Sandbagging

[Javaness2]

What is the attraction? I'll be honest, I just don't understand what the attraction of ritually slaughtering beginners is. It seems to be very common in the Go community compared to other games out there.

[snorri]

You're talking about true, pathological sandbagging, right? Not just accidentally underrated players (which are pretty common.)

Yeah, I don't get it either. Maybe it's a power thing, like people who impersonate law enforcement officers:

http://www.macon.com/2010/01/10/980087/the-phenomenon-of-impersonating.html

Dr. Matthew Norman, a criminal forensic psychiatrist in Atlanta, said most people who impersonate police are drawn to power and authority but feel unable to achieve that in their daily lives.

[Shaddy]

Beating up on weaker players is just fun sometimes, I guess. Some form of sandbagging shows up in pretty much every competitive online game I've played.

[judicata]

Some people have enjoyed slaughtering the weak since the beginning of time.

If you aren't used to winning much, I can see how someone would get a rush out of it the first few times, but surely it would get old.

[swatters]

People that feel powerless in life need these kinds of outlets. They're sad and pathetic. Try to remember that when it happens to you. I pity the fools and feel fortunate that I'm not one of them.

[tchan001]

Some people are probably frustrated at not being able to rise above their current level for a long period of time and just want to relive the moments of rising quickly.

Some perhaps want to give lower ranks a taste of what it feels like to fight against someone strong.

Some playfully destroy their opponent and then resign to preserve their weak rank.

Others may play to punish braggarts who boast the sky while being a toad in a well.

[lovely]

Sandbaggers play to win. Non-sandbaggers play to learn.

[karaklis]

No need to complain about sandbaggers. You get a free teaching game.

If I am in a need to clobber without switching on my brain, I have Aya and GnuGo at hand which I play without handi stones then.

[Li Kao]

No need to complain about sandbaggers. You get a free teaching game.

In even games I see it the same way. But I get pissed if I have to give a player who is at least as strong as I am a handicap.

But in my experience most sandbaggers on kgs are guests. I was rarely sandbagged by a normal player.

[Javaness2]

No need to complain about sandbaggers. You get a free teaching game.

If I am in a need to clobber without switching on my brain, I have Aya and GnuGo at hand which I play without handi stones then.

Sandbagging is never a teaching game, come on

[Toge]

There is a player, mid kyu, who would play games against players who were 3-6 stones weaker than him without handicap. He would win most of those games and both players would have very small effect in their ranking. When he lost, however, the other player could get big enough boost to jump up in ranking.

I guess the guy likes winning, doesn't care about playing against stronger players and all the while provides opportunity for those players who feel they are underranked. Can we call this honest sandbagging?

[karaklis]

Sandbagging is never a teaching game, come on

I mean being sandbagged. You have plenty of moves to review where you could have done better.

[Kirby]

I do not typically intentionally sandbag, but below are three scenarios where sandbagging may be perceived due to my behavior:

1.) Getting a rank on KGS: Sometimes it is necessary to play weaker players on KGS to get a rank. You can try to get a rank with a bot or automatch, I suppose, too.

But I have in the past, attempted to challenge users that have game offers up, until someone accepts a game. It's not always the case, but in my experience, weaker players are more willing to play a [?] player than stronger players.

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2.) Earning a rank: When I started playing on Tygem, I didn't know much about the ranking system, so I intentionally put a rank that I thought might be too weak. That's because I didn't want to "cheat" by putting in an initial rank that was too high. That is, I wanted to "earn" my rank.

The same is true when I play in AGA tournaments. Even if I have improved online, I do not update my rank for AGA tournaments, because I want to "earn" my rank, instead of bumping it up by talk.

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3.) Trying to be humble: If I am playing with people that I know personally, I do not wish to specify my rank as what I think it really is, because I am afraid that, if I do not live up to my rank, I will be perceived as arrogant. I do not want to be arrogant, so I try to be conservative when indicating my rank to people I know in real life.

[daniel_the_smith]

3.) Trying to be humble: If I am playing with people that I know personally, I do not wish to specify my rank as what I think it really is, because I am afraid that, if I do not live up to my rank, I will be perceived as arrogant. I do not want to be arrogant, so I try to be conservative when indicating my rank to people I know in real life.

I think that is actually fear, not humility. "Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less." "Thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe they are ugly and clever men trying to believe they are fools."

[Bantari]

What is the attraction? I'll be honest, I just don't understand what the attraction of ritually slaughtering beginners is. It seems to be very common in the Go community compared to other games out there.

Not sure about that. In chess they have the issue of people using computer programs to play for them. For me that's the same thing - getting easy win, boosting your ego by easily crushing others, getting rank rewards, respect (until found out) and all that...

To me it all has roots in the same thing: rank chasing combined with low self esteem.
Same goes for escapers, and all kinds of other bad behaviors.