October 14, 2009 by sharky
The facts are in: Numerically, requests for tracker invitations are much in decline compared to what they were a year ago - even though there are more private trackers and more torrent forums than ever before. But does this mean that there are fewer people opting for private? Not at all. Private trackers as a whole are experiencing explosive growth, year after year. So, why have invite requests for private trackers decreased substantially from just 12 months ago? There are several pivotal reasons for this phenomenon.
This article is a precursor to a future post in which we’ll re-examine the popularity of private tracker invite requests.
Blog Promotion:
Many new trackers want quick exposure to a wide audience, without having to keep registration open for an extended period of time. Popular blogs (such as FSF and FILEn) which report new trackers to the scene who want exposure, and by announcing ‘open signups’ which non-members wouldn’t have found out about. This also includes special signup links, reg codes and unique URLs that you’d be missing out on otherwise. Not only could this be your sure-shot method of getting in, it may be your only chance - aside from trying to procure an invite down the road.
What this translates to is that these same trackers don’t need to rely heavily on an invite system; and would-be members often don’t need to search for/request an invitation. Blogs are just one reason for the decline of invite requests; simply put, it’s not as necessary as it once was.
Exposure on Forums:
Torrent Forums provide a ton of info on trackers and news. Open signup threads continue to be increasingly more popular than Invite Requests. Is this because torrenters are lazier than before, and tend to opt for instantaneous membership at trackers instead of plodding through threads and waiting for PMs - and eventual email invites? That’s somewhat part of it, but certainly doesn’t tell the whole story.
Other methods such as IRC & recruitment have also taken their toll on the overall number of requests - or more specifically, the validity & viability of a request system in general when there are numerous alternative ways in which to find an invitation.
Tracker & Torrent Forum Recruitment:
Forum Recruitment — Most forums have an area devoted to torrent site representatives who offer invitations directly to qualified members. This internal approach cuts out the need for inviters (who are not connected to the tracker) to offer invites, as potential invitees can apply directly through tracker staff.
Tracker Invites/Recruitment — Similar to above; if you’re already a good member of a private tracker you’ll likely be able to acquire just about any invitation (from staff or non-staff alike).
Tracker Economy:
As a whole, the private tracker economy is shifting. Many older, established trackers will often never have open registration (so these are always a hot request), whereas new sites & less popular trackers (which account for an ever-increasing percentage of all trackers) are more reliant on exposure and new members - be it through continual or intermittent open signups, IRC invites or other means.
Looking at it statistically, there are fewer good (dare we say l33t) trackers than before when compared to the overall number of trackers out there. One just needs to look at our new trackers articles to confirm this. Invite requests tend to revolve around the same trackers, and there’s a large populace of torrenters that already have accounts to the trackers they want.
Invites on IRC:
It’s reasonable to assume the possibility of obtaining an invitation to a desired tracker just by hanging out in their main IRC channel. But many new trackers have taken this to a higher level by creating a specific #invites channel in order to interview or recruit potential new members, such as what these sites are doing. Not only is this successful to cull the number of site invites floating around on various locations on the interwebs, but it maintains an open-door policy whereby constant or casual public registration is not a desired option.
Closed Invite System:
HDBits is a great example here - no point in requesting an invite to a site that hasn’t given regular qualified members any invites for nearly a year now. It’s almost a closed-system now; aside from staff invites. Not even UHDs (the highest class outside of VIPs/staff) can invite. Unlike other elite trackers, donating won’t even get you an invite on your account here no matter how much you cough up. Therefore invite requests to HDBits have all but dried up, out of futility.
Other trackers such as TVTorrents.ro/Freshon.tv (up until recent changes) have completely removed their invitation system and opt instead to open public registration from time to time.
No-Movement Trackers:
So-called no-movement trackers do not allow for their invites to be given out publicly (or privately) through any site, which includes on forums and other trackers. For this, invite requests to these sites have dwindled dramatically. It’s not to say that recruitment doesn’t exist directly through a CR (community representative) or even on IRC - it just means they don’t want giveaways done publicly without staff involvement, and this includes the request threads. What.CD is probably the first tracker to take this stance so vehemently, although invites are generously handed out to members and there’s even an IRC interview (guide here).
Online Applications:
PtN is one site that uses an online form in order to recruit new members, and when employed in conjunction with community reps & recruitment, PtN requests have now vanished. Other trackers are now experimenting with a similar system such as Sparvar.org. Expect to see more of this method in the future.
Quick Open Signups:
ScL recently went against all odds and offered open registration - that is, if you were keen enough to know the URL of the site. Most pros do, but not all. This keeps out many of the undesirable n00bs (although in ScL’s case, it went on far too long). Requests for ScL have now all but disappeared.
Audionews.ru and Gfxnews.ru are two other such examples that open publicly for a few days at the beginning of each month, and requests for these are seldom seen.
Lack of Trust:
Ratio Proofs, Profile Links & Speedtests. Nobody gets excited about having to provide sensitive info about profile links to other trackers. Nevermind having to create useless speedtests and go through the headache of creating & editing screenshot ratio proofs from other trackers (which can easily be faked anyways). This is especially true if the inviter wants these criteria posted in the GA/request thread for all to see.
Who’s Inviting You? Many trackers hold their inviters accountable for whom they invite, so it’s not uncommon to get banned because your inviter turned out to be a bad apple. This is exactly why I refuse to do giveaways: I don’t want to be held responsible for whom I choose to invite. Finding an invitation to a private tracker is much safer when conducted directly through staff/recruitment, IRC invites or open signups.
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