If you could turn back the clock....

... to before you discovered private trackers. Would you still have proceeded the same way? Why?

(or, what would you have done differently?)



A very curious question for the regulars/ the familiar faces. No offense to any of you, but if I coulda prevented myself from discovering private torrenting, I would definitely have stuck to Isohunt, ThePirateBay, and Slsk. The opportunity cost of the time I've sunk over the past few years absorbed in p2p was not worth the warez nor the special sites I acquired during that time. This is also pretty much the reason I stopped staffing here.

Still use torrents though, because what the hell. Spent so much time already, might as well use the sites I got from it to their full advantage. I think I still spend an unhealthy amount of time on p2p...:ermm:

I think this is a great thread topic :)

I'm pretty conflicted on the matter myself. I got into private torrenting for a specific reason, because public trackers had music that was poorly tagged, transcoded, at inconsistent bitrates, missing album tracks, etc. I wanted a quality controlled source for full music albums, which I found in What.CD and later on many other music trackers. Music is still my most commonly downloaded content, and my community participation centers around my music trackers.

Through private torrenting, I've learned a ton of stuff both about computers and life in general from the people I've met. Whether it's encoding music/movies, analyzing files, learning how to use linux, learning more about encryption, learning more about coding, etc. Some people I've talked to have also had some profound views on music, politics, or just life in general, and that's also been quite good.

However, I feel like in general torrenting is going downhill. More sites are created every single day, and politics and drama are constantly in the limelight. The emphasis these days is on hoarding buffer with seedboxes to transcend ridiculous user class requirements, and less on community participation. I used to participate in several places, but more and more often I find myself only posting on a few select sites and just using the rest to download content. I see more and more emphasis placed on secrecy and rarity where the sites I respect are the large ones where staff are open about what they do, and put their asses on the line every day to serve us content.

I've put a ton of my time and in some cases money into torrenting, and yeah in some cases I think that it's been a waste. I don't think I'd turn back the clock, but I think I'd do certain things differently. Certainly there would be sites I wouldn't have joined, people I wouldn't have interacted with, etc. There's nothing I specifically regret per se, but I think at the end of the day I've reached a stage where I'm spending less time involved in drama and more time simply grabbing content. I've already joined all the sites I wished to join and achieved any "goals" I had in the torrenting world, so I figure at this point it's a bit late and pointless to just bail out. Private sites still get you higher quality content at a faster speed than public sites, without the viruses and fakes.

i would never have access to treasures like the ones you can find on sites such as KG or cinematik if i had never cared about private torrenting so yes, i would definitely proceed the same way.

I pretty much agree with everything ca_aok said but with OiNK.

But yes, I would have never got involved with any kind of BT politics and I'm glad I let everything go a few months ago, when I had had enough.

Now I laugh at the idiots who keep making it a big deal. If a friend or someone I know gets in a jam (often for no reason) then I try to help, otherwise fuck it all and burn in hell. I'll just download and share where and when I want to.

Edit: And before someone asks. God's honest truth!!

Do I regret becoming involved in private trackers no .Do I regret because of my obvious lackings spending too much time and money ( ironic huh) on something that doesn't truly enrich my life yes.

But then as Shakespeare wrote "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,But in ourselves"

and as you Truesounds seem to have discovered "Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie,Which we ascribe to Heaven".

sorry for the lame vid but all things considered ( and a tip of the hat to ca_aok ) it seemed appropriate.

[youtube]oRhhNPBPGyU[/youtube]

Ca_aok, I'm pretty much in the same boat. I got drawn into private trackers because public trackers did not cut it for my music tastes. I could not even find any copy of half the stuff I wanted. The first private site I joined 3 years ago (Kraytracker) is the most invaluable site I've ever had. I've downloaded 1000+ underground punk releases in high quality, that I would not have been able to get ahold of anywhere else. Not only that, but the uploaders there had a huge influence on shaping my current music taste. I don't entirely regret my torrenting path, but I do look back and think what if I had tread no further than my first tracker. Maybe I'd keep Demonoid too..

