My impression is KGS is frozen in time, barring whatever it is that kgsai.com represents. No other changes, no growth, no effort from AGF to fix that, and a slowly (or not so slowly) evaporating user base.
Is that impression correct? Does anybody else have any better information they can or will share?
I go back there once in a while but it seems like the sound problem will never be fixed.
Using shinkgs you could use this script for getting a stone sound
javascript:(function(){function beep(){var snd = new Audio("data:audio/mpeg;base64,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");snd.play();}function playSound( debug ) {if(debug)console.log('beep!');if(!debug) beep();}function hum(){ var getdec = document.getElementsByClassName('GameClock-running');var ppp = getdec[0].parentElement.parentElement.parentElement.parentElement;if(ppp.className.includes('white')){ lastcolor1 = 'white'; } else { lastcolor1 = 'black' };if(window.lastcolor == lastcolor1){ } else { playSound(false);window.lastcolor = lastcolor1; };}setInterval( hum, 350 );})();
Thanks but I don’t want a server to require me to use a custom script just to get stone sound 
its antiquated. The AGA should encourage everyone to move to OGS. It would also be great if the AGA hosted more events on OGS especially trying to get Michael Redmond and some other pros to play here. OGS is one of the best for practicallity and user interface, and options. But lacks strong players. And the lack of strong players becomes a cycle. This is where the breakthru needs to occur.
KGS deserves a lovely funeral. It was the best option for the Western player for quite a while.
AGF != AGA
I really miss the old days on KGS. I played there as a kid and have really fond memories of the communities, the chat rooms everywhere, and the friends (and rivals) I made. We talked and kibitzed way more than we played.
Coming back to Go on OGS, I don’t really get that same feeling. It feels much less lively to me, and more like a server just centered around playing correspondence games.
Michael Redmond is playing on OGS.
Often teaching on Sunday.
As a newbie GO player I did some initial research to try work out where the best place to play online was. Since I’m still in the process of learning Mandarin I’ll have to forgo the mainland China Fox server site for a while (it requires a Windows client app as well for Western players.. so rather old school). I was quite surprised to see the antiquated site for the AGF. It was clearly sprouting digital weeds unfortunately! So I gave it a miss. I come from the world of Chess with flashy websites like chess.com with dynamic and up to date HTML5 multifunctionaliity. The OGS site matches that ecosystem closer, with a more modern interface. So I chose OGS as my home base for GO. It looks like the AGF site is unfortunately DOA?
You should give Walrus Weiqi - Home a try. It runs beautifully on Linux, Mac, and Windows.
Even better, you can chat with the developer and other users on Discord at Walrus Weiqi
I never know KGS like some nostalgic people do.
Requiring a computer application software to play seems like a very old-school way.
Even website is starting to seems old, but screen size matters when you play go.
However shinKGS website is buggy. I wanted a web client for watching and playing.
So these 3 last days, i give it a try and created : https://kgs.keil-informatique.com/
Consider it a proof of concept, a beta. I plan to delete it soon. Take screenshots 
!
KGS is old, but that doesn’t mean it’s rubbish, and all these “KGS should kill itself so OGS can get all its users” posts are not only rudely presumptuous, they miss that KGS is still far better than OGS at some things, such as simuls as ben0 recently raised here.
Several factors have brought KGS from being the de facto place to play Go (if you were not from East Asia) to be struggling to survive as a Go platform. I’d say the main ones would be:
In the middle of this, OGS has captured many of the players that would otherwise have gone to play at KGS by default. This was a combination of hard work, opportunity and luck. For those who haven’t been around that long, pre-2012 OGS would be pretty much unrecognizable (it was literally a different server).
All of this is to say that I hope KGS survives.
I agree it is unnecessary and rude to kick KGS on the ribs while it’s down. Also it ain’t dead yet, far from it, even though it’s struggling.
By the way, watching a server become “on the brink of extinction” some time after being the uncontested top-dog should make people think that, one day, the same may very well happen to OGS.
Nothing is forever.
I just tried it. Is it correct, that you need a mail account from a shitty mass provider like gmail or outlook to get a verification code?
I’m sure it will eventually. Nothing is forever. But if you compare point for point, OGS isn’t similar to KGS in any of the ways that caused KGS to lose its incumbency advantage.
is he? Very good it is a start. Perhaps get some of his cohorts to play here rather than Panda…
Nothing is forever.
But some things are less forever than others.
I would also add to the list of problems (ageing infrastructure, lack of updates, and competition with other Go servers): overbearing mods. Personally it’s what drove me away.
It’s true. For now, the OGS teams seems to work hard to avoid those same pitfalls. There is a number of things that we could mention that OGS is doing well in comparison (or in general). There’s also a bunch of improvements that it could try.
One of the things that I do appreciate about this server is that, even though afaik no one has a full paid job to taking care of it, its team is reasonably responsive to feedback. You can see updates here and there, it’s not stagnant by any means.
I mostly meant that there are many factors outside of anyone’s control, so we should approach the issue with some level of humility, knowing that the future is not certain.
I think that’s definitely true about the OGS team. The open-mindedness and humility, and the general attitude of neutrality to any issue that isn’t essential to the mission of running a go server, is commendable. I’d guess that probably in the long-run it also earns a lot of goodwill from the player base, who learn not to treat every discussion as emotional or personal, since the mods/admins don’t encourage that kind of framing.