Dice-Roller!Dice-Roller!Dice-Roller!

First of all, let me say, so far I LOVE roll20. My friends and I have been looking for an all-in-one RP'ing site for years. The controls and features in roll20 are efficient and intuitive and it has taken our pbp to a new level.

One of my biggest problems is with the dice roller. We've played pbp's on other sites for years and have encountered the same problem again and again. I understand the algorithms for the dice roller cannot make the rolls as truly random as real-world dice, but COME ON. The rolls are either super high or super low. It's like either a crit hit or a crit miss EVERY time. Isn't there something that can be done to make the algorithms more random or more evenly distributed results?

Anyone else having these issues?

In case you are interested, here is some relevant information regarding the testing of our RNG. https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/63487/from-the-source-roll20-rng-testing#post-63487

Additionally, if you are trying to compare RNG dice rolls to real dice rolls, they wont be the same. Most real dice tend to roll 10s and 11s. Many dice manufacturers have decided that if an axis is going to be short they would prefer to make the 10-11 axis short and the 1-20 axis long. This will create fewer 1s and 20s. To test this take a micrometer and measure each axis. 

Some dice are also weighted. You can test this using a salt solution. Add salt to hot water and mix. keep adding salt until your dice float. While floating spin the dice. If the dice have a radical direction change towards the end of the spin it is weighted. 

While the dice testing does not help your Roll20 dice rolls it might help explain any differences between RNG dice and Real dice (assuming the RNG is good).

- Gauss

Have a watch of these two videos, very interesting.  After I watched and read the link I think computer dice are actually more random than real dice, especially cheap ones.  Also Riley gets this question a lot and his response is, it may not look random, but it is.  Just not to your human senses.  Six 20's can still be random.  You have an equal chance to roll any side.  I've played in real life with real dice and rolled three 20's in a row or four 1's.  But I do see everyone's point.  I've see a screen capture of six 20's in a row and it does, to our human ways, seem very not random! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR2fxoNHIuU&list=PLc3v_5FpPlkEmUQ1dUaZh5A8dsZWIhnsJ&index=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxmkWrDbn34&list=PLc3v_5FpPlkEmUQ1dUaZh5A8dsZWIhnsJ

And here is a reproduction of the chart in the video with modern dice.

http://www.1000d4.com/2013/02/14/how-true-are-your-d20s/

Oh man, didn't know those videos existed, Konrad!  Nice find.  Lou's an interesting dude and knows a ton about dice physics -- and the industry in general.

The Roll20 dice aren't truly random nor are they perfectly distributed and perhaps even tend towards "clumping" at times (not sure about that last one, but people raise this as an issue sometimes).
However, from the numbers posted from the tests they ran they're actually far more random and "perfect" than any real dice you're likely to find.
So, enjoy some nice randomness! :)

Any random system has clumping. If it didn't, it wouldn't be random.

Yep.  The problem with "Real" random is that they can clump and seem like they're trending.. It's entirely possible to roll a number 5 times in a row.  Seen it happen.  If that was a computer assisted roller I would have bitched and moaned like crazy!  Sometimes the dice are just hot or cold...

You know what is funny, people talk about the math seeds and algorithms used for RDG on these online games and VTT. And they criticize these systems based on those things. But no one ever points out that real dice in real life have a math seed as well... what number faces your palm when you roll your dice? "Controlled throwing consists of several components. The first is the set. How you set the dice can affect the outcome." http://casinogambling.about.com/od/craps/a/diceset.htm ... So our entire concept of random is based on the notion of a seed. I wonder if there are examples of truly pure random thing anywhere except theoretical math. AKA I would love to see an example of pure randomness in nature or reality.

In my opinion RNG are the most consistant "random" things we know. I see less high/low streaks in computer based random systems than I do in real life dice rolls.

If you want true randomness go take a look at: http://www.random.org/ There you can get a nice stream of truly random data.

Zerg Cow, I once knew a guy that could roll whatever he wanted on a D6 by how he set the die in his palm and how much velocity, spin, etc he imparted to the die. So yeah, randomness :)

- Gauss