Would it be possible for a chart of downloads? I'd be really interested to see videos in a 'most downloaded' chart - It would also be a great way of discovering older videos. Maybe there could be an 'all time' chart, a 'last year' (covering the past 365 days) and (this month).
That's a very cool idea. Would it be per user name or per video? I know MM just had to change the rules on Wammer of The Day as the gorgeous bsmessybakery broke the Internet! So it might end up being a list of all one persons content. Not that I'm against that if theyre awesome let them be seen for it . Just my thoughts on it.
There has been a 'bestsellers' filter on the 'top downloads' category for many years now - you can find this beneath the 'bestselling download' (top right, home page). The link is called 'more bestsellers' But there's no explicit ranking of the kind you could call a chart.
In answer to luna: I was imagining a chart which has filter options above it - like the videos can be filtered by 'latest' etc....
The list could be a list of videos according to downloads / purchases - maybe the number of sales could be shown (for the period and all time)
Then you could adjust the period filter and see the list change to reflect for instance... "All time sales" I would love to know what the biggest all time selling download on this site is.
I think the addition of charts would be useful in that it will help more users discover titles they would otherwise never come across (having missed the original release, not on their regular search terms) - it would give them a new way to browse content first and foremost.
Secondly, it would give producers a good indication of what is trending and historical performance. It could minimise financial risk on the part of the producer.
Thirdly, it may show us which models are the most popular and increase work demand for them, custom requests etc.
I agree, the comparative numbers might be fascinating.
The prevailing culture around the actual numbers involved has tended to err on the side of discreet. Not for any nefarious reason, but because the reality is, overall, that these numbers range from shockingly modest to embarrassingly small. It takes quite a small number of sales to be the top download. Therefore, by comparison, the less successful performances might actually be tantamount to public humiliation.
Store owners have a facility for drilling down and crunching these figures every which way for their own stores. So this is a stark reality. And creators talk to each other.
As with Wammer of the Day, there is a danger that explicit charting would lead only to a continuing 'success to begats success' model - giving further exposure to the already successful and pushing everyone else off to the margins.
I think this is why the current page (in my link above) is appropriately vague and, I think, with 'trending' and 'latest' already brings lesser known titles and new releases to the top. And moreover deliberately avoids falling into being another popularity contest.
The site does actually seek to encourage original and wide ranging content creation from all quarters - as this is not only its sole source of income (Messmaster has always been rightly proud that UMD has never resorted to third party advertising) but overall makes for a much more richly interesting range of material. Therefore we don't want to discourage the more niche providers from having a crack by effectively showing them up against the popular 'mainstream' ones.