Why don't more people use Tygem?

[wineandgolover]

You lost the fight for a reason beyond reading, in all likelihood. Whether that be bad shape, unwillingness to sacrifice, whatever. The review might be short, but could just be, "Damn, why did I try to save those stones!?! They weren't even cutting stones." Get punished for this a few times, and you'll do it a lot less.

Even if you do just get out-read, the practice will still help you get stronger.

For the record, I am not thick-skinned enough for this, and would get annoyed, too. But, I wish I wasn't.

[illluck]

So why is Tygem bigger and more popular than WBaduk then? Just coincidence?

Tygem is most popular in Korea, but i'd bet it's not most popular in Japan or China.

Anyway, overall, Tygem has better features, more strong players, etc. I can't think of a single reason that wbaduk/cyberoro is better. There's also the snowball effect - when more people are on a server, it's more fun, so more people join the server.

But to be practical, why not try both servers and decide for yourself?

Actually, Tygem is most likely the most popular in China too (under "YiCheng").

[Mef]

they get in complex fighting and I can't read that far ahead.

...yet

[xoxo88]

For a thick skinned kyu, this seems a great way to improve fast. Play even games against people stronger than you. So long as you review each game to figure our what went wrong, you will likely improve in real skill faster than a system with no sandbaggers.

true. high dans give you lecture games? "thanks alot guys!" should be the reaction. why pros dont do that for lets say 5d ranks???

[Hades12]

When I was around 9k I would get demolished by the 18-15k Tygem players. Now at KGS 2k/IGS 4k, I've learned not to get fool by the overplay. You have to get accustomed to the play style, which is fast and aggressive. If you just make strong groups in the opening, most times you can punish your opponents thin shape. One thing I tried on Tygem that caused me to lose so much, was constantly trying to punish my opponent. In local fighting, typically my opponents have an edge, you have to play thinking globally. Sometimes you have to just let it slide. It taught me to not be greedy and hasty. Now I play at Tygem 1k.

[SamT]

Is there a way to research historical tygem games on the Tygem Ipad client? I'm still trying to get my hands on Cho U's games as Tenzaru2.

Or is the only way to get these to kludge together the PC app so that it works somehow?

[schawipp]

Today I installed Tygem on Linux under wine (BTW: the command 'winetricks mfc42' was needed to install the mfc42.dll, after that it runs smoothly). As otenki suggested I registered as 10k. After I logged in the first time on 'China I' I got a game request after about 2 seconds. My opponent played rather strange and offered my a "draw" during the game several times (because I was leading by some 30+ points). After I killed another group, he offered to count (which was technically not possible, because the game was obviously unfinished). After I declined counting, he managed to resign and escape simultaneously, i. e. when I wanted to leave the game window I was told that I have to wait for 5 min until he does not reconnect. Finally, I left the game window and had to click on a resign button to do so. The game was anyway counted as win. In summary - feels a bit strange - but I will keep trying.

[SamT]

I just had someone lose to me by 30 points, and then play slow (maximum timeout for each move) for another 2 hours until the board was full, and then pass and disagree with the final count over and over for another 30 minutes, until my iPad crashed too many times and I was marked the loser. (BTW, there seems to be a glitch/exploit where if you pass and disagree with the score three times, whoever passed first crashes out if they're on an iPad.)

So... I would counter the title of this post with: Why does ANYONE play on Tygem? It seems to more than it's fair share of cheaters who are completely willing to be dishonorable to get a win they didn't deserve or earn.

[mimano]

As far as this bad experience is concerned, I guess it also has to do with the level at which you and I play - at this beginner level, the respect for the game and for the opponent is probably much lower than at higher ranks, and you get this kind of behavior. I just had some pretty nasty experience on another server recently, twice in a row, so really, no server is free of such people.

One thing that might be helpful though from my experience: adapt the server you choose to the time - KGS is probably better in the evenings (European time) than in the afternoons. and conversely for the Asian servers, best in the morning/early afternoon than in the evening european time.

This being said I must say my experience on tygem has not been amazing so far, and this, combined with the fact that it would be quite hard to communicate with an admin, makes me avoid paying there for now. From what I have read, the main interest of them is for dan+ players who seem to find a more substantial opposition at their rank over there. But that is light years away from my own concerns...[emoji4]

[xed_over]

2-1/2 hours? really?

It seems to more than it's fair share of cheaters who are completely willing to be dishonorable to get a win they didn't deserve or earn.

or players who are too stubborn to simply walk away, even though they deserved a win.

it was only one game. you could have played a half-dozen more in that same time.

[S2W]

IT is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation
To call upon a neighbour and to say:--
"We invaded you last night--we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away."
And that is called asking for Dane-geld,
And the people who ask it explain
That you've only to pay 'em the Dane-geld
And then you'll get rid of the Dane!

It is always a temptation to a rich and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say:--
"Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away."
And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we've proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.

It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray;
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say:--
"We never pay any-one Dane-geld,
Nor matter how trifling the cost;
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!"

[snorri]

The 2 1/2 hour problem says as much about the time control system as it does about the opponent...

[emeraldemon]

The 2 1/2 hour problem says as much about the time control system as it does about the opponent...

If a person is willing to be really stubborn, you can easily find 200+ moves by filling space, getting your stones captured, then refilling the space... If the time is set to a relatively fast 20s/move byo-yomi, 200 moves is still over an hour. The truth is the rules of go were never really meant to deal with trolling players like this. I really think the most reasonable solution is just to have mods who ban such players, but I have no idea how hard that would be on tygem.

Slightly off topic, but I've spent way too much time on League of Legends lately, and the problem there can be much worse since it's a team game. Imagine playing pair-go with someone who gets pissed off at you for making a move he doesn't like, so he intentionally plays suicidal moves the rest of the game

[Uberdude]

@SamT: If someone is a jerk like that, why waste your time entertaining them? Just resign and do something productive with your life.

[mitsun]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimatum_game
Some people will offer a highly unfair split.
Many people will harm themselves in order to not reward that behavior.