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BGonline.org Forums
Dice Apps & arc4random_uniform(6)
Posted By: Phil Simborg In Response To: Dice Apps & arc4random_uniform(6) (Albert Steg)
Date: Thursday, 23 February 2017, at 5:20 p.m.
1. Do not use "on line" dice generators. You are right....they might be hacked.
2. Do use an app, one that shows all the dice that have been rolled so you can see if they are truly random. The P40 Dicer will give you a complete list of the rolls and the statistics are there for anyone to see. And you are not on line when you are using it, so unless it has been somehow hacked in the device, that is not a concern. I certainly don't rule out the possibility of someone being able to do that, any more than I rule out the possibility of someone bringing in loaded dice or being able to manipulate rolls or cheat in other ways. We should be leery of cheating, and protect from it, but not to the extent that we don't consider what is best for other reasons.
3. Do not use an app that is like using dominoes, that provides the rolls in some kind of order, but instead on that is truly random-generated, so that sometimes you will roll 6-6 several times in a row, just as you would with real dice, etc.
4. Do not use the app provided by your opponent if you are not comfortable with your opponent. Use one that is provided by the tournament director or a neutral, trusted party.
I completely agree with the concept of using real dice over electronic generators...it's fun and we like rolling the dice (even with a baffle box). However, be more open minded about trying new things. Go to my YouTube vidoes and take a look at some streamed matches using an electronic dice generator and tell me that isn't great for the viewer and for transcribing, not to mention the players, and especially players who have difficulty rolling the dice or seeing the dice. Even for live spectators, when there is a big match, only a few people crunched around the board can see the dice...with a dice generator, and one that talks, everyone knows the roll.
And now that I know that our "real dice" are ALL flawed and not random, and I know how easy it is to cheat, or simply not get random rolls with real dice, I am leaning more and more toward the dice generator apps.
Also, keep an open mind until you see improvements in the apps. We are all looking at first and second generation dice apps. Very soon P40 will incorporate a scoreboard and clock in the dice roller app and there are even more reasons to use it...to enhance the game by having to bring less equipment and by using high-quality equipment that will make the game more pleasant for both players and spectators.
Do we want more YanKit Chan's playing backgammon? Do we want more of our elderly people and people with poor eyesight to have a better experience and therefor participate more? Do we want to make the game easier to follow for streaming and videos and to make the game more interesting for all viewers? Even if you "just like" real dice because that is what you are used to, maybe some of these advantages are enough to make us be more amenable to electronic dice for those reasons in those situations?
They key here is to keep an open mind and "try it" and even if your initial reactions are negative and you see potential problems (which are perfectly fine to point out), don't allow it to close your mind to future developments.
Speaking of future developments, some day we will have automatic transcription...I hope to be a part of one we are working on now, but someone else might get there sooner or better, but I GUARANTEE you it will happen. And when it happens, electronic, built-in and easy-to-read dice generators, clocks and scoreboards will all be an asset to the ability to auto-transcription.
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