Suggestion Dead link/torrent collection thread for more efficient re-uploads

[Aki2]

Hey there!

So I've run across a bunch of broken links and was wondering if we do have something like a directory of broken links which users can add to once they come across some. So far I found nothing of that sort (but maybe I'm not using the search function the correct way). The only thing close to that is the graveyard that is locked to general audiences.

While the ideal route would be to contact the original uploader, that has become increasingly futile in a lot of cases since a lot (with a bunch of them being power uploaders and thus responsible for quite a share of uploads on here) have gone MIA or have disabled PMs and Visitor Messages. Or it's become impossible to message them in case they have less than 10 posts. In addition to that even the bumping of the thread is often impossible since a heap of threads have been closed by default (at least this applies for the Otome section). Or it's obvious from posts that others have already tried unsuccessfully to get a re-upload. Example: Urakata Hakuouki ~Akatsuki no Shirabe~. I'd bet that most of Sakimichi's uploads are down by now as well...

So my idea would be to create a sticky thread where users can post thread links with broken download links or other such problems when they can't get in touch with the OU. Moderators could then copy-paste those into a directory post at the top that mimics the forum structure and delete the posters message below to keep the thread tidy. People can comment in the thread when they re-uploaded something and then moderators can delete both that post and the name of the game/thread link for the piece in question since it's fulfilled. This way, it might be faster to find someone to re-upload the game because one can have a quick look at the list and compare that with their personal game library. I'd bet a lot of games are down and could be updated with new links if people just knew they needed updating. Creating new "request threads" for each and every game would be a mess and no one would bother even scrolling through pages upon pages of request threads (on top, that would make the requests for new games disappear) to check older re-upload requests.

Also: I think it might be a good idea to allow the re-uploads to be made in the same thread as the original poster since most often the re-upload is basically the original upload but uploaded by someone who downloaded it while back from the first uploader. The reason? 1) It makes it easier to find on search since it reduces the number of threads for the same game. 2) often there is additional info on the thread like the TA-hook, walkthrough links and the like.

What are we supposed to do about locked threads with uncontactable OUs (but with working download links) that could use some additional info? That starts with stuff like TA-hooks and walkthroughs and ends with technical stuff. For instance, it seems like ALL Dogenzaka Lab Steam games will require the user to downgrade their DivX version now because otherwise the game will always show "Sound Init failed" and crash without even getting to the start menu.

Normally, I would have simply added that info as an answer to the thread, so no one else would have to suffer the same confusion as me. But then the thread's locked and even though the uploader is still active according to the overall activity level, it's impossible to contact them because they have disabled both PMs and Visitor Messages. For one game the upload itself would need to be extended since it's missing files (was apparently downloaded from IGG games and then re-uploaded without the info files, so it will pop up a warning message that those files have been deleted and then the game crashes. Of course people will just go to that site then and download the game again and everything's fine but meh... unnecessary double download).

Similarly we could create a thread for torrents that haven't had a single seeder in over a week or something...

Okay...that's my suggestion. If we already do have something like that, please point me towards it...

Thanks a lot for reading through all this!

PS: Perhaps working through this suggestion might be more fun if you ate a piece of chocolate or drank a shot of alcohol whenever the words "upload" and "download" are used in this post...

 

[Artumis]

There's certainly some "work" do be done with regard to maintaining older posts. I generally try to find torrents first. Some older posts link to now defunct trackers and if there is a "healthy" torrent of the same hash elsewhere, I'll try to post the magnet to the thread (assuming it's not locked). Other times, I have to track down direct links so that I can essentially become the initial seeder again, though sometimes it's not possible to find the original seeded files, particularly if they're archives.

PMs are generally the suggested route, but as you pointed out, it tends to be rather hit and miss. Some sort of thread could possibly help, though I imagine it would quickly overflow and have tons of duplicates. It would probably require more work than it was worth. As is, the Requests section kind of covers this, but the general workflow is to just do a search and check all the relevant results that come up, with no particularly great way to flag the general health of uploads and torrents.

A week without a seeder (or rather without full availability) is fairly short for older, less healthy pools; unless we're talking about zero availability. If a seed doesn't pop up within a month though, when 50%+ is available from the pool of leechers, that's probably more of a flag.

