Trending discussion

I am putting this in the official author section because I want good mature answers and because I don't want to make anyone feel bad.

Anyway, it is no secret that I have always hated the trending section. The reason I don't like it is because tracks are put there by the majority of players voting them thumbs up. That seems like a good thing, but the majority of players aren't very smart and don't appreciate good work. People have said that the bad trending tracks are just a phase, and I hoped that that was the case, but the situation has not improved at all, and I think something needs to be done about it.
Part of the reason I am making this is because of this thread: http://community.freeriderhd.com/threads/why-am-i-getting-barely-any-plays.3989/ The creator of that thread almost thought it was a bug that he wasn't getting very many plays. That just shows me that players think they are entitled to likes and plays, and aren't smart enough to realize that they need to put work into it to get recognition. I know that Ribby03 is just one person and that what he says doesn't necessarily represent what most players say, but if you look at the "newest" section, most people are asking for likes, comments, and subscriptions.
It occurred to me that the reason people think they don't have to put work into their tracks is because, well, they don't. A lot of the tracks that get hundreds of likes are trash. They are just five second long tracks with crappy detail that ask for likes and subscriptions. The majority of people, being young and... well... not smart, see that those tracks are featured on the homepage, and think that those are the kind of tracks that are good, so more tracks like that are made.

Now that I'm done with my essay, I want to hear people's opinions on this. I feel like I can't possibly stand alone in my opinion of this issue that, to me, is very obviously a huge problem. However, there have to be people who disagree, and I want to know why, and maybe I can persuade you, or you can persuade me.

 

I agree, an I have to say I am a bit guilty of this...as seen by my 15 second pixel art tracks, glitch tracks, or anything else...there also needs to be some other things fixed...every time I see a "popular author" I get either a good author...or just a author that has a bunch of dumb tracks that let likes with little detail...I am going to be making mainly detailed tracks from here on out btw...and there should be some looking into the "popular author" thing... Char

 

I don't think it'll be possible to really "fix" the trending section without regulating tracks(choosing what makes it and what doesn't), which I don't agree with. People(kids) mostly just care for likes and subs, they don't care about quality. The sense of progression in trackmaking for them is probably accumulation of the figure numbers.

I'd say frhd has already put in place a few things that promotes better stuff, I don't think there is much else to do besides maybe reformatting the site layout. People then will see what we want them to see initially and then they can visit trending. Not really an immediate solution but long term it's subtle handling on what people's motivations will be(stuff we want them to see).

 

My tracks get on the trending page sometimes. Maybe trying hyping it or talking about it in the forums.

 

"but the majority of players aren't very smart and don't appreciate good work"

Sorry dude, but quality doesn't always dictate what's popular. The same thing can be applied to the music industry; it seems like the stupidest artists get famous, but it's what the majority of listeners are into, and you can't forcibly dictate what should and should not be popular. Useless thread is useless.

 

My tracks do pretty well. I don't keep track of the trending section.

 

Spoiler: Comparison

As you can probably tell in the above spoiler, the standard in trackmaking has decreased A LOT in the course of one year. However, like a lot of guys are saying, who honestly cares? If I see a track on the hot list that isnt that good and it looks like itll go onto Trending I give it a thumbs down- thats really all we can do. Not really a worthwhile topic to discuss really, only things we can do is continue to make tracks of a high standard and -1 the spammy tracks and hope that the message one day gets through (Although the chances of that happening are close to zero).

 

I don't think trending is the problem really. I think the problem are the author leaderboards and/or subs. When a kid sees the author leaderboard, they think that they could get on there by making tracks. But being a kid, they don't know A: that putting time and effort into a track is not as hard as it seems and B: that putting out a ton of tracks that suck is despised by most forumers. So they'll create a ton of tracks that sucks, typically autos that take an hour to make, and call them something interesting to attract attention. If there's anything interesting in the auto, anything at all like a flip or a 2 second wheelie, then it'll get likes by other kids but hate from forumers, who are the minority in frhd. Suddenly, this kid is getting more likes on his auto than the other kid on their auto. Because of the author leaderboard, it becomes a competition to see who can get more thumbs-up, and many more crappy tracks asking for '+1s' or subs come out. Subs further enhance this because they are almost guaranteed to see your track, increasing the chance of a +1. Trending I guess pushes this further because you have to actually get likes to get on trending.
So I say keep trending and remove author leaderboards.

 

those authors are grown up and have left. We have to make a better prize then trending if you know what I mean. Every kid is exited when they get a track on trending. We should have trending still but have something else take the top spot such as "noble tracks" etc. we have to make trending step down from the plate and have something better that takes a little more effort take Trending's place. I'm not saying get rid of trending but make it a little less flashy.

 

Guys, if you spend a week on a track it'll likely be featured. Just focus on quality over quantity.

 

a week? lol

 

It may be different for some people based on how they spread out their work, I usually spend hours at a time working on a single track when I'm really trying to make something. And I hardly ever erase, Im not a perfectionist.

 

Put yourself in their shoes, they are younger kids, how mature were you when you were 8-11? Also, many of them have just started the game whereas everyone who appreciates good dt has been playing for many years or like me, got exposed to quality tracks immediately.

I completely agree about not limiting trending, that would take away the "freeness" of the rider lol

this has been suggested as possibly being called "Official Recommended" or "Notable" track category

 

Yeah, I think a major solution would be to have a new category in which it is based on official author votes. I think the general populous of the official authors are good at judging tracks.

One thing that we are doing is an audit on alt accounts. We have noticed people down voting others for the sake of getting their tracks showing in hot. We have records of all of this data, so Im starting to look into it. Those who we find guilty will have their official status stripped and uploading banned. Maybe even removing all stats. This system is based on honesty.

I just caught jroles doing it, even after I warned him. I don't want to call people out, but If we warn you about it, and then it happens... there are consequences. Im not sure how people can consciously do it, but apparently its happening. A solution to this will most likely be removing the down vote all together, and also only allow voting after a certain number of plays. It would suck to resort to that tho.

Keep an eye on down votes.

I think Max is correct in saying its really quality of tracks. There are A LOT of tracks being uploaded every day (more and more), but the quality isn't always there. I think the biggest thing is everyone needs to be supportive and invite some of those players who you see have potential to the forums. We need to grow the community and share ideas.

Also remember to tell us about players to deserve official status.

 

what's an audit and how would you pull this off

 

I guess not allowing people to sign into the accounts.

 

Audit means "an official inspection of an individual's or organization's accounts, typically by an independent body."

I would rather not explain how.

 

is that illegal?

 

I am sure the great almighty Jroles had his reasons for doing this beyond our human comprehension. Although, when it comes to regular humans who do this, I wish them the ultimate punishment.