But it's no use crying over spilt milk, and I do appreciate the trackers I am a part of today. A bit more convenient than any other free alternative.



btw nice scholarly quotes Idol, You're the only guy I know who can pull these intellectual phrases from your ass for any and every given situation lol

While I personally really like the concept of private trackers (which is why I started in the first place), if I really had a choice I probably would have just sticked with TL, the first tracker I had joined. I certainly wouldn't avoid private trackers altogether - the speeds on TL seemed like a godsend compared to the slow as a crawl speeds of public tracker.

But I would have to admit that near the beginning, fueled by the motive that I should find other niche sites "just in case" I couldn't find what I needed at TL, I probably spent far more time than I needed looking into private sites that I would almost never touch. If there was anything I ever didn't find at TL, it was most likely some obscure Wii VC game I found at BCG, and probably could have found just as easily with a bit of googling. Now that I have been around my fair share of trackers, I really feel a bit underwhelmed. Perhaps it's the fact that I'm not incredibly into obscure content, but there was never really anything I couldn't find at TL.

Another fact to consider is the fact that I'm going to college in about ~6 months, and the college I was accepted to has a 5GB monthly bandwidth cap - not nearly enough for managing torrents (However, intranet traffic doesn't count and they have a rather nice DC++ hub so I will hopefully still be able to get my filesharing fix:happy:). Inevitably in a matter of months all my tracker accounts will probably die from inactivity pruning, indicated even more time I could have saved by not even bothering in the first place. And the real icing on the cake is that I had gotten in this free VIP promotion thing that got me a year of free VIP at TL - meaning if I really wanted to, I could've completely disregarded ratio until I was off at college, becoming even less preoccupied with torrents and saving even more time.

But hey, maybe this is a little cheesy, but without having delved further into the world of private trackers I never would've found FST in the first place, so it couldn't have been a total loss could it ;)

http://www.cyber-cinema.com/gallery/clockstoppers.jpg

"Dude, I can like, stop time and stuff."

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Originally Posted by TrueSounds

I would definitely have stuck to Isohunt, ThePirateBay, and Slsk.

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I think I may have stayed in this "bubble" too, if I could do it over. Back then I was unaware of all the douchebags and drama in the BT community. And that was nice...

But now, I'm spoiled by the excellent content of a few trackers(music mainly). So now, I couldn't go back to using only public trackers because of the fair share of bullshit and low quality files.

I wouldn't of done anything different. I went about BT like I went about other hobbies I got heavily involved with. I'm the type of person that gets into a hobby and gets in deep. I spend tons of time, make firends, fight the good fight, etc, untill I'm burned out. After a while, I need something new to turn my obsession toward. So, when I needed a new hobby to replace Forza and it's community,I turned to BT and it's community. My BT obsession has since passed in favor of fantasy sports. After, fantasy sports who knows?

I don't think I would do much differently. Since I was a moderator at SUPRNOVA until my current memberships at private trackers now, I've made some great e-friends and connections that have led me to places I couldn't be without BitTorrent.

Although, I wish a certain group of people, a long time ago, hadn't led me on and then stabbed me in the back when they got the invites they wanted from me. There may be a member or two here that still remember that fiasco.

Nope I wouldn't change a thing.Start in BT late 2003,
Those early private sites have gone now
Think i still have one from 2004,the rest that have given invites from friends through irc.
Though the earlier days of BT way less bullshit that goes on now.
So many fall outs these days between peeps you only need to read the drama here, way less back in the day.
If i could turn back the clock to 2005 permanently enjoyed that year except what happened over the star-wars 3 that was really sad.

i started 4-5 months back..i stayed honest with the people i met,and the trackers i joined..and am very happy with my progress..i m in some good trackers know,and even more good trackers will come in the future for me to use and feel proud of,but only if people trust me,same thing apply to all the noobs out there,if they want in to the BT World,they should earn trust ;)

