Pros and Cons of Different Go Servers

[@JohnWaltz]

Wow! Was really not expecting to this to happen so soon after asking you! Thanks!

[@InSente]

No problem! This was a relatively easy vid to make and I was busy this week so it fit perfectly XD

[@zes3813]

wrg

[@TheSamuelCish]

Watching your videos, Go makes sense. But the second I get into a game, I forget everything I learned.

[@InSente]

lmao ME TOO and I'm the one making these things!!

[@Sarverin]

Hey, love the videos you put out. They've been a great help! I don't think I would play go at all if it wasn't for them. It's been a while since the last video, looking forward to the next!

[@JohnWaltz]

For OGS their "Rooms" are Groups. can be private or open

[@ChristopherRodgers]

I will add, the chat channels for the groups show up in your chat window.

[@billedwards7215]

Thanks for the reviews. GoPanda2 has one feature I particularly like: They keep archives of all your games which are publicly available, unless you are Japanese. Japanese registered players' archives are private, hidden from others. When I asked why, I was finally told it was because Japanese pay for the server. OH!

[@Burps___]

Bill Edwards OGS has that, too. Free.

[@derhkist]

A very good video indeed ... a small suggestion to people that do not have much time AND, despite that, like to apply as much thought as they can in a move/game, in order to get better, you can try DGS ( dragon go server ), which is only correspondence games and there is a running ladder/tournament which will guarantee you at least 4 concurrent games at all times. The players there are very diverse, from people that are online all-day and just like to think 20 minutes per move, from people that just log in and play 2-3 moves per day whenever they can. this means that even on double digit kyu level, you will be facing mostly reasonable and well thought, and not silly moves made out of haste or byoyomi pressure ...

[@samweiss3248]

Nice video! Additional reasons why I like KGS are the kibitz culture along with reviewing with opponents after games.

[@letMeSayThatInIrish]

Should mention the legendary Score Estimator on KGS. The devs fine tuned it for over three decades to bring you the most accurate estimate of any game, in any situation. Pitted against Alphago I'm not sure who would win. I've seen SE kill groups with three eyes or more.

[@notmyname108]

C'mon! It's the cheapest shot. Constant complains on KGS Score Estimator are easy but so stupid. It just shows you have no idea how difficult is to programmaticaly find if group is dead or alive. They only should have allowed users to re-mark dead/alive groups in SE manually, that's all.

[@Martin_Gregory]

Thanks heaps for the vid and links. I went and tried them all. From a beginner's point of view, IGS is the worst. The features just aren't there: it's hard to control what sort of opponent you get, the board doesn't even have the annotation (B5 etc), there's no review-with-tree, to even start to review a game you have to "download" it, minimal details about other players available, crazy chat, where sometimes it's in the game window, sometimes not, unwelcome popups ("Net Social something?"). This is a real shame because the kind of "shape play culture" you described is something I'd like. Stark contrast to OGS, where its a slick all in browser interface, very good control of what kind of opponent you get and what kind of game you play, great stats about yourself and your opponent, fully integrated review system (including in-game what-if, if you and your opponent agree). You can just click on any game in your history or an opponents and immediately review it. As you say, KGS is clunky but functional - better than IGS, but even so to review an opponent's game you have to download it first, and the "rank graph" of KGS is very minimal. Tygem: couldn't try it since it's Windows only. Just my 2c, as a total beginner!

[@40441604]

great video! Any idea where you can find an up to date rank comparison for the different servers? The one on Sensei's library doesn't seem up to date.

[@Martin_Gregory]

OGS has equivalent review facility to KGS, with the tree, marking etc

[@LenixDe]

How can you possibly miss that "Chat" function on OGS when it is available via both of the main menus of the page?! :D Nice video anyway, thanks :-)

[@InSente]

hahahaha I tend to miss super obvious things, that's been a consistent trend in my Go playing as well XD I'll include a note in the video when I get home to correct it

[@Lenduya]

For beginners I'd also recommend the Fox Go client. Chinese client so it means there are A LOT of players and a beginner (even a DDK) won't have problems finding games. Pros: a lot of players of various skill, betting; Cons: awful alpha-level client, chat is useless due to constant announcements, mostly Chinese players.

[@Democriteo]

Chinese or japanese rules?

[@JimGeorgeBaker]

Can you play OGS on iphone?

[@andrewchen3247]

how does the leveling up system work

[@cook7772]

What's your OGS rank?

[@ein7720]

Oro baduk is also good. Sir

[@DiapaYY]

What? You just described the complete opposite playing style in OGS to what I've seen.

[@DragonfistGaming]

KGS is the best one and OGS the worst. KGS is great because the ranks are brutally accurate and the UI is simple. OGS is worst for the same reasons, confusing UI and a convoluted ranking system.

[@notmyname108]

Shut up... it's good that KGS has not updated the app!! What for! It's great! Updates for updates? 90% new versions of software just suck.