The hosting of patches

This came to my attention today. I brought FM 2009 for a friends son. He is 13. He installed the game. He checked for updates. He went through the motions and asked me which he should get. I told him to get it from rapidshare as it was the only direct download link that I could see.

When he went to the rapidshare site to download the patch there was an ad for 'the facebook of sex'. This ad leads to an adult site... the kid is 13 years old... Sufficed to say, I kicked him off the computer and downloaded the patch myself.

While I understand that there is a cost associated with hosting patches for a popular game. I strongly suggest that you find mirror sites which do not display adult advertisements. Its completely in appropriate that these ads are displayed for downloads for a mainstream game.

I agree its not at all an ideal situation.

Click here to read Miles view on the situation

While I agree that giving kids links to sex sites is not on I really don't think that SI can do a great deal about the content on an external site that they have no control over. Its probably best to make Rapidshare aware of your concerns.

Its good to see that something is happening with this. Perhaps in the meantime a warning could be placed next the rapid share links.

megaupload is a similar service to rapid share and from what I have seen doesn't contain dodgy ads.

Edit: Trekman, I realise that SI has no control over rapidshare ads. They do however have a choice on what they link to. If you want a patch the link to the rapidshare site is on the SI site. This is my issue. What rapidshare do is up to them, its the fact that SI linked to page with pornographic ads that is worrying.

Should have got it through Steam. Painless process, automatically patches for you.

Is there anyway that SI can make it available for download from its own site?

And PS., I know the site was unsuitable, but as the kid is 13, im sure he would have had the common sense to know it isnt a site he should be going on.

And anyway, boys will be boys, as he gets older im sure there are sites he will become familiar with, the best you can do is sheild kids from this at the young age he is, but in a couple of years there will be no stopping him.

I saw it too. And the pictures were not really appropriate.

I saw it too. And the pictures were not really appropriate.

See? Peter is a prime example!

The common sense to know its not an appropriate site:D

Absolutly agree Bigs I was going to make a thread myself and express my concern, I dont think its acceptable that children could get to that as easy as that, I know that pornographic material isnt hard to get on the internet but to have it there while downloading a patch for there favourite game is just not acceptable, now I dont blame SI for it being there just they should be checking there links in future

DanG - I couldnt sort out FM through steam so maybe not all children will have either

Is there anyway that SI can make it available for download from its own site?

And PS., I know the site was unsuitable, but as the kid is 13, im sure he would have had the common sense to know it isnt a site he should be going on.

And anyway, boys will be boys, as he gets older im sure there are sites he will become familiar with, the best you can do is sheild kids from this at the young age he is, but in a couple of years there will be no stopping him.

They dont have the bandwidth steve. I would imagine if they hosted it directly then the forums would grind to a halt if not be taken down completley. Which would rather defeat the point if no one knew about the patch because the forums were down.

Miles did say Sega were looking at alternatives. I would imagine their servers could certainly cope with the lag without as much impact!

Absolutly agree Bigs I was going to make a thread myself and express my concern, I dont think its acceptable that children could get to that as easy as that, I know that pornographic material isnt hard to get on the internet but to have it there while downloading a patch for there favourite game is just not acceptable, now I dont blame SI for it being there just they should be checking there links in future

DanG - I couldnt sort out FM through steam so maybe not all children will have either

Ah that's a shame.

Weird, I found it easy, I am 14. Depends really I suppose.

Ah that's a shame.

Weird, I found it easy, I am 14. Depends really I suppose.

Suppose I could be useless in my old age

Suppose I could be useless in my old age

Kids and computers nowadays

Someone told me to get it through steam. Steam is a windows client. I have a Mac. Also steam is currently charging £10 more than what game are charging at the moment.

You can use the torrent links if you don't want to use the rapidshare link, or there is the possibilty that the patch may now be hosted on various fansites (or you can use Firefox and adblock to block the ads from rapidshare, I haven't seen ads on Rapidshare for ages, but I was under the impression they only had google adwords?).

Unfortantley rapidshare seem to be one of the few companies that can handle hosting Football Manager patches without going down.

