Dice generator - the non-conspiracy take

[ermocito]

I believe the designers when they say their system is actually random.

I don't need proof of a serious flaw in the current dice system to make this simple request...

The official Catan app has a setting option where you can assure that every 36 dice rolls create the expected distribution, and another where you can experience this effect minus up to 3 of the possible rolls (over every 33 rolls)

I request the game designers add such an option. Some players prefer the truly random system, but many players would prefer forced-distribution variation.

If it isn't unacceptable in the OFFICIAL app, it should be acceptable here. don't need proof of a flaw in the current dice system to make this simple request. It's less disruptive of variance than the "early game 7 re-roll" option.

And yes, I could and do play in the app. But this site has many more players and most games have several optional settings.

If this exists now, please tell me because I can’t find the setting.

[euklid314]

If the publisher that holds the intellectual rights grants BGA the permission to implement a variant and there are BGA programmers that implement it - then it is possible.

It is well feasible for the Catan company to allow popular variants only in their own app and allow BGA only some basic variants - such that customers are attracted to the official app.

If you are interested in some new variant get in touch with the intellectual property owner (or at least write a suggestion in the BGA bug forum - which will probably be not enough).

[funnylifefunny]

u absolutly right. I hate prng on this website!
shame for devs!

[Coleus1]

I don't Agree. If you play Catan in real life, and then play it on GBA - you will notice some patterns that only happens on GBA.

1. If your opponents are at 3 -2 points and you get to 6 points, the dice suddenly favors your opponents so they can catch up. This happens way too often for it to be a random occurance. This is a reason why at higher levels players stratigically wait to get the longest road until all players have more points.
2. At the start of the game you can already pretty mutch tell who is going to win, and that's not judged by what numbers/harbours but rather how the dice is biased towards a player (goes with 4th argument).
3. If you have no wood/brick the probability to get the 2 roads development card is high. This happens way too often for it to be random as I always prioritize rocks/hay/sheep and end up getting road development card as 2nd card.
4. Obvious unprioritizing of a number since the "favored" player (from 2nd argument) does not possess it. You can play a game where 11 or 10 is much more frequent (because the player from argument 2 possesses it) than 6 or 5 because same player doesn't possess it. The game will then try to rebalance it and roll 6 or 5 when they are blocked.

[Suoivax]

I don't Agree. If you play Catan in real life, and then play it on GBA - you will notice some patterns that only happens on GBA.

1. If your opponents are at 3 -2 points and you get to 6 points, the dice suddenly favors your opponents so they can catch up. This happens way too often for it to be a random occurance. This is a reason why at higher levels players stratigically wait to get the longest road until all players have more points.
2. At the start of the game you can already pretty mutch tell who is going to win, and that's not judged by what numbers/harbours but rather how the dice is biased towards a player (goes with 4th argument).
3. If you have no wood/brick the probability to get the 2 roads development card is high. This happens way too often for it to be random as I always prioritize rocks/hay/sheep and end up getting road development card as 2nd card.
4. Obvious unprioritizing of a number since the "favored" player (from 2nd argument) does not possess it. You can play a game where 11 or 10 is much more frequent (because the player from argument 2 possesses it) than 6 or 5 because same player doesn't possess it. The game will then try to rebalance it and roll 6 or 5 when they are blocked.

So you're saying that in every real life game of Catan, the dice have never favored one player over another?

[Romain672]

So the dice randomly favor one player, then it favor others players for them to catch up that first player, but not enough for them to win, and then it favor back that first player.
Isn't that just normal? The players who are behind will have an harder time to get ressources, but will be lucky at least at one moment of the game, but will still be behind after they got lucky once?

[Coleus1]

I don't Agree. If you play Catan in real life, and then play it on GBA - you will notice some patterns that only happens on GBA.

1. If your opponents are at 3 -2 points and you get to 6 points, the dice suddenly favors your opponents so they can catch up. This happens way too often for it to be a random occurance. This is a reason why at higher levels players stratigically wait to get the longest road until all players have more points.
2. At the start of the game you can already pretty mutch tell who is going to win, and that's not judged by what numbers/harbours but rather how the dice is biased towards a player (goes with 4th argument).
3. If you have no wood/brick the probability to get the 2 roads development card is high. This happens way too often for it to be random as I always prioritize rocks/hay/sheep and end up getting road development card as 2nd card.
4. Obvious unprioritizing of a number since the "favored" player (from 2nd argument) does not possess it. You can play a game where 11 or 10 is much more frequent (because the player from argument 2 possesses it) than 6 or 5 because same player doesn't possess it. The game will then try to rebalance it and roll 6 or 5 when they are blocked.

So you're saying that in every real life game of Catan, the dice have never favored one player over another?

No, what I’m trying to say is that in real life, the dice has a normal distribution, while on GBA, the dice clearly favors a player by rolling a lower probability number more often, and other way around, not rolling a higher probability number because the "biased" players doesn't possess it. I have been tracking the dice rolls in an excell sheet and it's very obvious that the dice isn't normal. One can't roll only 3 9s because the "biased" player doesn't possess it. Happens way too often for it to be random!

[Suoivax]

I don't Agree. If you play Catan in real life, and then play it on GBA - you will notice some patterns that only happens on GBA.

1. If your opponents are at 3 -2 points and you get to 6 points, the dice suddenly favors your opponents so they can catch up. This happens way too often for it to be a random occurance. This is a reason why at higher levels players stratigically wait to get the longest road until all players have more points.
2. At the start of the game you can already pretty mutch tell who is going to win, and that's not judged by what numbers/harbours but rather how the dice is biased towards a player (goes with 4th argument).
3. If you have no wood/brick the probability to get the 2 roads development card is high. This happens way too often for it to be random as I always prioritize rocks/hay/sheep and end up getting road development card as 2nd card.
4. Obvious unprioritizing of a number since the "favored" player (from 2nd argument) does not possess it. You can play a game where 11 or 10 is much more frequent (because the player from argument 2 possesses it) than 6 or 5 because same player doesn't possess it. The game will then try to rebalance it and roll 6 or 5 when they are blocked.

So you're saying that in every real life game of Catan, the dice have never favored one player over another?

No, what I’m trying to say is that in real life, the dice has a normal distribution, while on GBA, the dice clearly favors a player by rolling a lower probability number more often, and other way around, not rolling a higher probability number because the "biased" players doesn't possess it. I have been tracking the dice rolls in an excell sheet and it's very obvious that the dice isn't normal. One can't roll only 3 9s because the "biased" player doesn't possess it. Happens way too often for it to be random!

The problem starts with your first sentence. Normal distribution is NOT RANDOM.

For you to see a perfect bell curve distribution, you need to roll infinite dice.

[Jellby]

And with two dice the "infinite" distribution is a triangle, not a normal distribution, or binomial, or bell-shaped curve, just a plain triangle.
https://math.stackexchange.com/question ... -is-define

[Suoivax]

And with two dice the "infinite" distribution is a triangle, not a normal distribution, or binomial, or bell-shaped curve, just a plain triangle.
https://math.stackexchange.com/question ... -is-define

Fair point. I was in a hurry, lol