Suffering at the hands of the RNG

[Lemon Merchant]

This is becoming tedious.

lol what's your problem, of course something was/is missing here.
She's not suffering because of rng if she mixes HAs and Swords, and gets attacked by archers.
I play Civ4 long enough to know that AIs are not attacking with 99% losing odds when they cannot even capture cities by doing so, so how did this work?
Isa had a stack of 20 archers, waiting to smack her Swords? That's how she lost 70 units? Give me a break..

I was attacked by a lot of things, not just archers. There were axemen, horse archers, war elephants...

I said it was a long war, and I lost a huge amount of units both attacking and defending. I didn't lose 77 units to a pair of archers in an open field as you seem so fixated on suggesting that I said. I made the point about the archers because I lost a few swordsmen in an open field to a small bunch of archers, and I was pissed off. That's it. It wasn't the focal point of my post. The point was that I was mauled by the RNG. I had the worst run of luck that I've ever had in any game. I lost units in battles that I never should have lost, over and over again. I built and whipped units for ages and sent in wave after wave of them, only to get beaten again and again.

But apparently, this can't happen... ever. As you've pointed out, you've played far too much Civ to entertain this as a possibility, and as the resident authority on effective unit stacking and randomness, you have decreed that this cannot be so.

You're entitled to your opinion, but if you want to be obtuse, then fine, be obtuse. But at least pull your head out of your backside long enough to read what I originally posted carefully before calling me a liar.

 

[Mec AntiKythera]

Fippy, please forgive me for suggesting that any break-giving that needs to take place should be reversed. I do believe that if something is missing here it is surely you missing the point of the thread. Simply put, luck can and will turn against you at some point. This thread was intended to be a place to exchange stories of that happening. If you do not have a story to share and do not appreciated the tales of others, please do not argue with the people who do, it distracts from the purpose of the thread.

I for one can relate to Lemon's experience, although I have as yet not suffered so badly, and I enjoyed reading about it. So Lemon, thanks for the miseries.

 

[Fippy]

It's okay, if you cannot accept that there's more here than bad luck (now it's Isa with Jumbos, and you have HAs and Swords..), then good luck with your future games.
You probably got beaten by superior odds if you lost so many and she lost almost nothing (and everything you write suggests that, her tech lead and your units without siege), so yep you left out the point that your attack was just weak. Instead you made a fictive story about terrible rng luck (which happens, no question..)..but as you describe it, you got a 1:10000000000000 draw here and if such fictive stories make you guys happy..great.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

It's okay, if you cannot accept that there's more here than bad luck (now it's Isa with Jumbos, and you have HAs and Swords..), then good luck with your future games.
You probably got beaten by superior odds if you lost so many and she lost almost nothing (and everything you write suggests that, her tech lead and your units without siege), so yep you left out the point that your attack was just weak. Instead you made a fictive story about terrible rng luck (which happens, no question..)..but as you describe it, you got a 1:10000000000000 draw here and if such fictive stories make you guys happy..great.

There's a life rule...never heckle a comic with a microphone and a friendly crowd...it's a no win situation.

In this case Lemon has a very well amped microphone and a very friendly crowd, so you might consider yourself lucky that she has thus far been nice.

 

[AdamCrock]

Another life rule... (the ancient rule) is You go for heads not tails, if it's tails sorry, better luck next time I think there is 51% probability for heads and 49% for tails and this statement is false xD If You can prove that Im right by logic You got my neverlasting respect hehe

 

[BornInCantaloup]

If You can prove that Im right by logic You got my neverlasting respect hehe

This is a wager I can't decline!
I'll have to call upon my extraordinary servants for some extraordinary assistance.
"Berthooold!"

 

[rah]

The best write up that I have seen is

http://www.codingthewheel.com/archives/the-coin-flip-a-fundamentally-unfair-proposition/

 

[BornInCantaloup]

The best write up that I have seen is

http://www.codingthewheel.com/archives/the-coin-flip-a-fundamentally-unfair-proposition/

Oooh... You just did it. Now I'm torn between admiration and jealousy.

 

[rah]

Since I'm not anywhere near as good as many of the top flight players here, mockery is acceptable.

 

[BornInCantaloup]

But play level isn't relevant, or is it?
I present you my apologies, I didn't intend my previous post to appear as a mockery

 

[rah]

No apology necessary.
My comment is more a general comment about many of my playing strategies prior to coming here and being properly schooled. Example. I actually used to build the SE thinking it was speeding things up. Oh the horror. Now I know better.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I actually used to build the SE thinking it was speeding things up.

Me too. Now I build it if I have time because I think it is a very cool thing.

