Lest we forget - this is one thing that can happen when well-meaning people try to “advertise” Go to non-Go players
Things can get real cringy real fast.
Because - folks in the West can attest that playing Go rarely involves drinking beer with handsome men and beautiful women in atmospheric cafes. For many Westerners, Go is a very solitary pursuit. When we try to explain our fascination with the game to our non-Go-playing friends, we are often met with confused looks, or patient / patronizing nods - “There they go - rambling about that crazy game again.”
I thought the fellow in the SUSD video summed it up really well
Unable to interest any of his gaming friends in his new passion - he realized that he would have to find GO FRIENDS - some rare group of people that shared his fascination with the game, just so he could have someone to talk about this stuff with.
No amount of packaging or smoke-and-mirrors is going to change the fact that this game has a wicked steep learning curve. I think if Go is to become more popular in the West, it will have to slowly grow inspite of that fact rather than by somehow ignoring it.