How can we make online go more social?

[Subotai]

I was pondering on the issue of why do I prefer playing go on a real board so much more than online. Besides from the aesthetic and tactile beauty of a good board and stones I came to the conclusion that my distaste from online play comes from the lack of interaction. Many go online go servers have very limited chatting capabilities. We are all probably familiar with playing a game of go online and having the entire conversation consisting of "hello" and "gg."

I think go could be a lot more enjoyable to people if there was a place to communicate and talk about go in a more social format. Doe anyone know of any ventrillo or teamspeak server where people talk about and discuss go?

[Knotwilg]

I think the problem is essentially unsolvable:

- in clubs you have nice opponents, but you only meet weekly and there are only a few of them
- on servers you have many opponents, but only a few of them are communicative and/or really nice; and the internet works like road traffic: nice people suddenly behave like a*******

There are a few things you can do:
- meet up with people online whom you know
- don't expect pleasant surprises when playing someone for the very first time
- don't set time settings like 45m + 15/5 when the opponent could be yet another escaper

[leichtloeslich]

well you can just teamspeak/skype with your opponent while playing, no?
I think it's a bad idea to incorporate video chat into a go server (that's a kaya gs OUR GO SERVER CAN ALSO LAY EGGS AND SING OPERA type of idea), text chat really is enough.
In fact, I had the experience that playing online with people you know offline is kind of similar in terms of atmosphere/chattiness as over the board play.

[goTony]

You could start a Google Hangouts room, for chat during the game. However I do not think it would be useful. If your concentrating on the game your not chatting and who wants to hear kibitzing?

It would be of use for teaching or demo though.

I think you have hit on something here though. People need people. We need connections, laughter, smiles, touch etc... Computer GO is great I can play with a stronger player in Korea or China halfway around the world. But it is missing the tactile and human element. Our club meets officially once a week sometimes I send out an email, inviting people to play at the local bread company/ coffee shop in the morning. I have to say it is a lot of fun. But how do you get that online I just do not know....