I’m puzzled why this is even being debated on. I would think it is glaringly obvious that having a tool that aids you in the game should be disabled in general until the post-game unless specified under settings?
Other servers like KGS and Tygem, both don’t provide analysis/review until after the game unless specified in the settings (for one of them at least, can’t remember which or if both). Afaik, chess servers don’t do that either.
Why people do people support analysis? To improve by being able to explore variations they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise and expand their mind? That’s fine and dandy but that very same tool that is allowing you to improve is also giving you an unfair advantage if the other person doesn’t use theirs! How do we ensure both use or don’t use it to ensure a fair and even match? Disable both!
“Bu…bu…but I wouldn’t be able to improve.” Then make your own custom setting!!! Or make it unranked/free then (free games could conversely have analysis enabled by default, because it’s a casual free game y’know)!!!
I’ll even go one step further and propose disabling of score estimation too. Why? It saves you the trouble of counting! Ignoring the fact that it’s not exactly accurate, it can still save people the time to count while on the clock by at the very least giving an estimate, giving an unfair advantage to the one who uses it. Particularly so in fast games. i challenge anyone to tell me what justification score estimation has in a game? I don’t suppose it actually improves your counting by helping your lazy brain do the work?
Even if we throw all morality and sportsmanship away by thinking using aids are justifiable simply because they allegedly improve your own personal game in RANKED matches and making it the norm, are we forgetting that you could potentially be RUINING the RATING SYSTEM by inflating everyone’s rank? Your 1D might very well be a 5k elsewhere who is just making very good use of the score estimator and analysis mode to not have to read out anything and simply play it all out. Unless the aim isto have an inflated rank system.
You might argue that I am imposing my view of zero aid as much as those who support game aid.
But unless we live in a world where ones skill can be enhanced by using tools without being deemed as cheating or unfair, the day where swimmers can once again wear those high tech swimsuits that can enhance your timing not by your skill but by the power of the aid, the day where Go players are free to use an empty board to play out moves beyond their reading or even use AI (hey if you talk about improvement, you could stretch it that far couldn’t you?) in official tournaments, then having analysis enabled in default games is expected. But we don’t live in such a world do we? Or is OGS some Bizzaro world where everything is the opposite?