Purpose of the 'Requested files'

[omgomg]

I would like to start a thread to discuss about purpose of the 'Requested files'

From my point of view the 'requested files' feature serves the original goal less and less. Where requests for rare movies get shadowed by popular movies with well-sourced. Of course, I can understand some situations e.g low-id users have used this feature to get attention / help - because low-id users cannot download from a source where only low-id users as the sources.

My interpretation of the 'Requested files' is that when a user tries to download a source where the user has waited between 3 days and 1 week. So the user can use the 'Requested files' feature to send a notification to voluntary users who have this file to re-share it.

If the request goes unanswered for 2 weeks - the requestor is encouraged to find a new and perhaps better quality to share here.

I hope developers of the site can extend this feature with a short comment where requestors have to write <insert the reason here> - without difficulty. If it is feasible to do it, so we can see how it goes. But first I want to hear users' reason and opinion in this thread.

[Unigami]

I have no complaints about the 'Requested files' mentioned. Because usually when I start downloading I can download it at a speed that is not bad at all during the day. If I'm going to download and watch it within an hour that day, I can ask for a link similar to mega.nz. I must say that I have never had any problems downloading movies from emule or other sources. One of the main reasons why this site generally prefers the 'Requested files' section is to avoid seeding unpopular files. However, as I said, I had no problems downloading even files that were not seeded. That's why the 'Requested files' section exists. I'm just giving my opinion. If I slipped my tongue, I apologize.

Good Day.

[mimzy]

I agree that "Requested files" is not very useful. At some point I even considered removing it completely.

The original problem is that if you share too many files with eMule, the queue gets so long that nobody gets any file completed. So it is necessary to keep the number of shared files limited by removing popular files that are shared by many other people. Now, after some time those popular files may not be so popular anymore, so a reshare must be requested. One way to do this would be via forum post, but this unnecessarily bumps the thread and users who actually have that file may not even notice.

Therefore the "Requested files" mechanism was implemented, but it never worked very well. On one hand, many files that are requested are already well-sourced or they are obsolete and superseded by better rips. On the other hand, users who can reshare the files probably do not pay much attention to the "Requested files", which is understandable. I doubt that adding a "reason" makes the situation better (I bet that most of the time the reason would be "I want that file" or similar).

I've never used torrent forums, so I don't know how this problem is solved there exactly. I guess torrent users have more motivation to share files due to quotas, but that is not applicable in our case.

Direct download links are probably not the solution due to their limited lifetime, but I like that ED2K-HASH is now being included in direct-download posts. This makes it possible to request the files later via eMule if somebody downloaded them.

[DreamScape]

I've never used torrent forums, so I don't know how this problem is solved there exactly. I guess torrent users have more motivation to share files due to quotas, but that is not applicable in our case.

Not sure about forums, but private trackers keep track of who downloaded the .torrent file and then sends those users a message directly by the system whenever someone requests a reseed. The closest equivalent here would be to send a system generated PM to everyone who liked a post when someone clicks the request file button.

Not sure how that'd work as 1) our inboxes are so limited in space they would overflow quickly and 2) some people post several ed2k links in a single post.

Although not many people monitor the requested files page, for what it is worth, everything I have added to it was fulfilled. Probably by Night

[omgomg]

I agree that "Requested files" is not very useful. At some point I even considered removing it completely.

I'm glad to hear it is not removed yet and I believe it can still be useful if users use it right. It is why I created this thread to discuss and I hope it brings us some ideas to find the right solution to prevent users from using it incorrectly.

The original problem is that if you share too many files with eMule, the queue gets so long that nobody gets any file completed. So it is necessary to keep the number of shared files limited by removing popular files that are shared by many other people. Now, after some time those popular files may not be so popular anymore, so a reshare must be requested. One way to do this would be via forum post, but this unnecessarily bumps the thread and users who actually have that file may not even notice.

I believe the issue is on uploaders who share too many files or users who start multiple downloads parallel. The issue as you mentioned is best be discussed in relevant thread where the uploader has the issue.

I don't think it is fair to include the original problem into the scope of the 'requested files' solution.

Off-topic:
According to aMule documentation about uploading files priority: If popular files get low or very low priority - they might get a long queue instead of these files with higher priority. It seems work fine from my (one-sided) point of view.

Therefore the "Requested files" mechanism was implemented, but it never worked very well. On one hand, many files that are requested are already well-sourced or they are obsolete and superseded by better rips. On the other hand, users who can reshare the files probably do not pay much attention to the "Requested files", which is understandable.

Exactly it is what I have issue with. Of course, voluntary users are free to check the 'requested files' if they want, and I still believe more voluntary users would check it more when it is under control in comparison to current situation we are in.

I doubt that adding a "reason" makes the situation better (I bet that most of the time the reason would be "I want that file" or similar).

I'm perfectly aware of it will happen anyway. Perhaps because I'm a person who will use time to investigate and locate the root cause.
I can understand that you are a voluntary developer for this site and want to ensure highest stability and uptime as much as possible - I respect that.
The reason I mentioned about "the requestors to provide a reason to request a file" is that I/we may get more information.

I'm open for any ideas.

I've never used torrent forums, so I don't know how this problem is solved there exactly. I guess torrent users have more motivation to share files due to quotas, but that is not applicable in our case.

True that.

[omgomg]

Although not many people monitor the requested files page, for what it is worth, everything I have added to it was fulfilled. Probably by Night

It is nice to hear that Night fulfilled your request(s).

Not sure how that'd work as 1) our inboxes are so limited in space they would overflow quickly and 2) some people post several ed2k links in a single post.

3) New users may get overwhelmed by it.

[omgomg]

Two different ideas I could think of:

1) The 'requested files' feature is disabled by default (global) and individual user can enable it when needed.

Pros:
* Might help reducing the main issue.

Cons:
* This feature could be forgotten in short time when nobody uses it.
* Perhaps more complex to manage at developer's side. I suspect the 'requested files' is a plugin.

2) Users with at least 10 likes or whatever administrator chooses - can request file.

Pros:
* At least these users supposed to understand purpose of this feature.

Cons:
* Might punish silent contributors - I bet they saved us at some points and let's keep it in mind.
* In a way to encourage likes farming.