What and other music torrent sites. This collection is much larger than that of everyone else I know my age, including those who don't fileshare. So the record labels have profited handsomely from my filesharing habits, and I think they need to wake up and smell the free advertising. When Wolverine was leaked early, the studios thought it would be a disaster for ticket sales. Instead, it was one of the best selling movies of the summer.

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Originally Posted by sear

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.

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People always make that distinction and therein lies a lot of the problems.There is only one life this is just another aspect of it .
Act accordingly.

Bt wise I could live without everything and not feel the least deprived - 'pecially the politics.

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Originally Posted by R0D3NT

the very definition of 'crime' comes from the notion of breaking a law. So yeas, doing something illegal is a crime.

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Ok maybe I fumbled up the words a little and lost you in translation(though i did put crime in quotes).What I meant to say was that piracy isn't as much of an illegality as to the point where we need to check our own self decency before we engage in a dialogue about ethos as regard the BT community as a whole.

If you are disagreeing then its you trying to equate speeding to bank robbery since in as far as you are concerned a crime is a crime.See what I mean?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

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.

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To me BT was a means to an end at first. Those were the times when I only used open signups trackers as I thought noone would invite me anywhere without knowing me in RL.

A tracker where you dont' have toworry about your ratio when downloading (doesn't mean no ratio, there are other ways), helpfull staff, a chill out community enviroment. I'm a member at a couple trackers like this. However there's one thing I'd like to see but I don't think it'l ever happen for obvious reasons: a 0day tracker where all the files are unrared. I just hate it when stuff takes up twice the amount of space on my HDD. Maybe that's just me.

I'm a member at enough trackers, maybe at a tad to many general ones, so I'm planning to do selection at some point. But as far as specialized trackers go, you can't have too many, imo. No tracker is perfect content-wise.

The politics as you call them are really a PITA of FST. Fact is most people on invite boards are nice, too nice for some people's liking. Having have spent over a year at a couple such boards I can say most people are genuine in that. Of course some are faking just to get invites, but they show their true colors eventually. FST is a discussion forum, so there's nothing wrong with flaming trackers here (according to the staff here). In my experience the trackers' staffs will listen to your complaints if you present some arguments and you still remain ''normal'' (saying BMTV sucks coz they have a bad header and they banned me isn't really gonna cut it). The more arguments, the better. By normal I mean the approach, which is more important on teh interwebz than most know. After all, there's no way of knowing that you're an 18 year old blonde with huge knockerz on the net (even with pics one can't be a 100%).

As for morals, I like to think there is ''Honor amongst thieves.'' here. TBH, I'm torrenting only because everything is way too expensive and even with the recession that's not gonna change. No matter what the music artists say, for instance, I still won't think of myself as stealing money from them, but from some fat people in suits in a record company who earn way too much compared to what they do as it was. So I really don't consider myself a criminal and even if I did a set of moral rules is vital if we are going to survive (as a BT community) and should be above any laws.

C'mon when you're walking down the street it's not that you don't start killing people because you know it's against the law. It's because you know it's ''wrong''.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The_Martinator

The politics as you call them are really a PITA of FST.

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I like pita ,true story, although I try to avoid carbs with a high glycemic index as much as possible.

I want to make a comment about the illegality of torrenting. It has been a running theme that BT is illegal, and I need to point out that this is a patently wrong assumption. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the act of torrenting is not illegal anywhere. It's what you choose to share that makes it illegal.

Quite a few things get shared perfectly legally by people using the BT protocol, and the underlying belief that the act itself is against the law is misleading. I personally know, in real life, several bands who have chosen to use torrnets to get there music out there as it's far cheaper to put your album on a tracker than pay for a bunch of albums and trying to hustle them on street corners or your local pub. Linux has been released via the torrenting protocol for years.

Granted, the VAST majority of files we share are infringing on a copyright of some sort, but the act does not.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ca_aok

This really depends on what your goals are in the BT world, and the site in question. I've found that if you simply be yourself, good things will come to you. Talking to people in IRC and helping out with the site you're on is a good way to get noticed for VIP there/invites to harder-to-get-into sites/etc. Most of my "rare" sites that some people here seem to idolize were simply spontaneously offered to me in IRC, I didn't expect them or ask for them. In most cases I didn't even know they were members of that given site. There's no need to e-dick suck, though some members here seem to believe any time you aren't acting like a total asshole towards everyone else you're kissing their asses.

