Tournament Likes / Tournament Hates....

[Sparafucil3]

I too prefer precision dice but we have not mandated them at the Bitter Ender. I've never heard someone complain about opponents dice.

I am pretty sure Al's little blue die is on someone's bad list. -- jim

 

[Ganjulama]

I am pretty sure Al's little blue die is on someone's bad list. -- jim

Mika and I both hate that die. Since it belongs to Al, I think we can safely ban that particular die

 

[Spencer Armstrong]

First, who of all the people claiming that their standard-issue BV dice are bad have actually tested them?

I tested mine. I thought this was silliness and dice were dice. 2/4 failed. This was approximately the failure rate for the rest of my similar standard dice. Both of my Schwerpunkt dice failed. All of the precision dice (plain pips) I bought and tested passed.

Again, Martin, sorry for hijack. I did not mean to start a flame war on this. I assume you’ll be banning the IIFT, of course.

 

[Steven Pleva]

When testing dice you should only test one die at a time. Otherwise, if you had a colored die that was low and a white die that was high then you would get a "fair" average, but would gain a real advantage. That being said, it would be hard to orchestrate that combination.

Regarding Albany, you are allowed to use any dice you want. I'm not telling anyone which dice to use. However, if the dice are not precision dice then your opponent can share the dice. Therefore, if you are particular about not sharing dice bring precision dice. Pretty simple really...
Steve

 

[jrv]

Sample of 1000 DRs of BV3 dice rolled the way I usually do (no dice tower, dice cup on desk):


DR number of times my dice number of times expected with "perfect" die
2 24 27.77777777
3 46 55.55555555
4 79 83.33333333
5 107 111.111111111
6 138 138.888888888
7 159 166.666666666
8 141 138.888888888
9 125 111.111111111
10 80 83.3333333333
11 72 55.5555555555
12 23 27.7777777777

The total number of observations is 994, not 1000.

One statistical test for this would be to use the χ² test. Applying that to your data (using open office) I come up with around a 40% chance that the null hypothesis (the data matches the expected values for perfect dice) is true. You'd like that to be at least 95%.

JR

 

[Ric of The LBC]

Many here would not approve but fine by me as long as the lead shot 'fix' is not too obvious.

Can't use lead. It's known to cause cancer in the state of California. I'd have to put a Prop 65 label on the dice. I guess that label would have to be foil but it would throw off the balance.

 

[Ric of The LBC]

ASL Open in a few weeks. This is a very well run tourney but does not have the open gaming option.

Hmmm

 

[kcole4001]

Can't use lead. It's known to cause cancer in the state of California. I'd have to put a Prop 65 label on the dice. I guess that label would have to be foil but it would throw off the balance.

Whew! That's a relief, my plan to have lead dice made can go ahead, just not for sale in California where they will cause cancer.
Good thing we're safe across the border!
Everybody please lick their lead dice for luck!
(completely joking, of course, in the pedantic tone of some of the earlier dice debate).

My SL/ASL white dice did indeed suck, and have mostly been consigned to the flames or crushed for flagrant obstreperousness.
It's precision dice all the way.

Back on topic: I'd think newer scenarios would be more fair as they'd likely not been played by the tourney participants, and so more representative of each player's
ability to quickly grasp the tactical solution.
Previous playing might (not certainly, of course) prove an advantage.

I a little surprised that this isn't a common item of interest, since it is concerning competitive play, even though no money is involved.
Naturally, a mechanism to gauge the contestant's playings of the offered scenarios with an eye to massaging the pairings would add another layer of complexity to the TD's
job, perhaps it would be un-manageable.

 

[Martin Mayers]

I a little surprised that this isn't a common item of interest, since it is concerning competitive play, even though no money is involved.
Naturally, a mechanism to gauge the contestant's playings of the offered scenarios with an eye to massaging the pairings would add another layer of complexity to the TD's
job, perhaps it would be un-manageable.

I think the crucial thing with ASL is that if people want to cheat it's probably the easiest game in the world to cheat at....without spazzing around with dice.

 

[von Marwitz]

When testing dice you should only test one die at a time. Otherwise, if you had a colored die that was low and a white die that was high then you would get a "fair" average, but would gain a real advantage. That being said, it would be hard to orchestrate that combination.
Steve

That is true. I have thought of this when I was half way through with my sample of 1000 DR but too lazy to start anew - and wifey already had that look on her face...

I might have to to make 2x 1000 dr and maybe add another 1x 1000 dr for a precision sniper die that I once received as a gift to put minds at rest...

