Black Cards

Oh no! My list got deleted! :( I didn't know it was something to keep secret, sorry. Anyway everybody can do that by himself just scrolling the past games, it doesn't require much effort, little by little...

[quote=dough_boy]So it would stand to reason that there is a base deck of cards with predetermined card color. Then a copy is made and shuffled and that deck is what is used for each individual game. If this assumption is correct, why not assign the colors randomly at the time of creating the copied game used deck? 1. Copy deck 2. Shuffle deck 3. Assign x% wilds 4. Assign red/blue/green to remaining cards 5. Shuffle deck 6. Play ball[/quote] It makes zero difference which territories are Wild Cards (Black). It also makes zero difference if the association of colour to each territory card is random or fixed. The extra 2 troops for owning a territory also have no bearing on the randomness or rigidity of the colours associated to territories. Only the even distribution of colour and ratio of black cards matters. The colours of the cards are applied when a map is input into the system and remain those colours forever, unless we find an error or alter the map where the territory count is altered.

[quote=aeronautic][quote=dough_boy]So it would stand to reason that there is a base deck of cards with predetermined card color. Then a copy is made and shuffled and that deck is what is used for each individual game. If this assumption is correct, why not assign the colors randomly at the time of creating the copied game used deck? 1. Copy deck 2. Shuffle deck 3. Assign x% wilds 4. Assign red/blue/green to remaining cards 5. Shuffle deck 6. Play ball[/quote] It makes zero difference which territories are Wild Cards (Black). It also makes zero difference if the association of colour to each territory card is random or fixed. The extra 2 troops for owning a territory also have no bearing on the randomness of rigidity of the colours associated to territories. Only the even distribution of colour and ratio of black cards matters. The colours of the cards are applied when a map is input into the system and remain those colours forever, unless we find an error or alter the map where the territory count is altered.[/quote] In this very topic, I believe I have actually argued that it does make a difference. It's a minor thing and it rolls on loads of assumptions - but there's merit in my thoughts there, I believe. That said, I could see a certain use in what @@dough_boy suggested. However, it's not something I would put high on any wish list, when there's many other things with more use that are still on that list. Furthermore, I do not know how much extra strain would be put on the server if this extra loop would be incorporated - but I could imagine that that could actually be a reason to not go with db's suggestion, albeit in theory good. @@Fendi If I may inquire; why did the list get removed? Personally, I don't mind whether it's out in public or not (I helped to create it, unware that this was frowned upon, sorry. Also, like @@The_Bishop said, it can be recreated by everyone who wishes to put in the effort. Figured that it made sense to share this knowledge, as to not have an 'unfair advantage' over someone who doesn't know about this). I'm asking because I'm unsure about the negative impact there could be in having this out in the open? It totally remains a decision which will be made by the staff of course.

I read your post about the advantage of wild card knowledge, for which I also saw that Matty stated that it may be the smartest thing he'd heard in a while However, for me, I don't so much see things as analytical, but practical and I still fail to see how you can work out anything by knowing which territories are associated to Wild (Black) Cards. [quote]Sometimes even put a 2 on it instead of a 1. I realise this is rather... 'risky' to gamble on/work with, but I find some truth in it, going through several games I've been part of.[/quote] What about the practical players who would never make anything obvious for you, leaving only 1 troop on Alaska even though they have that Wild Card? What about the player that doesn't have that Wild Card, but adds a troop to Alaska, because it will hinder a route? What about the player that adds a troop to all their 1's to give themselves two defence dice (a defence advantage)? What about the player that doesn't care about getting 2 extra troops on the territory associated to their black card, because they can't attack from there and the 2 extra will not help them win or survive after their intended game winning / losing move? So many "what-ifs" to make any sort of guaranteed calculation. Some players have worked out how many wild cards are in each map and by looking at the log to see when the first Black Card was exchanged, are able to use their inner "Rain Man" and count the cards and know when the original first black card is coming to the top, but they would also have to know which of the three exchanged cards re-entered the pack 1st, 2nd & 3rd. However, this doesn't tell them where all of the black cards are and so, like a magician, they would have to have seen all the black cards being exchanged or held by them, to truly be able to map where they all are, once returned to the deck. In the cases where, all the black cards have not yet been returned to the deck, Risk rarely gives you the information that you need, because sometimes, for example, luck gives a player a wild card on the first victory and also gives them a 3 card colour set every time they need to exchange and they'll get to keep their wild card for that critical 3 card set (whether they own the territory or not) and you will have no way of telling that they've got it, no matter what you counted and what you know before the start of the game (this can definitely happen, as it has happened to me). The only way to be certain is by some miracle that, all the other cards have been seen exchanged before any duplicates have been exchanged. Sometimes, you will come across other analytical players who will be 100% certain in their mind that they know that you have a Black Card and will kill you on that certainty of having 2 sets from 6 cards after they've killed you, only to find that you didn't have a black card, but they killed you and their self as a result. Therefore, only in ideal circumstances will you ever be able to card-count, but the randomness of Risk and players actions will mostly scupper all ideal circumstances. So I say again, it matters not which territories are associated to Black Cards or any Colour Cards. You will never have a guaranteed advantage by knowing this information nor will you be able to calculate with certainty that a player has a Black Card, by their troop reinforcements. You will however, be able to give it an educated guess and will win or lose on the correctness of your educated guess, having then to explain your actions for the latter in the heated debate that will follow, as to why you ruined the game and gave an easy win to the player that you didn't attack, who actually had the wild card.

[quote=AlexCheckMate]If I may inquire; why did the list get removed?[/quote] I am well aware of the fact that the information about the cards can be obtained just by studying the log. What I don't like and what make me uncomfortable is having that information posted freely, out in the open, instead of limiting it to the logs.