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I fully agree with this as it parallels my own experiences and I know it to be truth. Hell, I've even passed on offers of a couple of those "dream" trackers as I just don't have the time or energy to be a part of another site that invariably contains many of the same members that I will talk to at several of the other sites I'm on. The observation of that fact in the past is what really cemented the whole idea of a "greater bt community" in my mind tbh, and I know many people use that factor to help advance their knowledge and influence.

I also have seen that last statement in action many times, and it irks me every time I see it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by IdolEyes787

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sear

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.

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People always make that distinction and therein lies a lot of the problems.There is only one life this is just another aspect of it .
Act accordingly.

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Well said. :) As was alluded to earlier, the line between rl and the internet is fast becoming blurred, so people have to realize, there isn't the well defined separation that used to exist between the two. It's fast becoming necessary to be the same person in both worlds, for good or bad.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The_Martinator

The politics as you call them are really a PITA of FST. Fact is most people on invite boards are nice, too nice for some people's liking. Having have spent over a year at a couple such boards I can say most people are genuine in that. Of course some are faking just to get invites, but they show their true colors eventually. FST is a discussion forum, so there's nothing wrong with flaming trackers here (according to the staff here). In my experience the trackers' staffs will listen to your complaints if you present some arguments and you still remain ''normal'' (saying BMTV sucks coz they have a bad header and they banned me isn't really gonna cut it). The more arguments, the better. By normal I mean the approach, which is more important on teh interwebz than most know. After all, there's no way of knowing that you're an 18 year old blonde with huge knockerz on the net (even with pics one can't be a 100%).

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I like this. I like it because it makes clear what should happen to better the bigger community I see around me. For all it's pains, those discussions, heated as they can be, help draw the lines of what entails the "universal rule" of BT, and how we deal with people that don't follow those rules. As technology advances, the rules must change, and as accessibility increases, the rules must change. The only way to reach a common set of rules, is to hash them out in as large a common interest group as possible.

About the people being nice part, isn't that just human nature? We almost universally get taught to be nice to the people around us till given reason not to. It's the people that require a reason to be nice to others before doing so that create the most problems imho, and ther is a HUGE difference between being nice and sucking up.

In my staffing experience, I have found that, as time progresses, it gets harder to make that distinction. In the staff frame of mind, it's our job to be paranoid. With that job comes an inherent level of distrust of people you don't know, and to try to determine if a user is trully just being friendly rather than seeking something beyond just conversation can be a task indeed. I think that often the effort to try to make that decision is secondary to the effort to keep the site that staff member is on in running order.

A complication of that decision process comes in the form the range of languages spoken in this field.

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

I first started using P2P when I was in elementary school, so that I could fill up the "Juice Box" (a pretty lame media player) that I had gotten for my birthday. To accomplish this, I used Limewire. Then a couple years later, in high school, a friend of mine told me that it was possible to download video games from past systems, and so he pointed me to a Rapidshare board whose main focus was video games. While at that board, I noticed that on occasion people would post a "torrent" file for large files (which would be promptly removed by the staff). I decided to investigate farther as to what this "torrent" was. That led me to ThePirateBay, where I happily grabbed computer programs and entire discographies (OK, only one discography). I had never been able to download entire albums like that in the blink of an eye before. Having found a new way to get music, I ditched Limewire. Eventually, I got a virus that devastated my computer, so I looked to alternate places to get files from, and stumbled upon this website. Eventually I was then invited to some great private trackers.

So as I so wordily said in the above paragraph, I use bittorrent for several different reasons: one, to get media for free (I don't care too much about the speed that I get it at, since there is always something else I can do in the meantime); two, to get media safely (no viruses); three, to discuss and talk about that media with other people who more often than not, share many of my interests; and four, to expose myself to music, games, movies, and experiences that I would not have otherwise been able to experience if it were not for filesharing. I've also got to know some pretty cool people in the process.

I've never really considered myself as a heavy, hardcore downloader. I hear about these people who download hundreds, if not a thousand, gigabytes a month, and just don't see how they manage it. I already feel like I have too much media to enjoy after only taking a year and a half to fill a small 500GB HD. Another reason that I use bittorrent as my main source of obtaining files is because it makes me feel good to know that I'm helping other people get files when I seed. I'm not really doing a whole lot to the files sitting on my computer (besides enjoying some of them), so why not share them and make someone's day? So I guess that I use bittorrent to a great degree...

