Hello OGS Community,
I know what you’re thinking: “Oh no, not this again!”. We’ve been down this road before, but hear me out. I analyzed 340,000 recent OGS games, and the results are… interesting, to say the least. It’s crucial that we revisit the conversation about automatch time settings on OGS. Let me lay out the case and share some compelling data to support what many of us have been feeling for a long time.
Before you roll your eyes and reach for that reply button, I encourage you to read through this post entirely.
What the Data Shows
In this sample pool, the most common Custom Game Requests are:
- 19x19 Custom Request (10m+30s): 11,108 games (198 hours/day)
- 19x19 Custom Request (5m+30s): 5,832 games (94 hours/day)
Compare these to current Blitz automatch options:
- 19x19 Blitz Automatch: 3,213 games (32 hours/day)
- 19x19 Blitz Fischer Automatch: 6,969 games (108 hours/day)
- 13x13 Blitz Automatch: 346 games (2 hours/day)
- 13x13 Blitz Fischer Automatch: 761 games (5 hours/day)
- 9x9 Blitz Automatch: 2,363 games (8 hours/day)
- 9x9 Blitz Fischer Automatch: 2,276 games (6 hours/day)
And for comparison, here’s how much Live 13x13 is played:
- 13x13 Normal Automatch: 11,265 games (132 hours/day)
- 13x13 Normal Fischer Automatch: 1,844 games (14 hours/day)
Main insights from the data:
- Custom requests for 10-minute games are 6 times more popular than the default Blitz option.
- Custom requests for 10-minute games are 1.5 times more popular than 13x13 board Live games.
The data shows that players favor medium time settings through custom requests, far more than any blitz automatch option.
The Current Situation
Right now, we’ve got two extremes in our automatch options:
- “Normal”: This can easily turn into an hour-long game (great for serious players, not so great for casual ones and beginners).
- “Blitz”: This feels like playing Go while your pants are on fire, stressing out the majority of general players.
The displeasure with these settings shows in the data. A substantial number of players use custom requests to play games with 5- to 10-minute settings instead.
The default settings are not friendly for beginners: Imagine a beginner wanting to try out a 19x19 game. Not understanding what’s going on nor what to play. The beginner is going to use all their main time. So on top of all the confusion, the game is going to drag for over an hour. Not exactly screaming “play again soon!”, is it? Now picture them thinking, “Well… That was really long, let’s maybe try Blitz instead.” After waiting 8 minutes for a game (because let’s face it, not many people play this setting), they get a game with 10s byo-yomi. And it’s so fast they can barely blink their eyes, with a constant countdown pressure: 10, 9, 8, 7… Not very appealing either, right?
A Proposal for Better Balanced Time Settings
- Add a New Automatch Setting: “Rapid”
- Introduce a 5m+30s or 10m+30s automatch option. This term is familiar to chess players and fits the existing demand perfectly.
- Adjust Blitz Byo-Yomi Settings
- Current Blitz settings on 19x19 (5m + 10s), and similar settings on 9x9 and 13x13, are not catering well to either blitz enthusiasts or general players.
- Blitz enthusiasts might find a faster setting, such as 1m + 10s, more appealing.
- A slightly slower setting, like 1m + 20-30s, could be more attractive to a general audience. This is similar to the most popular time settings on the Fox Go server.
These changes align with modern gaming paradigms and appeal to a broader audience, especially beginners who might find hour-long games daunting. It also reflects popular time controls seen in other board games like chess, where medium-paced games dominate the player base. Let’s look at chess for an example. On Lichess server:
- 20% play Rapid 10m+0
- 17% play Blitz 5m+0
- 13% play Blitz 3m+0
- 8% play Bullet 1m+0
- 3% play Rapid 15m+10s
- 3% play Classical 30m+0
See the trend? Medium time settings are the most used ones. Longer time settings, such as Classical, and fastest time settings, such as Bullet, are not very popular.
Adding a new automatch option would provide a more attractive option for new, casual, and younger players. Which would encourage people who are put off by 20-minute games to play more.
Addressing Counterarguments
“Adding another automatch button will split an already small user base.”
- The player base is already divided. An enormous part of players are already creating custom requests for medium-length games. Adding a new automatch option for these popular settings would not split the base, but rather consolidate it by meeting existing demand. It’s a quality-of-life improvement for the many players who use custom game requests to find a 10-minute game. This change would encourage more beginners and new players to play faster game settings. While activity in Automatch may drop at first until players adapt, this is a very healthy change in the long run.
“If you want a faster game, play Blitz.”
- There’s a significant difference between medium-length games and Blitz. Blitz is too fast and stressful for many players, while 20-minute Normal games are too long. An intermediate setting like 10m or 5m would provide a more balanced option.
“Just create a custom game with any time setting you want.”
- Currently, a single custom request is 6 times more popular than the default Blitz Automatch button. That’s not how it should be. In the modern, user-and-beginner friendly server, the majority of people should use the automatch button. The custom request method is far from ideal for new or casual players. It’s convoluted and discouraging for beginners who would benefit from a one-click automatch experience. Having to create a custom game just to play the second most common time option is not very user-friendly.
“OGS is traditionally for more serious players and slower games.”
- While OGS has a history of hosting slower and correspondence games, it has evolved into a central hub for all western Go players. That’s the place where every western Go player starts. Catering only to slow game enthusiasts alienates a substantial segment of the player base. A faster option would attract and retain more players, especially beginners.
“Normal mode is the most popular, there’s no need to change anything.”
- Default settings inevitably dominate usage statistics. They are literally promoted on the main play page. However, the significant custom request numbers for 5 and 10-minute games showcase a clear demand for a faster, more accessible option. And even without main play page promotion, they are already 6 times as popular as the default Blitz option.
Conclusion
Implementing these changes will:
- Provide a more balanced time control option, which data shows is highly desired.
- Improve user experience for existing players.
- Likely attract and retain more beginners.
- Encourage more frequent play, crucial for the growth of the server and Go in general.
For those about to argue against the changes, consider this: Why can’t we have a button for 5m/10m time settings that are already half as popular as Live automatch, but we do have a Blitz button that is six times less popular?
Let’s bring OGS in line with modern gaming trends and make it more welcoming for new, casual, and younger players.
Thank you for reading
Polls
To gauge the community’s sentiment on the proposal, I’d like to include two polls:
- Yes.
- No.
- Yes.
- No.
