Trusted Status

boltonian · Post by **boltonian** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 4:42 pm

chrishal11 wrote:I agree with Barry. I'm just happy with UKTS being here. Think where we'd all be with out it

i know were'd i be living my life and most probably :drinking:

anyway i agree with jim even though i aint uploded nothing i can see his point.

jimmyladd · Post by **jimmyladd** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 4:48 pm

Barry you seemed to have missed the point. I pay to use this site, to have premium status. I have uploaded dozens of uploads without any problems. I think I deserve the trust to change a readme if I have made an error in a loco ID or something at least! I'm the one who gets grief if I have got it wrong, and if I change it and wait ages for approval again I get a load of grief of people wanting to know where its gone. Its a loose loose situation. As for ego thats a laugh! If i'm lucky I might get one mail or forum comment about what I've uploaded, unless somethings wrong, when I get a load of moans. Dont make uploaders lives difficult, because they might just stop uploading, and then where are we?

johndibben · Post by **johndibben** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 5:06 pm

You appear to have a point but its an admin thing and so have you asked Matt?

Don't worry if you've got a face on, I'm being eaten and that's far worse

*munch munch*

jimmyladd · Post by **jimmyladd** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 5:11 pm

Not yet, but then he's airborn atm, and I'm sure he'll be in no mood for a while when he returns either. I just wanted to know what other members think.

boltonian · Post by **boltonian** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 5:19 pm

johndibben wrote:You appear to have a point but its an admin thing and so have you asked Matt?

Don't worry if you've got a face on, I'm being eaten and that's far worse

*munch munch*

ok then....

are you smoking something we should know about ?

johndibben · Post by **johndibben** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 5:22 pm

Seen a post in another thread which puts things into perspective and wouldn't have posted the cheeky part of my post had I seen it first.

I'm sure he can probably sort something out, Jim.

jbilton · Post by **jbilton** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 5:24 pm

jimmyladd wrote:Not yet, but then he's airborn atm, and I'm sure he'll be in no mood for a while when he returns either. I just wanted to know what other members think.

I like the fact that anything I download from this site has not got any really nasty surprises in it(and I'm not talking the odd wrong eng file etc).....if you dont understand...have a read of Backfoots current post.
I'm trying not to put too fine a point on it....as we have been requested not to.

jimmyladd · Post by **jimmyladd** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 5:34 pm

jbilton wrote:
jimmyladd wrote:Not yet, but then he's airborn atm, and I'm sure he'll be in no mood for a while when he returns either. I just wanted to know what other members think.
I like the fact that anything I download from this site has not got any really nasty surprises in it(and I'm not talking the odd wrong eng file etc).....if you dont understand...have a read of Backfoots current post.
I'm trying not to put too fine a point on it....as we have been requested not to.

Again, what has that got to do with it? Why on earth would I want to upload anything dodgy when I pay for the use of this site? I'm not talking of a free for all trusted status, I'm talking about GAINING trust. Anyway, theres loads of trusted uploaders anyway so whats to stop any of them?

ianmacmillan · Post by **ianmacmillan** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 6:00 pm

I agree that the present system is unsatisfactory.

It came about because someone kept editing some activities to bump them back to the top of the list.

At the same time we had a deliberate attempt to delete files and posts.

It was realised that the existing method of editing uploads left a security hole where someone could have a legitimate file approved by Matt and then replace it with something which could damage a users system.

Recently a faulty file was uploaded which changed the registery location of MSTS causing an error stating that you may need to reinstall it.
This was an accident but imagine how much damage it could cause if it were deliberate.

Perhaps Matt can change things so that the file only has to go thru the approval procedure if the zip is changed.
The uploaded could then change the readme to explain why the download is unavailable and then change it back when the approved file reappeared.

As for recruiting more approvers....Who would do it?
It would need an experienced use to spot any mistakes and suggest any changes.
They would need all the routes, including the commercial, to see if an activity unpacks.
They would also be taking the risk of loading a virus or a trojan if an exe file was not what it appeared to be.

I'm sure Matt will look into this when he has the time but lets not overwork him.

jimmyladd · Post by **jimmyladd** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 6:12 pm

I seem to be banging my head against a wall on this one. Doesn't anybody understand the word trusted? And whats the use with the present system if things like the registry changer getting through? Also there is still the matter of loads of users having trusted status which kind of undermines your argument.

nwallace · Post by **nwallace** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 6:40 pm

Seem to remember it originally being down to Commercial stuff being uploaded that upload moderation was started.