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

The ideal tracker for me is a place that I can get files without having all these requirements shoved down my throat, a place where the staff are friendly and personable, a place where the other members there share my interests and are willing to discuss them, a place where I "feel" safe, and a place where I can experience new things. An example of my second and fifth ideals can be something that just happened today. I got an announcement from a staff member, telling everyone to spam another staff member's inbox with messages about anything and everything. The staff member then goes on to say that if a certain number are received, good things will happen. I've never experienced something like this before, especially coming from staff. I decided to participate by giving him my math homework and asking him to do it. :P

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

I am very comfortable with the number of trackers that I have right now. I must confess though that I belong to a number of trackers, but only because they all fill some sort of specific niche. I belong to two 0-day trackers, three music trackers, two general movie trackers, a rare/b-movie tracker, a modern video games tracker, a retro video games tracker, a mobile tracker, an applications tracker, a retro TV tracker, and a few general trackers (including Demonoid). It is my opinion that the more specialized a tracker is, the more they care about that particular thing, and the better experience I will have (discussions, files). I do think though that I could perhaps downsize, although I unfortunately am not in the habit of making use of "Request" sections. I also like to have a tracker to "fall back on", in case something were to happen to another tracker. Out of these trackers, I only "participate" (do things besides just download and seed) in five to six.

I honestly don't think that there is a "maximum" limit of trackers that one should belong to. Everyone has their own reasons for belonging to certain trackers, and I'm fine with that.

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

I try not to get involved with politics and all the BT drama. However, I can say that I often see people attack one another, and bring up past mistakes as a weapon against them. I've also noticed that a lot of staff out there pay attention to how one behaves at other places, and act accordingly. A recent example of this is when a member who was invited to a particular tracker by another member of that tracker was soon after disabled by staff there, based on what the staff had observed of that invitee at other places. It sure enforced the sense that "the online BT community is global now". You have to be mindful of yourself at all times, or things may not happen as you wish them to.

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 think that there are a few things that every good torrenter should do. One of these things should be to have a willingness to share. Whether this means uploading torrents, seeding them for a long time, or re-seeding torrents when requested, you're contributing to the entire community. This is "peer-to-peer", not "server-to-peer"; it takes a group effort to help other people obtain files. I also believe that one should respect any tracker wishes, and follow the rules. It's their site, and so they have the right to run it however they wish. If someone doesn't like it, then they can leave.

That's all that came to mind :happy:

LOL @ math homework spam nice one :lol:.

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Originally Posted by KushBlow

LOL @ math homework spam nice one :lol:.

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I was actually very generous, choosing to only give him the "challenge" problem of the set. I could have spammed all ten or so of them...

EDIT: And I really hope he does it, because there's no chance in hell of it getting done by me :lol:

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Originally Posted by respawn40

I try not to get involved with politics and all the BT drama. However, I can say that I often see people attack one another, and bring up past mistakes as a weapon against them. I've also noticed that a lot of staff out there pay attention to how one behaves at other places, and act accordingly. A recent example of this is when a member who was invited to a particular tracker by another member of that tracker was soon after disabled by staff there, based on what the staff had observed of that invitee at other places. It sure enforced the sense that "the online BT community is global now". You have to be mindful of yourself at all times, or things may not happen as you wish them to.

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So, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I mean, it's a given that word will travel, but that could lead to a serious diminishing of real unabashed honesty. If we spend all our time thinking about the ramifications of a sentence or an opinion we spend less time actually expressing what we really think. There are exceptions to that rule, but they are the result of the that accumulated respect that gives those words weight where an unknown user won't have that liberty with the words he uses.

Then you have to take into account multiple nicks and all the words those different nicks post. A lot of folks use multiple nicks to host those masks of personality that were mentioned by ovisan. Not everyone ofc, as many people now active were taught, at the forums they learned about this world from, to hide their forum identity from the trackers they join to keep their inviter and themselves safe.

In all honesty, I really think the need for such practices is outdated and unneccessary, but I harbor no animosity toward all invite forums, with the caveat that the ones I like are sites that actively try to lead new members in the right direction. Not all tracker staff feel the same way I do about those forums.

