• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Hearthstone |OT8| Elise's Extremely Irresponsible Field Trip To Un'Goro

Status
Not open for further replies.

QFNS

Unconfirmed Member
Are people that surprised to find out that a random generator will give similar outputs (card rarities) with similar inputs?

I guess seeing that data from the China rollback just confirmed a bunch of stuff I suspected about how the hearthstone card pack RNG works. As in it is assigning rarities separately from the cards themselves. Which lends a lot of creedence to the "pity timer" theories. As the game then can force you to pull a legendary.
 

inky

Member
Are people that surprised to find out that a random generator will give similar outputs (card rarities) with similar inputs?

I guess seeing that data from the China rollback just confirmed a bunch of stuff I suspected about how the hearthstone card pack RNG works. As in it is assigning rarities separately from the cards themselves. Which lends a lot of creedence to the "pity timer" theories. As the game then can force you to pull a legendary.

Pity timer is not a theory, it has been confirmed. This is different, if true.
 

QFNS

Unconfirmed Member
Pity timer is not a theory, it has been confirmed. This is different, if true.

It doesn't seem different to me. It's the method by which the pity timers work. Your RNG seeded by whatever (probably account number or something static), then the game determines what rarities you get. Since that is being determined separately from the card name, it can force you to get a legendary/epic/whatever when your counter reaches whatever.
 

wiibomb

Member
It doesn't seem different to me. It's the method by which the pity timers work. Your RNG seeded by whatever (probably account number or something static), then the game determines what rarities you get. Since that is being determined separately from the card name, it can force you to get a legendary/epic/whatever when your counter reaches whatever.

I don't actually have any inside info about how it works, but this shouldn't be as complicated as you think it is.

it is just a matter of higher percentage of RNG for every pack opened, so a pity timer is nothing guaranteed, but more of a very very high percentage of getting one. I don't really think they care at all about defining exactly what rarities you get in each pack, it is kind of worthless..


but in any case, china is forcing all these companies to let public the info about the odds of their RNG loots, so we should find out how they really are.
 

Blizzard

Banned
I don't actually have any inside info about how it works, but this shouldn't be as complicated as you think it is.

it is just a matter of higher percentage of RNG for every pack opened, so a pity timer is nothing guaranteed, but more of a very very high percentage of getting one. I don't really think they care at all about defining exactly what rarities you get in each pack, it is kind of worthless..


but in any case, china is forcing all these companies to let public the info about the odds of their RNG loots, so we should find out how they really are.
Since players received the same rarities in the same order after the server reset, they probably have a drop RNG seed that is unique to the player. That's not complex; it's just a normal way to do RNG.
 

Dahbomb

Member
So you are telling me that the game has already calculated in advance when my next Legendary is going to be?

That's some fishy stuff right there.
 

Grief.exe

Member
So you are telling me that the game has already calculated in advance when my next Legendary is going to be?

That's some fishy stuff right there.

We don't have enough information to say definitively, but most likely it's not insidious.

Blizzard likely generates a number string when the card pack is generated, this sets what the rarities of the cards within the pack. When the pack is opened, the cards are randomly generated based on the rarities randomly assigned on generation.
 

wiibomb

Member
Since players received the same rarities in the same order after the server reset, they probably have a drop RNG seed that is unique to the player. That's not complex; it's just a normal way to do RNG.

that's... rather fishy, but depending on the kind of RNG they use, they could be using pseudo random number to calculate the openings (those sets always generate the same outcome)

how they are finding out they are receiving the exact same rarities?
 

Dahbomb

Member
Blizzard likely generates a number string when the card pack is generated, this sets what the rarities of the cards within the pack. When the pack is opened, the cards are randomly generated based on the rarities randomly assigned on generation
Yeah but how does this factor in pity timer? I thought I calculated based on past rolls but this new information is saying it's calculated in advance.
 
So you are telling me that the game has already calculated in advance when my next Legendary is going to be?

That's some fishy stuff right there.

this is how all random number generation in all software works tho

Yeah but how does this factor in pity timer? I thought I calculated based on past rolls but this new information is saying it's calculated in advance.

