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  #15  
Old 2007-05-03, 04:31 PM
toys
 
Re: Is there an explicit ratio policy here?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dudogger
Posted earlier today in response to yet another narrow-minded, ratio-fueled attack by someone whose sense of sharing and community has long-since escaped him. Hopefully, it will foster a little discussion regarding the rather distasteful class system that has resulted from the unnecessary use and public display of personal ratios by this site:

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I guess I've now read so many of the baseless, ratio-related, pseudo-flame jobs that it's time to relay on to anyone who reads this a few observations I've made and thoughts I’ve had, about TTD-style "sharing" - especially to those of you who appear to be quite mathematically and cognitively challenged, and to those who are doing their very best to contribute, and yet still have to wade regularly through this kind of self-righteous pablum, just to be able to enjoy the music.

1) The arbitrary 1.00 ratio guideline is just that - a ratio and a guideline, and quite arbitrary. Here, ratio means upload volume divided by download volume, without any regard to individual bandwidth, drive capacity, etc. It is only a target, not a requirement, and one that is not readily attainable to many users who, nonetheless, still contribute in a very positive way. Thus TTD's suggestion that those who can't achieve 1.00 should try to B&P, vine, and so on. I imagine that a large number of participants, like me, are doing just that, yet it doesn't serve to stifle these impotent flamers much, does it? One yahoo recently boasted to me that his ratio was better than mine back when he used a laptop with a 56K modem. To which I ask - So what is your point? I mean, really, at 56K it likely took him a month to download one show. Then with a (hypothetical) 3.75 u/l divided by a 4.20 d/l, I guess I'd have to agree that his 0.89 ratio was better than mine. What a profound revelation that guy had, eh? So, a high ratio is really fairly meaningless, unless it is supported by a healthy upload volume. Without any regard to download volume, your absolute uploads are the true measure of one's contribution to any trading community, and not some poorly conceived, often-abused, arbitrary ratio threshold.

2) Occasionally, one downloads a show that is not worth keeping, burning, or sharing (due to poor quality), and in the user's opinion, shouldn't further pollute the trading pool by way of continued uploading. If one were then to delete that show/torrent, one might only have obtained a show-specific .17 ratio, for example. This can't be recouped for that deleted show, and that .17 ratio becomes a detriment to the user's overall ratio (as tracked by TTD), when in fact, he/she is doing the community a small favor by not enabling the spread of a crappy show. Other times, after a torrent's seeds/leeches drop to 0, and remains there for a number of days, that torrent is likewise deleted, though its individual ratio may still be well less than 1.00, but it is still available to meet reseed and B&P requests. Unfortunately, the typical flamer would prefer to spin that as being the horrible leecher "taking as much as possible, while giving next to nothing", which to many of us is much like Dubya saying "we've got to attack them there so they won't attack us here". Sorry, but we just know better. And, once someone seeds or uploads a show, it's out there, and the seeder has gotten his/her jollies, quite justifiably, for having offered it up. Various people then tap into that torrent and share the obtained music in their preferred, individual ways - there are indeed many shades of gray in this world. So in this format, it's not about taking versus giving back (equally) so much as it is about using current technology to acquire audio and video from a wealth of different sources, then redistributing that music, in various different ways, to other people who maybe aren't so fortunate or capable. Expected giving is just not a very cool thing, no matter how you look at it. It's kind of like feeling obligated to tithe 10% of your meager income to the local church, merely because that's their expectation of you and everybody does it, rather than because it’s something you freely elect to do or even can physically manage to do.

3) Some folks have great upload/download bandwidth. Good for them. Some do not, so they acquire what they can, when they can. Some, like me, have a pretty good download speed, but a very restrictive upload cap (mine is limited to about 28K, less than 10% of my maximum download speed). So any time my BT client is running, I am uploading at my maximum capacity, regardless of the number of torrents I have uploading at any given time. If I were to stop all of my downloading in order to capitulate to one selfish moron’s attempted browbeating of me to raise my ratio by uploading only, then guess what? I’m still only uploading at 28K, so that my rate (speed) of contribution to other downloaders remains exactly the same. And, I've been running nearly 24/7 since January 07. (Sorry, flamers, I just can't afford T1 right now in order to keep you happy.) Stopping the downloading, therefore, serves no rational, contributory purpose at all – it just curtails the acquisition and redistribution of new music, but in no way speeds the overall upload process. "Looking back to help others" (with reseed requests), while sounding noble, also corrects nothing ratio-wise because the upload rate remains the same no matter what combination of torrents I might choose to upload to (today I have 11 active ones). Just to illustrate how arbitrary and abused the ratio issue is, and how truly dense and cyber-power-hungry some of these non-mod gooberbrains can be: One challenged user recently had the gall to dictate to me that I should stop downloading until my ratio rises to at least 50%. To which I must ask – Based on what published mandate? And – Who died and left you dog-catcher, eh? Or - Is this some new standard you’ve just now conceived of and applied all by your smug little self? Impressive. So glad to hear it. Thanks again for the suggestion. Not.

4) If one were to halt downloads in order to increase ratio, that would mean one has temporarily stopped accumulating new material. Torrents die, such that by doing so you’d also increase the chances of missing out on one or more good shows as a result, such that you’d perhaps occasionally request a reseed, such that some other mindless flamer might well then decide to again stretch his puny ego by snooping into your stats and harping on you and your ratio. What fun!! So, I say to anyone reading this: People upload because it’s their hobby and they enjoy it. Other people download because it’s their hobby and they enjoy it. Still other people B&P like crazy, or simply burn and give away discs to special, grateful people who love the music, but don’t have the time, interest, and/or capability to download and burn it themselves - because it’s their hobby and they enjoy it! TTD is but one small facet on the face of a much larger trading/giving community concept that kind of mirrors the old Rastafarian philosophy of “from those that have, to those that have not”. That is, you should endeavor to share what you take, where you can, when you can, and with whomever you can, without any regard to some other person’s rate of sharing or giving, or their misguided expectations of you. This is the true spirit of “sharing the music”, and TTD would be a much better, kinder place without the few demented flamers who seem to believe otherwise, and routinely spoil it for everyone else, just for their squeaky little voices to be heard. I think that tossing out the ratio concept altogether would be highly constructive in removing an unfortunate opportunity for some sad souls to unfairly judge so many others who are just trying their best, and allow people of all shades to merge into the mosaic, in whatever fashion their individual preferences will support, effectively eliminating all this phony and unnecessary hierarchy garbage. That's what freedom is.

Happy Trading and Happy Sharing


P.S. - If you're a reader who keeps getting flamed by puffed-up jokers who have nothing better to do, no matter your effort to upload within the constraints of your particular system and/or budget, please jump in and say what you think. It's important for you to be heard rather than allowing that ratio flamer shit to, in any way, intimidate you into apologizing for your numbers. These people should be wholly ashamed, just like those now running our country (into the ground). Every kilobyte uploaded is a positive contribution from you to this system and community, regardless of what you receive from it, and as a recipient of some really good stuff, I, my friends, my family, and many receiving acquaintances are extremely thankful!
nice ratio
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