Results 1 to 10 of 10
-
2008-07-22, 11:35 AM (ISO 8601)Ettin in the Playground
- Join Date
- May 2005
- Location
- Somerville, MA
- Gender
Article about the randomness in dice.
Normally I wouldn't post a link to an article here, but I've seen this topic come up several times. Dice aren't all that random because of the holes drilled into their different faces. We all intuited that the missing mass on certain faces affected the outcome of the roll, but this guy actually studied it.
http://www.maa.org/mathland/mathtrek_10_26_98.htmlIf you like what I have to say, please check out my GMing Blog where I discuss writing and roleplaying in greater depth.
-
2008-07-22, 03:41 PM (ISO 8601)Dwarf in the Playground
- Join Date
- Jul 2008
- Location
- Loomis, CA
- Gender
Re: Article about the randomness in dice.
That's pretty cool. Time to start working on my dice-rolling skills!
I find it kinda funny I find it kinda sad.
-
2008-07-22, 03:47 PM (ISO 8601)Ogre in the Playground
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
- Location
- Covington, KY
- Gender
Re: Article about the randomness in dice.
Really? Cause, I'd love to figure that out.
Originally Posted by the article
Rolled 5 individual d6 1,000 times each. Average result? 2.1. Want's me some dice luck..."I'd complain about killing catgirls, but they're dead already. You killed them with your 685 quadrillion damage." - Mikeejimbo, in reference to this Originally Posted by Dervag
No, but Swordguy appears to have studied people who are. And took notes. Originally Posted by kpenguin
-
2008-07-22, 03:51 PM (ISO 8601)Bugbear in the Playground
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- Somewhere you're not
- Gender
Re: Article about the randomness in dice.
I think it's time for a new set of dice. Originally Posted by Swordguy
Schrödinger cat? Schrödinger wizard? Schrödinger monk?
What's next? Schrödinger equation? HΨ=EΨ? Seriously WTF?
The best summary of this board I've seen so far:
Originally Posted by Frigs
-
2008-07-22, 03:55 PM (ISO 8601)Ettin in the Playground
- Join Date
- Aug 2007
- Gender
Re: Article about the randomness in dice.
No, no. That just means his luck is about to change...[/Gambler's Fallacy] Originally Posted by Fenix_of_Doom
Avatar by Aedilred
GitP Blood Bowl Manager Cup Record
Styx Rivermen, Feets Reloaded, and Selene's Seductive Strut
Record: 42-17-13
3-time Division Champ, Cup Champion
-
2008-07-22, 03:59 PM (ISO 8601)Bugbear in the Playground
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- Somewhere you're not
- Gender
Re: Article about the randomness in dice.
A that's it, he rolled the ones out of it!
Schrödinger cat? Schrödinger wizard? Schrödinger monk?
What's next? Schrödinger equation? HΨ=EΨ? Seriously WTF?
The best summary of this board I've seen so far:
Originally Posted by Frigs
-
2008-07-22, 04:07 PM (ISO 8601)Ogre in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
- Location
- Central Iowa
- Gender
Re: Article about the randomness in dice.
I've never personally purchased anything from the man, but this guy's spiel at GenCon is usually entertaining. He makes a point that his dice always have clean, sharp edges to try to avoid some of the problems that article talks about.
Take your best shot, everyone else does.
Avatar by Guildorn Tanaleth. See other avatars below.
SpoilerMy original avatar and much better ones by groundhog22 and a Winter Olympics one by Rae Artemi.
-
2008-07-22, 05:31 PM (ISO 8601)Banned
- Join Date
- Mar 2008
- Location
- Koth
- Gender
Re: Article about the randomness in dice.
If you roll dice 10,000 times, you will not end up with equal results for each face anyway. That's not how things work. (For one thing, 10,000 / 6 = 1666.666...) However, a variation of 25 (i.e. 1/400th) occurrences between the most and least common results appears entirely insignificant. You're going to get bigger variation by pure chance, more likely than not.
Worrying about this makes about much sense as worrying about randomly being hit by a freefalling elephant.Last edited by Tsotha-lanti; 2008-07-22 at 05:31 PM.
-
2008-07-22, 05:39 PM (ISO 8601)Bugbear in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
Re: Article about the randomness in dice.
Part of the reason why I like dice with the numbers printed on the sides instead of drilled holes is that I suspect that they're more fairly random due to not having each side have different indentations.
"It's not like chess, where choosing to play black or white dictates your entire strategy. Also, chess doesn't have steam cannons."
-
2008-07-22, 08:25 PM (ISO 8601)Ettin in the Playground
- Join Date
- May 2005
- Location
- Somerville, MA
- Gender
Re: Article about the randomness in dice.
Now that we know how much the dice vary I'll agree with that. Before reading the article I had no idea how big the deviation would be. Originally Posted by Tsotha-lanti
If you like what I have to say, please check out my GMing Blog where I discuss writing and roleplaying in greater depth.
RSS Feeds: 
