Your point is well taken. I think you can file it in the same category of 'rants' of which I have posted for people asking others to spend money and download content and then upload here for them.
And WOW! You are sitting on 31,000+ seed points after being here a decade? Crazy!
I hate to say this, but it's a bit true:
Ratio is going to be positively impacted MOST by downloading torrents, using these tips:
1. Get ahead of the curve; try to download a torrent that has just been uploaded on the site. The newest torrents uploaded will have the fewest number of downloads; so if you get in there early enough, you'll reap the benefits of everyone else who downloads the torrent AFTER you have. BUT - you have to keep that torrent running so that it is available for those who grab the torrent after you've downloaded it. Even during the download process you'll be seeding what you currently have. So get the newest torrents possible. You can sort both Search and Browse views from the website (I think Browse is automatically set to show the latest/newest uploaded torrent in the top upper left corner).
2. If you are serious about improving your ratio, then there are times you have to download content that you may personally not care for but is quite popular with other people. Keep that in mind. To that end, scan the uploaded torrents and look for the number of users who have either already downloaded it or are in proces of downloading it. With a bit of experience you'll win begin noting what content is most popular and you can anticipate what members will be downloading the most. NEWLY RELEASED content is the most accessed, always. Content that has been around on the internet for 3 or 4 years, and uploaded as being new here on the site (which happens a lot - in my 10+ years being here, I've seen a lot of reposts of the same content, over and over again, so try to avoid this older content IF you are gunning to increase your ratio.
3. Spend some money, get a subscription to one of the site which has the content you like, and rip and upload a few torrents yourself. If you apply Tip #2 from above, and know the most desirable content, then get that. Otherwise, try to ride the wave of new content coming onto the site, especially new content that is actually new to the world. A great site to monitor new content being released by the studios is: https://www.gayeroticvideoindex.com/ Gay Erotic Video Index. Once you click "I Agree" you'll land on a page that has pictures with all new content being released from the major studios.
4. Nothing is free. You have to get smart and savvy with ratio and realize just downloading something you like or that caught your eye does not mean diddly when it comes to how that same file / size of file will affect your ratio (both down and back up).
5. There are no bad questions. Ask away, it's a learning process and no one started on this site as an expert on the sites ratio system. We've all been there. 
We all needed some help somewhere along the way.
Good luck! Hope these help.
PS - you can check out my profile and see just how much download/uploading of traffic over 10 years looks like My ISP loves me!, my wallet … not so much. haha
Cheers!