Gratitude Instead of Attitude

[willingmouth]

This post is for the 'thumbnail police' who post rude comments complaining about thumbnails, speciifically the absence or insufficient number of them, or the poor quality, or the imperfect filing of thumbnails making it difficult to work out which video file corresponds to the thumbnail. Or my favourite, complaining that the torrent file is too large to download without comprehensive thumbnails AND several screenshots per video to help them decide if it's worth their bandwidth, drive space and hit to their ratio.

It's not enough that the uploader has probably paid for the content (I often do), they're too cheap to, but have also likely spent hours downloading, organising, filing, renaming hundreds of files so they upload successfully, double and triple checking, creating a detailed torrent file with accurate categories, sub-categories and tags plus images showcasing the content and a dozen other things that go into sharing the content that you're getting for FREE. To then complain, leave snarky comments or make out like taking a chance and downloading it is asking way too much of you. Just say thank you and ask for whatever it is you want with gratitude in your tone, not attitude. Or don't say anything at all and go source the content yourself.

[jokuihmemies]

@willingmouth my thoughs are that not many ppl have the ratio to download all the videos on a large torrent and see if they like it or not. so it would of been nice to make a thumbnail of each video. ppl are scared to lose ratio and not be able to leech anymore.

if the torrent is small size like, 1 GB and under then i wouldnt care but if its 10GB+ then thats a problem for many ppl

[frostycab]

I regularly remind people of the rules when a torrent listing contains no images (or images which are simply publicity pics of the performers.) People should be able to make an informed choice about what type of content they are downloading.

If, however you mean images contained within the upload then that's another matter. I never look through the previews as I rely on the listing pics, but I do believe that when a torrent is quite large and contains dozens or even hundreds of videos then "best practice" is to include a folder with comprehensive previews. The thing is that making them is not a labour-intensive operation. Thumbnail makers nearly always have the ability to batch-process files so that can just run in the background or while people are away from the computer, and the filename structure usually matches that of the original video, so no renaming required. The size of collections has grown to the point where it really does restrict those who struggle to keep their ratios up.

[ianfontinell]

@willingmouth to me it really doesn't matter how someone obtains their files, if it's expensive, if it's a pain in the butt, once you decide to share it here of all places, you should follow the good practices of a decent presentation.

i'll never understand how someone would go to great lengths to create an amazing collection with names, titles, dates, only to sell it short in something as easy as providing previews.

when you provide previews you increase the number of people who will be interested in obtaining that collection.

when i see a torrent with hundreds of files and no thumbs, all the effort you put into into are wasted because i will not be downloading everything to find out if it's something i'm interested in.

with thumbnails, people might decide to download only certain files, which already is traffic that otherwise you'll not get at all, but in most cases seeing the thumbs is enough to be convinced that everything is worth downloading.

why would any uploader want people to download mysterious files? i understand that one might think the content is really good so thumbs are not required, but after someone spends their ratio downloading it because they are curious or feeling lucky, once they find that it's not what they expected, there's no way to recover that ratio, in many cases.

when you're early to the distribution, sure, you can easily seed enough to recover, but after hours, days, when you're the only leecher in the swarm, it's not a risk everyone is willing to take.

i know that this is not an excuse to the aggressive and inconsiderate ways some members choose to express their discontent, but in the end of the day it's up to the uploader to absorb whatever feedback they get from the work they're putting, deciding if it's worth the change, or just stop posting at all as a punishment to the complainers.

i only speak to myself that whenever i upload anything there will always be thumbnails, even if it's just one file. this is something that i value when i'm choosing what to download so i could never simply decide to not do.

long story short, either if you just want to be helpful, or if you are doing it for the upload traffic and the bonus points, the thumbs will only add value, increase the chance of it being downloaded by more people and make them be more appreciative of your efforts.

[Kevin4fm]

@willingmouth Video Thumbnail Maker is a free program that takes about 5-10 minutes to "learn" - or just ask for guidance here - then thirty seconds to load 500+ videos. It may take a while to do that many, but that's it. You can set it to output to a separate, specific folder, which you can then include in your torrent. Having the thumbs in a separate folder to the video files makes it far easier to download just that initially, make your selection, then download some or all video files, depending what the user wants. It takes merely a minute or two of extra effort, and is - to my way of thinking - both considerate to other members, and likely to improve how much gets downloaded.

Like @frostycab I have very rarely (not absolutely certain that I have never) left negative comments regarding thumbs within large torrents. I have, on occasion, uploaded those thumbs myself, when I've decided to download the full torrent and found them missing.

Images in a description is a different thing. "At least one good quality image" is a requirement, not a suggestion, and I see no reason why anyone meeting this very simple, basic,rule shouldn't be called out for it. Though relatively politely, of course.

[willingmouth]

@jokuihmemies i dont dispute that. i'm not having a go at ppl for any of what you mentioned. however ppl need to understand that your problem (not you personally) isn't my problem. if an uploader provides thumbnails and screenshots but not in the quantity you expect it doessnt warrant being a jerk in the comments. play nice is all i'm saying.

[frostycab]

@willingmouth The only time I've been particularly annoyed by the actual selection of pics is when they don't represent the full cross-section of the upload, such as only having a few pics of high-quality video when 95% of the files look lilke they were filmed on a 1st-gen camera phone, or only showing a few fit and toned guys and then having to sift through hundreds of videos of bears and granddads.

The long and short of it is that whatever you include should accurately represent the majority of the content. If people bitch about not having thumbs for evey file then that's annoying, but if they're just saying they wish they were included then that's something else. It's all about the tone of the message, and it's worth remembering that the tone of a written comment can be misunderstood.

[willingmouth]

Kevin4fm obv if there are no thumbnails then the uploader isnt in a position to act indignant for copping negative feedbck or being reminded that there is a minimum standard that needs to be met so every user can have positive exprience and keep coming back. my post isnt a dig on why thumbnails are eeded. its a dig at ppl who think being a jerk cos there wasnt as many as you expect or nitpicking is justifiable.

[jokuihmemies]

@willingmouth yeah i agree on this, doesnt have to be good quality but if the torrent is big then there should be preview for each file indicating which one is which that was my point