Awesome job!!! :cheers:
My suggestions:
lower the thumbnail from a sheet from 30 to 20
add an entry stating at least 10 separate images (including the cover and screenshot sheet)
And just for clarification: what does
@Uwe:
- 3 tags
- 5 tags
mean? Is it 1 point if 3 tags present and 1 additional additional if 5 tags and more?
Maybe I'm wrong, but my understanding is that the "staff rating" wouldn't be visible and is only used to award/rate the uploaders download page.
I like the idea of only allowing people who've downloaded the torrent to rate it.
I agree, of course that would make more sense.
It seems the rating system would be better if we incorporate ballard1's idea (only people who've completed the torrent can rate it). Maybe, to add to it, the rating button would log the user out if they haven't completed the torrent yet, or something like that (lol).
I like the rating system and wish more people would use it. It still does come in handy.
Maybe I don't get it :), but it wouldn't make sense to me if the staff rating was visible to users since we don't know anything about the actual video or whatever file. All we know is what's on the download page.
If ballard1's idea can be fulfilled - OK, we keep the current rating system. And making visible staff rating on the torrent's page does make sense, since it shows the rating of the torrent, not of the video inside. A good rated torrent may serve as a live example for potential uploaders on how to make their torrents more attractive. At least that's how I see it
[off-topic]Guys, please, let's not emphasize the "jumping-on" topic here [/off-topic]
Uwe, I fully support your project :cheers:
I wish other moderators who do torrent approval and who have an impressive amount of SPB will join this experiment.
And, a new thought came to my mind: it would be very nice if staff had some SPB "from the office" just for these cases…
Wow, so many good ideas have arisen
Reward the uploader for his part of the upload: that means, the data made available on the torrent page.
If the audio or video quality stinks for no good reason, it'll be in the comments from a zillion annoyed members.
Now I fully agree with this approach. The rating system will take into consideration only the structure of the torrent file (the tree file structure included in the torrent) and the appearance of the torrent on its details page (title, pictures, description). The quality of the video itself will remain on the uploader's discretion. If he wants to earn an extra star, he should get the tech details and provide them in the description.
Why not 2 rating systems? Keep the current one and have a staff rating system. This way each rating system can be used for their intended purpose, and Auto Approval users can benefit from the new rating system too. Staff can rate a torrent on it's download page rather than the approval list.
I agree with ballard1 on this topic: the current rating is either not used, or abused; either way it doesn't bring any good. But I like the idea of rating the torrent directly on the details page rather in the approval queue, and Auto Approval torrents should also be rated.
I don't think that would be a reliable indicator. While we can subtract points when we have to send out a message asking the user to fix something, stop seeding/leeching too many torrents, start seeding, etc, a user would be able to easily reach 500 via the other avenues rep points can be gained. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but it seems users can even easily surpass 500 without uploading 10 clean torrents. ???
Well, I can't imagine how else would a user acquire that many points, unless he uploads a torrent and waits for 500 Thank You's ;D
I had a new idea about granting some reputation points for each seeded gigabyte, that way we show that seeding is also important and give an incentive to our users to seed more. But even in this case, if they manage to get 500 points without uploading new torrents, AA won't be given by the system, and granting this privilege will still require other factors, like I initially stated. Possessing 500 reputation points will be one of the criteria.
Hm… In this case I guess "10 clean uploads" is still in force.
Brandon, just one more idea: maybe it's possible to "punish" people who are caught jumping on uploading torrents. Sure, there is no way to police this fairly but I think it might deter jumpers if they know that they will get a deduction if they are caught. It annoys me when I can seed only 80Mb of a 400MB file because somebody jumped on my upload. They easily could wait until the file is uploaded.
Maybe we can take away a certain amount of reputation points in such cases? This has more influence than just a polite PM and a system warning, but still not as harsh as resetting the passkey, which (and I agree with Uwe) is indeed a disproportional measure. Besides, taken points can be eventually regained.
Exactly. Everybody likes good quality, but I wouldn't want to start a mass discrimination
Although… Not sure if it would be fair to rate equally a DVD and an xtube collection, assuming they both match the theoretical standards... Opinions?
How do you know?
Because I'm a moderator, it's my job to know more ;D
Hooray!
(but you're still a douchebag) >:D
Thank'ya sir, you are very kind
Just so I'm on the same page here…when you say "quality of the torrent", safe to assume you mean what's included in the original upload, ie: good narrative, number of pictures included in original upload, supplying a url (more info field), etc? Basically, quality to the extent it conforms to providing a downloader enough info to encourage a download?
