Posted August 25, 2016

phaolo
I live.. again!
Registered: Dec 2013
From Italy

Smannesman
4-bit classic
Registered: Oct 2010
From Netherlands
Posted August 25, 2016

dtgreene
vaccines work she/her
Registered: Jan 2010
From United States
Posted August 25, 2016
Interestingly enough, there actually is a computer game equivalent to this; in some video games, it is possible to exploit the random number generator (RNG).
This does, for example, make it possible to beat the original Dragon Warrior at level 7 in under an hour. (Without RNG manipulation, it takes well over 5 hours to speedrun the game (longer if you are just playing casually), and you are not realistically going to beat the game before level 17, when you learn the powerful healing spells.)
Another example is when playing a game like a Civilization game by e-mail. Even with a persistent random seed, a player can load, try various actions to see what the random number sequence looks like, reload, and arrange matters so that the good random numbers are used when it is most beneficial.
I've heard of this happening in Battle for Wesnoth, and it is quite possible to do this in Nethack (by changing the system time). It's been done in Pokemon games; while doing it competitively might not be feasible, in many Pokemon games it's possible to manipulate the RNG to get a Pokemon with very good IVs, or to get a shiny Pokemon more easily.
This does, for example, make it possible to beat the original Dragon Warrior at level 7 in under an hour. (Without RNG manipulation, it takes well over 5 hours to speedrun the game (longer if you are just playing casually), and you are not realistically going to beat the game before level 17, when you learn the powerful healing spells.)
Another example is when playing a game like a Civilization game by e-mail. Even with a persistent random seed, a player can load, try various actions to see what the random number sequence looks like, reload, and arrange matters so that the good random numbers are used when it is most beneficial.
I've heard of this happening in Battle for Wesnoth, and it is quite possible to do this in Nethack (by changing the system time). It's been done in Pokemon games; while doing it competitively might not be feasible, in many Pokemon games it's possible to manipulate the RNG to get a Pokemon with very good IVs, or to get a shiny Pokemon more easily.

Fairfox
New User
Registered: Sep 2010
From United States
Posted August 25, 2016
deleted

Vainamoinen
🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦
Registered: May 2010
From Germany
Posted August 25, 2016
Yes and no.
There are rigged/weighted dice around that you can buy, they roll in a pretty obvious way though. I have four in my possession from about 25 years ago... for show value. Using them in a game would be infinite sacrilege. No player I know would ever risk that. Once you're branded a cheat, you can give up this hobby altogether.
However, all dice have their natural imbalances – bubbles while they're being cast, slight form irregularities, chips and pips (pips in six sided dice usually create a natural imbalance that for some reason makes them roll slightly more ones). And in some circles I played in, it was considered fair game if hardcore players sought out, rigorously tested and then used dice with those slight imbalances.
There are rigged/weighted dice around that you can buy, they roll in a pretty obvious way though. I have four in my possession from about 25 years ago... for show value. Using them in a game would be infinite sacrilege. No player I know would ever risk that. Once you're branded a cheat, you can give up this hobby altogether.
However, all dice have their natural imbalances – bubbles while they're being cast, slight form irregularities, chips and pips (pips in six sided dice usually create a natural imbalance that for some reason makes them roll slightly more ones). And in some circles I played in, it was considered fair game if hardcore players sought out, rigorously tested and then used dice with those slight imbalances.
Post edited August 25, 2016 by Vainamoinen

phaolo
I live.. again!
Registered: Dec 2013
From Italy
Posted August 26, 2016

"You have been cursed, use the unlucky dice for 3 days".