Thread: Please help a (very) newbie understand some things

Hey everyone,
this is my first post. I hope I don't look back in a few months and laugh too hard about how wet behind the ears I was. I'm hoping some nice people will be kind enough to walk me through some things.

My background in torrents is now about three to four years old. I use uTorrent to download - although I've tried several. My focus of interest is now heavy on movies - now mostly high definition blu-ray or DVD releases (not so much camera releases, but I do enjoy a good telesync). For searching I go to torrentz.com which then points me to some other site such as mininova or thepiratebay. So far this has been a pretty good method, and I've amassed over 2Tb of movies.

Before I used torrents I used Ares Galaxy (another P2P service) which was pretty easy but didn't have the availability of content. My focus was also on video clips and mp3s. Before that I used Bearshare, mostly only for mp3s. Before that I probably used the original Napster or limewire. Before that I used IRC. And before that (lol, we're talking 1997 here) I was on newsgroups.

I was always amazed at the amount of content listed on the torrentz.com search engine. It seemed like there was everything from 1930's movies to recent DVD releases. From porn to music, and everythign in between. I thought I had found the Mecca of all content suppositories. But lately I've been hearing more and more about 'private' trackers. This has brought on a whole new wave of questions. I think the problem is that things have moved faster than I have, and I need a little help getting familiar with some new stuff. Please help me understand these following questions about torrents.

1) Are miniNova and thepiratebay "public" trackers. Yes, right? What about vip.thepiratebay.com?

2) How do "private" trackers differ from public ones?

3) What do the references to "cheating" on private trackers mean? Does this mean you download but don't upload, or your ratio is less than 1.00?

4) What sort of incentive do you have for using private trackers over public ones? Are the selection of torrents better, or is the speed better, or both? Why ARE some trackers private, is there something better about them so they ask you to seed more than leech or else you lose access?

5) How difficult is it to get access to private trackers? You need an invite right?
5a) What is the 'trades' section, and why are some people against trading?

6) What is a "seed box"... is this a computer always hooked up to the internet that always seeds out content?

7) How difficult is it to maintain access to a private tracker? Do I need to constantly be uploading 24/7?

8) What happens if I become inactive for a period of time, where I am neither downloading or uploading? Will a tracker think I am not seeding and "cheating"??

9) How do I find out what are the better private trackers which host HD movies?

10) is there anyway to browse the files a private tracker has before I try to become a member of that tracker?

11) Is there some list that ranks private trackers, or tells what the 'top' trackers are in several categories, such as music, movies, etc.?



Thanks in advance for helping!

1) Are miniNova and thepiratebay "public" trackers. Yes, right? What about vip.thepiratebay.com?

dont know this one

2) How do "private" trackers differ from public ones?

faster and alot more seeders and better content

3) What do the references to "cheating" on private trackers mean? Does this mean you download but don't upload, or your ratio is less than 1.00?

mostly downloading and not uploading

4) What sort of incentive do you have for using private trackers over public ones? Are the selection of torrents better, or is the speed better, or both? Why ARE some trackers private, is there something better about them so they ask you to seed more than leech or else you lose access?

it got better selection and speed. why they are private i have no idea lol and ye if you dont seed you mostly will get banned. private trackers arent only downloading they arent "easy" work they need hard work of seeding like i do :laugh:

5) How difficult is it to get access to private trackers? You need an invite right?

some trackers like i highly recommend you BitSoup.org opens the sign up sometimes. but the better trackers (i have two) i beleave you need invitation...

5a) What is the 'trades' section, and why are some people against
trading?

for example: you would give X site for Y site :001_tongue: people against trading cuase you might give the X and the one supposed to give you Y wont give you thats scamming -.-

6) What is a "seed box"... is this a computer always hooked up to the internet that always seeds out content?

no idea

7) How difficult is it to maintain access to a private tracker? Do I need to constantly be uploading 24/7?

no just keep your ratio over 1.05 thats the best, and if you can more do it even better :001_smile:

8) What happens if I become inactive for a period of time, where I am neither downloading or uploading? Will a tracker think I am not seeding and "cheating"??

if you arent active you will get banned

9) How do I find out what are the better private trackers which host HD movies?

you check here Tracker Reviews - Torrent Invites! Get your free private tracker invites right here!
i dont know which is best im kinda new to all this too...

10) is there anyway to browse the files a private tracker has before I try to become a member of that tracker?

if i understood you , you mean downloading without logging in? no you cant do this it will write to you your not logged in...

11) Is there some list that ranks private trackers, or tells what the 'top' trackers are in several categories, such as music, movies, etc.?

Tracker Reviews - Torrent Invites! Get your free private tracker invites right here!
read here -- i personally like to get in TorrentLeech and Blackcats-Games and revTT as i have seen these are the best :001_tongue:

Good Luck and if you got more questions ask away

Will try to fill up the missing gaps from the last answer and maybe ad some extra information. ^^

Originally Posted by Fredvs79

1) Are miniNova and thepiratebay "public" trackers. Yes, right? What about vip.thepiratebay.com?

