A Series Of Questions Part 2

[often]

10. How would you react if you were the one that discovered Sai? (Hikaru no Go related)


I'd beat often at go club.

Bring it. haha

[Bantari]

By the way - is there any purpose to these questions?
Or just idle curiosity and the pressing need to start a thread?

[DrStraw]

The most interesting part of this thread is to see just how little people understand about the value of $1,000,000. If you live in New York City then that amount of money would be needed to just live there for ten years. No one would be able to afford the money to spare to do many of the things which have been suggested. It would take at least ten times that amount to be able to sponsor many of them.

[Kirby]

The most interesting part of this thread is to see just how little people understand about the value of $1,000,000. If you live in New York City then that amount of money would be needed to just live there for ten years. No one would be able to afford the money to spare to do many of the things which have been suggested. It would take at least ten times that amount to be able to sponsor many of them.

I agree with the idea that a million dollars is not sufficient to make much impact in some contexts, but I ignored this detail in answering the question.

In general, when someone asks, "What would you do if you had a million dollars to spend on <something>?", I simply presume that they really intend to ask, "What would you do if you had a significant amount of money to spend on <something>?". As time goes on, a million dollars becomes less and less significant, but to dwell on this seems to miss the intention of the question. YMMV.

[NatOm]

1. Do you eat or drink while you play Go? If so, what are your favorites?

If I'm particularly hungry or thirsty, I'll eat or drink something, but I don't have a habit of it one way or the other.

2. Do you have any nervous habits when you play Go?

Behind a computer? Not really. In person, I tend to tap my leg at faster rate than usual.

3. Do you think there needs to be another Hikaru no Go to spur more interest in the game? Why or why not?

Not really, Hikaru no Go didn't really have a lasting impact in Japan, so I can't imagine that a sequel or another version of it would have long-term impact either. Go is still viewed as something that old people do and is difficult to get into, so unless an anime/manga can affect that perception I don't think it'll do much good.

As far as outside of Japan, I suppose it the manga gets some Westerners interested in Go, but I think there are probably better ways to try and spread go.

4. How much time do you allocate to Go?

None, I play Go when I feel like it. Could be 3 or 4 games in a day or a week between playing.

5. What is your opinion on low level amateurs wanting declaring their desire to become a Pro?

If it was actually followed with hard-work and studying, I'd say more power to them. But if they are expecting to magically gifted with innate Go skills then I kind of ignore. They probably won't keep up with go anyways unless they are able to change their attitude.

6. Have you ever managed to convince one of your friends to play Go?

I've managed to get a few people I know to play a handicapped game with me, but they generally aren't interested in learning any more.

7. When is your favorite time to play Go? Morning, noon, or evening?

Night > Afternoon > Morning

8. Would you play a video game that simulated the life of a Go player from amateur to pro?

That would be entirely dependent on the quality of that video game. But probably not.

9. If you had a million dollars, how would you use that money to benefit the Go world? (Assuming it has to be Go related)

Open up a small bar/cafe/restaurant that also doubled as (or at least reserved space for) a go club. It probably wouldn't benefit the Go world all that much but at least I'd be involved in a business that I am interested in and could help potentially develop a local go community where ever I was.


10. How would you react if you were the one that discovered Sai? (Hikaru no Go related)

Seek professional therapy?

11. If you have one, who is your favorite reoccurring opponent?

Don't have one

12. Assuming that the US adopted the title system that Asian systems have, what would you like the titles to be called? (For the professional players. I admit I might be a bit behind here and I don't really know if something exists. So, I apologize if that is the case.)

I don't really care, but preferable something in English

[hailthorn011]

The most interesting part of this thread is to see just how little people understand about the value of $1,000,000. If you live in New York City then that amount of money would be needed to just live there for ten years. No one would be able to afford the money to spare to do many of the things which have been suggested. It would take at least ten times that amount to be able to sponsor many of them.

