Most established groups, and many lesser groups release via IRC as well as bittorrent. Just like how they have dedicated seeds to distribute files when new releases come out, their distro section also includes leech bots for you to simply xdcc request them.Originally Posted by KrayZ33
Whether it's a rented server or not really isn't the issue. It's more about how much bandwidth they can offer, and the number of bots there vs downloaders. Lots of groups just ask for volunteers who have a heap of upload bandwidth to spare.
I'll definitely recommend IRC for older releases with crappy seeds. Depending on the series, I've found IRC bots to host files long after their bittorrent counterpart has died. Speeds are also fairly good. Again, this depends on whoever's hosting it.
would you recommend downloading fansubs via IRC?
At the same time, you'll have to wait in line for new episodes though, since there are only so many bots, and a heap of requests. Unlike torrents, downloaders can't help support the load unless they choose to voluntarily stay on the channel and serve that file as well.
In short: I recommend torrents for newer releases, IRC for older ones.
You'll find that some groups have been doing "IRC only" releases to encourage people to their channel and actually talk, rather than leech.
IRC is less bandwidth intensive too, with lower overhead data than torrents in general. It would be a good alternative if your (or your flatmate's) connection goes to shit when using torrents.
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