April 20, 2010 by sharky
The X isn’t just another run-of-the-mill scene tracker. While we aren’t permitted to include screenshots of the tracker in action - nor expose the URL/full name - we’re able to conclude that X is delightfully sexy. It’s a designer’s dream; aesthetically, X is somewhat of a mashup between the old ScL with some subtle overtones of SqN and ScT thrown into the mix. Cosmetics aside, X isn’t just about being eyecandy - there also happens to be some amazing features under the hood of this one.
‘The X’ - A Bit of History…
The idea for ‘X‘ can be traced back to at least September 2009, when ScL staff agreed to move away from absentee ownership and other irreparable internal problems. Truth be told - ScL had been struggling for quite some time, and it was finally announced on 03/31/2010 that SceneLife would cease to exist as we know it.
However, active development of a new tracker had already commenced prior to the official announcement. Staff at "X" (ex-ScL’ers & others) have some connections. With assistance from unnamed former SceneTorrents’ staff, the crew obtained the new ScTDBev codebase months in advance of its intended public release. 2½ months ago - work began to create X, the first tracker ever to implement ScTBDev.
‘The X’ - Features…
It’s difficult to go into detail in order to explain a tracker without being able to include screenies. Regardless, here’s some of the cool features…
15,600 torrents on opening. Crazy as it may seem but ‘X’ already has a huge selection of untouched scene-release torrents. All active; all ready to download.
Separated Packs. "X" has just one main torrent browse page, but "packs" are completely split into their own horizontal section of the browse, making it dead simple to differentiate packs from the rest of the cats. Packs include anime, games, music, movies & other.
Great download speeds. Forget about 100Mbit - torrents are hosted on multiple 1 Gbit full-duplex servers. Yep, all 15K. Great download speeds to be had by all!
Both the site and tracker are SSL. Profile settings allow members to opt to browse ‘X’ via https, or use the https tracker (or both). There’s even an option to use an alternate tracker port to bypass problems associated with transparent proxies.
Unique Userclass Advancement. Without giving away too much info, activity on the site (and tracker) is requisite for transcending in user class/rank. Be sure to check out the FAQ.
No Ratio Whores / No Collectors. An ongoing problem that plagued ScL is that it was full of collectors. That is; a majority of members signed up but never actually used the tracker. We can assure you that this has now been fixed.
Getting Into X …
As expected, registration to The X is not open directly - and probably never will be. Here’s what we know so far…
• IRC recruitment. Potential members can apply through a short IRC interview.
- Network: irc.p2p-net.eu
- Channel: #x.interviews
- Hotlink: irc.p2p-net.eu/x.interviews
• Active & loyal ScL members might soon be invited to the new site automatically. We can’t disclose the actual number of ex-ScL’er who will be invited to the new digs but if you were an active member, keep an eye on your inbox. It’s been rumoured that ~10% of ScL’ers may be invited, but we can’t confirm this.
• Check for recruitment in other tracker forums in the near future. What.CD is a great start; Waffles & BTN are others.
Thoughts on X …
Some will argue that there’s really no need for another 0day/scene tracker, but we beg to differ. While there are literally dozens of "scene" trackers, there are only a handful that are able to successfully combine excellent pretimes & thoroughness along with a strong, active community. The loss of ScT left an opening; these are big shoes to fill but The X is certainly up to the task.
"The X Trailer" video is best viewed in 1080p (here).
Archived by FSFmirror