I agree with the idea that a million dollars is not sufficient to make much impact in some contexts, but I ignored this detail in answering the question.

In general, when someone asks, "What would you do if you had a million dollars to spend on <something>?", I simply presume that they really intend to ask, "What would you do if you had a significant amount of money to spend on <something>?". As time goes on, a million dollars becomes less and less significant, but to dwell on this seems to miss the intention of the question. YMMV.

I'll address this post in my answers to the questions.

1. Do you eat or drink while you play Go? If so, what are your favorites?
-Occasionally. Usually I'll have a Dr. Pepper while I play. I usually try not to eat, though.

2. Do you have any nervous habits when you play Go?
-Yes. I have a weird habit of cutting a deck of playing cards in my hands while I play. Then again, I have ADHD, so it tends to help me concentrate if I keep my hands busy.

3. Do you think there needs to be another Hikaru no Go to spur more interest in the game? Why or why not?
-Yes. Media like this helps promote interest in board games/card games. Look at what Beyblade did for spinning tops. Hikaru no Go brought in a lot of players back in the day, so I strongly believe something similar would be quite beneficial.

4. How much time do you allocate to Go?
-It varies way too much for me to give a solid answer. Usually when I'm active I give a few hours a day. But obviously not enough for me to improve.
5. What is your opinion on low level amateurs wanting declaring their desire to become a Pro?
-Er, considering I'm one of the people that did this and sort of faltered on it, I'm not in a position to say someone shouldn't.

6. Have you ever managed to convince one of your friends to play Go?
-Before I rediscovered Go back in 2010, I used to play with a friend quite a bit. It was nothing serious and he was the only one I played. We didn't have a Go board or stones, so we used a Scrabble board with fish bowl stones. Good times.

7. When is your favorite time to play Go? Morning, noon, or evening?
-Late at night when I can be left to my own devices.

8. Would you play a video game that simulated the life of a Go player from amateur to pro?
-You bet I would. I think that would be pretty darn fun. I imagine it being similar to, say, Tiger Woods' golf games. You pick a pro and lead them through a career.

Imagine the following modes:

1. Create a player- Create a player and guide them from amateur to pro.
2. Be A Pro- Select an established pro and play through a year as that pro.
3. Online- A basic Go Server would suffice. With the awesome pro gaming circuit, this could be interesting if it took off in Korea (like Starcraft or League of Legends). Maybe establish different leagues. There's so many ways you could work this.

9. If you had a million dollars, how would you use that money to benefit the Go world? (Assuming it has to be Go related)
-Okay, this is where I'd like to address DrStraw's post. I think people underestimate the power of a million dollars. While it doesn't go as far today as it used to, it could still go quite far. Imagine how many high quality Go boards that would buy. That helps promote the Go board sales. Then what if you gave these boards to local Go clubs. This saves them the expenses of having to buy boards. You could buy books. You could do all sorts of highly beneficial things with just a million dollars.

I guess it doesn't have long-term significance, but it would be a nice short-term boost.

10. How would you react if you were the one that discovered Sai? (Hikaru no Go related)
-I would let him lead me to the top of the Go world! And hopefully I'd learn along the way.

11. If you have one, who is your favorite reoccurring opponent?
-Don't have one.

12. Assuming that the US adopted the title system that Asian systems have, what would you like the titles to be called? (For the professional players. I admit I might be a bit behind here and I don't really know if something exists. So, I apologize if that is the case.)
-No idea.

[moyoaji]

1. Do you eat or drink while you play Go? If so, what are your favorites?
Sure. At my university club I usually drink a Brisk iced tea because the shop there sells 1 liter bottles for 99 cents. If I buy dinner on campus it will usually be Subway or a burrito from the Mexican food place in the food court.

My favorite food/drink for go, however, is green tea. I love the cliche and I like green tea, so if I can I will have that.

