releasing guidelines need changed

[ptguardian]

FLM has been reborn and is starting over. It has a considerably smaller number of members that are active(for now). Because of this we may need to set some new guidelines for releasing. It has always been people can release how they want but have been encouraged to follow certain basics. The top releaser's here follow these basics on every release they do. However I feel it may be necessary to enforce that veterans of FLM follow certain guidelines. Newbies will be given much more slack and help if needed.

The reason for me starting this thread is to provoke a discussion on ideas that may be helpful in successful releases. A release can fail if it is never shared. We don't have the file among those that archive it can only be reshared in the future by the original poster. In the past on the old site we had enough members that it was easy to keep a good number of people downloading and sharing. Currently this is not the case this brings me to why we may need to change on how we do releases.

To start off here is a few suggestions.

Never release more than you can share efficiently.
This is very important. In the past many here found it the norm to share and download for weeks at a time. This is fine if the file has already been shared and now have others helping you but not for a new release where you are the only source.
Example: If you have a file that is 2gigs in size and you only share a small fraction of it each week. Everyone that downloads this small amount shares this amount to every new person downloading this file. By the time the file gets fully shared the original poster may have only uploaded 2 or 3 gigs. However the people that download it may have uploaded several times that. Some here have limited bandwidth and cannot afford to spend 10gigs of bandwidth on every file.
If you can only share so much per day or week than please show some courtesy by letting people know this. This way they at least have an idea of what they are getting into.
Many here don't release much but do help greatly by sharing releases.
I would like it be said that you should not release something new until you have shared what you have already released. If you direct your bandwidth to one file at a time it will get completed by others faster and you will now have help sharing this file allowing you to move on to the next release.

Limit file size
If the source is Blu-ray or the release is very special and you want it shared in the best detail we will understand the larger size. For everything else keeping the file size down helps everyone for getting the file sooner and also sharing is easier(less bandwidth used). Also it takes up less hard drive space allowing for more releases.

This is just a couple of suggestions. I would like to hear what others suggest or think about this.

[Phuzzy4242]

We are a much smaller group than before. Maybe some of the old-timers will return someday but we must move on and your suggestions are good ones.

Never release more than you can share efficiently.

This is true, though we certainly don't want to discourage anyone from releasing something even if it takes awhile. As long as we know it's going to take awhile, we can decide whether the time will be worthwhile.

Many here don't release much but do help greatly by sharing releases.

I fall into this category. I can't match you, starfish, loverboy, FLL, or any of the other great releasers but I can help the FLM community by keeping rare files alive. I unshare almost everything in my Shared Files" list with more than 3 or 4 complete sources.

I would like it be said that you should not release something new until you have shared what you have already released. If you direct your bandwidth to one file at a time it will get completed by others faster and you will now have help sharing this file allowing you to move on to the next release.

Let me say this a different way. When you release something and you're the only source, UNSHARE EVERYTHING ELSE. If you only share the file you're releasing (plus whatever you're downloading at the time since you can't help that), everyone who connects to you gets part of your file and then helps spread that around. If you share your release and 500 additional files, the people who want your new release have to share your bandwidth with the people who want the other files.

It's easy to unshare and reshare files. Create a folder called "Unshare", move EVERYTHING in your Shared folder to Unshared except your release, go to eMule's "Shared Files" tab, then click "Reload". To share them again, move them from Unshared back to Shared and click "Reload" again.

Limit file size
If the source is Blu-ray or the release is very special and you want it shared in the best detail we will understand the larger size. For everything else keeping the file size down helps everyone for getting the file sooner and also sharing is easier(less bandwidth used). Also it takes up less hard drive space allowing for more releases.

Remember when large files were commonly split into CD-sized media? That's rarely done any more. I also remember downloading movies from Usenet 24/7 and still taking days to complete. I think as bandwidth increases, storage media gets bigger, hard drive space gets cheaper, and resolution gets finer - as they all will certainly do - all these restrictions will become less important. But for now, we should "remember the little guy" and try to get smaller files unless there's a good reason for larger sizes. If someone isn't sure how to do it, there are a lot of people on FLM who can help.

