I hope this marks a recovery for KGS. Last time I tried playing there, it took forever to wrangle cooperation out of that dismal java client and then, once I could log in, I found the tone of the place to be completely toxic.

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Poka King of the south east.

It is hard to get a game... (I've rather played on OGS lately - but there ranks are like random)
At least there are some bots to play on KGS.

Last time I was on KGS it was with a new account 'cos my previous one had deactivated due to inactivity, and none of the bots were active right then so there was nothing I could do to get a rank. Automatch won't pair you with anyone, and every time I tried accepting someone's open challenge they immediately refused the game. So I went to the Help Room to explain all that and see about getting some games to establish a rank. I won't ever forget the answers I got:

"Awww, don't cry"
"LOL you want a cupcake?"

Of course, I immediately logged off. I'd spent over an hour and a half trying to get a game of go and failing.

Completely toxic place. No way would I ever go back there.

I play exclusively on OGS now and, though it has its oddities, most people there are not jerks.

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Poka King of the south east.

FWIW I had precisely the opposite experience the last time I tried to re-establish my rank on KGS.

Maybe you were just luckier than me.

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Poka King of the south east.

Most people are not jerks. Unfortunate you had a bad experience.
Yes, enjoy whichever venue you prefer.

I agree. I had a handful of bad experiences on KGS when I started, but it was an unlucky draw. Overall, my experience has been very positive.

That said there does seem to be fewer players at the DDK level. I often couldn't get a game, but since I broke into the SDK range, I haven't had any problems. If this is generally true, it might be a good thing for the new owners to focus on. There are only two routes to building a larger customer base: convince existing players to spend more time on KGS than other servers or recruit new players. Seems like KGS's existing strengths in teaching could be effectively leveraged to do the latter, but it would require some focus on the DDK range players. Seems like this would also fit well with the goals of the new owners as well.

I really feel you there. The presence of some nasty people were the single biggest reason why I all but stopped playing on KGS completely.

It didn't matter much that it was the most popular western server at the time, or whatever state the software was in. It's been years since, and KGS continues to bleed out players.

In my (very subjective) opinion, that's at the very core of the problem, which no amount of remake will revert. It remains to be seen whether the new administration is willing to do something about that problem.

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My accounts:
OGS · KGS · DGS · Little Golem

A bit strange, we dont have this problem in the French Room(ecept 3,4 trolls of Hikaru No Go wave, several years ago, who are not more here).
As Blindruck say, i this this is unluck, insist a bit, for me KGS's community is the strongest point of the server(for fr )

Ironically, I've actually been rethinking my comment! I still agree with the general statement -- the KGS good significantly outweighs the bad, and if someone has a bad experience at first, it might be worth sticking it out a while longer because things will likely get better.

That said, I think this misses a more important point in TheBigH and peti29's posts. No matter what the ratio of good to bad actually is, the negative experiences are sufficient to have deterred two players from continuing with the server. Said differently, while some of us may be willing to continue with KGS given the current ratio, there are players who are not. Ergo, this is a dimension on which KGS could focus to recruit users.

One thing to ponder could be OGS's default setting of no handicap. First it was strange but then the more I think about it the better choice it seems. It puts less emphasis on proper ranks (and given the inherent inaccuracy of ranking systems, that's a good thing).

KGS is still my "home". I've been playing on it (on and off) since 2002. But every now and then my account gets deleted due to the long breaks I tend to have in wanting to play go. And then it's really cumbersome to get my ranking back because people flat out refuse to play '?'-s, and when there are already fewer players online that makes it really hard to get a game.

In fact, i must agree that the problem with "?" rank and also with "~" is really exist. No one wants to play with them. That's why I do not show this signs in GoUniverse in the challenge window.
The purpose of these symbols is not achieved, on the contrary they repel players IMO.

For me its normal and moral to not want play with ~ players, its the ~ who are egoists.

Automatch is an easy way to get a game if a question mark or tilde is discouraging people from accepting your challenges. The game starts automatically without the opportunity to reject or be rejected by your opponent, and I rarely have had to wait long for a game - though that might differ depending on your rank and time zone.

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Patience, grasshopper.

But that is exactly the purpose of the tilde (~). Because it is important for a go community to make sure that weaker players have the opportunity to play stronger players, kgs tries to discourage people from refusing to play with weaker players by marking them with a tilde as being somewhat obstinate in that regard. It is not accidental that such players may find it a bit harder to get a game. It is a feature, not a bug.

As to the question mark, it does make it harder for new users to get a game (they could avoid the problem by using automatch - I don't know if that has been implemented yet on GoUniverse), but it also serves a purpose for players who want an even game and trust the ranking system to provide them with a well-matched opponent. Note also that kgs has a ranking room to help new users establish their rank.

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Patience, grasshopper.

There are good features, there are bad features. This is a bad one, i'm talking about "~" sign. There are only few people who rly care about go-community, but most other people just want to play, but somehow they now that "~" is something bad and refuse to play. BUT just the same people are absolutely calm with "~" opponents on other servers and do you know why? Because there is no such a stupid "black mark".
Just the same point about "?", any player can set any rank on any other server and start a game in a minute, but not on KGS. On KGS YOU WILL HAVE TO play your first game as "?" and your opponent doesn't know even your own prediction of your rank. That's why noone want play a rank game with a "?". And oh my God if you won't win this game you will have to play the next game as "?" too.

Automatch is not a solution, because for example on 3d-4d level it's not so easy to find a game with automatch.

For almost 16 years of being on KGS i can say next. KGS is the HARDEST EVER PLACE to play a ranked game for new players (and not only for new players).

OGS limits my choice of opponent, KGS gives the option to reject challengers. OGS forces me to finish games with unpleasant people (e.g. insulting you in chat), KGS allows me walk away, but people might walk away from a game w/ me as well. W/ both sets of policy some people will complain about it. One set of people is unhappy about off-topic chatter, another feels victimised when moderations hits the chat (and occasionally them). Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

I would try communicating, people do not take challenges by unrated players because often enough they had an obstinate beginner waste their time in a badly mismatched game and refusing to end it quickly. Not everyone considers this a good use of their Sunday evening. Give an honest self-rating and challenge players around that rank and you might do better.

In the CGoban client, only players with a higher rank can see the tilde.

~ black mark is not a problem, you just have to play with less good ranked players.
I am always ready to help ? players with their rank.
I will never play with a ~ guy who have lower rank and i'm happy KGS give us this information, very good feature.

You didn't get my point of view. I'll try to describe:

1. Good feature: Letting people to check extended opponent profile, where he can check how often user plays with lower than him and how often user plays with higher level that him
2. Bad feaure: Mark player with some bad bad bad bad bad bad bad mark. Like he is doing something wrong, or he is sooooo bad.

Players with "~" doesn't do something bad to mark them with "black mark". Just let people play as they want and do not put the "black mark" on them. If you rly care about go-community, then check user archive before the game.

Playing only with black is not egoism, perhaps he is training or want to study some fuseki. Does this mean this player is bad? Ofcourse no. But system marking him with black mark. Are you kidding me?

About "?"
It should be reworked, if new owners want the count of online players as much as on other servers. Just let player set his own prediction of his rank, something like "4d?" or "1k?". And do not erase it because of inactivity.