2. Do you have any nervous habits when you play Go?
Not that I am aware of.

3. Do you think there needs to be another Hikaru no Go to spur more interest in the game? Why or why not?
Does there need to be? No. Would I like there to be? Yes. I don't think we need manga/anime/movies to make people like go. Go is a game - it is fun by its nature. However, I think another mainstream entertainment piece based on go would help more people discover it.

4. How much time do you allocate to Go?
Maybe 1-2 hours a day on average. I usually spend 2-3 hours at my university club twice a week and will study/play on my own a few days a week. If you count times when I imagine sequences in my head, then I allocate several hours a day to go.

5. What is your opinion on low level amateurs wanting declaring their desire to become a Pro?
If they have serious ambition, it's fine. I don't see why amateurs can't strive for greatness. As long as they realize it will be incredibly difficult - almost impossible - then I think they can try to pursue it. There are greats who were told they could not achieve greatness, but there are also many stories of failed professionals.

6. Have you ever managed to convince one of your friends to play Go?
Yes, many times. I have played a game or two with at least 5 of my friends that I can think of right now. Have I ever gotten any of them to play long-term? No.

7. When is your favorite time to play Go? Morning, noon, or evening?
Whenever someone will play with me in person I will play. Seriously, if you wake me up at 4am to play go with me I will not get mad, I'll get my board. If not in person, usually I prefer to play online during the day in the early/late afternoon.

8. Would you play a video game that simulated the life of a Go player from amateur to pro?
Maybe. It would depend on the format of the game. If it invovlved playing a lot of go against a computer, probably not - but it would depend what the games were like (do the different computer players use different strategies or are the games really repetitive?)

9. If you had a million dollars, how would you use that money to benefit the Go world? (Assuming it has to be Go related)
If I had enough money that I didn't have to have a successful job to live then I would seriously consider opening a go center/go salon. I would love it if the Midwest had one.

10. How would you react if you were the one that discovered Sai? (Hikaru no Go related)
Assuming I didn't have to learn Japanese?
If I was Hikaru's age at the time I would have known of go from my middle school club, so I would probably have played games there with Sai's instruction. I would have seriously impressed my teacher and probably would have been courted off to play in tournaments or something.

11. If you have one, who is your favorite reoccurring opponent?
My friend James. I've moved passed him in skill, but I still consider him my rival. His reading is very good and the only thing I have on him is game experience and better knowledge of opening/life-and-death/endgame.

12. Assuming that the US adopted the title system that Asian systems have, what would you like the titles to be called? (For the professional players. I admit I might be a bit behind here and I don't really know if something exists. So, I apologize if that is the case.
Redmond would clearly be a title - there is already the Redmond Cup for youth players, but there would then be a Redmond title for pros. The west doesn't have any other long-standing pros of that caliber, so we couldn't really use family names like some of the titles. I'm not sure what else the US could use, honestly. Unless we want to go with things like the Liberty title.

[BaghwanB]

1. Do you eat or drink while you play Go? If so, what are your favorites?
Way too much coffee.
2. Do you have any nervous habits when you play Go?
Fiddle with stones in my hand.
3. Do you think there needs to be another Hikaru no Go to spur more interest in the game? Why or why not?
It'd be nice to see any surge in interest but something with broader appeal than a manga would be a very good thing.
4. How much time do you allocate to Go?
Too much.
5. What is your opinion on low level amateurs wanting declaring their desire to become a Pro?
"Good luck..." I don't want to shatter their dreams, but 99+% have no idea what they're looking at.
6. Have you ever managed to convince one of your friends to play Go?
Yes.
7. When is your favorite time to play Go? Morning, noon, or evening?
Afternoons are my usual time.
8. Would you play a video game that simulated the life of a Go player from amateur to pro?
Eh. I'd just rather play one with a good AI. Why play a game that simulates your progress in playing a game?
9. If you had a million dollars, how would you use that money to benefit the Go world? (Assuming it has to be Go related)
If it was $1m earmarked for Go, I'd see what could be done to promote and establish play in primary schools.
10. How would you react if you were the one that discovered Sai? (Hikaru no Go related)
Question my sanity and never play again.
11. If you have one, who is your favorite reoccurring opponent?
A stronger player at my club where we've been raising and lowering handicap stones for years (down to 6 now but I'm gonna get creamed!).
12. Assuming that the US adopted the title system that Asian systems have, what would you like the titles to be called? (For the professional players. I admit I might be a bit behind here and I don't really know if something exists. So, I apologize if that is the case.)
Go Czar, KOTH, Chuck Norris

