Let's talk about BT

[respawn40]

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.

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

[KushBlow]

LOL @ math homework spam nice one .

[respawn40]

LOL @ math homework spam nice one .

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

[Intr4ns1t]

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.

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.

[Bad-Day]

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
Knowadays, if i was a collector or whatever, i could say, i had reached heaven, , 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.
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.

[brento]

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

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

[Intr4ns1t]

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.

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.

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.

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?

[Bad-Day]

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, , 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?

[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.

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, , 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?

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.

[The_Martinator]

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

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

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.

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 ). 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.