More than 10 years have gone by!!!
Its 2009 almost 2010!!! I can´t really remember when all this started, i remember a small group off friends and i, used to share all kinds off shit in the irc, undernet if im not mistaken, after that naspter come up!!! Until one day, a friend off mine, invited me to a crazy place, that worked like a tracker, we had 2 or 3 fake pages, whit some crazy funky tricks, it was easy to forget how to find the login page :D :D
Knowadays, if i was a collector or whatever, i could say, i had reached heaven, :mellow:, whatever it means, but to be honest, the only place i can call home its a forum, it doesn't even have torrents! But its related.
If i could, i would getter my old friends and return to the past, we all knew each other very well, and basicly we only filled each other requests...
Our forums were more active than a thread made by albo about skittles or cn. :dry:
I don´t use all my trackers, but i have them, because off the inumerous irc´s i connect, because in all off them i know this and that guy.
I could go on and on, talking about the past, i miss it, i really do, its getting colder and colder, has time goes by, trackers, are losing the initial feeling, to much politics, associations, flaming, hunting, scamming and money is envolved, from seedbox´s to strange donations, ( who can forget funfile?? or supertorrents ?? )
Anyway, i know many off the dudes who run the trackers, that you all talk about, everyday, and i must say, none off them, was able to make a small private, united family.
Whit growth comes, all the problems, and the absence. I would throw it all away in exchange for my old group.

Basicly i have grown up, in this last 10 years or more, and i can´t find a place for me, for the ones, who just wanna be left alone.

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

I use it because it's cheaper than RS, and I can find more rare content than on Usenet. I also enjoy the sense of community that comes with a torrent site.

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

Karagarga and Cinematik. Rare/offbeat films + DVDR format = my heaven :D

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

When it comes to movies, I could always use more trackers. Otherwise, I'm set.

If somebody only downloads scene content, then 1-3 trackers should be plenty. But if your really into collecting offbeat and rare music/movies/games etc. like me, then I don't think you should follow the idea that you only need a few trackers. I'm a member at SDBits, Tehconnection, KG, S-C, Cinematik, THC, PTN Sparvar, iTS, goem, and a heck of a lot more. It probably sounds like I'm a collector, but if I were not a member at so many of these trackers than my DVD-R collection would be significantly smaller, because so many of my movies were only available at only one place.

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

Not 100% what you mean... :\ Do you mean the whole tracker levels thing? If so, I think it's extremely silly that people seek hard to find trackers (many of which are simply 0-day trackers anyway), rather than trackers that actually provide content that they want.

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.

Too tired to answer, lol :P

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Originally Posted by Bad-Day

I don´t use all my trackers, but i have them, because off the inumerous irc´s i connect, because in all off them i know this and that guy.
I could go on and on, talking about the past, i miss it, i really do, its getting colder and colder, has time goes by, trackers, are losing the initial feeling, to much politics, associations, flaming, hunting, scamming and money is envolved, from seedbox´s to strange donations, ( who can forget funfile?? or supertorrents ?? )
Anyway, i know many off the dudes who run the trackers, that you all talk about, everyday, and i must say, none off them, was able to make a small private, united family.
Whit growth comes, all the problems, and the absence. I would throw it all away in exchange for my old group.

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So, what stops you from doing something like that again? Or even getting back together with those folks that you used to share with? I mean, you are talking about what many sites shoot for on an idealistic level, but is it just a matter of size more than anything?

I will say that it can be dangerous to covet the past, as you surely will end up disappointed in the long run because with experience comes perspective. When we are younger, we often don't realize how good we have it until we don't, and by then it's almost exclusively too late. "You can't go home again" and all that jazz.

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Originally Posted by brento

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

Not 100% what you mean... :\ Do you mean the whole tracker levels thing? If so, I think it's extremely silly that people seek hard to find trackers (many of which are simply 0-day trackers anyway), rather than trackers that actually provide content that they want.

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I mean the way the way people interact outside the insulation of there personal "favorite" community. I suppose that levels fall under that, but really don't mean much in terms of the question. I want to know what you think about the bigger community and how the "players" set the tone for everyone else in the way they treat both each other and the people that would like to be or already are members of their sites.

Like, do you bite your tongue in discussions because you worry that your words with follow you elsewhere? Do you treat people differently than you would if you thought that what you said in one place stayed in that one place?

This has become an industry, from ISP´s advertising 100mb lines to seedbox sellers, the all p2p thing has evolved, into a business.

In a tracker whit more than 20.000 members only 100 use the irc, that gives a generall picture, off how things are.

Instead off the local blockbuster, we have sct or whatever.

I don´t have what it takes to make my dream tracker, lack off skills, time, ..... ,......, but there are some projects rising lately, from ppl that share my taste :) thats the ones that get my entire attention.

I admire, all the work they guys at sct scc, blablabla do, but it, specially for a noob, who never knew how things work in the old days. for an old timer** this is just a blockbuster.

anyway...

