Thank you, will give it a try for sure …
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I’m a 14-15k player and I was intimidated playing against humans. First handful of games I felt like I was ripped apart. It made me not want to play against humans for a long time. I still get this irrational fear time to time.
The best thing to overcome it is to play more games and watch how other people play. Youtube is great because there is plenty of people willing to share their thought process and give suggestions. Clossi Game Reviews is the best series so far that goes into simple ways to improve.
What I love about playing humans is you get a more fair games then with a bot. Humans are alive, thinking and are able to respond to your moves. Sometimes those responses are wrong and it opens up all kinds of play you couldn’t get with a bot. For example, I can feel when my opponent is playing way too safe and allows me to push more than I normally should. It could be wrong theoretically but in that instance it’s fine because I know how my opponent will respond.
Also your matchmaking rank is a tool to help you. It doesn’t matter if you are 25k, 10k or 5d. The only purpose it exists is to get a fair match. Your opponent most likely knows as much as you do in the game. Sometimes you will win and sometimes you lose. Losing rank isn’t bad because it means your next game will be easier. Naturally you should rise in rank and be proud of the progress you are making. Just don’t take it personally when it knocks you down again. You still have those skills.
Sorry if it seems like I’m talking a lot. I’m just talking to myself to remind myself it’s not that bad to play other people.
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Well thank you for you input Mr. Squid and I will keep this in mind. And when you think about it, chess, baduk and so on are game that were mean to be played between two humans beings. So there is something more special about all of that when you do it. And probably learning process is way more faster and interesting…
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Going off experiences from other games, bots are unnatural. They often have to be dumb down so we stand a chance. In first person shooters they are program to miss their target. What I have read from other people is bots in Baduk often makes perfect moves and random ones to make them more fair for weaker players.
Humans always a goal in mind (even if it’s simple single response moves). They are not just going to randomly play on the first line to assert dominance. There is normally some follow up like connection, cut, reducing your territory or establishing their territory in mind.
But yeah, ultimately the goal is play other humans so it just makes sense to practice against them.
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I see! Well so far at beginning level I feel like I cant get much from them … So human games to come, and enjoy the ride…as someone earlier said
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OGS can help you with that, actually 
in Settings->General Preferences there is an option to hide ranks and ratings this way you don’t know if you’re playing stronger or weaker and it helps take the psychology and doubt / arrogance out of your game
totally optional, of course but just thought I’d throw it out there in case you or anyone else is interested
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Oh I didn’t know that! 
Thanks
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be warned, as a beginner, it also takes away the dopamine hit of ranking up… so if motivation and encouragement are something you struggle with, it could be a double edged sword
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Wow five smileys in two paragraphs by @BHydden.
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wow… I normally try to add more variety to my emoji 
I’m still eating breakfast and having my first coffee though, and didn’t even notice 
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Its 1am and I could use some coffee! Joys of isolation! 
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i started when i was 6 ( i am now 9)
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