Yep. cumeaternc described the idea very clearly. I just want to add to the list the torrent title: it has to be concise, precise, contain the studio name (if any). Also regarding this topic: for a better rating users will have to manually fix QTM's little problem of adding periods between words - that makes the title less attractive INMHO.
I would also include a passage about how the actual torrent file is formed. You will all agree with me that it's much better when the video file that is included in the torrent has a decent name, like "Staxus - Bareback Fucking.mp4" than "_bareback_db_fucking_demonoid(xvid).mp4", or what's even worse "wkoweigngnlwnoef.mp4".
Another thought regards the companion pictures to the video. I really hate when people include 500 image files along the main video in the same directory. Isn't it better to include them in an archive, or at least in a separate folder? The same ideas about collections.
The actual content of the video is definitely out of the question (if it's not something from the banned list or course). Moderators are here to watch over the rule compliance, not to discuss personal tastes. I, personally, don't like scat videos, it's repelling to me, but that didn't stop me from approving 2 or 3 torrents of this kind
;D Good one
But seriously, why do you behave like we're trying to annihilate you?
A good question.
But if xenu's butt is rather attractive, I wouldn't mind being after it. (Oh my… did I say that? :-[)
;D Don't take it too seriously MrMazda, it was a little sarcasm from my side. But I do think my recent posts on this topic made a wrong impression of me.
:thx:
Well, no, I didn't even think about a negative reputation for torrents… In my theory only staff can take away reputation, and only when rules are broken. I assume if a user doesn't like your torrent, he will just ignore the Thank You button. Or make a bad comment 
To combat the impression that moderator geographer is a douchebag that doesn't like uploaders and doesn't appreciate their contribution to GT.ru, I've been brainstorming this night about some ways to maintain a balance between rewarding uploaders for their torrents and dumping the site with trash. And I've come up with some ideas which lead to a steady compromise, and also solve a few other problems.
Idea #1: Staff torrent rating
I've been thinking a lot on how to make the rewarding scheme machine-based (meaning excluding the direct human factor), and at the same time make it distinguish between the quality of the upload.
To those of you who still don't know, the site has a 5 star torrent rating system. Though we have to face facts - it is dead, no-one, or very few and very seldom, rates torrents and no-one takes into account that rating when choosing a torrent to download. Therefore my idea … to make 5 star torrent rating a staff prerogative, meaning only the moderator who reviews the torrent will be able to rate it.
A quick sketch of the idea:
The rating option will be visible only to staff
A torrent will be rated only by the moderator that reviews/approves the torrent
A torrent will be rated with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars; the quantity of stars will be visible to others like any other torrent information
Maybe we can also make it possible to rate with a half star, which will give 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 etc.
Depending on the number of stars, the uploader receives a specific amount of seed bonus points (SBP) and reputation points (a concept which will be discussed below). That amount needs to be discussed, but in my opinion it should be something like Stars x 10. This way, an uploader gets 50 SPB for a 5* torrents, 40 - for 4* etc. A similar formula should apply to the reputation points
To avoid subjective approach of the moderators when it comes to rating, there will be set up a clear and fixed guide with a list of criteria a torrent needs to follow to get the specific amount of stars. This remains subject to discussions.
This way, we have a proportional dependency between the quality of the torrent and the reward it generates to its uploader. Good uploaders will be rewarded according to their torrents, and thus be motivated to upload more, while the not so good uploaders will have a real motivation to improve the quality of their uploads.
Note: I still don't know whether the Auto Approval torrents would fit in this system or not… This also needs to be discussed.
Idea #2: Reputation points
I think we need to bring the concept of Reputation Power from our Forum to the tracker. I see it as a good solution for solving many problems and extend some new possibilities. Unlike the SBP, which can be earned and exchanged for other things, the reputation points will be linked with the account, earned, but not exchanged, it will be, if you like, a numerical representation of the experience a member has on the site, his contribution, his behavior etc.
So:
each new member who signs up starts with 0 reputation points
members earn reputation points when they upload torrents (the rating scheme described above)
members earn reputation points if their uploaded torrent is being "thank you"'d by other members
there may be a possible linkage to the reputation from the Forum as well, that way members active on the Forum also gets reputation points on the tracker
staff can withdraw an amount of reputation points once the member has broken rules, like uploading a banned content, aggressive behavior in PMs etc.