Bruce "Answer Man" Young

[DrStraw]

9. If you had a million dollars, how would you use that money to benefit the Go world? (Assuming it has to be Go related)
-Okay, this is where I'd like to address DrStraw's post. I think people underestimate the power of a million dollars. While it doesn't go as far today as it used to, it could still go quite far. Imagine how many high quality Go boards that would buy. That helps promote the Go board sales. Then what if you gave these boards to local Go clubs. This saves them the expenses of having to buy boards. You could buy books. You could do all sorts of highly beneficial things with just a million dollars.

I guess you missed my point. It wasn't that $1m would not provide a lot of go-related material or services. It is that I don't think that as a millionaire I can afford to spend it on that without jeoradizing my future. After all, that is all there is to live on until I am 100 years old.

And I agree with the comment that it wa the idea rarther than the specific amount which was important. I juts thought that people really don't have a clue what $1m will buy and so it was worth pointing out.

[hailthorn011]

9. If you had a million dollars, how would you use that money to benefit the Go world? (Assuming it has to be Go related)
-Okay, this is where I'd like to address DrStraw's post. I think people underestimate the power of a million dollars. While it doesn't go as far today as it used to, it could still go quite far. Imagine how many high quality Go boards that would buy. That helps promote the Go board sales. Then what if you gave these boards to local Go clubs. This saves them the expenses of having to buy boards. You could buy books. You could do all sorts of highly beneficial things with just a million dollars.

I guess you missed my point. It wasn't that $1m would not provide a lot of go-related material or services. It is that I don't think that as a millionaire I can afford to spend it on that without jeoradizing my future. After all, that is all there is to live on until I am 100 years old.

And I agree with the comment that it wa the idea rarther than the specific amount which was important. I juts thought that people really don't have a clue what $1m will buy and so it was worth pointing out.

Well, the idea is that the million dollars would be purely expendable. I mean I know most people wouldn't use one million dollars on Go alone if they were handed that kind of money. But I imagined it being more similar to a budget that has to be spent on Go.

[Bantari]

The most interesting part of this thread is to see just how little people understand about the value of $1,000,000. If you live in New York City then that amount of money would be needed to just live there for ten years. No one would be able to afford the money to spare to do many of the things which have been suggested. It would take at least ten times that amount to be able to sponsor many of them.

A few comments:

• I generally agree with the gist of what you say, about people misunderstanding the value of money.
  
  
  
• What you say about NY is simply not true. I have quite a few friends there, making much less than that per family - and living quite comfortably. What you assume is that in NY you need a salary of around $100K per year (per person?) - and I know you can live well in NY for much less than that. Most New Yorkers do, I would guess. Compare average salaries in NY for: cab driver ($30K-$40K), teacher ($30K-$70K), police officer ($30K-$50K), security guard (~$30K), cashier (20K-30K), and so on... As a matter of fact - medium income per household (which implies a few people pulling their salaries together) is around $64K in NYC. If you can believe the internet, of course, heh.

• The way I understand that $1M question is - what would you do if you had this money *to spend* - i.e. above and beyond the resources you need for maintaining your standard of living. If all I had was that $1M, no salary, no prospects, and no other savings - I would surely not put it into Go, and I don't think anybody else would.