When i joined FST,i dint know what a seedbox was,and if there was a GFT and FTN,but all experianced members have been very kind to me,so FST rocks :D

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Originally Posted by Sanka113

I wouldn't of done anything different. I went about BT like I went about other hobbies I got heavily involved with. I'm the type of person that gets into a hobby and gets in deep. I spend tons of time, make firends, fight the good fight, etc, untill I'm burned out. After a while, I need something new to turn my obsession toward. So, when I needed a new hobby to replace Forza and it's community,I turned to BT and it's community. My BT obsession has since passed in favor of fantasy sports. After, fantasy sports who knows?

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Real sports?

you're all mentionning BT dramas like it affected you in some way... c'mon, there's nothing difficult in ignoring all this crap as long as you're not involved in these so-called dramas.

I would stay the hell out of torrents or anything illegal :P

getting involved in torrents, no.
trying to get an invite to FTN, yes

cost me loaddds of time. and got nowhere, im gna quit trying after today. Stick to my TL and forget the rest of the trackers, just VIP leech on TL.

I have not spent anymore time doing this than I have wanted to. I was on TBy (as my sole tracker) for over 4 years before I decided to start looking "around". I have not even been on FST for a full year yet (anniversary on April 15 if anyone wants to get me anything I wear an XL :P ).

When people say "file-sharing" I hear "library". I do not think of this as anything that I would have "wasted my time" with anymore than hours spent in the world's greatest collection of books, movies, music, software, and porn. There is also the added benefit of having a community of people who share the same joys of information access.

There is also no consideration for money here. If I get a wild hair and decide to learn about 3D animation, I can discuss the topics with others who have the same access to the outrageously expensive software and training materials. In the real world (or even outside of BT) there is a certain amount of "I have this..." attitude towards expensive things. Everyone here is equal, well, perhaps minus a few brain cells and/or personality deficits. :D

The short of it, I like this better than I would simply looking everything up on Google and downloading. People do make a difference to me.

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Originally Posted by megabyteme

I have not even been on FST for a full year yet (anniversary on April 15 if anyone wants to get me anything I wear an XL :P ).

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That's my birthday .True story.:O

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Originally Posted by IdolEyes787

That's my birthday .True story.:O

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It's good to know!:01:

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Originally Posted by IdolEyes787

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Originally Posted by megabyteme

I have not even been on FST for a full year yet (anniversary on April 15 if anyone wants to get me anything I wear an XL :P ).

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That's my birthday .True story.:O

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We'll have to spam the heck out to this place to celebrate! :01:

OK but how will I be able to tell the difference?

If I had never discovered private trackers I guess I'd be still be using Fulldls.com (or another indexer with less junk after that became what it is now) and waiting a month for DVDs to finish downloading. :lol:

Or maybe Ares...

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Originally Posted by cinephilia

you're all mentionning BT dramas like it affected you in some way... c'mon, there's nothing difficult in ignoring all this crap as long as you're not involved in these so-called dramas.

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+11111

The bottom line is to not take things too seriously (at any stage of the game) and have fun. Let's be honest: drama can actually be entertaining to watch (:cool:), and as long as you are sensible yourself you have very low chances of being "burnt" in a drama yourself (I'm talking about the staffing experience here). If anyone got burnt chances are the biggest factor that contributed to that was that they were taking things too seriously.

And whatever happens around you, shouldn't affect your experience that you have with your few favorite and great sites/communities in which you partake. That's all I do, and that's all I care about.

It is very sad but I feel the bt community is nowhere near united/connected as much as it once was. I still believe one should try to care about the wider bt community and its welfare (i.e., the welfare of not only the tracker(s) in which you are involved, but others too) and alliances between sites are good and healthy, but gee - it's obvious that some "leading" staffers don't care about anything but themselves and their OWN site (and egos) so I think that one has to be seasoned in not caring TOO much about what's going on in the rest of the scene and just do one's own thing...