As a side note: When it comes to torrents, it can sometimes be possible to save things with a bit of added work. For example: I just fixed a torrent for 淫母乱乳相姦～ボクの精子で、ママを一杯にしてあげる, it was missing a few chunks, but it had a recovery record, so running "repair" on the rar and then doing a recheck completed it. (I'd had this one running for 60 days). Other times, chunks are missing near the end, truncated due to other files being deleted/not downloaded by the swarm or simply just missing. Certain uploaders like girlcelly always uploads a few extra files, so those can be pulled from healthier torrents. That can also be combined with rebuilding the recovery record (supposing the archive has one) to finish out the truncated chunks. Don't write off incomplete torrents too quick, they can be saved surprisingly often if you know what you're doing. Also don't be afraid to pull files from multiple torrents, sometimes the individual ones will be incomplete but you can scrounge a complete version by pulling chunks from several.

 

[Aki2]

Some sort of thread could possibly help, though I imagine it would quickly overflow and have tons of duplicates. It would probably require more work than it was worth. As is, the Requests section kind of covers this, but the general workflow is to just do a search and check all the relevant results that come up, with no particularly great way to flag the general health of uploads and torrents.

That's why I suggested that the mods delete the posts made by normal users once they named a defunct thread and moved the game name into the first post = directory. That way, no one except the really lazy/stupid ones would post a request twice. I can't say the same about the current request threads due to 1) search function problems causing people to not find the initial thread 2) people being too lazy to use the search funciton in the first place at all... At least in the otome (and hentai due to overlapping stuff - why not leave it all in the otome one?!) section, there's a bunch of threads on one and the same game. Most often, mods will close and/or move the double requests/posts but then there are cases where we'll have 2 request threads and one original upload thread with people also requesting an upload there... Of course this also often happens because people misspell the Romaji title or only write the Japanese/Romaji/planned-but-not-actually-used-in-the-end title.

Right now half the otome section is defunct and from what I've seen, a lot times, people have been trying to get re-uploads since 2017 but the requests were often not seen (even though this applies to "AS-bought games", which should thus still be available theoretically, as well).

In the end, I think this would actually reduce the work of moderators a lot in the forums as the current work of regularly closing, moving and fusing double requests/posts would diminish.

A week without a seeder (or rather without full availability) is fairly short for older, less healthy pools; unless we're talking about zero availability. If a seed doesn't pop up within a month though, when 50%+ is available from the pool of leechers, that's probably more of a flag.

Yeah, I know that a week might be a bit too soon...:) I was simply naming any random number of days... The specifics should be calculated by those with better experience uploading torrents probably.

The thing is, with older torrents especially... you often delete the torrent after a few years or if you've reached a certain seed ratio. However, after a few years there may not be enough (fairly complete) seeds left in the pool -if any at all- and without notice, you'd normally not get the idea to download the torrent again just to seed it even though you might still have the actual files on your PC.

 

[Artumis]

I suppose such a thread might be likely to be used by more informed users (probably fairly familiar with searching) and since I imagine most threads get the bulk of it's traffic when it's new, duplicates also might not be all that common since the threads just aren't getting that much traffic. Having separate threads for different boards would also keep things more manageable, though mods might have to send things to the appropriate thread occasionally; e.g. an Otome Game reported as a Hentai Game.

The thing is, with older torrents especially... you often delete the torrent after a few years or if you've reached a certain seed ratio. However, after a few years there may not be enough (fairly complete) seeds left in the pool -if any at all- and without notice, you'd normally not get the idea to download the torrent again just to seed it even though you might still have the actual files on your PC.

This is certainly the case and in general it's difficult to get previous seeders back into the swarm after they leave. More recently, I started cataloging my library (Japanese/Romaji/English titles, "Official Links", Genre, etc) and I've been grabbing existing torrents whenever possible so I can seed the files I have. That's a time consuming process though, and most people probably wouldn't bother grabbing half a dozen different magnet links just to check if they can start seeding any of them with the files they have. If AS was a tracker, they could incentivize people to keep swarms more healthy, but it pretty much comes down to a few good Samaritans seeding forever and more people seeding until they have positive ratios. A central thread though could help highlight content in need of providers to those power users though.