[thirdfogie]

1. Do you eat or drink while you play Go? If so, what are your favorites?
2. Do you have any nervous habits when you play Go?
3. Do you think there needs to be another Hikaru no Go to spur more interest in the game? Why or why not?
4. How much time do you allocate to Go?
5. What is your opinion on low level amateurs wanting declaring their desire to become a Pro?
6. Have you ever managed to convince one of your friends to play Go?
7. When is your favorite time to play Go? Morning, noon, or evening?
8. Would you play a video game that simulated the life of a Go player from amateur to pro?
9. If you had a million dollars, how would you use that money to benefit the Go world? (Assuming it has to be Go related)
10. How would you react if you were the one that discovered Sai? (Hikaru no Go related)
11. If you have one, who is your favorite reoccurring opponent?
12. Assuming that the US adopted the title system that Asian systems have, what would you like the titles to be called? (For the professional players. I admit I might be a bit behind here and I don't really know if something exists. So, I apologize if that is the case.)

1. I drink water to calm myself down during tense passages of play. I drink diet cola to keep myself awake in the afternoon or evenings.

2. Lots, including some I probably don't even know about. I am trying to stop myself fiddling with the stones in my bowl. Hitting the clock too hard when in time trouble is another bad habit.

3. Yes, but I have no idea what it could be.

4. If you include time reading internet forums and time spent travelling to clubs or tournaments, probably about 3 hours a day. The time has grown recently because health problems have left me almost house-bound. Must bite the bullet and start playing regularly on KGS.

5. Good luck to them. I hope the eventual crash and burn won't leave lasting damage.

6. No. I am a hopeless salesman, and a poor teacher.

7. No special time.

8. No. I gave up video games when I was 43.

9. I'd try to bribe John Farbairn into publishing dead-tree versions of his recent e-books, and to write (or complete) and publish a book on Go Seigen versus Sakata. JF is about the same age as I am, so he might be stubborn and refuse the attempted bribe.

10. The strongest player in my Go club gives me 9 stones. I'd let Sai play him through me once secretly and then confess. Long-term, it would be boring to just be responsible for placing stones at positions I had not myself chosen. Imagine that one had a strong computer player telling one where to play via implanted electrodes: it would be no fun at all.

11. There are several recurring opponents who used to beat me, but I now beat them or even give a handicap. I'm not going to name them!

12. I am from the UK, not the US. "Pearly Queen" or "Pearly King", depending on gender, would be nice.

[paK0]

Y'all might remember me posting a series of questions awhile back as a way to see how other players thought and promote conversation based on the questions asked. It was a lot of fun reading through those questions, so I figured I'd ask another round of questions.

Here are the next set:

1. Do you eat or drink while you play Go? If so, what are your favorites?
2. Do you have any nervous habits when you play Go?
3. Do you think there needs to be another Hikaru no Go to spur more interest in the game? Why or why not?
4. How much time do you allocate to Go?
5. What is your opinion on low level amateurs wanting declaring their desire to become a Pro?
6. Have you ever managed to convince one of your friends to play Go?
7. When is your favorite time to play Go? Morning, noon, or evening?
8. Would you play a video game that simulated the life of a Go player from amateur to pro?
9. If you had a million dollars, how would you use that money to benefit the Go world? (Assuming it has to be Go related)
10. How would you react if you were the one that discovered Sai? (Hikaru no Go related)
11. If you have one, who is your favorite reoccurring opponent?
12. Assuming that the US adopted the title system that Asian systems have, what would you like the titles to be called? (For the professional players. I admit I might be a bit behind here and I don't really know if something exists. So, I apologize if that is the case.)

