Kaya.gs had been down for about a month, and it looks like there is now a posting about it on their blog site.

http://kayags.blogspot.com/2013/10/about-kayags.html

To think, I was fool enough to waste $35 in order for those guys to have a year off work.

but the server did have Fischer time

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North Lecale

And a great escaper policy

But no business plan and no solid development strategy.
So the guys took the money, had fun playing around for a while, and then when the money run out moved off to more profitable things.

Not sure why people seem surprised.

What I find interesting, though, that ever since Kaya went belly-up, the attacks on KGS seem to have subsided both in number and in viciousness.
Coincidence? Possibly...

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- Bantari
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WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!

Who is surprised?

I don't think that is a fair characterization. Although I was always sceptical of the long-term viability of Kaya as a business, I do think they had good intentions.

I believe they did too.
But you need to have a plan when you leave your job.
As I keep repeatedly saying throughout the lifespan of Kaya.

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- Bantari
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WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!

More room for Nova then! A much much much better go server/website!

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我が道を行く。
I'll do it my way....

I think this is very true. I never got the sense off them that they weren't in it for any other reason than to make a go server. Unfortunately I never got the sense that they knew what they were doing either.

I don't mind giving them some money though, it was a nice experiment and the code might go onto other projects, or at least the concepts perhaps.

The least classy goodbye I've seen in a while. No thank you's and no apologies.

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Want to see videos of low-dan mistakes and what to learn from them? Brady's Blunders

How do you say a classy goodbye to something you had so much hopes for and what proved to be such a disappointment?
And apologies for what? Donating money? Putting time to test it? Or what? I don't get it...

For all its worth - I hope Kaya will be back, in some form.
Was a great project. All it needed was some solid structure behind it to soar...

But for now - R.I.P.
Life goes on.

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- Bantari
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WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!

Didn't they promise somewhere that if development ever stalls, they will opensource it?
Is it opensource yet?

(Appearently there's "openkaya" on github. Is that the complete code?)

I'm sorry that it did not pan out. Unfortunately, from the very first version I got to test, I knew it would never work out, the developers were not focusing on, in my humble opinion, important aspects of making a thriving go server / community. Things like UI, ease of use, and even community chat/rooms got a back seat to things like video broadcasts, fisher time and other things that could have been added later.
The UI is by far my biggest pet peeve. It looked nice but lacked simplicity and focus. KGS in all its ugliness and 90's java look just works in this respect, everything is very clear, the board, the stones, and the clock.

The features Kaya did manage to implement, were very impressive, but I am all too familiar with the "feature creep" problem in software engineering. Unless you get the most important features in first, they will never get in there.

Or maybe I am just a bitter old game developer who prefers my applications to run native in full screen and don't believe in all this fancy html stuff people keep insisting on is "write once, run everywhere". Now where did I hear that term used before...

(For full disclosure, I did back the project, something I do not regret, it had potential and I really want to see a go server that actually adds features and support tablets/future platforms)

I dunno, something like this?

And finally, I'd like to offer a few words to those of you who supported Kaya, whether it be through donations, bug reports, suggested improvements, or merely hanging out and playing. Thank you so much. It's not easy to create something brand new, but you encouraged us to keep trying, each and every day. And also, our apologies, we truly regret that this project didn't work out. We can assure you it wasn't due to a lack of effort, but if we were starting anew, knowing what we do today, there are several things we would have done differently. We promise to carry the lessons learned with us through our careers. If there is any way we can help you or others succeed in improving the world of go, just let us know. We promise to do what we can.

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Want to see videos of low-dan mistakes and what to learn from them? Brady's Blunders

Kaya is down/gone? Well that sucks. But, I think it is important to realize the what and why behind kaya.

I am a happy Kaya.gs meijin (I donated $500).

I felt it was important to do that to send a message.

Wow $500? What was the message though?

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North Lecale

"I have $500 that I don't need."

At least that was how I felt about my $35. That is how we all should have felt when donating money. I regarded it as about the same as dropping money on a roulette wheel, but far more entertaining to watch.
I think that I got my money's worth.

For my next long shot, I am going to watch a few Lakers games this year.
( But I'm not fool enough to bet $35 on them. )

Maybe I was a bit harsh. It was only $35 after all and I got some good entertainment from Kaya.