Would you Donate to a Tracker if you got no "perks"?

[Grind$oFine]

I don't think anyone needs incentive to donate. I think BCG will do just fine without any.

However, I think if someone does donate their money they should be recognized for their contribution. I definitely think the star should stay for good. Especially since the people will be donating genuinely, not for special seed bonus features, or to keep from getting demoted, etc.

[Cruel]

Of course I would donate to some trackers and got no perks.

But it's ratter nice to get that star next to your nick (if you count that as a perk) though.

Often I seem to donate to trackers which I feel contribute to my experience in this P2P-scene. But also sometimes when I really need it for perks.

[t0mmy]

yeah i would, if it was to help the tracker staying up :]

[pandabear]

Really depends on tracker. Some sites just have a great feel about them, that you are just compelled to donate. Other sites, the magic isn't there, but getting a few extra privileges or capitalizing on a special offer may make it be a little more worth it.

All the same bring back the star. Or atleast make it an option to get the star, or give the ability to put a custom title or some other neat perk, which has no real value.

[Zaxx]

ive donated a small amt to trackers in the past for no perks... its worth it to help keep the tracker alive, especially because really good trackers are hard to find

What Sear said.
Btw, stoi: I don't understand why you would remove the star. It has no real value, it just shows some appreciation to the member's contribution.

yea maybe make stars optional for donations...

Not a BCG member but have to agree...a star is harmless having little to no affect except for a little recognition (may even spur others to donate) which is fairly harmless as there's no 'real' perks to go with it. Just my 2 cents...

[stoi]

i never thought that loosing the star would have been that much of a big deal tbh

I thought the other benefits would have been missed more.

actually on BCG we have a poll on the main index page, nearly 5000 votes

Would You Donate If you got No Benefits At All?

Yes 25%
No, I like SP Bonus too much 20%
No, I like VIP too much 5%
NO I like My Star too much 3%
I wont donate ever, for anything. 20%
We should have ads instead of Donations 26%

so as you can see, the star was the bottom of the list with only 3%

[seppypom]

I think the star is a pride/respect type of thing. An acknowledgment, a public, pat on the back!

I have donated to many sites without expecting anything except the site being there another month.

[Cabalo]

I think that what you are proposing depends from tracker to tracker.
First of all, i think it would be interesting for you guys to make an analysis on what kind of donors you have at the tracker.

People have different motivations to donate to a tracker, be it cuz of personal motivation, some vip "bragging" or just cuz they are unable to meet the ratios and they don't want to be kicked out of the place.
I think it's not so hard for someone to look at a VIP database and see what are the interests of each donor. I suppose that you probably did it in advance, instead going blindly and taking your chances.

Thus, i believe that what you are proposing can work in content specific trackers. The community at those trackers is not so diversed as you can find at most "generalistic" ones, because some are there for things ranging from XviD to Xbox games or MP3. So, in my opinion, when you are in a specific top tracker that REALLY suits your needs, i don't see why not make a donation and keep it running for your OWN interest. It's all about people's own interests here.

my own example, i'm in for many things, but specifically e-learning (economics), PC games and some major xvid releases.
Recently i got into thevault and i saw it was nearly impossible to make a ratio there, so i decided to donate because i would get some nice gigabytes uploaded, that i desperately need to startup with. In the future i'm certain that i could had donated there for other reasons, mainly the excellent site it is, unparalleled, but for a started, that was my motivation to donate. And i'm sure that if they didn't offer gbs for €€, i wouldn't donate there, cuz i would get the boot anyways.


Honestly, i believe that you will get a lot less donations, that's my feeling. Many users with slower connections will have problems to get what they need (i've heard about your seed points, but i have no idea how it works though) and eventually get the boot. Let's not forget that in gaming, pc games nowadays are 4gb+ , x360 are 6gb+ etc etc. It's a lot. It's not like a MP3 or a Xvid movie.

anyway, what you are doing will serve as a testbed for other trackers, although i consider that the chances of succeeding at content specific trackers are higher than at all-purpose trackers.


PS: keep the star optional, i wouldn't consider it a perk (although it is).

[SAM]

only on my fav. trackers and in the community based ones

[TheFoX]

There's always the option to allow the donator to decide whether they want a little yellow star or not.

The star is a simple badge to let everyone else know that you are a donator. It can also act as an advertisement to those who haven't donated yet, and who may likely donate in the future, to spur them to donating sooner rather than later.

I will donate if a site I respect needs the funding (not necessarily torrent sites either, since I am a senior member of TBDev as well). After all, once the resource disappears, it is very hard to find a suitable replacement for the knowledge lost.