Still, fearing a difference of 14.5 pips in 1000 DRs (or even considerably more) is a bit like fearing to be struck by lightning when stepping out onto the street. Caring about a -1FFMO out on that street is what one should think about, because that is what is killing you. In other words - the point remains: The difference of normal dice to precision dice is neglible compared to other factors.

von Marwitz

 

[MajorDomo]

This is the biggest challenge in organizing a tournament. We have been at the Ramada in Raleigh for years, but food is not within walking distance. We've scouted other locations closer to decent food but the price of the game room (triple what we pay now, and up) and the hotel rooms (double what Ramada charges) would, I think, deter attendance. Would you pay a $100 admission fee and $200 per night for a hotel room? I'm only guessing, but I think that most would not.

I too prefer precision dice but we have not mandated them at the Bitter Ender. I've never heard someone complain about opponents dice. That might change with Spencer attending again .

My biggest pet peeve is using a dice glass. As I've gotten older I REALLY don't like the clinking. Nevertheless I'm loath to ban them.

The Swedish ASL Tournament goes as far as I've seen regarding dice, dice towers, and even rules on what constitutes an official roll in those towers. I would still go in a heart beat if I had the chance.

Each tournament has its own vibe. We try to keep the Bitter Ender organized but laid back at the same time.

Put a rubber band around the dice glass, muffles the sound.

I prefer glass to tower because towers cause leaners, cocked and escaping dice with associated interpretations.

 

[jfardette]

Are my circa '1980 Squad Leader dice acceptable?

Hell yes!

 

[Spencer Armstrong]

Put a rubber band around the dice glass, muffles the sound.

I prefer glass to tower because towers cause leaners, cocked and escaping dice with associated interpretations.

Hear, hear. Haven’t tried a rubber band. I’ll have to do that. Despite owning several towers, I much prefer a glass.

Of course, 99% of my dice rolls are random.org.

 

[jrv]

When testing dice you should only test one die at a time. Otherwise, if you had a colored die that was low and a white die that was high then you would get a "fair" average, but would gain a real advantage. That being said, it would be hard to orchestrate that combination.

Although it would be easy to have two dice that compensate for each other on the average, it would be much harder (and perhaps impossible) to have two dice that compensate for each other when you count for distribution. A die that never rolls a six paired with a die that never rolls a one will produce the right average (assuming all other faces come up with p=.2). But that pair will never roll twelve. I suspect that you can detect any other deviation from uniform dice in one or both of a pair, and I think the χ² test will detect it. I am not a statistics guru, so I do not guarantee this, but I think it is so.

JR

 

[Martin Mayers]

Pheeeep......tournament likes/tournament hates.....pheeeeeppppppp

 

[jrv]

I like tournaments that have lots of statistics. Especially statistics about dice probabilities. I don't like tournaments that have funny-sounding whistles.

JR

 

[Steven Pleva]

Although it would be easy to have two dice that compensate for each other on the average, it would be much harder (and perhaps impossible) to have two dice that compensate for each other when you count for distribution. A die that never rolls a six paired with a die that never rolls a one will produce the right average (assuming all other faces come up with p=.2). But that pair will never roll twelve. I suspect that you can detect any other deviation from uniform dice in one or both of a pair, and I think the χ² test will detect it. I am not a statistics guru, so I do not guarantee this, but I think it is so.

JR

After thinking about it some more, I bet you are right here. The χ² test will probably be plenty good...

 

[jfardette]

As a relatively inexperienced tournament player, I will throw in my 2 cents for general disparagement.

Likes:
Balanced, short and not overly complex options in the early rounds. Don't make me spend my lunch time figuring out how to throw a Molotov from a fighter bomber. I know I'm not going to win the tourney, but my money helps pay the bills too.
Flat tables. Seriously this is critical and I can't believe nobody has mentioned it yet.
Good lighting.
Start rounds on time.
Have someone who is not playing a game be available to answer questions and resolve disputes.

Dislikes:
Taking things too serious. I will do my best to win and respect my opponent, but in the end IJADG.
Playing favorites. We get it, he's your buddy. A tourney should be an even playing field.
Tournament director is passive, won't use authority to clear table space or adjudicate a game in a timely manner.

OK, range is clear, commence firing!

 

[kcole4001]

I think the crucial thing with ASL is that if people want to cheat it's probably the easiest game in the world to cheat at....without spazzing around with dice.

I was referring to the played/unplayed scenario status.
As I said, I expect a player who's played a scenario may have an edge vs a player who's never seen the scenario before.
It would be more fair to have a matchup of players with equal experience regarding the scenario in play, but again, this is likely more work than it's worth.

 

[pensatl1962]

Likes:
1) Good lighting and plenty of room to store game equipment - and secured at night
2) Food availability
3) Opportunity to meet new players
4) Having fun and not taking it too seriously - this is a game, a diversion from life
5) Keeping everything on time

Dislikes:
1) Opponents who have played every scenario on the playlist 3 times (see #4 above)
2) Sharks
3) Players being (overly) late for a game