1. I don't really eat, but I drink a lot. Either coffee or a mix of Coke Light and Water
2. Penspinning or biting the pen, but I do that whenever I have to think
3. Doesn't need to be, but it couldn't hurt(considering it is well done ofc)
4. Maybe two hours a day
5. No real opinion, if the manage it they obviously deserve it, if not then meh
6. no
7. evening
8. Most likely not
9. Generally trying to get more westeners to know about it, they then gotta decide for themselves if they like it or not
10. Maybe a lot like Hikaru?
11 + 12 dont know

[sekoj]

1. Do you eat or drink while you play Go? If so, what are your favorites?
- Water

2. Do you have any nervous habits when you play Go?
- Nope.

3. Do you think there needs to be another Hikaru no Go to spur more interest in the game? Why or why not?
- Can't hurt can it? Other than make some more already grumpy individuals a little more grumpy

4. How much time do you allocate to Go?
- 1 hour every 6 months to 70+hours a week .. very on/off

5. What is your opinion on low level amateurs wanting declaring their desire to become a Pro?
- Dreams are allowed, are they not? (Though I do snigger at them in private)

6. Have you ever managed to convince one of your friends to play Go?
- For a short time yes, think one got to 14kyu. Sorry I am not doing so well at recruiting.

7. When is your favorite time to play Go? Morning, noon, or evening?
- Evening!

8. Would you play a video game that simulated the life of a Go player from amateur to pro?
- Cannot image anything like that working, but would probably give it a go.

9. If you had a million dollars, how would you use that money to benefit the Go world? (Assuming it has to be Go related)
- Open a local Go center

10. How would you react if you were the one that discovered Sai? (Hikaru no Go related)
- Ask the men in white coats to take me away.

11. If you have one, who is your favorite reoccurring opponent?
- Anyone strong!

12. Assuming that the US adopted the title system that Asian systems have, what would you like the titles to be called? (For the professional players. I admit I might be a bit behind here and I don't really know if something exists. So, I apologize if that is the case.)
- Not american, so not really interested. You have little history, even less so with the game. So it is bound to be some kind of commercial naming.

[Tim C Koppang]

1. Do you eat or drink while you play Go? If so, what are your favorites?
2. Do you have any nervous habits when you play Go?
3. Do you think there needs to be another Hikaru no Go to spur more interest in the game? Why or why not?
4. How much time do you allocate to Go?
5. What is your opinion on low level amateurs wanting declaring their desire to become a Pro?
6. Have you ever managed to convince one of your friends to play Go?
7. When is your favorite time to play Go? Morning, noon, or evening?
8. Would you play a video game that simulated the life of a Go player from amateur to pro?
9. If you had a million dollars, how would you use that money to benefit the Go world? (Assuming it has to be Go related)
10. How would you react if you were the one that discovered Sai? (Hikaru no Go related)
11. If you have one, who is your favorite reoccurring opponent?
12. Assuming that the US adopted the title system that Asian systems have, what would you like the titles to be called? (For the professional players. I admit I might be a bit behind here and I don't really know if something exists. So, I apologize if that is the case.)

1. Generally not. However, I recently taught Go to my old college roommate. For the most part, we play seriously online. However, when we get together, we'll have a beer over a game.

2. I like to hold a stone in hand, which I know is poor form, but you asked for a nervous habit!

3. Don't know, but I'd certainly watch it, just as I did the original show.

4. I'll play a game a week, read these forums, and work through some problems each week if time permits. I'm a casual player.

5. Aspirations are a good thing! They drive players to pursue a great game. Besides, they often quickly learn what a daunting task pro-level play really is. Why dash their hopes prematurely?

6. Yes! See #1 above.

7. Afternoon or evening. But I wouldn't rule morning out either.

8. Hmmm... probably not, but I'm not the most dedicated video game player anyway.

9. Tough one. I'm interpreting the question rather open-endedly as just a really big pile of cash to blow. Off the top of my head, I'd probably look for a way to (a) integrate Go into public education, and (b) set up a charitable foundation that promoted Go and helping people in need. Associating the game with good works seems like a positive way to generate interest.

10. My hope would be that I react in a similar way to that depicted in the show. Either that or I would seek out therapy when I realized I was seeing ghosts.

11. As of right now, it's my college buddy. Again, see #1 above!

12. No idea. I'll defer to my more experienced colleagues for this one.