Board Game Arena

sourisdudesert wrote: ↑23 November 2020, 19:08 If you have the mathematical proof (ie: probability calculation vs important number of random event) that the BGA random generator is flawed, this is useless to vote "yes": please post this proof here instead.

It is absolutely correct that hard data is the only way to objectively prove any kind of flaw in random number generators. This is often stated in response to those who claim it is flawed or out to get them personally, but the problem is there is no framework supported way to extract a statistically significant number of anonymous replay logs.

I hope there is at some point, because I think it would be really valuable to study design and gameplay issues that aren't covered by existing statistics (and generally don't need to be), such as first player advantage or whether certain cards are overpowered.

Personally, I'm not interested in debunking claims about the random engine, because those who are convinced it is biased usually won't believe any proof to the contrary and will always move the goalposts (a few entertaining threads come to mind).

paramesis wrote: ↑25 November 2020, 18:23 I hope there is at some point, because I think it would be really valuable to study design and gameplay issues that aren't covered by existing statistics (and generally don't need to be), such as first player advantage or whether certain cards are overpowered.

Well, there is: any game can be replayed, so a very motivated player can compile the data and produce the stats. For games like Backgammon, where there have been a lot of complains about "too many doubles", there is even a statistics dedicated to show that the ratio of doubles is absolutely normal. However, doing this for every game looks like a perfect illustration of Brandolini's law, so all I have to say is: games can be replayed, so if you can't sleep because you think random generator is flawed, use your nights to watch the replays and do the maths

sourisdudesert wrote: ↑25 November 2020, 18:29 Well, there is: any game can be replayed, so a very motivated player can compile the data and produce the stats...

I attempted this with Kingdom Builder, and quickly hit the replay limit.

https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewto ... =10#p68706