The most duplicated cursors in the library

Published by Vlasta about 3 hours ago.

Now that the cursor library was updated and uses hashes internally, it has become much easier to identify duplicate content. That made it possible to generate a list of the most repeatedly uploaded cursors currently in the library.

261x

156x

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29x

The most duplicated cursor is actually no longer in the list. It was, unsurprisingly, the completely empty cursor. There were thousands of them before the recent cleanup removed them.

Looking at the remaining entries, the results are not particularly shocking. Near the top are the default cursor created by the online cursor editor, followed by various standard Aero and Mac cursors uploaded over and over again by different people. Apparently many users independently decided that reuploading the operating system defaults was an important contribution to the archive.

To be fair, in some cases, people modified/recolored some cursors in a set while leaving the remaining ones untouched to have a complete set. Others were likely just experimenting with the editor or testing uploads.

The library is not going to block duplicate uploads entirely, but I may introduce some measures to reduce endless copies of the standard cursor sets. For example, uploads that exactly match already existing cursors could be restricted for first-time uploaders, while still allowing experienced members to intentionally upload variants or archival copies when needed. Another possibility is simply warning users that the cursor already exists and suggesting they modify or improve it before uploading.

The goal is not to discourage experimentation. People should still be able to learn how the editor and upload system work. At the same time, it would be nice if the library slowly drifted toward more original content instead of becoming a museum of identical Aero arrows uploaded 400 times.

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