I'll add a few here...
Post On-Topic
If a movie only has kids in it as "window dressing" - they're irrelevant to the story, they're only on-screen for a few minutes, or the movie is only being posted because it has a minute of "on topic" scene, then the film isn't really an FLM movie. If the scenes with kids could be removed from a film without changing the plot, they are little more than props. They don't have to be the prime "stars" in a film but their role should be important to the story. If you're posting a movie merely because it has an OT scene in it, tell that in your post so people can decide whether it's worth their time.

Describe The Movie
When you release a film, put a description or synopsis in it so people will know if they're interested. You can use a synopsis from IMDb, Rare Film Finder, or any other source, but just posting a film's name doesn't make anyone want to download it.
* DO include the year the film was released and the country it was released in. There are many movies that have the same name - these details help pick out which one it really is, and if you're filling a [REQ]uest, helps the admins move the film to the right forum.
* DO include IMDb, RFF, and other links - often their reviews help decide if the movie is interesting or not.
* DO include screen shots if you have them. The "Add image to post" link in the message editor helps you upload them and puts their thumbnails in your post. People can click the thumbnail to see the full-size picture. Big pix are OK but thumbnails are preferred by a lot of people because it takes much less time for your browser to display them.
* DON'T post porn screen shots, CP or otherwise. If you're not sure, don't post it. Anyone who downloads the movie will see that scene anyway.
* DO comment on what you liked about the film, who is in it, or any other info you think might be interesting.

[ptguardian]

Thank you Phuzzy
This is exactly the sort of input I was looking for.

I have modified the way I share from the way I did before to make it more effective in both getting the file to others in a relatively short period of time and not wasting to much bandwidth for me or the person downloading from me. Because there is less down loaders to help share I am sharing longer for each file. Like Phuzzy mentioned I take out any other file that may be taking away my bandwidth and I dedicate it to what I am releasing until I have others that have fully downloaded it. I then put my other files back to my sharing folder until the time of my next release.
What happens when I dedicate my bandwidth to one file is uploading 4kbs to each person on several files opposed to as much as 300kbs on one. I am only on emule for about 3-6 hours a day, yet I can usually share out a release within the first 2 days.

[Phuzzy4242]

I'll even do that for people who are having trouble downloading an old film, such as people with low bandwidth, lowid, not able to be online all the time, etc., especially for rare files (which is mostly what I share).

Your releases certainly crank out fast and everyone appreciates it.

[Phuzzy4242]

I should stress these are guidelines, not absolute commandments - we're not trying to be dictators. It can be irritating if someone always violates the guidelines, but we don't want to be too rulebound - after all, FLM is a hobby, not a job. Most of this is common sense and common courtesy and the guidelines help us keep a "standard" format to make it simpler for people to find great movies they want to watch.

Right now, there's a single message in "Posting Rules". I'd like to put the other posting guidelines there too once they're worked out to everyone's satisfaction, maybe with examples of things like what a release post should look like. I'd like to see a definite determination of whether other download methods besides eMule can be posted and under what circumstances. That topic hasn't come up recently but it should still be clarified - "This is allowed, that is allowed only when xyz is true, the other is never allowed."

Same with what is "on topic" for FLM - current understanding seems to be films where children under the age of 18 are main characters, but it's not posted in a prominent place. I also have some concern about many screenshots posted here and think we should have guidelines so people know what's allowed and what isn't. I couldn't care less whether there's nudity in a film, adult or child, but some screenshots make me uncomfortable because of the potential for LEOs, religious fanatics, and other nutcases to target us. One of our companion (in topic type) boards declined to link to us because of the pix - that says a lot to me - and I wouldn't want my grandma to see some of the posts here because of what she might think.

I'm also working up another tutorial, this time on how to use BBCode on FLM. The guidelines, FAQs and tutorials can be made "sticky" so they stay at the top of the message list and are easily findable. I look forward to seeing other people comment about what they think.


Another possible guidelines addition...

