I HATE playing go online

[nanthil]

I don't know what it is, I love go, I love the feel of the stones, and filling the board, I love the discussions at the end of the game with friends over some coffee, but I have never once had a good time playing Go online. When I play go in person, I could get rofl stomped, I could lose many times in a row to someone infinitely better than I am, and have a blast. I like the feeling of stones, and filling the board. Discussing the game with friends even if it was horrible and I made obvious mistakes.I love that!!!

BUT HOLY MO#$&*^&#$(*@#&ING SH*&@^#*(T I HATE losing online to some faceless detritus from china or w/e. These people do nothing but make aggravating overplays to lure you into getting curb stomped with shards of teeth laying around you lose so bad.

I was introduced to the game in COlorado SPrings, and there was a lone group of inbred, social inept people, with 3 really badass guys that I loved to hang with, and they taught me a lot about the game, and since they've all moved I can't seem to find a single person in real life interested in playing a game, not even interested in learning the game, let alone learning it's name. I have taught 3 or 4 people, and yet none of them have shown any interest past the first 2 or 3 games each. Does ANYONE live near greeley, colorado and want to meet and play IN REAL LIFE so I can stop this bull detritus online detritus?


I haven't played a game in almost a year because I hate playing online so much, I study, I do life and death problems all the time, half the apps on my phone are go apps. I watch pro games, I replay kifu, I love the game, but blast there is just no place to play here.

[EdLee]

BUT HOLY MO<expletive>ING SH<expletive>T
I HATE losing online to some faceless <expletive> from china or w/e.
These people do nothing but make aggravating overplays
to lure you into getting curb stomped...

Whenever I run into any difficulty, hardship, or adversity in life,
I never look at my own problems, weaknesses, selfishness, laziness, or stupidity;
I always blame others for their ridiculous behaviors and unfair advantages.
If only everyone was like me — the world would be paradise.

Also, please check out the Forum Rules .

[Shenoute]

Well, it seems you're pointing at two different things : playing online and people making overplays.

Making overplays is by no means restricted to online go players so you (will) have to deal with that also IRL.
Kageyama has some good words on how to react whan your opponent overplays, basically it's all about rejoicing because you're given the occasion to make him suffer

If you do not like playing online for other reasons than overplays then do not play online. I recently play less on KGS than before because I've noticed that people there are less polite than I used to remember. Opponents are treated like bots, cheating has become widespread and all of this gives me an uneasy feeling. Of course the wisest course of action would have been to learn from that and try to grow as a human being but I just got lazy and started playing an IGS

[nanthil]

that's really what I was getting at. faceless nameless people treating everyone like trash, no forgiveness for a 5 year old laptop mouse that misclicks all the time, and really just horrible ui's also, with horrible sound. it's the year 2014 and the best go ui was one that nobody played on the xbox 360? Why does everyone still use a 1990's modem era chat prgram with a board attached called KGS? It's horribly programmed, unintuitive and ancient....

SO yeah i have other problems with playing online. I WANT to play in person, but as i mentioned nobody wishes to learn let alone play once they learn

Seriously check out path of go for xbox 360, it's a beautiful UI especially in HD and the method for placing stones meant NO MISCLICKS... but unfortunately my nly opponent was the BOT. I mean there's even animated people sitting at the board, with great audio... I don't understand why kgs is still a thing.

[Knotwilg]

How can we help?

edit: bear in mind that "nameless faceless people from China or w/e" may have a command of English equalling your command of Cantonese "or w/e". As a US citizen you may have become used to the idea that the world converses in your native language, but especially with nameless faceless people from China, I wouldn't take that political fortuity for granted any longer, not to mention the people from w/e.

[Uberdude]

Regarding misclicks on your laptop, are you aware of the KGS mouse anti-slip system? It might help.

You might also try playing slow games and playing out the game on a real board at home (I think Ed does this). This way you get the tactile experience you value. Also in my experience online unpleasantness is rarer in slow games. Also rather than just playing in the EGR, try joining a club/lesson room like the Beginners Room or KGS Teaching Ladder with a more social atmosphere. Games there will probably be nicer.

But you should try to approach this with an open mind, as if you go into it thinking "I hate playing Go online" then your negative attitude will simply become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[DrStraw]

Well, to be honest, I think that with that attitude I would not even play you if you lived next door.

