A new server is being developed: Kaya.gs

[danielm]

Isn't 2ch.net the domain of 2chan? That would make sense then. Not that I know anything about these Japanese forums and how they are named.

Battle.net might be shortened because "Battle" alone is not a proper name. You can say "Kaya" much easier to refer to the server than "Battle". And Battle.net is already on the longish side with nine characters, while "BNET" also has a rather nice ring to it. Even so I doubt it would have happened if "BNET" would have been another well-known multiplayer gaming service already.

To name just one example I can think of right now, the popular Quake 3 mod Urban Terror could be confused as an acronym with Unreal Tournament. As a result, people always used "Q3UT" or "UrT" instead, even UrT players among themselves. Even if occasionally people wrote "UT" when the context was perfectly clear, there is absolutely no chance that this would have allowed Urban Terror to benefit from the popularity of Unreal Tournament in any possible way. The other way around would be far more likely.

People are not stupid, and in the case of Kaya.gs we don't even need an acronym. So I really think this is a non-issue. To me, "Kaya" is the obvious shortening of "Kaya.gs", not KGS, Kgs, or K.gs.

[Kaya.gs]

I Truly believe there will be no issue. But again, we are very flexible and we have a feedback section in the site where people can vote taking out the ".gs" or not from the name, which is what its being accounted for here.

The advantage of having that is that putting the name in the browser directs you directly to the website, as opposed to making a search and a click, which would happen if people didnt know it was .gs.


Changing the subject a little, we have confirmed our biggest sponsor. Kaya.gs has a Kisei now!. We are preparing a special golden stone to put in the tengen for that supporter. We are super psyched about his help.

He wants to be involved and help us in many ways other than money and we are happy to get such a positive response from the community and from early adopters.


Our fund raising is at 2345 confirmed dollars as of today. Our closest goal is 4000U$S which would buy us 2 nice months of 100% development. We are not far at all!

[Jedo]

I think it will really help fundraising if you can announce a tentative launch date, even if it's far in the future. That will make Kaya seem like a definite thing and will make people more likely to donate. Also, simple stuff like screenshots can help raise interest too. A sensei's page wouldn't hurt either.

I think this project is really great idea, and as much as I enjoy KGS it is plagued by the same issue that led GD to give way to L19.

[PROVOK3]

I think that a good way to make the server popular for other people is to offer attractive game play features not available at other go servers. Accessibility alone, in my opinion, will make the server gain users slowly.

I am no programmer and don't know how difficult each of these are to accomplish but they are certainly worth considering.

- Pair go feature.
- Fun go variants such as Malkovich or Batoo (this might involve legal issues), separate from real go ranking.
- System that easily organizes player made competitions and tournaments.

Thats my cent.

[tapir]

I think that a good way to make the server popular for other people is to offer attractive game play features not available at other go servers. Accessibility alone, in my opinion, will make the server gain users slowly.

I am no programmer and don't know how difficult each of these are to accomplish but they are certainly worth considering.

- Pair go feature.
- Fun go variants such as Malkovich or Batoo (this might involve legal issues), separate from real go ranking.
- System that easily organizes player made competitions and tournaments.

Thats my cent.

There are plenty of claims in this thread that don't stand a check. Many of the features mentioned are nice (and I want them too), but claiming they don't exist elsewhere is ridiculous. Pair go does exist on other servers (KGS). A tournament system is nice too, but it isn't unique either (OGS has a pretty nice one, though on turn-based servers tournaments have a slightly different feeling for you can't have many consecutive rounds.).

[Mivo]

I think this project is really great idea, and as much as I enjoy KGS it is plagued by the same issue that led GD to give way to L19.

In what way? Don had more or less disappeared, constant hardware/provider issues made GD unusable often, previously functioning features stopped working and there had been no communication over long stretches of time. Bill/wms hasn't disappeared, KGS works smoothly and there are frequent enough updates, so I'm unsure how these two situations are related?

I have hopes for Kaya because I would like to have an English/international-centric Go server that does not require Java.
A different escaper policy and a handful of extra features, such as Fischer or Bronstein time, would be fantastic, but KGS not having those, or doing this, is the result of the server's administration having a different perspective.

I agree that having a more specific launch date estimate would help to gather funds. Or a working, accessible proto-type. Or, well, *something* other than announcements and still images, with the source being developers that hadn't been active in the community before. That'd make me chip in money, too. But this isn't meant to sound negative: I'm definitely looking forward to Kaya.gs and wish the team the very best in getting the project off the ground.