Yes, MiniNova and thepiratebay are public trackers. Public means that everybody with a internet connection and a torrent client on their pc can download from there. You don't have to sign-up for those to download and/or view the content.
For what I have seen about the vip section of the piratebay it's just a special section for uploader with a dedecated tracker for donations. The torrent files are still public to download. =) [ could be wrong but that's what I have found. ]

Originally Posted by Fredvs79

2) How do "private" trackers differ from public ones?

First of all they are private. That means not everyone can just easily enter and download torrents from the tracker. [When private trackers have just started they mostly still have open sign-ups.]
Private torrents have a better control over the quality in a torrent. If you upload something bad there it will get deleted, do it to much or maybe even once and you get banned.
At last you have to keep a good ratio there so otherwise you also will eventually get banned. This way torrents over there are way better seeded than most on public trackers.
Mostly the minium ratio is 0.50 [upload half of what you downloaded.] and the preffered minium is 1.00 [upload just as much as you download.]

Originally Posted by Fredvs79

3) What do the references to "cheating" on private trackers mean? Does this mean you download but don't upload, or your ratio is less than 1.00?

Cheating on a private trackers means that you somehow try to mess with the ratio on the tracker.
In a way that the tracker thinks you have downloaded more than the client reports to the tracker, report more upload than you have actually done etc. =) This is possible, but also quite easily spotable and if you do> BAN!

Originally Posted by Fredvs79

4) What sort of incentive do you have for using private trackers over public ones? Are the selection of torrents better, or is the speed better, or both? Why ARE some trackers private, is there something better about them so they ask you to seed more than leech or else you lose access?

Selection may be better on some trackers, mostly they have less than a public tracker but way better quality and may have some rare things you won't find (well) seeded on a public tracker.
Also the speeds are mostly way better. :001_smile:

Originally Posted by Fredvs79

5) How difficult is it to get access to private trackers? You need an invite right?

This deffers from tracker to trackers, some are fairly easy while others are way harder or maybe even almost impossible to get in too.
And yes you need an invite to get in to one. Some also open their sign-up every once in a while so if you are in time to spot one you can join that way to.

Originally Posted by Fredvs79

5a) What is the 'trades' section, and why are some people against trading?

The trade section on this forum is where you can trade the invites you have earned on the private trackers you are on. Some people are against is because invites aren't meant to be given out to friends you know. This means even invites handing out in give invites section is actually against the rules but less harsh since some people won't be able to get an invite otherwise.
Also me myself prefer to hand them out on freely to. Though I haven't really gotten any yet. [except some demonoids.] Trading also has the possibility to get scammed with giving out one but don't getting one in return.
There are also some other reasons I can't explain in words right now. =) It has something to do with principles. Sorry can't find better words. =)

Originally Posted by Fredvs79

6) What is a "seed box"... is this a computer always hooked up to the internet that always seeds out content?

A seed box is a pc/server set-up to seed torrents they mostly have a optic fiber connection and thus a very high speed. This way it's easier for some people to keep a good ratio.

Originally Posted by Fredvs79

7) How difficult is it to maintain access to a private tracker? Do I need to constantly be uploading 24/7?

I differs from tracker to tracker, on some it's more easier than others. =) You don't have to be uploading 24/7, you can do it but it doesn't have to be. =) You just have to keep an eye on your ratio and don't download more than you can afford to upload back to the tracker. ^^ Just keep your ratio around 1 and you're save.
There also is such a thing as overseeding, since what you upload has to be downloaded by someone to, and how more you upload how harder it gets for others to get their ratio back up.

Originally Posted by Fredvs79

8) What happens if I become inactive for a period of time, where I am neither downloading or uploading? Will a tracker think I am not seeding and "cheating"??

If you still log in to the webpage your account most likely will not be deleted, Though if you are inactive for a very long time [ different from tracker to tracker ] you account may again be locked/banned. But as I have seen you have already 2TB of movies don't think that this will happe very fast.

Originally Posted by Fredvs79

9) How do I find out what are the better private trackers which host HD movies?

Search the forum a bit. =) It's been asked a couple of times before and also there has been talked about a bit too.
I thought HDbits.ro & HDbits.org where one of the better HD trackers.

Originally Posted by Fredvs79

10) is there anyway to browse the files a private tracker has before I try to become a member of that tracker?

No.

Originally Posted by Fredvs79

11) Is there some list that ranks private trackers, or tells what the 'top' trackers are in several categories, such as music, movies, etc.?

Their might be, their is something alike. Search the forum for tracker levels.

Originally Posted by Fredvs79

Thanks in advance for helping!

Not thanks. ^^ Glad if I could be of any help. =)

omg i think u got it explained really good. hope u will enjoy torrents as we do now

awesome info.i'm now well informed

This was good one!