The distinction doesn't actually make a difference. It's a sequential calculation that isn't dependent on anything but its own sequence, so the result is exactly the same whether they calculate each one at open time or in advance. There's probably a random seed for each player and then a set of functions that determine the rarities in each pack based on underlying probabilities and the results of the last N packs opened. Actually thinking about it, they probably push info on each pack onto the end of the previous seed and use that info to know when to pull the pity switch.
 

Blizzard

Banned
that's... rather fishy, but depending on the kind of RNG they use, they could be using pseudo random number to calculate the openings (those sets always generate the same outcome)

how they are finding out they are receiving the exact same rarities?
It was based on reports after the China rollback. I don't know if there's enough data to say for sure yet.
 

QFNS

Unconfirmed Member
Yeah but how does this factor in pity timer? I thought I calculated based on past rolls but this new information is saying it's calculated in advance.

It probably isn't calculated in advance rather it is calculated in a way that is going to give the same (STILL RANDOM) results each time.

So the string is like your account ID or some other data that is specific to your account, and then when you start with that + however many packs deep into the timer you are: you end up with the rarity distribution. Then it randomly assigns card names based on the rarities you got. That's my perception of what is going on anyhow. Maybe there is less or more going on there, but this makes sense to me from my knowlege of the info and general computer science stuff.

this is how all random number generation in all software works tho
Exactly. This is how pseudo-random number generation works.
 

Blizzard

Banned
Yeah but how does this factor in pity timer? I thought I calculated based on past rolls but this new information is saying it's calculated in advance.
It could be something as simple as:

1. Generate next "random" rarity combination for player (e.g. "epic, common, common, common, epic") based on seeded pseudo RNG. This order is "fixed" if you rewind time like the Chinese case.

2. If player has gone 40 packs without a legendary, and this result doesn't have a legendary, arbitrarily replace one of the cards.
 
So the string is like your account ID or some other data that is specific to your account, and then when you start with that + however many packs deep into the timer you are: you end up with the rarity distribution. Then it randomly assigns card names based on the rarities you got. That's my perception of what is going on anyhow. Maybe there is less or more going on there, but this makes sense to me from my knowlege of the info and general computer science stuff.

Right. You could use a global seed and then just hard-override to implement a pity timer, but this method lets you have a random selection process that still shifts probabilities on each pack based on what the player has previously opened. And then since you're only concerned about rarity distribution rather than individual cards, you might as well just pick the actual contents with a global seed at the moment of opening.

Here's the info I didn't see that I'm interested in: is this rarity sequence global across sets, or is there an independent timer for each set? In the former case, it becomes possible to manipulate the RNG to some degree by choosing your opening order.
 

Dahbomb

Member
What I mean is that is it right to assume that at this moment the game has already decided that 20 TGT packs from now I will get a Legendary?

So it seems like rarities are seeded in advance but the actual card (if it's Justicar vs Gormok) is decided on the spot with the pack opening.

I am just trying to understand all of this. Does this apply to normal card RNG too? Like before a game has started, has the game decided in advance that my Kabal Courier will pull out 3 specific cards?


I am not saying any of this is insidious or whatever just trying to understand what's going on exactly. I always assumed card openings worked like loot in ARPGs where as soon as you loot an item it goes throw a number generator top down until it arrives at the item.... it's not like the game decides in advance that "the Xth enemy you will will definitely drop a Legendary item".
 

wiibomb

Member
What I mean is that is it right to assume that at this moment the game has already decided that 20 TGT packs from now I will get a Legendary?

So it seems like rarities are seeded in advance but actual is decided on the spot with the pack opening.

I am just trying to understand all of this. Does this apply to normal card RNG too? Like before a game has started, has the game decided in advance that my Kabal Courier will pull out 3 specific cards?