You need to calm down and learn to enjoy both go and life more. There are lots of good people online but if you don't make a point of looking for them you will not find them. Also, if you are that desperate, Greeley is only an hour or so from Fort Collins and Boulder and both have active clubs.

[Bonobo]

• Cf. http://senseis.xmp.net/?OnlineGoAnxiety
  
• Slow correspondence games, for example on ☯GS (OGS, Online Go server, online-go.com
  
• First perhaps play with people you “know” (virtually)

I’ve been affected with OGA, too, similar symptoms: no problems with losing Real Life games, but anonymously it is hard and sometimes gives me tachycardia … so for the time being I switched to slow correspondence games, and the very most live games are with people I’ve made acquaintance with already and also “talked” a few words with.

I’m aware that all this probably shows how neurotic I am … but since things are how they are PLUS I live in a Go diaspora I needed to find a way to be able to play Go online


Greetings, Tom

[deja]

I HATE losing online to some ...w/e. These people do nothing but make aggravating overplays to lure you into getting curb stomped with shards of teeth laying around you lose so bad.

I've always found Warrior/Elementalists to be rather pleasant chaps, albeit a bit violent at times. YMMV

[Bonobo]

Oh, and BTW, I don’t see any need to blame anybody else for my OGA, and, as said, I think it’s “just” my own neurosis. Anybody else have the same right to theirs And if somebody beats me in Go, they simply played better than I did, no need to put them down

Greetings, Tom
thinks that neuroses are spread evenly among people no matter their ethnic roots

[Shenoute]

that's really what I was getting at. faceless nameless people treating everyone like trash (...)

You seem to idealize "real life" go (maybe because you only played with friends?) and see only the bad sides of online go.
As I said in my first post, you will also encounter people treating you like trash IRL. In fact, some of the most unpleasing people I met were go players.

And there's also the fact that you have the possibility to buy a new mouse and thus eliminate this source of anger/frustration. Have you realized that people might be annoyed by constant undos because it makes them feel like you're not paying attention to the game or because it breaks their concentration or because they start reading sequences just to have you play another move? It is well possible that at this very moment someone is posting on a chinese go forum and complaining about western "detritus" constantly asking for undos...

[often]

These people do nothing but make aggravating overplays to lure you into getting curb stomped with shards of teeth laying around you lose so bad.

if that's all it takes to deter you to play go, then it will be very hard for you to improve

go is continually about stuff you don't know and stuff that people somehow get away with
take the loss, try to learn something from it, and play again
in 2 months that painful loss won't matter

another way of looking at it, is that its a way for you to prove your strength.

unfortunatley in this day and age, it will be near impossible for you to improve w/o playing some sort of Go online.

[Solomon]

BUT HOLY MO#$&*^&#$(*@#&ING SH*&@^#*(T I HATE losing online to some faceless detritus from china or w/e. These people do nothing but make aggravating overplays to lure you into getting curb stomped with shards of teeth laying around you lose so bad.

[Firebrand]

I recently play less on KGS than before because I've noticed that people there are less polite than I used to remember. Opponents are treated like bots, cheating has become widespread and all of this gives me an uneasy feeling. Of course the wisest course of action would have been to learn from that and try to grow as a human being but I just got lazy and started playing an IGS

Cheating, widespread on KGS? What do you mean by that? I never noticed anything like that. Of course, I mostly play slow games with 1k-2d opponents, so maybe that's a thing that only other ranks or blitzers suffer. In example, I frequently notice kyu players complaining about escapers, but almost never see them at dan level.
"Treating people like bots" is a familiar feeling from random opponents. Expecting anything more than "hi gg" and "thx" from them is too optimistic, but that was true even 7 years ago, not recent development as far as I can see. I solve this problem by hanging out in rooms dedicated to studying or club rooms. ASR League comes to mind as an excellent example. Want to play thinking opponent who will review it with you? Go to one of these rooms.
There are all kinds of different players online, and finding the kind you like to play with is, well, maybe not very easy, but not horrendously hard too.

[moboy78]

BUT HOLY MO#$&*^&#$(*@#&ING SH*&@^#*(T I HATE losing online to some faceless detritus from china or w/e. These people do nothing but make aggravating overplays to lure you into getting curb stomped with shards of teeth laying around you lose so bad.

I feel like all forums need to have moderators who act like this