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Go in L5R

So another blog! I seem to like recording my journeys and travails in subjects of interest and my (hopeful) new obsession in gaming's 'Go' is next.

This is a quick introduction post as to where I am coming from so if you are primarily interested in 'Go' itself then it will surprisingly not feature much.

To begin I like games. Specifically complicated strategic/tactical games that involve heavy use of mental resources to succeed or wins. They do not have to be particularly balanced as long as they are fun. In the past I have hunted for games with available players and this has meant different things in the intervening decades. In the nineties this meant a club or location where like minded individuals would congregate. In the noughties this tended to push more towards what I would term 'actively marketed games' such as L5R. In the current decade have finally started to move more towards actual online play. I was playing a lot of L5R LCG and RPG  and ASL - both having excellent online opportunities when I had a sudden realisation. 

ASL in action - surprisingly visual and popular for a 90's game

The thrill or enjoyment I was getting from both was actually the same - yet the games themselves are very different. This was coupled with a growing disquiet with the cost implications of any LCG and the knowledge that to truly excel at the game I would need to spend a huge amount of time playing it to compete at the high levels and the time spent was partially caused by a need to consistently keep up with the meta which changes as cards are released.  

L5R LCG art for a character 'Daidoji Uji'. FFG art is exceptional

This duel enlightenment almost of a sudden ephemeral realisation of what I was enjoying most about certain games, alongside an increasing disquiet with my capacity to afford and excel in one of them,  caused me to look around for replacements. I set myself four practical goals - 

1 - it could not be a lifestyle game with continual monetary commitments. Well it could but I want to pay my mortgage off and deliberately playing games that cost a lot of cash seems self defeating.

2 - I have small children so a game that requires every second of spare time is not good (plus feels a lot like work) 

3 - it would need plenty of play opportunities.

4 - I was intending to keep playing ASL as that is a once a week type game versus a regular opponent I wanted the new game to not be of the same sort. L5r Rpg is a very different experience so will be kept.

Chess fits the bill slightly and probably has the same global reach plus I had studied (and enjoyed it) in my twenties. I wanted something different then and as Go was represented in L5R  (in the art and sometimes in the story too and is popular in Korea (I currently do Korean Gumdo as a hobby) it rapidly came to the forefront of my attention.

Comparing it to my tests we find

1 - Once I have a board and pieces the only real monetary commitment is study books which can be gained from the library - plus I could make a board myself easily enough. Continual expected cost is therefore  'Zero pounds'. Compared to the £400 or so or L5R or the £150 of ASL (the second is not 'required' spending whereas the first is). That is a big saving year on year.

2 - To excel the game does need lots of time but as opposed to the L5R time being needed in playing I can study books when not playing and with a vast sea of opponents and no desire for dan status this matches surprisingly well.

3 - online play for ancient long standing games seems to have exploded recently. There looks like lots of ways to gain experience online and unlike marketed games which ebb and flow a long standing game has resilience to changing circumstances which a game produced for profit does not.

4 - Bears no similarity to ASL and I can play a short game when available.

Seems good and the result it this blog. Now there is no guarantee that the game can sustain the level of interest that the other two did. One key differential is that GO is not as visual as the other two games. One (ASL) is all about telling stories (it's a bit like playing a Hollywood war movie) and the other is literally visual with beautiful art and an actual evolving story to accompany the game. Equally I  might not be able to make the jump to a game where pure skill is paramount and knowledge of changing sets important is also an important consideration.

Moving forward I plan on posting about my GO journey. Hopefully it might help another GO newbie on the same path. Hopefully I can cover books read, lessons learnt and some game plays (eventually with commentary when my commentary is actually worth making).

Thanks for reading.