I am not saying any of this is insidious or whatever just trying to understand what's going on exactly. I always assumed card openings worked like loot in ARPGs where as soon as you loot an item it goes throw a number generator top down until it arrives at the item.... it's not like the game decides in advance that "the Xth enemy you will will definitely drop a Legendary item".

as I understand it from my studies in mathematics on my career and also how the evidence points (I just saw it) there seems to be applying only to the rarities and not to the actual card itself or the golden value of it, that means, if the 20th TGT has 1 legendary that pack will always feature 1 legendary, but it isn't actually determined which one or if it is golden or no until it is opened. It doesn't seem to determine the position in the pack either (which is weird by itself considering they kind of have it set)

that means that if it only applies to rarites, it doesn't apply to the card itself, which woukld make the rest of the game completely random, not pseudo.

also, the psudo numbers have a formula, so that means they only need to store about 2 numbers and calculating with that, they can know exactly what rarity you will open until infinity ends.

it would be interesting to see if these psedo rng applies to the arena rarities too.
 

Blizzard

Banned
I am not saying any of this is insidious or whatever just trying to understand what's going on exactly. I always assumed card openings worked like loot in ARPGs where as soon as you loot an item it goes throw a number generator top down until it arrives at the item.... it's not like the game decides in advance that "the Xth enemy you will will definitely drop a Legendary item".
About the bolded, that depends on the game. The number generator has to use something to generate numbers. For a typical computer or console game, it's going to be a fixed sequence of numbers. Which sequence gets used might depend on the system clock when you start the game or something like that.

However, if they use the number generator for other things, not just loot, it could affect the outcome. If you did NOTHING but loot items, maybe your 10th item is going to be a legendary. But if you loot 5 items and a random enemy spawns, the number generator gets triggered and your item generation might happen differently.

This is why in Pokemon people can abuse the PRNG (Pseudo Random Number Generator) to get themselves shiny Pokemon or perfect stats or whatever they want.
 
What I mean is that is it right to assume that at this moment the game has already decided that 20 TGT packs from now I will get a Legendary?

Yes, although "already decided" is a bit misleading. The thing about digital RNG is that it's actually incredibly difficult to create true random numbers, i.e. ones that aren't determined in advance in any way, so this is only done for purposes like encryption where it's absolutely necessary.

For most purposes, instead computers generate "pseudo-random" numbers -- they use a function that starts with a number called a "seed" and then spits out consecutive numbers that seem random to an outside observer, but which are always 100% the same if you use the same seed. (If you look at any roguelike game where you can save a "seed" and then get the same random map a second time, that's what it's talking about.)

For most random processes in most apps, they use one seed per app or per function or something, but if you want to generate random numbers that are in some way specific to a user, you'll want a different seed for each person. That's probably what's happening here -- there's a distinct "pre-determined" (i.e. differently seeded) order for every user that determines what rarities will be in their packs.

Like before a game has started, has the game decided in advance that my Kabal Courier will pull out 3 specific cards?

This probably uses a global seed (i.e. one that isn't specific to you) so probably not.
 

QFNS

Unconfirmed Member
Here's the info I didn't see that I'm interested in: is this rarity sequence global across sets, or is there an independent timer for each set? In the former case, it becomes possible to manipulate the RNG to some degree by choosing your opening order.

I believe this has been talked about before with regards to the pity timer. I recall the data suggesting that the timer is independant for each set. So you'd need (maximum) 40 packs in each set to hit the guaranteed legendary for that set. And opening MSoG packs doesn't influence Classic and so on.

Which makes sense when you think about it, because -- as you suggested -- people would manipulate that to get high likelihood of legendaries in older sets while buying mostly newer sets where they didn't have all the cards. This would prevent that.

But I don't recall if the data was definitive on that point so maybe not...
 
jade deathrattle rogue

0% win rate v. shaman
90% win rate v. everything else

this is why we can't have nice things

That should still be like a 54% winrate overall....

I believe this has been talked about before with regards to the pity timer. I recall the data suggesting that the timer is independant for each set. So you'd need (maximum) 40 packs in each set to hit the guaranteed legendary for that set. And opening MSoG packs doesn't influence Classic and so on.

That'd definitely be the right way to do it to avoid manipulation, certainly.
 
