Guild Wars 2

During one of the Scarlett events, someone got the same exotic twice.
Either he managed to hit that REALLY slim chance, or, more likely, the rng has weak code.

I got two cobalts way back when the new champ rewards was implemented, two cobalts in 30 Guilded Strongboxes.

Antiriad.7160:

During one of the Scarlett events, someone got the same exotic twice.
Either he managed to hit that REALLY slim chance, or, more likely, the rng has weak code.

Millions of players playing vs a 1 in a million chance of something like that happening makes it almost inevitable.

Eh… Too hard to tell from just that. RNG is RNG. Etc.

First of all, there is no such a thing as true “random”. The concept of “random” is ultimately a human construct to define things for which the causes are unknown or too complex to understand.

In games this remains very much true. There is no such a thing as true “random”. The formula behind any “Random Number Generator” is always a “ghetto hack” including several variables that are almost impossible for a human being to control. However, in order to manage probabilities (e.g..: creating loot tables where different things have specific chances of dropping), you always have to make the random a little less random, otherwise you lose control of how often things like exotics or trakittenems drop from a mob.

There are many ways to do this, and some arguably more effective than others, but ultimately, it’s never really truly “random”, and you can simply get lucky and hit the right window.

For example, and using completely random numbers, one way to do it is to control a mob’s drop table on a global scenario, and make it so it drops 5 rares every 100 drops. It would seem like that would be way too straight forward, but given that this table would be shared between all versions of that mob through potentially every server in the same region, and you realize that it’s incredibly uncontrollable by the players.

Another similar scenario would have the same mob instead drop 1 rare every 20 drops – ultimately sharing the same “odds”, but with a different system.

Either system is incredibly uncontrollable by the player, and both systems can result in the same player getting the exact same drop of they so happen to be lucky enough to hit the same window.

And of course, that’s just 2 very basic systems. I have no idea what system GW2 uses.

Ultimately, random is random, but it’s never really truly random.

/gibberish

This explains basically all you need to know if you’re a non-programmer

I have gotten exactly the same exotic from map completion chests. Not a conspiracy just RNG.

I have gotten crap 50 times in a row. Is that RNG?

ProxyDamage.9826:

First of all, there is no such a thing as true “random”.

Ultimately, random is random, but it’s never really truly random.

Radioactive decay.

ProxyDamage.9826:

Eh… Too hard to tell from just that. RNG is RNG. Etc.

First of all, there is no such a thing as true “random”. The concept of “random” is ultimately a human construct to define things for which the causes are unknown or too complex to understand.

Quite the contrary. There’s a whole lot of things that are inherently random.

You’re currently claiming that every random number is pseudo-random, which is patently false. You’re logic only holds merit with mathematically generated pseudo-random numbers. Even if that were the case, for a game on the scale of GW2, pseudo-random is as good as random for all intents and purposes.

In games this remains very much true. There is no such a thing as true “random”. The formula behind any “Random Number Generator” is always a “ghetto hack” including several variables that are almost impossible for a human being to control. However, in order to manage probabilities (e.g..: creating loot tables where different things have specific chances of dropping), you always have to make the random a little less random, otherwise you lose control of how often things like exotics or trakittenems drop from a mob.

The first line needs a huge correction. In offline games, random numbers do not exist. It’s perfectly possible to control all variables and generate the wanted item on any “random” drop. GW2 is an online game, therefor this part is not applicable to this game.

There are many ways to do this, and some arguably more effective than others, but ultimately, it’s never really truly “random”, and you can simply get lucky and hit the right window.

Which is exactly the same as saying: it’s entirely random for all intents and purposes.

So you’re making a huge wall of text, merely to claim that true random numbers don’t exist (they do) and GW2 does have random numbers but they’re not truly random yet for all intents and purposes they’re as random as it gets.

It is blatantly obvious that the RNG is GW2 is random enough. And that’s what counts in the real world, not long texts about the philosophical implications of having pseudo-random numbers vs true random numbers.

It’s referred to as “pseudo random number generator” and not “random number generator” for good reason.

Bright.9160:

It’s not random, we simply do not understand the causes.

marnick.4305:

Quite the contrary. There’s a whole lot of things that are inherently random.

You’re currently claiming that every random number is pseudo-random, which is patently false. You’re logic only holds merit with mathematically generated pseudo-random numbers. Even if that were the case, for a game on the scale of GW2, pseudo-random is as good as random for all intents and purposes.

No, I’m saying there is no random, at all. Ever. Even outside of “mathematically generated” numbers.

Random is just what we call events the cause of which we do not know or comprehend.

The first line needs a huge correction. In offline games, random numbers do not exist. It’s perfectly possible to control all variables and generate the wanted item on any “random” drop. GW2 is an online game, therefor this part is not applicable to this game.

Incorrect. There is still no such a thing as random in any computer system ever made.

marnick.4305:

Which is exactly the same as saying: it’s entirely random for all intents and purposes.

Except for the fact that it’s not random at all. For the most common practical purposes, yes, it’s random, but it’s really not.

marnick.4305:

So you’re making a huge wall of text, merely to claim that true random numbers don’t exist (they do) and GW2 does have random numbers but they’re not truly random yet for all intents and purposes they’re as random as it gets.

I was merely rambling because I felt like it. Still 100% correct, and any claim otherwise is merely ignorance. There is no random. Everything is the effect of a very definite cause. If you repeat the cause you produce the same effect. If I ask you to say the first word that comes into your head you’ll claim that word was produced “randomly”, but actually it was merely an extremely complex result of recollections and associations. Nothing is truly arbitrary.

marnick.4305:

It is blatantly obvious that the RNG is GW2 is random enough. And that’s what counts in the real world, not long texts about the philosophical implications of having pseudo-random numbers vs true random numbers.

And yet you felt compelled to reply. Why? I know why, but I’ll let you find out on your own. It’s sweeter that way.

Randomness does exist and thinking otherwise is mere ignorance.

What is randomness? It is the inability to predict the next outcome. That is all it is. There’s nothing more to it than that.

The reason computer generated randomness is considered pseudo, is because they can be predicted if you have the necessary info. If you have the equation, seed, and know how many cycles have already passed, then you can figure out what the next number will be with 100% accuracy.

Keep that information away and you can never know what the next number will be. You can guess and get lucky but you can never actually know.

There certainly are, both naturally occuring (radioactive decay, and man made (lotto draw from scrambled bouncing balls) situations for which the outcome can not be predicted. There is simply no way to calculate, and therefore no way to predict, what the outcome will be. That is what randomness is.

As for GW2, I have tried my luck at the mystic toilet enough times to know that the odds are not evenly spread. What I mean by this is after throwing in 5 to 6g worth of cheap lvl 80 rare GS per day for a month, I got more travelers pearl type than any other. More importantly to note is that I got more of the cheap, unwanted, kind (unwanted stats, skin, sigil) than I did the kind that are more desireable.

Using RNG a resource is a weak idea to begin with.