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What_up23 loses ground to leader in 2013 yearly TAZD.
The TAZD is a Pearson's chi-square distribution against a zero datum, multiplied by the square root of the number of games played.

The zero datum is the same as before:
07.2 07.9 10.2 14.0 17.5 20.3 22.9

as the distribution of percentages.

At least 60 regular games played per month is needed to qualify for the yearly TAZD, so, to enter now, you need 240 games.

Here are the stats for April:

305 29% 19% 18% 11% 10% 10% 04% 19500 grandgnu
364 22% 18% 13% 11% 12% 13% 12% 10093 what_up23
8 comments , posted by skrumgaer at 2:34 PM, Thursday May 9, 2013 CDT
Grandgnu takes 2012 yearly TAZD.
The TAZD is a Pearson's chi-square distribution against a zero datum, multiplied by the square root of the number of games played. The zero datum is the same as before:
07.2 07.9 10.2 14.0 17.5 20.3 22.9

as the distribution of percentages.

At least 60 regular games played per month is needed to qualify for the yearly TAZD, so, to win, you needed 720.

Final standings:

0977 24% 21% 18% 12% 08% 09% 08% 28170 grandgnu
1175 22% 16% 14% 12% 13% 11% 11% 18152 what_up23
0740 13% 15% 13% 08% 09% 14% 28% 05897 wrestlerchance

39 comments , posted by skrumgaer at 3:30 PM, Tuesday January 1, 2013 CST
Common misconceptions about the current flagging system.
I've noticed that a good deal of the frustration with the game and with other players is consistently due to misunderstandings of the flagging system. This becomes pretty evident when you take a look at players' review pages and a large majority of the negative, and even positive comments, deal with flagging.

The initial flagging system was introduced solely as a way to help the game end faster. It was a simple checkbox, not related to place. When all players other than the one in first checked this box the game would end and each player would receive place based on their current position.

Incidentally, this system led to 'ninja flagging,' where a player would wait for everyone else to have their flag up and then quickly over-expand and then flag themselves, ending the game. They would then finish much higher than they should have otherwise. This led to some fun games as people would watch and try to respond, but it also cause some frustration. Anyone who uses 'ninja flagging' in regards to the current system is using the term incorrectly.

I bring this up because the current flagging system was introduced specifically to address the ninja flagging 'problem.' Some players that play in both systems find the old system preferable, some do not. To each their own; I don't think Ryan will be changing it back anytime soon.

The issue we have now is that flags are grossly misunderstood. You see people all the time expecting that when their flag is up they will not be attacked and thus they feel you did not "honor" or "respect" their flag if you attack them. This completely erroneous assumption has lead to a great deal of complaining, frustration, and negative review leaving.

Here are the flagging facts:
1. If you flag to someone, they have the complete right to still attack you, and often should. There is nothing 'dishonorable' about it. They may need to expand to fight for a higher position and your flag should not stop them from expanding to do so. They may want to earn more dom points - it is their right to do so as they have clearly earned a stronger position. Flags are ONLY there to help the game end faster; they are not magic invincibility potions to protect you when you otherwise should die.

2. People who over-expand and then throw up a flag should frequently be attacked. Just because you put up a flag does not mean that you can foolishly over-expand and leave little stacks lying about and expect to keep them. Again, a flag is not a magic invincibility potion that protects you from attack - it's just there to help the game end faster. You'll often see people over expand recklessly throw up a flag and have it 'respected' and thus earning a position higher than they should have gotten. Good strategy on their part if they think they can get away with it, but poor form on the other players' part to let them do so. Keep in mind that that over-expanding player is taking dominance points away from the other players when they do this as well; frequently from the person who is in the best position to take their smaller stacks.

3. An early flag is essentially a truce offer. If a player verbally flags in round two, it's a safe assumption that those two players are effectively truced and will not be hindering each other's play. The other players on the board need to actively counter this or will almost always end up losing to these two players. This is not very different from being observant and countering two players who says things like "I'm cool" or "how about we be friendly." If you don't fight this behavior when possible, those players will win. You will see some people that ignore or even purposefully attack early verbal flags. This is a reasonable solution to this problem. They're probably flagging early because they are weak, so take the land and dominance points if you are in a position to do so.

In review:
Flagging Rule #1 - Flagging to someone does not mean they cannot and often should not attack you.

Flagging Rule #2 - Players who recklessly over-expand and then flag for defense should often be attacked.

Flagging Rule #3 - An early verbal flag is often an effective truce offer.

I will state the most important part again: flagging was only introduced to help the game end faster. Your flag DOES NOT prevent you from being attacked - it is not what it was designed to do.
212 comments , posted by Vermont at 12:28 PM, Monday December 3, 2012 CST
Useful KDice Links
The aim of this blog post will be to unite and organize all useful KDice links. People are free to post suggestions in the comments and I will add the most relevant ones. So put a link + a description of your link. If I put someones link in here myself, you are free to suggest a better description.