P68NaVv.png

86lXo9G.png


gonna finally craft forbidden flame since i've got a tourney on saturday, what should i drop for it? water elemental i'm guessing, maybe even sylvanas? put that in cause it's good against all the weapon classes all around. i don't like the dirty rat package in mage personally so no mct shenanigans. some of this is remnants from when i used mediv in the deck but idk gotta get decks ready for the tourney before saturday and ive only been playing wonky zoobot and anyfin stuff in standard lately
 

Fixed1979

Member
gonna finally craft forbidden flame since i've got a tourney on saturday, what should i drop for it? water elemental i'm guessing, maybe even sylvanas? put that in cause it's good against all the weapon classes all around. i don't like the dirty rat package in mage personally so no mct shenanigans. some of this is remnants from when i used mediv in the deck but idk gotta get decks ready for the tourney before saturday and ive only been playing wonky zoobot and anyfin stuff in standard lately

If it's between water ele and Sylv than Sylv is the one to go.
 

inky

Member
Speaking of pity timers, been trying to reset mine before TGT packs are gone, so I bought 5 packs. On my 4th pack I got this:

bgrMdgn.png


Then the very next pack:

f9DXzhb.png


It's not a golden like you guys keep getting, but it will have to do. Consider the timer rest.
 

QFNS

Unconfirmed Member
Speaking of pity timers, been trying to reset mine before TGT packs are gone, so I bought 5 packs. On my 4th pack I got this:

bgrMdgn.png

Confessor Paletress is an awesome card. Has a lot of meme potential for certain, and with Raza around all the inspire cards are actually awesome. Activating Paletress two or more times in 1 turn is basically a win condition.
 

wiibomb

Member
that is way way better than what I usually get, Inky.

confessor also works with the weird super powerful deck Kibler made with Priest
 

inky

Member
Yeah, I know Paletress is great from all the brawls and Arena runs I've managed to use her in.

I also have Fjora, so I can finally make my Fjora + Eydis Paladin and lose on ladder with that too.
 

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
Opened golden Ysera. Hooray. Needed Ysera anyway. Actually sightly disappointed that i need her since golden legendaries are such sweet sweet dust value.

That golden Ysera could be any legendary. It could even be a Ysera!
 
Opened golden Ysera. Hooray. Needed Ysera anyway. Actually sightly disappointed that i need her since golden legendaries are such sweet sweet dust value.

That golden Ysera could be any legendary. It could even be a Ysera!

I love any golden card that spawns more golden cards. It's why I love my golden A Light in the Darkness.

I also just recently got a second golden Azure Drake. Now if it does get nerfed (which I don't think it should,) I'll be rolling in the dust.

abd-217.gif
 
this is how all random number generation in all software works tho



The distinction doesn't actually make a difference. It's a sequential calculation that isn't dependent on anything but its own sequence, so the result is exactly the same whether they calculate each one at open time or in advance. There's probably a random seed for each player and then a set of functions that determine the rarities in each pack based on underlying probabilities and the results of the last N packs opened. Actually thinking about it, they probably push info on each pack onto the end of the previous seed and use that info to know when to pull the pity switch.
I've long thought this is the case in card games. In Hearthstone, I've gotten Gruul as a legendary FIVE times, and in fact he is one of four classic legendaries I have opened in packs. What is the probability of this happening?

In Duelyst, I pre-ordered the Shim'zar expansion and got 4 of the same legendary. Then I logged out, got 50 more packs with gold, and opened 3 of another legendary. I suspect Duelyst sets your "pack seed" when you log in.
 
Opened golden Ysera. Hooray. Needed Ysera anyway. Actually sightly disappointed that i need her since golden legendaries are such sweet sweet dust value.

That golden Ysera could be any legendary. It could even be a Ysera!

Ah, you must be on my friend list because I think I saw someone open that earlier. Shortly thereafter I opened a golden Knuckles. I already had him crafted so it's a free legendary. I do keep all my golds though, so I'm a little sad about it.
 
I've long thought this is the case in card games. In Hearthstone, I've gotten Gruul as a legendary FIVE times, and in fact he is one of four classic legendaries I have opened in packs. What is the probability of this happening?

In Duelyst, I pre-ordered the Shim'zar expansion and got 4 of the same legendary. Then I logged out, got 50 more packs with gold, and opened 3 of another legendary. I suspect Duelyst sets your "pack seed" when you log in.

are you sure you don't just live in the matrix
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom