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Abuse of User Download page "Update" feature


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Regarding the DCS website user files page - I have noticed that when a file gets updated, it jumps to the front page of the downloads section again. I have also noticed people are abusing this feature by clicking "update" on their file without actually changing anything just so they can bump it back to the front page again (you can tell they do this when checking the individual files and seeing the last modified date is the same as the day they originally uploaded)

 

There is some great content being uploaded to the page, and I keep noticing these files getting drowned out by people upset their file moved off page 1, so they do a fake update on it, which contributes to hiding people genuinely  updating their files. I don't mind files getting frequently updated with actual changes - The false updates are the problem, and sadly seeming to become more common.

 

This creates a vicious cycle of:

- New content appearing on the front page

- Multiple people who added a file the other day doing ghost updates so their file is back on the top spot

- New files and genuine updates getting drowned out by fake updaters

 

Another thing regarding the visibility of new content: once a file is approved - it doesn't neccersarily appear at the front of the page - if a moderator accepts the file a few days after it is submitted, it will usually appear a few pages back. Could this be changed?

 

I have some suggestions on how to improve these issues, it would be to revise the file page into three SEPERATE sections:

-New Files

-Recently Updated (and somehow adjust this so files that aren't actually getting their files modified don't bump back to the top)

-Your following (Only track updates from mods you follow)

 

I think changing to this system would give everyone who uploads a fair chance to have their new or updated file seen, and also make it easier for people to keep track of files they are interested in.

 

 

Feedback appreciated

Thanks


Edited by Spooky32
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  • Spooky32 changed the title to Abuse of User Download page "Update" feature

Yes, it could be - I wouldn't want to name and shame anyone over it, but I don't think a mod could do much with so many people doing it.  it's more of a common thing with a lot of people exploiting it at once - I hope splitting the downloads page into the 3 suggested areas would give everyone a fair chance of getting their stuff seen, and make it easier to choose what you are interested in seeing updates from


Edited by Spooky32
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I don’t think frontpage is that important, as most people looks for files using the filter.

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22 minutes ago, Rudel_chw said:

I don’t think frontpage is that important, as most people looks for files using the filter.

 

Yes, people do use the filter - but the front page is what everyone sees first, almost like a shop window. People will see things there, think "that looks cool" and download it. Hence the fighting for page 1 fake updates we keep seeing. Regardless, this is something that is getting abused and I'm making people aware/proposing an improvement.

 

The importance of the downloads splash page is also reflected in the number of downloads something gets, it always drops off once it goes past page 1. People also browse the first few pages in general to see what is new also and might not know they want something till they see it.

 

I'm not saying get rid of the filter - it's great. But I think the front page should be divided into three sections as mentioned above so we can see NEW files, UPDATED files, and files a user personally wants to "follow"


Edited by Spooky32
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23 minutes ago, Spooky32 said:

... Hence the fighting for page 1 fake updates we keep seeing.

 

 
I went to take a look, and didn't find much fighting ... mostly a single user abusing this:

 

... and it didn't seem to be very successful, judging by the relatively small number of downloads.


Edited by Rudel_chw

 

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14 minutes ago, Rudel_chw said:

 
I went to take a look, and didn't find much fighting ... mostly a single user abusing this:

 

and it didn't seem to be very successful, judging by the relatively small number of downloads.

 

I'm not looking to name or shame anyone, and I don't think it's fair you do either, but you aren't seeing the bigger picture - just because you personally haven't seen much of it doesn't mean it's not an issue, it happens every day with many people - I look at the downloads page multiple times a day (sad I know) and always see this problem.

 

This happens daily where someone who spends hours making a mod or file doesn't get many downloads because another user decides to bump their 2 week old file back to the top of the list and hides the recent updates.

 

I've seen this for a while now with many users, and thought the issue needed raising - and I proposed a way to improve it.


Edited by Spooky32
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7 minutes ago, Spooky32 said:

I'm not looking to name or shame anyone, and I don't think it's fair you do either,

 


You are right, just edited my message to remove the user mention

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  • ED Team

I have mentioned the bumping of files to the team, 

 

thanks

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3 hours ago, Spooky32 said:

Regarding the DCS website user files page - I have noticed that when a file gets updated, it jumps to the front page of the downloads section again. I have also noticed people are abusing this feature by clicking "update" on their file without actually changing anything just so they can bump it back to the front page again (you can tell they do this when checking the individual files and seeing the last modified date is the same as the day they originally uploaded)

 

There is some great content being uploaded to the page, and I keep noticing these files getting drowned out by people upset their file moved off page 1, so they do a fake update on it, which contributes to hiding people genuinely  updating their files. I don't mind files getting frequently updated with actual changes - The false updates are the problem, and sadly seeming to become more common.

