I started playing go this week and i am completely disappointed in how the time ranges are configured….
How is it possible for a new player to play 5-10-15 minute games in go basically and (learn the game like that?)this goes for every format 9x9 13x13 or 19x19….
Creating custom games and waiting ages for somebody to join is not an option…
Because simply everyone can see my name and not join the game for example…
Why there are not more flexible timers and larger time ranges in every format to make everybody else’s life’s easier ?
Am i the only one having this huge problem basically ?
The automatch has some advantages like the anonymous side and automation. To get a pool of players enough wide, it has to be with the minimum possible settings. Some already complained that there are too many options.
The custom offers a lot more options but in that case you need to be more proactive and yes, people can chose knowing who you are.
There have been many many debates so please use the search before bringing these again.
On your wishes to get more time to play in the automatch settings, this is a common misbelief made by players discovering the game, to tell from my experience. They don’t have yet the tools to devote time for strategies and need mostly watch on basic facts like cutting connecting use the edge and stay alive when surrounded. So mostly check their liberties in the fights. I encourage them to accumulate exp with many games more as to try to fully understand what is happening in one of them.
I tried also the multiple tab to get some better (timers to play) but i always ended up playing 95% of the times 5 minute games from my side….because there is no specific button to choose from…Let’s say 20 minutes time only for me or 15 minutes time only for me….
My point is that i need to play as a new player games with available times 10-15-20 times (for my self) and not as a whole for both player sides.
That’s what i mean. The timers should be adjusted for new players like that.
I want to have a reasonable good amount of time to play.And so do all the new players i believe,
The timers right now are configured with (~) in between which means 10 minutes goes for both players 15 minutes goes for both players and in my opinion this is just not enough.
If you suggest that you could have more time as your opponent this has never been an available setting, on go servers at least.
I don’t expect any changes on this. The games have to offer fairness.
When you play with a stronger player it’s a compromise between you having too much to think and your opponent too less. But as I explained you before, beginners usually overestimate their needs and stronger get more patient as they think.
Are you aware of what 20 minutes + 5×30s means? I suspect not. It does not mean 22 and a half minutes. It is a time system called byo yomi and if once your main time of 20 minutes is over you play in 29s or less that 30s period replenishes. Such a game can easily give each player an hour of time. That should be plenty for you.
As a player who also struggles with the clock and uses the move submit button in live games (because I am playing on my phone and misclicks), I find byo-yomi much more forgiving than fischer at the equivalent time settings.
So my advice would be either use automatch with strictly byo-yomi settings or embrace the custom game and choose what you need to play to be comfortable.
Also remember that your opponent is on the clock too. The time pressure works both ways and they dont have infinite time to read out the exact tesuji to defeat your move.
I think there is some confusion about what happens when your main time runs out. When your 5 minutes run out, it will switch into a mode where you have 30 seconds per move. This will always be 30 seconds, so it doesn’t continue to count down from where it left off.
You are allowed to go over 30 seconds 5 times, which is what the 5 periods mean.
The other setting has 3 minutes + 10s, so every turn adds 10 seconds to your 3 minute time pool. So if you play fast, you could have 4 or 5 minutes by mid game. (a guess)
You can tell you are about to run out of time by it saying “SD” for sudden death in red on the side of your screen.
The ~ is just an estimation for how long a game will take. It could take longer, or be done quicker than that.
You can do exactly that with awesome flexibility: it’s called “custom game”. You pretty much described the exact definition of it.
You just can’t expect a huge pool of players to have your niche timer choice.
What you are complaining about is that it seems your preference for playing doesn’t match the standard choices, which have been tuned to give the most people the most games the most quickly.
This says “I want a custom game but I don’t want to create one”.
This is simply not true. Or at least you may not be able to, for personal reasons, but on our site players can.
Now we can close the case, having clarified that that the problem isn’t “in 2025 the site doesn’t have the options it should have”
In fact, it does (notwithstanding the small issues such as “standad byoyomi increment a little small”).
Have you actually tried? I don’t see custom games in your history.
I always do custom games and usually get a match within 30 seconds. A fancy color on your username might help attract attention, and you do have that.
However, 15 minutes absolute time is very unusual and might be driving people away. Looks like with that setting you get this scary warning on your game offer which probably doesn’t help either:
I recommend trying something normal like 2m + 20s Fischer, which should give you tons of time to think and will not show a warning. Also, if you use a low maximum time with Fischer, then if your opponent disappears in the middle, you won’t have to “wait ages” for the game to end, either.
I do recall when the “unusual time setting” warnings were put in place, but I can’t recall why a 15m absolute time game would have been deemed “unusual” - possibly even in error?
“Unusual” is intended to mean that “this time setting can be gamed”, like “0.5s + 0.5s” for example. where it’s not a game of Go, it’s a game of fast-click.
I haven’t played absolute but I understand it is really unusual, and it’s particularly vulnerable to stalling techniques. So I think the warning is justified.
The absolute setting has a drawback that other time settings don’t have so strongly which still exist with not so extreme settings as you mention. If you don’t keep the use of your time balanced with the time used by your opponent this may become lethal.
I understand that sometimes absolute can be useful like when you have an external strong constraint (for example you have a fixed short lunch break) but most of the time players like to avoid that additional way of winning and prefer to give a chance to be able to finish a game properly.
