Life In 19x19

billchiles wrote: I have had people (before I understood the UI) change my 30-40 min / side game to a one min blitz game. Sure, I was clueless but the very act of that sort of swing seems ridiculous to me. I've had people escape rather than resign, which leaves me sitting there forever if I don't want to be marked as escaping.

its been a while since I've actually played a game online, but I don't think you have to accept the suggested time changes (but it probably takes some getting used to the UI)

and you don't have to wait for an escaper. Just consider the game won, and move on. The first one to leave, is the one marked.

oren wrote:

billchiles wrote:I have very very little experience playing online.

For you, I suggest using the Seattle Go Center room and asking for a game.

LOL. Not very many people in that room though.

And if its just me and oren, oren might play you, but I probably won't

billchiles wrote: I have heard of but not experienced people being directly rude and insulting if someone is playing slow, which I don't understand if the rude person signed up for more clock time.

I had problems with this too initially, but found the following to solve this.

1) Only apply for games that are 20 mins+ with at least 30 seconds x 5 for byo-yomi.
2) When I open a game, I always write (No blitz, No ~ plz) in the text box usually with a +/-1k.

xed_over wrote:

billchiles wrote: I have had people (before I understood the UI) change my 30-40 min / side game to a one min blitz game. Sure, I was clueless but the very act of that sort of swing seems ridiculous to me. I've had people escape rather than resign, which leaves me sitting there forever if I don't want to be marked as escaping.

its been a while since I've actually played a game online, but I don't think you have to accept the suggested time changes (but it probably takes some getting used to the UI)

and you don't have to wait for an escaper. Just consider the game won, and move on. The first one to leave, is the one marked.

They still have escapers on KGS. I don't think I have played an escaper on IGS, I wonder if it has something to do with the server policy. I have had disconnects, but after five minutes they convert to a W.

IGS doesn't consider a game with less than 4 moves, so you may just resign if something goes wrong from the start.
You may also mail admins to judge your game scoring.

bgrieco wrote: There IS something different about the guys who hang on each server but I can't really specify what it is.
KGS folks seem really concerned on what your exact rank is. I had some problems, being called a sandbagger, while adjusting the rank.

I think there's two effects here - one is that on IGS communication between players is usually just "Hi" and "Thanks for the game". These people just want to play games, and let's be honest even if they thought you were a sandbagger/overrated/go-playing cat you would have no idea what the other person really thinks because it's never shared. KGS has a decent amount of these people as well, but I'll agree IGS has a much larger percentage. The second thing is that those who chat on KGS are much more likely to be those who play fewer games, and thus worry about the results of specific games, try to find justifications for outcomes of single games, etc. (If you play 20 games/day rapidfire, it's hard to get stressed out about why you lost game #4 of 20...if you play 20 games/year it's easy to dwell on all of them). The result is that if you are reading the chat, you are more likely to see the thoughts of a disproportionately high number of people worried about sandbaggers, escapers, cheaters, and curiously adept felines.

I like yahoo's Go server. Kind of cutey and weirdy.