 

This creates a vicious cycle of:

- New content appearing on the front page

- Multiple people who added a file the other day doing ghost updates so their file is back on the top spot

- New files and genuine updates getting drowned out by fake updaters

 

Another thing regarding the visibility of new content: once a file is approved - it doesn't neccersarily appear at the front of the page - if a moderator accepts the file a few days after it is submitted, it will usually appear a few pages back. Could this be changed?

 

I have some suggestions on how to improve these issues, it would be to revise the file page into three SEPERATE sections:

-New Files

-Recently Updated (and somehow adjust this so files that aren't actually getting their files modified don't bump back to the top)

-Your following (Only track updates from mods you follow)

 

I think changing to this system would give everyone who uploads a fair chance to have their new or updated file seen, and also make it easier for people to keep track of files they are interested in.

 

 

Feedback appreciated

Thanks

 

I like your idea of the 3 different "modes". In the past I have hoped to see a "don't make this update go to the top of the list" option when making an update. It has been a few times that I forget something as simple as updating the version number, but I realize it hours after uploading. I have refrained from making the change because I didn't want to bump someone else off the front page. I think that the 3 "modes" would address this kind of problem. Good thinking.

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41 minutes ago, Xilon_x said:

...  aaaaaaaaaaa it was time they did ...

 

People share their files freely ... we have no right to demand or expect updates at all.

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I've seen this occurring as well and can agree its annoying when you are trying to find new items, for my part it would also be nice if you could filter the Liveries from the new files by default as they really don't do as much for me as the other great items that are released here. It would also be nice if there was a checkbox to confirm that you were uploading your own work or had permission to do so by the original author, it probably wouldnt stop most of the people uploading files from the mod section, but it might help.

 

 

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7 hours ago, Malakhit said:

I think a simple MD5 sum check on the uploaded file, compared to the MD5 sum of the current version that ED are hosting, should be sufficient to check whether there's been an update or whether it's someone gaming the system.

Thinking like “the bad guy”, you can still game the system by adding a text file and changing a single character to get a different hash. Also, that check would prevent legitimate, necessary updates to the description of the file, such as “No longer works on Open Beta”, but it’s still valid for Stable. Just an example. 

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How about the guys who upload multiple skins of the same aircraft one at a time taking up page after page of data when 1 upload would be perfectly adequate.

It takes forever to trawl past all that stuff just to get to something you want to look at which was on page 2 yesterday and is now on page 8, if your lucky !!. 

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WOW! What a revelation! I had no idea that was a factor in the user files sequence. You're probably thinking I'm just another FNG, here. Quite the contrary. I've been watching all of you for a very very long time. I'm a big fan! Especially Zukhov - he's my favorite cynic.

But I digress, I wonder how many gratuitous downloads I've performed assuming it's an update

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The automatic bumping is also annoying to those of us that want to keep improving their missions after getting feedback, but don't want to irritate others by automatically bumping their user files..

 

(personally I don't take much notice to the front page by the way. As said above, first thing I do is activate filters)

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47 minutes ago, sirrah said:

The automatic bumping is also annoying to those of us that want to keep improving their missions after getting feedback, but don't want to irritate others by automatically bumping their user files..

 

(personally I don't take much notice to the front page by the way. As said above, first thing I do is activate filters)

 

+1.  It's not problem just for abusers.  I as modder am afraid of updating description or tag on some of my mods because I don't want to look like I'm bumping it.

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11 hours ago, sirrah said:

(personally I don't take much notice to the front page by the way. As said above, first thing I do is activate filters)

 

+1 ...  I always just use the filters .. searching sequentially trough the list of files is a waste of time 🙂

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37 minutes ago, crazyeddie said:

 ... I reckon they must be collecting Air Miles for all the extra hits ...   ✈️

 

It is sad how the old skin packs seem to be falling in disgrace, nowadays just one skin per file is the norm 😞

 

Edit: Was curious, so I went to take a look ... and god grief, the guy titled the skins the same .. all 2.5 pages of skins named identical  ... how the Files Moderator didn't catch that?

 

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/?PAGEN_1=3&CREATED_BY=-HINDSIGHT-&set_filter=Y&arrFilter_pf[filetype]=6&arrFilter_pf[gameversion]=&arrFilter_pf[filelang]=&arrFilter_pf[aircraft]=&arrFilter_DATE_CREATE_1_DAYS_TO_BACK=&sort_by_order=TIMESTAMP_X_DESC


Edited by Rudel_chw
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1 hour ago, Rudel_chw said:

 

+1 ...  I always just use the filters .. searching sequentially trough the list of files is a waste of time 🙂

 

I don't understand it either.  But the fact is whenever I update any of my mod, even just description change, the download number spikes for about a day.  So apparently, there are a lot of people willing to waste time.

 

And the search function needs to be refined.  It needs "exclude" option.  Heck the whole User Files section needs overhaul.


Edited by Taz1004
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