Though i thought it was Matts dad that did the file checking

Mattaf · Post by **Mattaf** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 7:53 pm

chrishal11 wrote:I agree with Barry. I'm just happy with UKTS being here. Think where we'd all be with out it

http://www.train-sim.com

Scary...

saddletank · Post by **saddletank** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 9:55 pm

Jim

I fully understand your frustration both with the unfair situation of some authors being trusted and you not, and you also not being granted trusted status.

However the site 'ranking' (ugh horrid word) of having trusted and non-trusted uploaders is going to be removed due to some non-trusted uploaders who played by the rules, became trusted and then abused the system. In future all files will take, on average, longer to appear and all file changes will incur delays.

I'm sorry but this has been forced upon Matt by a tiny minority of users spoiling it for the majority but auto-file upload is now a thing of the past.

Unless while he's been away Matt has had some new ideas of how to handle this that he's not shared with the Moderators.

Addressing your second point about faster approval times I do not know what Atomic can do to improve them. Matt is in fact hardly ever away from a link to the site and this last two weeks he has been on a business trip to the other side of the world setting up a very important software deal for his company, he has had his family with him to sightsee in his spare time and he has still found time to buy an expensive by the hour broadband connection to check and approve files.

I think everyone should just focus on that and be grateful to our host for his amazing commitment to this hobby of ours. At most other times of the year Matt is almost always around and files get checked very quickly.

And while Matt has been away why hasn't someone else been checking files? Well Matt's dad and mum have been churning out CDs like they are workers making Big Macs at Leicester Square McDonalds on a Saturday night so there is no spare time there to check uploads/file changes.

If you have a suggestion as to how to overcome this delay do please get in touch with Matt, maybe you know someone who would be willing to be on call, unpaid at any time of the day to check files. They would need a PC with every possible MSTS route installed plus some very robust anti-virus software and the willingness to reinstall Windows every once in a while in case of virii.

I'm sorry if this reply is harsh but in the past Matt did trust people and that trust was abused.

Martin
Moderator Team

jimmyladd · Post by **jimmyladd** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 11:02 pm

Oh I give up. I carn't be bothered anymore

Post by **NeutronIC** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 11:05 pm

I'm in Tokyo Narita at the moment waiting for the long hauler back to Heathrow (yick, 8h30 flight followed by a 12h flight...). Internet access is cheap here though, 500 yen for 24 hours (about 3-4 quid), much better than the same for 15 minutes in australia!

Anyway, back to the topic...

You don't get any argument from me that the situation is not as good as it should be, none at all.

But I have to strike a balance some how - if uploads don't unzip or activities don't at least have a readme telling you what stock you need, I'm the one that gets it in the ear.

I have had some trusted uploaders perfectly innocently uploading in the past and they didn't verify the zip was ok before leaving it and it turned out there was a corrupt zip, again, in my ear it goes.

I had quite a few instances (a lot more than the relatively few instances of the above) where users had re-uploaded a file - prior to this requiring re-validation - where the re-uploaded file was dead in some way or in one case was quite different to what was approved. Not to mention several (not just the recent 'race' activity problem) instances of people bumping their uploads whether for a good reason in their mind or not.

I am going to make some changes to this, that I can assure you.

For one thing, the system will try to auto-moderate the basics like making sure it has a valid picture, making sure the zip is ok and unzips and so forth. Anything I can mechanically test I will code up so that it does so, this will DRASTICALLY reduce moderating time. I will also have it so that I can view contents of zips remotely without having to download them, again, this is the only thing that's caused me problems while running on a modem out here - I could have got broadband in the hotel, but at $20AUS per day for just THREE megabytes and $5AUS after that per megabyte, you can perhaps see why that wasn't a particularly sensible idea.

Files will be auto-rejected when they fail mechanical tests - which to be honest are the only things people really get wrong that we're bothered about.

I don't install each and every item, I just don't have the time for that, but if it's a big file then yes, we do install and check it - e.g. routes, one example, Scottish Central, was re-uploaded in its entirety after it was found that the original upload was missing a few key files, that saved people a good chunk of downloading but nobody knows that, because the system WORKS.

It might not be fast but as Martin says, this is a hobby and I do my damndest to get things moving as quickly and smoothly as I can but at the end of the day there are things which take priority - my mortgage and my family and contrary to the claims made on other forums recently, I'm not exactly getting rich off UKTS.. far from it.

I will pledge to improve things though, I agree things aren't ideal, but you have to work with me too on this one - for all the complaints you get about your file not working, double it and then multiply it by all the files on the system to get an idea of my inbox and why I am trying to make sure that things run smoothly.

Matt.