"GLovely1;c-16676413" wrote:
@Plantyl I do know what you are saying is likely happening because I've had extensive private conversation with an admitted repeat user of the self downloading trick. In these conversations in origin this person admitted that this person saw nothing wrong with adding some more DL to their friends and supporters to help them become more popular too. As with all things the more of something you have the more of that something you will continue to get. If you have a like-minded group helping you get it, everyone in that group will benefit. Knowing what I know about various social cliques I can see this situation happening all to easily here in the gallery. @drake_mccarty I do agree with you completely in the fact that self downloading and especially adding to other simmer's creation total is a total waste of time. I now ask you to try to think in the mindset of these simmers who's first desire is to be most popular. The gallery is built around that one fact ~ what's most popular right now. This desire for those people must have been intensified with this change to the popular now being the default. Before we had to intentionally go there to see that page. Now we are forced to see it every day. I am against this new default even though I see my own creation staring me down on it right now.
@AlbaWaterhouse ~ Thanks for posting these screenshots of the gallery. I am not sure how much I should say publicly looking in particular at this popular now screenshot. I will say one of these simmers currently taking up one or more spots on this page is the potential self downloader I was referring to in an earlier post to @FruUtter ~ I have never spoken to this person but as I said I have studied this issue a year now & for me personally an obvious self downloader is pretty easy to spot. Everyone please ask yourself this ~ How is it possible in our new gallery system for a simmer with less than 2000 followers to earn 1000 downloads in a 24 hour period? That should be a no brainer .. it's not possible. *Correction, it's not possible when playing fairly & honestly* Yet, 2 of these creations did exactly that. Self downloading for the purpose of manipulating the gallery download totals for one's own personal gain is wrong! It is also against EA's rules but because we can't actually see a person sitting at their computer adding +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 as many times as they like it is too hard to argue this point. I brought this major problem up here because it directly relates to the OP point about how a small majority of people are receiving a huge percentage of downloads now with this new default while new creators/new uploads have been shut down completely because they are no longer visible. Within this small majority I completely believe at least 25% are self downloading. That is a tragedy and if you look critically at all of these creations in this screenshot I think that while your point about the "homogenisation of the gallery" is a valid one I want you to also consider that maxis is not the one pushing this on all of us .. by my count just on this 1 screenshot alone I am concerned that approximately 7 out of 15 of these have had their download totals manipulated either by their own hand or someone else's.
I personally am tired, offended and disgusted to be force fed these creations not by maxis or by the majority who actually is liking these things but by the creator themselves when they actively choose to boost their own work to the front of the line forcing us all to see it in the first place. People get fired up these days when someone cuts the line in traffic, school, shopping .. wherever. In a sense this is exactly what the self downloader is doing.
Are you actually accusing someone here of downloading one of their things on gallery ( I don't know I don't have game installed anymore to get on gallery) 1000 times? That's what you are saying, they got 1000 downloads and were self downloading? I don't think anyone would sit and download their own stuff 1000 times. Did you figure in the fact when people see 'popular now' they want to be part of the cool crowd too, so they also download something someone told them is 'popular now'. It's like when the internet tells you 'trending now' and some, o.k. millions click on it to see what is trending now, because they were just told something is trending now whether true or not it makes people click. So, it's very possible because a person's stuff was in the 'popular now' filter they got more downloads just because it was deemed popular..creating a crazy vicious cycle. ETA: I didn't follow but a few of my own friends. So, I downloaded stuff and never had to follow anyone. So, it is also possible they don' t need 2000 actual followers to get a 1000 downloads, but it would increase the view if in popular now and of course generate more downloads just for being there.
And here I thought the gallery was about sharing, and not who has to be popular. But the pure enjoyment of creating and sharing.
(If it's about popularity for some, then of course people would be upset if no one downloads). (If it's popularity someone seeks they count their followers and downloads, sharing is take it or leave it. :)