Instead off albo who makes a thread to mock skittles, probably they refused him too, :shifty:, i just give ideas, and help on the gathering off new members that i like to have near me, and that i can trust 100%.

But, to be honest, its easier for me to ask you, what is it all about?
Why do trackers chase activity by raising the number off members ? Why do members leave ? Why do you guys like to run a library, instead off a sharing place ? What feeds the morons like albo and cabalo, when they come out off the gutter to mock this and that tracker ?

To many parasites, criticizing.



Can u show me proof, that the spirit still exists?

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Originally Posted by Bad-Day

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Originally Posted by Intr4ns1t

So, what stops you from doing something like that again? Or even getting back together with those folks that you used to share with? I mean, you are talking about what many sites shoot for on an idealistic level, but is it just a matter of size more than anything?

I will say that it can be dangerous to covet the past, as you surely will end up disappointed in the long run because with experience comes perspective. When we are younger, we often don't realize how good we have it until we don't, and by then it's almost exclusively too late. "You can't go home again" and all that jazz.

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I don´t have what it takes, to make it happen, i admit it. thats why i just give ideas, instead off criticizing.

Instead off albo who makes a thread to mock skittles, probably they refused him too, :shifty:, i just give ideas, and help on the gathering off new members that i like to have near me, and that i can trust 100%.

On topic: Its easier for me to ask you, what is it all about?
Why do trackers keep growing up ? Why do members leave ? Why do you guys like to run a library, instead off a sharing place ? What feeds the morons like albo and cabalo, when they come out off the gutter to mock this and that tracker ?

To many parasites, criticizing.

Basically this has become an industry, involving millions, a huge money making machine, from ISP, who advertise 100mb lines, to seedboxes sellers, and so on....

Can u show me proof, that the spirit still exists?

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Regarding Albo and Cabalo, don't work under the assumption that they are the only guys who ever bait people or flame or take issue with trackers. For good or bad, they post what they think, and that is to be respected imho. I know not a whole lot of people may agree with me on that one, but w/e, I give props to anyone that has the balls to stick by their opinions and not be swayed by the majority. This thread is not about them though.

How they have been treated, and how others who bucked in the face of popular opinion are treated is valid though. That goes to the politics and morals part of this thread. As was stated a couple pages ago, there is a definite tendency toward witchhunts in this world( BT) and the whole "global ban" idea is an evidence of that. To suffer a global ban for something like an opinion or attitude is kind of ridiculous.

If you go back through old threads about trackers when they were first opening up, almost universally, the poster of the thread and usually the trackers too, get flamed to high heaven. It happens. I think thats a good portion of the reason that most trackers try to distance themselves from FST. Well, that and trading, but trading is a whole other issue.

That flaming will obviously create animosity on the part of trackers, who can blame em, but the truth is, it's not FST doing the flaming, it's the posters in those threads, and to think otherwise is self-deluded. That begs the question, why is that "trial by fire" so common?


As far as your questions, some trackers stay at a fairly stable number of members for a long time, and as the bad members get purged, there is room for new members, so they get new members. People leave because they don't have the amount of time to invest that many trackers ask and/or require, or they just don't care about the community side and want files as simply as possible. Regarding the library question, I'm not sure how you want me to answer that. I would say that the increasing number of files is a demonstration of that sharing. A torrent that stays seeded for a year + is still seeded because of that sharing spirit. Finally, it's certainly no secret that people behind the veil of anonymity that is the computer feel less reserved about expressing what they think. Your own wording of that question is a criticism itself, only of individuals, not trackers.

For proof of that spirit still existing, I would only point to every staffer at every tracker that doesn't make a profit and smile. ;)

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Originally Posted by IdolEyes787

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Originally Posted by The_Martinator

The politics as you call them are really a PITA of FST.

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I like pita ,true story, although I try to avoid carbs with a high glycemic index as much as possible.

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Uhm, PITA stands for pain in the ass. I guess you're a n00b at these things... or you were joking. I can never tell, tbh. :lol:

Intr4ns1t, yeah, I agree about the being nice part. The way you were raised has a big part in it. But again, there's the problem of internet, you don't know who my parents are...

PS: Great thread!

PPS: About Albo and Cabalo: Constructive criticism is something that betters trackers. But the criticism that those two present is not constructive, neither is it argumented, but what bothers me the most is their approach (I'm repeating myself, I know :P). You hear a lot that at sites like TPS you have to suck dick and are not allowed to criticise sites. Not true. But if you do it the same way as those two do it here, expect to be banned. Fast.