The game is only 19.99 in Gamestation! i nearly put a brick through the window when i saw this

It has been like that for ages stevie, annoyed me seeing as I payed £30 from Play.

It has been like that for ages stevie, annoyed me seeing as I payed £30 from Play.

Yeah well i dont go into game shops until october/november, to buy FIFA and FM.

I hate shopping so i stay out of shops unless there is something i need.

The only thing that offended me was that I clicked the adult link...

... next day a Russian lady knocked at my door claiming to be my new wife!!

I'll never click such links again!

THats pretty funny lol.

Careful, under the new rules, that might come under "spamming"

i May be wrong

Seriously though, I think that the "community" could help more with patch hosting.

I got my 9.3 patch from FileFront. The downloads figure for the week was only 300 or so. No waiting and it was a fast download. Someone always uploads the patches to Filefront, so it's always worth doing a search there.

(I've never seen any "adult" orientated banners or links there either)

THats pretty funny lol.

Careful, under the new rules, that might come under "spamming"

i May be wrong

I really don't see how that counts as spamming Stevie

No, it isn't spamming, it's just a bit of humour, which is always good.

Spamming is more the 'in before the close' or somehting liek that.

well fair dos, but you never know, im certainly being careful about what i type

well fair dos, but you never know, im certainly being careful about what i type

Nah Stevie, it's definately not spam, just a bit of humour. The rules thread would give you a good idea of what is spam & what isn't. You certainly don't have to be that careful about what you type

...and I don't even like tinned meat!

...and I don't even like tinned meat!

^^^^

Humourous spam?

Surely off topic.

^^^^

Humourous spam?

Surely off topic.

It's off-topic, but surely not spam!

I give up. 0_0

Don't even get me started on the Monty Python scetch

Seriously though, I think that the "community" could help more with patch hosting.

I got my 9.3 patch from FileFront. The downloads figure for the week was only 300 or so. No waiting and it was a fast download. Someone always uploads the patches to Filefront, so it's always worth doing a search there.

Of course, you could ask: Why must the responsibility be on the community to upload the patch? SI have been looking at alternative hosting solutions since the first FM games; and since FM08 they haven't hosted a patch as the first choice destination.

This very question has been nagging me since FM07; I even created this poll (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=105137) which shows that although Steam is a popular option, and will probably become more popular as time passes by, there's a demand to download the patch in the 'old-fashioned' way.

The demo was hosted through Gameshadow (both versions, despite the rigamorole of going through the NotW website to get to the strawberry version), and was an extremely popular download when first released: it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that demand levels and bandwidth requirements weren't too dissimilar to the first days of a patch release.

The Rapidshare arrangement can't last forever - at worst the Daily Mail gets hold of the story on a slow news day and puts its own particular spin on it: "Is Football Manager Leading Our Young Astray? Shock as teenage boy directed to "Facebook for Sex" website. "I was so disgusted, I spent 5 hours browsing that site" said his stunned father.

I'd like to think that FM10 marks the version where SI (or Sega) became a little more professional in how it hosts patches and downloads. They do so much right, but what's the point of going to all that effort to prepare the patch if you can't download it for fear of having a long discussion with your parents about your web browsing habits? Or somebody even more scary, like the HR department of your employer over web use policy breaches?

Maybe their first action could be to approach Filefront (or similar) to have an 'official SI download area' with a promise about what type of adverts would be hosted there. When I download the patch, I want to feel as confident as I can that it is the one that SI intended.

And it isnt exacty rapidshares fault, yes they may advertise this horrible site.

But does this site do enough to ensure it does not fall upon young eyes?

in my experience these sites merely just have an introductory page, asking the viewer to press green or red to confirm if they are over 18. (dont hassle me, im sure there was a time when you were all sexually curious as a lad, and this was years ago)

These sites themselves need to be more secure, it is far too easy for young people to pretend they are an appropriate age.

And it isnt exacty rapidshares fault, yes they may advertise this horrible site.

But does this site do enough to ensure it does not fall upon young eyes?