I believe there's more to playing Civ than climbing the level tree.

 

[Tlalynet]

It's okay, if you cannot accept that there's more here than bad luck (now it's Isa with Jumbos, and you have HAs and Swords..), then good luck with your future games.
You probably got beaten by superior odds if you lost so many and she lost almost nothing (and everything you write suggests that, her tech lead and your units without siege), so yep you left out the point that your attack was just weak. Instead you made a fictive story about terrible rng luck (which happens, no question..)..but as you describe it, you got a 1:10000000000000 draw here and if such fictive stories make you guys happy..great.

I've explained things too you a few times, but perhaps I've not been clear enough.

You're terrible at math.

That's really all there is too your objection.

Me too. Now I build it if I have time because I think it is a very cool thing.

I believe there's more to playing Civ than climbing the level tree.

I also sometimes build it for those same reasons




On a semi related note I spun 14 red in a row on Roulette on Thursday. Factoring the green thats roughly a 1:20000 occurrence.

Sounds amazing till you realize I spin the damn thing over 50000 times a year.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

You're terrible at math.

That's really all there is too your objection.

I think he means I might be stupid, too. And a lousy Civ player. And a liar. After all, my game changed and progressed as I played. We all know that can't happen. One starts with a static set of conditions at the beginning of the game that never change. Also, when at war, everything stops. There is no technological progress during the war, and you can only battle with the exact number and type of units you started with.

And don't forget about the RNG. It's completely random and fair at all times.

I feel sorry for him. His games must be dreadfully boring if they're that static, but then again, my pity might be fictive.

On a semi related note I spun 14 red in a row on Roulette on Thursday. Factoring the green thats roughly a 1:20000 occurrence.

Sounds amazing till you realize I spin the damn thing over 50000 times a year.

50000 times of watching that little ball go round... I'd be seasick.

I believe there's more to playing Civ than climbing the level tree.

Well said.

There's a life rule...never heckle a comic with a microphone and a friendly crowd...it's a no win situation.

In this case Lemon has a very well amped microphone and a very friendly crowd, so you might consider yourself lucky that she has thus far been nice.

And thank you.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

On a semi related note I spun 14 red in a row on Roulette on Thursday. Factoring the green thats roughly a 1:20000 occurrence.

Sounds amazing till you realize I spin the damn thing over 50000 times a year.

I was walking through the casino at the Tropicana one time. On the roulette tables they have those displays that show the last 20 spins. On this one table ten of the numbers on the display were the SAME number...16. Taken by itself it was stunningly long odds. Taken in the context of hundreds of roulette wheels spinning 24/7 all across Vegas it would be stunning if it never happened somewhere eventually.

By the way, people were flooding that table and betting on 16. I watched for about half an hour and it didn't come up again.

 

[Tlalynet]

50000 times of watching that little ball go round... I'd be seasick.

Oh I've got to be watching the players. I don't just stand there watching the ball spin unless I have nothing to do

I was walking through the casino at the Tropicana one time. On the roulette tables they have those displays that show the last 20 spins. On this one table ten of the numbers on the display were the SAME number...16. Taken by itself it was stunningly long odds. Taken in the context of hundreds of roulette wheels spinning 24/7 all across Vegas it would be stunning if it never happened somewhere eventually.

By the way, people were flooding that table and betting on 16. I watched for about half an hour and it didn't come up again.

10\20 on one number is incredibly rare, yes. IIRC the world record for the longest streak in one number is only 12. That is quite something to see.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

10\20 on one number is incredibly rare, yes. IIRC the world record for the longest streak in one number is only 12. That is quite something to see.

The longest streak in the 10 of twenty was only four, and I was pretty impressed with that. A streak of twelve on the same number would be something to see...and I suspect something that would lead to pretty close scrutiny of the wheel and the dealer.

 

[Mec AntiKythera]

Bob Barker.

 

[Tlalynet]

The longest streak in the 10 of twenty was only four, and I was pretty impressed with that. A streak of twelve on the same number would be something to see...and I suspect something that would lead to pretty close scrutiny of the wheel and the dealer.

Yeah, it may not have been 12, though I remember hearing of one streak that was quite long being the record.

Four is rare enough, though I do see it from time to time.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Yeah, it may not have been 12, though I remember hearing of one streak that was quite long being the record.

Four is rare enough, though I do see it from time to time.

I don't doubt that twelve could happen, somewhere. In fact given the number of wheels spinning in the world it almost has to, eventually. But it would be such a strange turn that I'd be willing to bet that there would be some scrutiny. You would probably not want to be the dealer when it happened.