IntroductionWelcome to my little guide on enlightening the newbies to the torrent world that is private trackers. This guide will not go over basic torrenting, however over basic private tracker torrenting. Although torrenting is torrenting, and trackers index torrents, private trackers differ than those of a public tracker with standards and rules. I will go over different terms you'll hear on a private tracker as well as different types of private trackers and a basis of how they work. So lets get started.
What is a Private TrackerA private tracker is a torrent tracker that does not have open registration all the time. The ways to get into a private tracker vary, I will go over some
- Open Signups
- Invited
- *Invite Giveaway/Recruitment
- *Invite Trading
- *Invite Buying
Open SignupsWhen SysOps decide they want some fresh blood on a tracker and want a lot of users fast, they will often times enable users to register an account via open signups. However you don't really see this on old well established trackers, just on newer trackers that don't have many active peers and content uploaders. Later in this guide I will go over user classes, but for now understand open signups are just that.
InvitedThis is the most common way people get into trackers, they get invited by someone they know, whether it be in real life or online "friends" often VIP sections of forums offer invites to other established members, etc. In order to obtain invites, they vary by tracker. Some give them to certain user classes every once in a while, others have an inviting user class where they have an unlimited amount of invites to recruit new users (more on that later) some require "Bonus Points" to obtain invites (I will go over this later) and some require donations to get invites.
Invite Giveaway/RecruitmentInvite giveaway's are commonly frowned upon in the Private Tracker scene, however it is most of the time accepted. There is the exception of Recruitment, in which a staff member or a recruiting class member of a private tracker scopes out for potential contributing members. This is a great way to get into some trackers that are hard to find invites for. However most giveaway/recruitment threads on forums such as torrent-invites usually require "Ratio Proofs" (which I will discuss later)
Invite TradingThis is yet another common way people obtain access to private trackers. However if caught usually your invites or account gets disabled. That's why sites like torrent-invites suggest not using the same nick on their site as you do on torrent trackers. I did have my invites disabled for doing this back in the day.
Invite BuyingThis is not tolerated on any tracker (mainly because they want to sell their invites via "donations"). If caught usually whole invite trees get banned. Also a lot of SysOps know and communicate with each other and will blacklist you on most trackers, especially the larger ones. I never suggest buying an invite.
Common Features of a Private TrackerMost private trackers run off of a variant of the TBDEV source code or the Project Gazelle sourcecode. TBDEV being the long standing king of private tracker software, with Project Gazelle the newer one. TBDEV source coded sites cater to general trackers, where Gazelle source coded sites cater to niche trackers.
General Trackers usually track torrents for just about any torrent category you can think of. Whereas
Niche Trackers usually have a focus on one category and excel in deliver content for that one category. For example, IPTorrents is a general tracker, they have Movies, Music, TV Shows, Applications, XXX, eBooks, Mobile Apps, etc. The list goes on. However BtN (A niche tracker) hosts nothing but TV Shows, What.CD nothing but music, PTP nothing but movies. Also all 3 niche trackers I just listed use Project Gazelle. I will break up common features for each source code
-TBDEV.NETThe source is available on sourceforge and there are many different changes people make to the source and share. Also most large general trackers have used TBDEV.NET as a base and have modified it heavily and have built upon it. Small trackers usually have a slightly modified and themed version. However they all look similar.
Examples:
-Project GazelleProject Gazelle was created by What.CD in an effort to suite their individual needs, they're a niche tracker and wanted a layout that worked best for them. ie Artists, Albums, tags, etc. By creating project gazelle, they were really able to help niche trackers grow with a beautiful design and make it easier to navigate via artist, tag, etc. their source code is hosted on github.
Examples:
Terms and Basic RulesOk so as I said I want this to be quick and dirty, so lets go over some terms and whatnot:
User Classes:Similar to a Forum, you have different classes on a private tracker
User - Barely registered account
Power User - Have a ratio above 1.0, user for X amount of time, Downloaded X amount of GB
VIP - Donated user or Staff Added
Uploader - A user that can upload content to the tracker
FLS (Front Line Support) - Usually a staff PM goes to these guys to help out users with ?'s
Moderator - Moderates torrents, comments, and forums
Admin - Usually codes, uploads, is a high ranking member
SysOp - Owner, usually codes, stays quiet in the background, pays and manages server
Now with user classes, different sites vary in names and also expand on the power user (think of post count on a forum) you get a different title based on the number of posts you make, some trackers do the same thing, however base it on download/upload (ratio)
Ratio:Your ratio refers to your download to upload, you guessed it, ratio. This is what makes private trackers work. In order to download something, you need to keep your ratio at or above 1 otherwise you risk losing your account. This is to help with torrent retention, as well as a community model that sharing is caring. In the public tracker world you ALWAYS have an issue with seeders, however that is not the case with private trackers. Here's an example of a ratio bar on a private tracker:
You can keep a good ratio several different ways. One way is to never stop seeding lmfao but that is impossible.
Freeleech torrents are a great way to build ratios as the download does not count in your ratio, only your upload gets counted. Another way is to download torrents you know will be popular right as they get uploaded, this will make you one of the first to download and continue sharing to other people. A term that goes hand in hand with ratio is H&R's which I will explain now
Hit and RunsThis is what keeps those torrents with a good retention is that people that H&R get banned. When you download a torrent and don't seed it 1:1 or follow the trackers seeding rules you get hit with a H&R. Too many uncorrected H&R's and you will get banned. So be sure the first thing you do when you get on board a private tracker is read their FAQ's and rules. It will explain how they work.
Bonus PointsMost private trackers offer a bonus points system that calculates points based on the number of torrents you're actively seeding and for how long. The more you seed the more bonus points you get. The common things you can trade bonus points for are upload gigs, invites, custom titles, etc. Some let you remove H&R's, some let you buy various tracker goodies. Different sites calculate different bonus points, and all this information is usually in the trackers FAQ's (have I mentioned you should read those?)
Ratio ProofOn Torrent Trading sites this will come up a lot... They like to ensure that you are an experienced torrenter and wont make them look bad with bad invitees. They usually have you write in the url bar your torrent trading site username, or the username of the person your requesting the invite from with the date, and then blur out the decimal digits and user name on the ratio bar. It would look something like this:
ConclusionWell I think that about does it for this quick and dirty private tracker guide. Just about all of this information can be found in the trackers FAQ page, but if you have any further questions and or would like me to elaborate on anything posted here, let me know.
This quick and dirty guide was written by DeepCopy for EvilZone.org You have permission to spread this guide on other sites, however you must leave it unchanged and include a link back to this original thread. I spent like 3 hours writing this, so please respect my wishes.