Almost certainly not!

in my experience these sites merely just have an introductory page, asking the viewer to press green or red to confirm if they are over 18. (dont hassle me, im sure there was a time when you were all sexually curious as a lad, and this was years ago)

These sites themselves need to be more secure, it is far too easy for young people to pretend they are an appropriate age.

No comment!

It would be in SI's interest to be a bit more selective about their hosting providers in this case. As has been said above: Filefront are (possible) alternative; other high bandwidth server options are available. I'd assume SI are gaining experience with high bandwidth, high demand servers with Football Manager Live

I predict FM2010 will bring about the turning point for this problem

Your prognostication may well be correct.

Given the ever growing quantity of people using the internet, those buying FM and naturally needing to download the patches, SI will need to make sources of availability far easier. Just look at the quantity of people moaning on the forums within the first few days of each patch release.

I mentioned Filefront, purely because it's a decent site and download speeds are usually very good. I don't normally bother with the torrent sites so soon after a patch release because there's never enough file seeders to cope with the demand. Also, I've never been a fan of Rapidshare because unless you sign up to premium membership, speeds aren't the best, plus as the OP posted, perhaps not the most ethical regarding what they allow to be advertised on their site given the potential viewing audience.

Clearly the best option would be to look at hosting with the "clean" host sites and more of the gaming sites, but in quantity. Forum members could also offer their support by hosting patches if they have the facility to do so. Obviously in that case, SI could quite easily "screen" potential hosts.

It would be in SI's interest to be a bit more selective about their hosting providers in this case. As has been said above: Filefront are (possible) alternative; other high bandwidth server options are available. I'd assume SI are gaining experience with high bandwidth, high demand servers with Football Manager Live

I know very little about FML so I could be shooting very wide of the mark here but I think sega rather than SI host FML. From what I can see in the maintance forum the downtime notifications are normally posted by Sega staff rather than SI staff.

I hope that SI and Sega can come up with a better hosting solution for 2010 and beyond. It didnt effect me personally because I use steam and will do next year if available for the same reason.

Unfortunately my "home" system which I have FM installed only has a dialup speed connection. Good enough for forums and email, but rubbish for downloading. So I'm one of those people for whom downloading from sources other than STEAM, is vital, usually on my laptop with a mobile 3G connection, where I can get 3mb connection and downloaded the latest patch at a speed of over 300kbps from FileFront.

It's the same with other software I have that requires automatic updates built into the software. For that reason I'm always appreciative of the fact SI make the effort to provide alternatives, but they could improve. That's why I looked at other alternative sources such as community uploaded options.

I like the idea of using STEAM, but can't until the Spanish telecommunications industry get's it's backside into gear, catches up with the rest of Europe and sorts out rural internet access.

I know very little about FML so I could be shooting very wide of the mark here but I think sega rather than SI host FML. From what I can see in the maintance forum the downtime notifications are normally posted by Sega staff rather than SI staff.

Ah - for the sake of clarity I'm stating SI and Sega as interchangeable. It is in, for example, Miles' interests to approach Sega with suggestions of improvements to patch hosting and to convince them to fund them, and then it's up Sega to find the most equitable and suitable solutions. But SI are now wholly owned by Sega.

I like the idea of using STEAM, but can't until the Spanish telecommunications industry get's it's backside into gear, catches up with the rest of Europe and sorts out rural internet access.

Swap "Spanish Telecommunications industry" with "British Telecom" and you could be describing the UK!

There's going to be sufficient demand for 'old school' patching methods for some time that it's still in SI's (and SEGA's) interest to investigate and implement more suitable methods of downloading the patches. STEAM is a big step forward though.

I could be completely off the mark here... but doesn't sega host patches for all the medieval total war games? This is also a huge release worldwide and if I remember correctly the first patch was a large file size. How can they have enough bandwidth to host the patch from that game series yet not enough to host the fm patches?

Total War now uses Steam.

Total War now uses Steam.

Good game that by the way.

I think FileFront would be the best option for downloads or even gamershell.

Total War now uses Steam.

My bad. I had no idea it had changed - I haven't played the second one for quite a while now.

Empire Total War looks like it will be good as well but I think I'm close to taking the tread completely off the original topic.