Random items not random?

[K]

So, I was playing around with a test game and advancing it dozens of turns to get more gems for Wishes.

At one point, I checked my lab for an artifact that got knocked off my Lich and I see......

Six Crowns of Command, four Swords of Sharpness, five Rings of Frost, and four other assorted items.

So that can't be random. The question is: what is the real formula for getting random items?

[Jazzepi]

K said:
So, I was playing around with a test game and advancing it dozens of turns to get more gems for Wishes.

At one point, I checked my lab for an artifact that got knocked off my Lich and I see......

Six Crowns of Command, four Swords of Sharpness, five Rings of Frost, and four other assorted items.

So that can't be random. The question is: what is the real formula for getting random items?



I really wish the random items were improved some. Would make taking luck more interesting. I always end up with a plethora of unusable level 1 items like swords of sharpness, or those thicket branch things.

Jazzepi

[ano]

In one MP game I got 3 crystal shields with luck 2. It was really good)

[Edi]

I do tend to get random stuff, both usable and unusable. Various weapons, with perhaps Staff of Corrosion being the best one yet, frost rings, berserker pelts, shield of gleaming gold, lightless lantern, ring of wizardry, chi shoes, lifelong protection and others.

So for me it has been random. But that's over several games. Perhaps the variation within each game is less.

[Endoperez]

Many of the new events seem to be limited to low-level items or at least don't disallow them from the selection. Tomb of an ancient king is still likely to produce a Ring of Fire, etc etc.

There are only few events that produce a truly random item, and those usually give something common or useless.

[Ironhawk]

Edi said:
I do tend to get random stuff, both usable and unusable. ... ring of wizardry, ....



You got a Ring of Wizardry as a random item????

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif

[Endoperez]

I've got Robe of the Archmagi, once. It was annoying, because I got TWO great treasures on the turn I lost against AI as Mictlan, and the reason I lost because I couldn't summon an Arch Devil because I lacked a booster. I think that must be some kind of a hard-coded learning experience. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[sector24]

In my SP Bogarus game I got Baba Yaga on the 1st turn, and on the 2nd turn I got a Dwarven Hammer from and event, and another Dwarven Hammer from the indy province I conquered. I take luck 3 in most of my SP games, just because it's fun and the lost points serve to help the AI a little.

[Meglobob]

Ironhawk said:

Edi said:
I do tend to get random stuff, both usable and unusable. ... ring of wizardry, ....



You got a Ring of Wizardry as a random item????

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif



Yea, I have had a ring of wizardry once as a random magic item from a luck event, sadly it was in a SP game and not MP. Its very rare only happened once in countless games and I do tend to take luck 3 whenever I can.

Overall, I would say the items are random, had allsorts from the magic item tables, everything except artifacts, you don't get them randomly.

The best I have had in MP are a dwarvern hammer early on (like turn 2 or so), skull mentors, a brazen vessel (when I was playing a blood nation) to name a few.

[Jazzepi]

I've played luck 3 in two games that went to 70+ turns and I can't think of a single good item that I got in either game.

Lots of gems and money, but no items.

Jazzepi

[NTJedi]

I've received a clam of pearls on turn_3 from a battle.

During a hotseat MP game one of my human opponents found a ring of sorcery from an event.

When having a summoned commander explore 'city of the damned' during an SP game I found a second unique artifact, thus two identical unique artifacts existed during the game.
(not even the Wish spell could make that happen.)

[Evil Dave]

I've also gotten a Ring of Wizardry, a Staff of the Ivy King, and a Staff of the Elements in different games, as well as tons of trinkets. I usually play SP w/ Luck 3, 'cause it's fun.

[PvK]

I've received many good items randomly. I got a Soul Contract, and I think the Flying Ship in Dom 2.

[K]

So what people are saying is that they have no idea how random items are picked, despite my proof that its not random.

[Ballbarian]

Six Crowns of Command, four Swords of Sharpness, five Rings of Frost, and four other assorted items.



How is that proof that the items are not random? Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention, but from the prior posts, it sounds pretty random to me. If you are referring to the tendency for lower level items to be more common or weighted higher than artifacts, that does not mean that it is not random.

Sorry if I missed your point.

[Zeldor]

I sometimes get really nice items. In MP I got clams, that soul contract that gives devils, armour of souls etc.

[Kristoffer O]

They are random. At least when I enter them in the code. I just write 'magicitem,1', or magicitem,2' or 'magicitem,3'. 1 means most likely a trinket. 2 a more powerful item, etc.

I never get the same item. In my current MP I've gotten 4 items, all trinkets, none the same.

[K]

Kristoffer O said:
They are random. At least when I enter them in the code. I just write 'magicitem,1', or magicitem,2' or 'magicitem,3'. 1 means most likely a trinket. 2 a more powerful item, etc.

I never get the same item. In my current MP I've gotten 4 items, all trinkets, none the same.



That's super wierd. So my test game is just a statistical anomoly?

[Edi]

Yes. What are the odds of getting, out of a potential pool of 560 random sites, 3x Enchanted Tower in one province? Yet I saw that happen just the other day when Kaljamaha and I were playing a co-op game. Had 3 arenas in one game, though that was way back in DomPPP.

Statistical anomalies happen sometimes, there's a reason why the concept of data outliers is fairly important in science. One instance does not a proof make. It could be that in a specific game, the random seed for some reason gets "stuck" so you would get more than one of the same item. But I don't think so.

If there are three categories of items available, with a specific event giving a higher probability for one class of item, getting several instances of that event would reduce the pool of potential choices, lowering the odds of getting the same item twice. Got two or three berserker pelts myself in one game, for example.

So I'd say it's random, all right.

[chrispedersen]

I almost ALWAYS get arenas... more than 6-7 in some games.
three is nothing...

[Endoperez]

chrispedersen said:
I almost ALWAYS get arenas... more than 6-7 in some games.
three is nothing...



It's obvious Edi meant he had three arenas in the same province.