[daal]

What i can confidently say is that the difference between KGS and KAYA.gs is bigger than the difference between IGS and KGS. And we are not looking to be "as big as kgs" we are building a server better than Tygem. Our goal is to be #1.

I take it from this that you see Kaya not just for the western go community, but also as competition for the Asian servers as well. Do you have any particular plans to attract Asian go-playing communities? Have you considered ways to facilitate communication, such as integrating some sort of automated translation?

[Kaya.gs]

I think it will really help fundraising if you can announce a tentative launch date, even if it's far in the future. That will make Kaya seem like a definite thing and will make people more likely to donate. Also, simple stuff like screenshots can help raise interest too. A sensei's page wouldn't hurt either.

I think this project is really great idea, and as much as I enjoy KGS it is plagued by the same issue that led GD to give way to L19.

I agree that having a more specific launch date estimate would help to gather funds. Or a working, accessible proto-type. Or, well, *something* other than announcements and still images, with the source being developers that hadn't been active in the community before. That'd make me chip in money, too. But this isn't meant to sound negative: I'm definitely looking forward to Kaya.gs and wish the team the very best in getting the project off the ground.

Any date we set today for a launch would be irresponsible .

As i said before, in october i will make a showcase on KPMC. However i understand your point, we are not putting a solid date to aim at at the site.I will discuss it with Polly.

We do have a proof of concept of the site. Any more advanced screenshots are for a later part of the application. Current kaya.gs is not stylized so it wouldnt look so nice (more plain html and default design).

As discussed previously on this very thread, by the time we show a working prototype, and interactible elements the project is in an entirely different phase. Of course it will help a lot with funding and we intend to keep crowd-funding in that stage. But the rewards will be different, or more expensive, because the project is more solid and promising.

Its an understandable caution, there will be a time and place for cautious supporters to help the project and the rewards will be according. Thanks for you cheering Mivo!

I take it from this that you see Kaya not just for the western go community, but also as competition for the Asian servers as well. Do you have any particular plans to attract Asian go-playing communities? Have you considered ways to facilitate communication, such as integrating some sort of automated translation?

Yes we plan to add some auto-translation features on the private chat, although im cautious on how helpful it can be .

The plans for the Asian community are in the making. As i pointed before, this very october i will spend some time in Korea to talk to professionals and see what are they lacking in current servers. The key to the asian community is getting the pros to play in your server.

[willemien]

1) I started a page on sensei's GoServerForTheFuture where everybody can add their wishes. and that it stays available for all.

at the moment it is a ripoff of GoSoftwareForTheFuture so it can do with a lot more. server ideas.

2) maybe an idea for KGS, add the website kiseido.gs as website.

[mohsart]

easygoserver.*, gskaya.*, I could go on but maybe people will start hogging...
I don't see the problem finding free domain names

/Mats

[JeansebL]

There are 47 contributors right now for Kaya.... That's great, but I say there should be at least 127. This way, that golden stone on the Board of Fame could be the ear reddening move

Come on guys! One move is 5 dollars, we can do this
And the founder accounts.... They are actually WORTH 35 dollars.

I will give a free teaching game to every multiple of 7 until we reach it ( 49, 56, 63, ... , 119, 126 ). If Im strong enough to teach you, just ask me on KGS with the account you chose for the Board of Fame.

Looking forward to see that ear reddening move!

[jts]

So, question: Go servers have network externalities. A server that is twice as big is far more than twice as useful to its users. By comparison the gains from not dealing with Java, getting your preferred overtime system, etc., don't add up to a heap of beans. Isn't the best case scenario that we just end up with one more server and fewer people using the average server?

[oren]

And the founder accounts.... They are actually WORTH 35 dollars.

Why are they worth 35 dollars?

I don't want to seem too cynical, but it's a lot more normal to have something working and then ask for money for improvements rather than the other way around.

[JeansebL]

No, best case scenario is the following: Kaya is great and many people start playing on it. Some teachers even start using it. These people start using the overpowerful community tools Kaya is offering and make it even better. Gradually, everybody ends up using Kaya.

Oh wait, this is not best case scenario, it's actually precisely what will happen

[JeansebL]

And the founder accounts.... They are actually WORTH 35 dollars.

Why are they worth 35 dollars?

I don't want to seem too cynical, but it's a lot more normal to have something working and then ask for money for improvements rather than the other way around.

Such lack of faith...
For me, the efforts they already went through are way enough to prove its gonna work. The rest is just easy programation. If they have the time and the money to do it, there's no way it's not gonna work.

The founder accounts are worth 35 because :
- You get to reserve the nickname of your choice
- You get to try the beta
- Your account is tagged forever with the proof that you supported such an awesome and ambitious project