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Article is in Dutch and I'm at work so can't look for an English one right now but I'm sure it's out there.
http://www.nu.nl/internet/3386647/game-of-thrones-breekt-downloadrecord.html

Anyway, it had over 1 million downloads in it's first 24 hours.

Now the interesting thing is, HBO sees this as a compliment and says it doesn't effect DVD sales and that it's part of the system. They are perfectly happy with this.

It also rated through the roof, and is assured a fourth season (assuming it hasn't already got one).

I'm just impressed that they played it in Australia within 2 hours of the US air time.

Is it me? Or have I missed the whole 'Game Of Thrones' phenom? It seems to have passed me by... But seeing as HBO are happy with people 'sharing' it, I think i'll go off and see what all the fuss is about.
Hey, if I like it, I'll buy it....

 Soladrin wrote:


Now the interesting thing is, HBO sees this as a compliment and says it doesn't effect DVD sales and that it's part of the system. They are perfectly happy with this.

And they would be right to do that. All the evidence shows that the most downloaded shows are also the biggest sellers and generally the biggest downloaders are also the biggest spenders.

I downloaded the first two series of GOT and I loved them so much I bought the boxed sets On Blu Ray.

I'll have to look into downloading. We streamed it last night and the quality/buffering was annoying.

This nifty guide to the many characters will help the new viewers. (maybe spoilers, but I don't think so.)

Removed due to language.
Reds8n

Not sure if good thing or bad thing.

With the magic of Google Translate

Game of Thrones breaks download record
The first episode of season three of Game of Thrones has regard download traffic several records were broken. Within 24 hours the BitTorrent file over a million times.
Moreover, the first episode at the peak by more than 163,000 people simultaneously shared.
That according to data from TorrentFreak that looked at the number of downloads for BitTorrent files of the episode. BitTorrent is a popular way to share files. Include the Pirate Bay puts them to use.
According to TorrentFreak, an episode has never been shared by so many people simultaneously. The old record was held by the series Heroes with 145,000 people who shared an episode simultaneously.
Netherlands
Most of the more than 1 million downloads for the Game of Thrones episode were from the United States (12.9 percent), followed by the United Kingdom (11.5 percent) and Australia (9.9 percent). Netherlands is 4.2 percent at position 6, just behind France and Canada.
HBO, creator of Game of Thrones , leave a comment also know the high number of downloads as a compliment to see. The series was throughout 2012 even the most downloaded show. The sender claims that the downloads do not adversely affect the DVD sales and it goes with.

It's a show that's been renewed after it's season premier every year. Season 4 was approved already and it hasn't been 48 hours since it was shown. GoT is a beast.

That said. I really enjoy the show. I think a big part of it is the casting and the slight alterations they make. Characters oddly grow or make more sense so far in the show. An excellent example is Sansa who I loathe in the books but as the show has progressed I like her more.

Also the doing away with some of the ridiculous sub stories is also nice. Granted, they added a few but I felt like it cleaned it up.

Crazy how many people torrented it. Not surprised though.

it's a show about midgets and naked women .. what's not to love?

I'm glad HBO is cool with sharing.. now they just need to get their stuff on Netflix already...

 LuciusAR wrote:

 Soladrin wrote:


Now the interesting thing is, HBO sees this as a compliment and says it doesn't effect DVD sales and that it's part of the system. They are perfectly happy with this.

And they would be right to do that. All the evidence shows that the most downloaded shows are also the biggest sellers and generally the biggest downloaders are also the biggest spenders.

I downloaded the first two series of GOT and I loved them so much I bought the boxed sets On Blu Ray.

I did this too. Though there is no legal way for me to watch it. Bloody Virgin media not having Sky Atlantic! Also, my massive wall of DVD's speaks for itself.

I've only seen the first two episodes. I've decided that I'll by the boxed sets when I get a job and more money.

Are we discussing the show itself here or is this just a thread for talking about downloading?

I've just watched the first episode of the new series and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely. Book wise I'm only half way through Clash of Kings so I've no idea how loyal it is sofar.

 Hulksmash wrote:
Also the doing away with some of the ridiculous sub stories is also nice. Granted, they added a few but I felt like it cleaned it up.

Some of the stuff they added is really good, for example ( Arya/Tywin season 2/A Clash of Kings spoiler):

There was an article - I'm at work so I can't look for torrenting related articles - where while most of the HBO guys say, flat out, they won't go after downloaders because it's working out well for them; one guy does point out that they have to wonder, if the sold the show for 99 cents, and some fractional percentage of those downloaders then bought the show for 99 cents, could they have afforded more CGI? One more scene with the dragons?

And I found it interesting because it was totally, utterly, said from a pie-in-the-sky, "wouldn't it be nice if" viewpoint one reserves for sentiments like "what would I do if I won the powerball?"