Also, the reputation points can be an answer to the Auto Approval problem. Once users earn points for uploads, the "10 clean uploads" uncertainty becomes obsolete: now the reputation points will show exactly if the user is "ready" for AA or not. For example, a 5* torrent is worth 50 reputation points, following the "10 clean uploads" rule gives us 500 points - this can be a starting criteria to grant AA rights. Granting, of course, will still be done by the staff and will require other factors, but at least this will give the user a sort of aim to reach if they want to become Auto Approval users. The concrete numbers, as well, need to be discussed.
Also, based on the reputation points, we can establish ascending to new user class. The current pyramid of User -> Power User -> Staff is too poor IMHO, we need something more.
Idea #3: "Thank you" button
Since I'm taking away the privilege to rate torrents from users, I was thinking of an alternative. And once again, our Forum inspired me. I know some staff members expressed the idea of making something similar to the Forum's possibility to add reputation to a user by a mouse click also on the tracker. I think it's a great idea and wish to develop it further. Now, along the possibility to donate some personal seed bonus points to the uploader on the torrent details page, one can also increase its reputation points just pressing the Thank you button. This means each "Thank you" will increment the uploader's reputation points by 1 (or maybe by 2? opinions?).
Idea #4: Transferable seed bonus points
Once a user asked us if he can donate some SPB directly to another user, without waiting him to upload something. I suggest we make this thing happen. If we have users with a big bank of SPB and a good heart, willing to help others in need, I don't see why it shouldn't be possible. Although this can generate a mass wave of beggary for seed points…
This is just about all I can think of for now. Ideas, suggestions, comments and constructive criticism is welcomed
P.S. I'm fully aware this will be hard to implement, but... Some ideas are better than nothing
The way xenu put it it sounded like an indication of what to do, though I understood Uwe was referring to a possibility to gain additional points, no-one told anyone to do it.
and now another is saying not to add photos until it's approved- which usually takes several hours and by the time it finally gets approved i am far, far away.
I may were glasses and thus have sight problems, but who, when and where said that kind of thing?
@Uwe:
You are turning against the wrong people. The Moderators here strive to make it a better place and have to life with many limits. If you don't believe, apply to become Moderator and see the things from our side. >:D
Indeed. If you guys think you can bring more justice to this lovely and perfect world, apply. I dare you ;D
I'd like to add something about the efficiency of moderator activity when it comes to collections.
You have to agree that there is a significant difference between a collection of 10 files, each file ~200 MB, and a collection of 100 files, each ~20 MB. Of course it takes much less time to look for and eventually find duplicates for the ~200 MB than for those ~20 MB.
If moderators were engaged in searching for duplicates for each of these microscopic files, which often have unpronounceable names (like absfbegbrgborgbonor.avi), imagine how much valuable time will be wasted. And many accuse us that we don't approve torrents fast enough.
So please, have mercy on us, we aren't robots… 
Пардон, я не так понял…
Я просмотрел данные для торрента - сказанно что Вы скачали уже ~10%. Если не идет загрузка, значит проблема в тех сидеров, скорее всего дело в закрытом порте у них на клиенте.
Yes, you have. But for some reason you refuse to observe the opinion of the site moderators, many of which have significant experience in IT domain (not talking about myself).
But, whatever… The changes have been made according to your wishes, and if you feel you are more secure now than you have been before, I'm happy for you.
Мне очень нравится подпись одного из наших модераторов: Самый глупый вопрос это тот, что не был задан. Так что нет ничего плохого задавать вопросы; хуже когда их не задают, а потом жалуются.
Что касается мегабайтов: это все индивидуально и зависит от суммарного скаченного объема. Все эти данные можно найти на странице профайла: Current minimum ratio - минимальный рейтинг при котором можно скачивать и Ammount to seed - объем который нужно отдать для того, чтобы дойти до того самого минимального рейтинга.
Если Вы единственный личер при 4 сидеров - никакой отдачи не может быть, так как никто кроме Вас больше не скачивает.
Я настоятельно рекомендую прочитать все посты в русском отделе помощи, там все досконально объяснено.
Nobody canceled the right for opinion. But I sure like to hear what specific security breaches does GT.ru have that other trackers don't.
За низкий рейтинг не банят, просто временно изымают права на скачивание
If the general masses weren't so naive to belive all the crap posted on the Internet, this wouldn't happen.
Now we get more users wishing to cancel their accounts… sigh