Let us know if you must limit or postpone sharing when you're the sole source of a file

Circumstances can change:
* You just released 3 or 4 great films but are suddenly called away for three weeks.
* You've reached your ISP's byte limits, and you can't continue sharing the files right now.
* You're only able to be online from 3 AM to 6 AM Tuesdays and Thursdays.
* Something else has come up that you didn't anticipate.

Let us know what's happening so people can decide if they want to cancel downloading your releases or not start them in the first place. The easiest way to do this is to mention it in the same thread as your release. You can also post a topic in General something like "Status - Phuzzy" and tell everyone "Hey, I gotta go out of town for a couple weeks so my computer will be turned off." Otherwise, a lot of people are stuck with partial downloads and they don't know if they'll ever complete.

[ptguardian]

I agree about the screenshots needing some limitations. They should draw attention but not unwanted attention.

[Phuzzy4242]

This is a slippery subject because everyone has a different opinion on what is acceptable and what's not, not to mention different countries' laws and different culture's attitudes. I'm inclined towards RFF's comments about nudity but not the showing of it, at least not genitals, boy or girl. I dislike the idea of censorship a lot, but I dislike something bad happening to FLM or its members even more.

[vidman49]

I'm also working up another tutorial, this time on how to use BBCode on FLM. The guidelines, FAQs and tutorials can be made "sticky" so they stay at the top of the message list and are easily findable. I look forward to seeing other people comment about what they think.

I hate to show my ignorance, but what is BBCode?

[Phuzzy4242]

I'm also working up another tutorial, this time on how to use BBCode on FLM. The guidelines, FAQs and tutorials can be made "sticky" so they stay at the top of the message list and are easily findable. I look forward to seeing other people comment about what they think.

I hate to show my ignorance, but what is BBCode?

These are the codes between brackets '[' and ']' that let you do things like italics, underline, bold, etc. They're also used for posting links such as "First Love Movies", pictures, and other things. Many of the BBCodes are at the top of the message editor.

Here's the last paragraph showing the BBCode: [Code]

[mimzy]

Personally I like the anarchistic nature of FLM compared to other movie sites with strict releasing rules. It's not a problem if one of those strict boards refuses to link to FLM, because everybody knows FLM anyway

I think FLM should basically keep the the same course as before.

People should just use common sense when posting stuff and not post anything that would obviously cause problems with Leo (or Lea), or insult other users (some tiny flamewars would be OK, though). I guess nobody of us wants the board to be taken down by authorities or lose members because of conflicts.

We need guidelines to help unexperienced users share better. I'm patient and it's OK for me if a file takes a long time to download. Also, releasing several movies at once is IMO OK, provided that they will get shared out eventually. I am not even sure about the necessity to unshare everything else than the released file. Depends on the bandwidth, and unless too many files are shared, setting the priority of the released file to "Release" and the priority of other files lower should be enough. It would be a good idea to unshare files with very high number of complete sources, though.

Regarding file size, I personally prefer quality over size. If I have an option of downloading 1CD and 2CD size, I normally choose the latter. However, in case of clean video and x264 compression, the quality of 1CD rip might be already perfect and making a larger rip would be a waste of bandwidth and disk space. I think posting ISO images is OK, if the releaser has enough upload bandwidth and is willing to keep the file shared long enough.

The biggest problem is if people unshare a file before others have received a complete copy and never reshare the file again (even when requested). Incomplete files waste lots of resources, because people find these files via eMule search and start to download, not knowing that they will never complete. Users sharing these files will be unsure whether to delete the files or not. Therefore it would be nice if members monitor their uploads and let others know about their status. The upload bandwidth that is wasted on incomplete files could be used to share other files faster.

Regarding release info, it would be nice to have as much info as possible, but members should not be obliged to comment about the movie in order to make a release. If an OT movie was released somewhere else, post it here ASAP and don't wait until next Sunday when you have time to watch it

We should also keep in mind that some users may not have enough English skills to write their own reviews.

Another issue is non-ed2k links, like torrents and rapidshare. I think those should be in any case allowed if there is no good ed2k link available.

Just some thoughts.

PS. There is a link to BBCode guide on the posting page: https://www.first-loves.com/forums/f ... ode=bbcode