...and totally not with even a hint of being a utterly realistic thing that the guys holding this discussion had nearly 100% of the ability to actually make a reality if they wanted to. They totally and wholly have the ability to sell the show, right now, via streaming, via any number of outlets that will convert some unknown percentage of those downloaders into paying customers, a base from which they are currently generating zero revenue and would require no actual cost to attempt such, since they're already filming the show and broadcasting it . I mean, there might be reason why it's not in their interests to do so, I suppose - but like zero percentage of that even entered the conversation.

I would happily pay $1 for an episode of GoT. I'd pay $2, even. I do not know how much revenue that HBO gets from a subscription, broken down on a hypothetical per-episode basis, but I am reasonably confident that it is less then $1 or $2.

I think TV is really going to be awesome in 5 or 7 years, when they finally start rolling it this way, when more stuff gets crowdfunded like Veronica Mars, when the line between broadcast, TV, and web programming is pretty much gone.

Game of thrones does amazingly well with it's rather small budget, I belive the third season's budget was around 50 million, that's not a lot of money to produce 10-11 hours. The special effects for the giant in the first episode were amazing, it looked real.

It helps that they are quite sparing with their special effects and expensive set pieces.

LordofHats wrote:It helps that they are quite sparing with their special effects and expensive set pieces.

They learned their lesson from Rome.

Ah yes. Rome.

The feels during Tywin & Tyrion's meeting!!! I wanted to hug that handsome little man and tell him it didn't matter that his father was a dick, the world loved him!

 Kovnik Obama wrote:
The feels during Tywin & Tyrion's meeting!!! I wanted to hug that handsome little man and tell him it didn't matter that his father was a dick, the world loved him!

Okay, so litterly, HUGE SPOILER HERE!!!


The more you see of Tywin, the more you simply end up despising him entirely. With a father like him, it no wonder Cersi is the vile, cruel & spiteful b she is...
Most of Westeros going strait to hell in a giant hand basket is due to Tywin.



As for the rest of the season, look out for episode 9, which is titled 'The Rains of Castamere'...
...wonder what that's all about now?!

Experiment 626 wrote:
As for the rest of the season, look out for episode 9, which is titled 'The Rains of Castamere'...
...wonder what that's all about now?!

With what it's rumoured that that episode is... I was pretty numb to character deaths by that point in the books, considering how many die. But that part shocked me.

That part shocked the author, let alone his readers. Episode 9 will be interesting for people who have no idea what's coming.


And I can say that I am now downloading this season. I usually go to my parent's place every Tuesday, and I've been watching it with them. Given that it means I'll be a day behind (rather than a few weeks), I don't see any reason to scramble to download it on Monday night if I'm just going to see it the next day.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
That part shocked the author, let alone his readers. Episode 9 will be interesting for people who have no idea what's coming.

In wonder if some will think it jumps the shark.

Ugh... now I feel like I should pick up the second and third book (dropped the series after book 1)... Because I want to know what's going to happen in that episode because you guys are teasing the information...

I want the next f-ing book already!

 Alfndrate wrote:
Ugh... now I feel like I should pick up the second and third book (dropped the series after book 1)... Because I want to know what's going to happen in that episode because you guys are teasing the information...

Game of Thrones is a complete break from tradition for me. I'm the kind of the guy who has ALWAYS either read a series of books and seen the movies/show, or seen the movie and then gone on to read the books.

GoT doesn't do it for me, though. I don't know why it is, but I couldn't even get through the first book. Maybe I'll try again this summer.

I don't understand the universal acclaim for GOT. There are far too many charectors and the plot is all over the place.

infinite_array wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:
Ugh... now I feel like I should pick up the second and third book (dropped the series after book 1)... Because I want to know what's going to happen in that episode because you guys are teasing the information...

Game of Thrones is a complete break from tradition for me. I'm the kind of the guy who has ALWAYS either read a series of books and seen the movies/show, or seen the movie and then gone on to read the books.

GoT doesn't do it for me, though. I don't know why it is, but I couldn't even get through the first book. Maybe I'll try again this summer.

I was 18 when I read the first book, and I got attached to a few of the characters in the first book and when they died I stopped caring about the books. That was 6 years ago, and I binged watched the first two seasons and I was hooked, even after the events that caused me to finish book 1 and not pick up Book 2... I've been enjoying the tv show immensely...

BryllCream wrote:I don't understand the universal acclaim for GOT. There are far too many charectors and the plot is all over the place.

The plot is this: Political Intrigue and T&A... that's all you need to know.

 Alfndrate wrote:

The plot is this: Political Intrigue and T&A... that's all you need to know.

It's political intrigue written by someone who's only source for human motivation is other peoples' novels. And I have a gf thanks