To answer OP's question: I love music and I love file sharing, they're too big passions which have come together in the form of what most of my bt activities are based around. If I could turn the clock back four years, and had the knowledge I have now, I would use that to join OiNK WAY back in 2005 rather than be stuck at demonoid for three years before finally finding out how to get into what.cd and the rest of the private trackers in late 2008...

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Originally Posted by ihab22222

I agree with u.

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Nope, "me too" is the one you're looking for. :happy:

i will i guess.

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Originally Posted by kimsong1985

i will i guess.

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You will what? :unsure:

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Originally Posted by anon-sbi

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Originally Posted by kimsong1985

i will i guess.

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You will what? :unsure:

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He will surmise!

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Originally Posted by QPD

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Originally Posted by anon-sbi

You will what? :unsure:

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He will surmise!

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meaning opine right?

I would be a longtime member of Bitsoup and Bitsoup only.

lol a p2l site fair enough...

as for me no I don't think I would have done anything different in regards to bt. I could think that maybe I shouldn't have trusted some of the people I have but then I don't think I would change that either it's all part of the learning process...and this has been said in this thread already but some of the people I've met and the wisdom passed onto me (mainly at fsc) will serve me well in my real life. I've learned lessons and have had some truly profound points of view put to me that I've honestly taken to heart and I there is a couple of peeps I can thank for that but I won't do it here because they know how I feel.

Perhaps I've never had the right mindset. I signed up for Bitsoup, donated the first day and several times thereafter. I have no problem with p2l. That's probably why I like usenet so much. I only found this forum and other sites while looking for sources to upload to Bitsoup. Then shit happened.

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Originally Posted by IdolEyes787

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Originally Posted by Sanka113

I wouldn't of done anything different. I went about BT like I went about other hobbies I got heavily involved with. I'm the type of person that gets into a hobby and gets in deep. I spend tons of time, make firends, fight the good fight, etc, untill I'm burned out. After a while, I need something new to turn my obsession toward. So, when I needed a new hobby to replace Forza and it's community,I turned to BT and it's community. My BT obsession has since passed in favor of fantasy sports. After, fantasy sports who knows?

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Real sports?

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I do love Bryant Gumble, even though Wayne Brady makes him look like Malcolm X.

That's why I love FST so much - because of great topics like this one.

BT for me now isn't just a hobby, it somehow changed my life in better way. I really love music, all styles and genres, and today I can't imagine myself not logging in and checking my music trackers for new stuff. Also I met a lot of interesting people while looking for new music (and not only music) sorces. But while I love BT and all things it gave me I know what TrueSounds means - I spend too much time at p2p too, it's an addiction in some way. But I think it brought me more pleasure than pain. The only thing I'd probably done differently - not getting into such big amount of trackers and not spending so much time for finding an invitation for some 1337 sites. Most of them aren't that great.

I agree with cinephilia here. And I have been part of some e dramas. You shouldn't be taking it too seriously. No matter what, it still is ONLY the internet.

As far as getting addicted to it goes, I was already old enough when I started out to know when I was spending too much time with it. That's one side of getting older, you get to know yourself better. :P

Niche site's like KG,BCG really make getting into the whole private tracker scene worthwhile. But I feel like i've wasted a lot of time trying to obtain them and more importantly keeping them with all the inactivity and ratio rules that they enforce.

All in all it's got more pros than cons, just dont get too attached to it.

Being a part of BT if you participate more than just clicking on a release that interests you is a hobby (almost a drug for some) but a hobby just the same. For me I have valued the people I have met (mostly), was only ever involved in a couple of drama's personally and learned from my mistakes.
I wouldn't turn back time because I value the people I have gotten to know and have genuinely enjoyed the interaction, I think because it was always the 'community' (that dreaded word) rather than just teh filez, has made it interesting.
We all after we have been through the first flush of membership, go through phases, but if you enjoy the people then the interest will continue.