1) Scripts and KDice Tools:

1.1) kakku man's style cleanup + luck + forum script: most recent Firefox and Chrome downloads can be found on his profile at http://www.kdice.com/profile/44857355

1.2) deadcode's toolkit including an autoend turn and a player rating system: most recent Firefox and Chrome downloads can be found on his profile at http://www.kdice.com/profile/44773121

1.3) Schwabba's tournament payout calculator:
http://stuff.pingstars.org/kdice.php

1.4) CaptainLager's KDice Table overview: July 500 2k 5k tables ->
http://picasaweb.google.com/109635982024987470257/KdiceTablesJuly2011

2) Useful Forum Posts:

2.1) Lowest recorded luck in a game:
http://kdice.com/discussion/topics/44801855
2.2) An old Kdice records thread:
http://kdice.com/discussion/topics/24317955
2.3) Earliest recorded 48:
http://www.kdice.com/discussion/topics/14557347
2.4) Thread where Stormlord explains how the luck% formula works:
http://www.kdice.com/discussion/topics/44798484
2.5) highest win at 500/2500/10k:
http://kdice.com/discussion/topics/44766747

3) Kdice ranking or alternative stat stuff:

3.1) Chloe's work (the downloadable googledocs data etc)
3.2) Chases's total 100 post thread (with Das doing the actual compiling of the list): http://kdice.com/discussion/topics/44806270
3.3) 100th post thread (volunteer needed)

4) Kdice related links:

4.1.A) kdice wikipedia (including the odds for each roll): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDice
4.1.B) more dated wiki info: http://kdice.wikispaces.com/

4.2) semi-abandoned place for KDice related polls: http://kdicepollwars.blogspot.com/
4.3) Inside the cabal (A bit of reading about the darker days of KDice) http://kdice.blogspot.com/
4.4) Monte's Sporcle collection: http://www.sporcle.com/user/montecarlo/contributed


5) Kdice guides and translated rules:

6) Kdice fun links:

6.1) that awesome Scandinavian 4 player game: http://team.forsvarsmakten.se/english/
6.2) tinychat kdice room: http://www.tinychat.com/kdice
6.3) Kdice jigsaw puzzle created by Montecarlo http://www.jigidi.com/solve.php?id=15PIT1QK
6.4) Chase's funny WW2 chatlog (post 32 + continued later)
http://www.kdice.com/discussion/topics/44794276?page=4
6.5 a reminder of Loobee's promise to wish us all a happy 2012
http://kdice.com/discussion/topics/44803014
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=efibes&s=7
2 comments , posted by jurgen at 6:28 AM, Wednesday November 21, 2012 CST
grandgnu, olkainry38, 1st.skyler win 2011 TAZD*
Here are some additional scoring systems to the TAZD, including TAZD*, ASRm, and ASR. They are all preferable to base TAZD because they reward skill rather than just deviance from a defined middle point.

Specifically, a win (first place) could actually make your TAZD score go DOWN. In all the other systems it would make your score increase (or stay the same due to rounding.)

There are other issues with the TAZD that have been hilighted in the forum numerous times already.

Kudos to chloe for pulling all this together and publishing all her formulae and results. Due to the shortcomings of the plain TAZD, part of what goes on needs to be kept secret, but it's not the case with these. Security through obscurity is not necessary.

Here's Chloe's post, plus rankings:

Just say so if you'd like to join. If you have any questions about calculations or anything, just ask, and I'll happily answer. Suggestions are also always welcome and listened to. In fact! Monte recently suggested normalising the percentage profiles so everyone is on even footing- since not everyone's percentage profiles add to the same number. It's a small change, but it's an important one in my opinion.

An average of 35 games per month are required.

Unless someone specifically requests otherwise, I'll also include everyone in the yearly TAZD*. So far, I've included everyone with sufficient games that joined up to June. I'll add in the later entries soon. If you'd like to be removed, just say so, and I'll take you out no questions asked.

420 games minimum, 2400 games max bonus

Final standings, sorted by TAZD*:

ASRm ASR TAZD* Name
1.85 1096 28447 grandgnu
2.00 1639 23607 olkainry38
1.43 3465 22097 1st.skyler
1.46 2421 21374 Mercantile
1.31 2687 21307 kdiceplaya!
1.70 1719 19583 Mazaman
1.36 1653 19332 stakaboo
1.72 4303 19273 montecarlo
1.26 2474 18691 Lady Lite
1.72 0820 18559 masticore
1.40 8004 17820 Fonias
1.48 1136 17635 DrunkDaShiVa
1.26 3420 17021 Gurgi
1.29 3248 16598 dottir
1.22 1767 15354 cool g
0.89 2351 15331 chaiNblade
1.09 3709 14989 dirtyrolls
1.13 0534 14673 BAMMBI
1.38 2094 14563 Loobee
1.46 0493 14330 Xar
1.09 1609 14316 Az_Balu
1.26 1121 14285 ehervey
1.23 3678 13670 dasfury
1.23 1822 13631 charliedontsurf
1.14 1317 13372 Randomperfection
1.27 1219 13102 caesar-blue
0.63 -0030 12124 THRILLHO
1.18 0377 10911 Crazy Smurf
1.00 1082 10788 greekboi
1.07 0234 10059 ji-jo
1.13 0372 09926 TheBetterYodel
1.06 0396 09274 toad92
1.28 0089 08793 Kibble95
1.14 0068 07885 skrumgaer
1.01 -0205 07740 pooch723
1.02 0678 04874 Simon
0.93 -0041 04471 CCSKAOT
0.38 -0174 03302 joejoewhoa

http://bit.ly/v4mNPe

I got un-dumb and changed from manually summing products to using the SUMPRODUCT function in excel, but google docs apparently can't handle fixed references in its SUMPRODUCT calculation, hence the #VALUE! errors. Everything works fine in the original excel document, which I'd be happy to email to anyone who wants it.
48 comments , posted by Vermont at 10:34 AM, Thursday April 12, 2012 CDT
KDice - Multiplayer Dice Wars
KDice is a multiplayer strategy online game played in monthly competitions. It's like Risk. The goal is to win every territory on the map.
Twitter: @kdicegame
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Twitter: @rdews
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