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#74202: "Please randomize cards for shark draws"
rejected: Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high
1
What is this report about?
What happened ? Please select from below
Suggestion: in my opinion, the following would greatly improve the game implementation
Detailed description
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• Please explain your suggestion precisely and concisely so that it's as easy as possible to understand what you mean.
When player A plays a SHARK + SWIMMER combo, player B's cards should be randomized for the draw. It makes no sense for the cards to be sorted by type: no real-life player would keep all his mermaids on the right side and all his sharks on the left for the other player to pick exactly what they need. Yet when I steal from my opponent and I know they have a shark/swimmer, I click on their left-most card (as I see them) and voila! I have their shark/swimmer in my hand. Mermaids and other "points-only" cards (penguins, shells, lighthouse etc.) will be toward the right. People who know this have an advantage over newer players and it makes the game unfair.
• What is your browser?
Mozilla v5
Report history
21. Oct 2022 0:15 • thoun • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
It is random, in fact the card you click is never sent to the server ;) you can check the code if you doubt, you're not the first
2. Nov 2022 4:39 • OutOfHabit • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
Why do we even have have to select a card? I get selecting a player, but should not have to pick a card.
And should be automatic for 2-player games
And should be automatic for 2-player games
12. Nov 2022 13:58 • This1KidTaylor • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
I noticed my most powerful cards are getting stolen more often than others so the players at my table tested and it seems true. The game automatically sorts the highest value cards to the top of your hand so anytime your opponents steal, all they have to do is steal the first card in the stack to get your best card.
I noticed my most powerful cards are getting stolen more often than others so the players at my table tested and it seems true. The game automatically sorts the highest value cards to the top of your hand so anytime your opponents steal, all they have to do is steal the first card in the stack to get your best card.
28. Nov 2022 19:36 • applegummy • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
I agree with this report, when I click on the right most card of the other players hand and I know they have a mermaid, I have noticed I will likely get a mermaid and vice versa. Please look into this even if this shouldn't be the case as it's getting replicated
14. Dec 2022 16:20 • Lou_00 • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
I agree, I am experiencing exactly the same issue. If I know that my adv. has a mermaid, I need to clic on the right card of his hands to be sure I'm stealing the mermaid.
30. Dec 2022 20:01 • ccllaauuddiiaa • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
I agree with the other players, I recognized this as well, especially in tournament
5. Jan 2023 19:52 • RoyalApe • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
Adding more support for this.
5. Jan 2023 21:52 • Otithes • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
It is NOT random. Mermaids tend to be on the right; the first card taken by the opponent tends to be on the left; random picks tend to give you whatever card the other player took last; and so on. I don’t know how it works, but experienced players are exploiting this and it breaks the game.
5. Jan 2023 21:55 • thoun • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
Please check the code source, or simply the request sent to the server, if you don't trust my answer
5. Jan 2023 22:52 • thoun • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
Here is an image of the network call you'll see when you steal, if you open F12 to network tab. As you can see, only the player id is sent, no cardId or card order. Do the test yourself if you don't trust me, or check the source code on my github (github.com/thoun)
imgur.com/a/Xg9J3Vi
imgur.com/a/Xg9J3Vi
19. Jan 2023 19:32 • Pricantora • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
Stealing should be of a random card after choosing the player you want to steal from. Don't let us choose a card!! My opponent can tell the order of my cards, therefore, it does not mimic the real game.
19. Jan 2023 19:36 • thoun • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
Please read my answers above ;)
4. Sep 2023 22:31 • silkkii • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
I checked the source code, relevant line here:
$card = $cardsInHand[bga_rand(1, $cardsNumber) - 1];
Isn't the function bga_rand(min, max) and card numbers go from 0 onwards? by starting from card number 1, it would always omit first card in that players hand, no?
So in case player you steal from has 2 cards, it would always pick the second card no matter what, unless I'm missing something here (like first card being special or card numbers starting from 1 instead of 0 - but then that -1 would omit the last card on that players hand instead).
$card = $cardsInHand[bga_rand(1, $cardsNumber) - 1];
Isn't the function bga_rand(min, max) and card numbers go from 0 onwards? by starting from card number 1, it would always omit first card in that players hand, no?
So in case player you steal from has 2 cards, it would always pick the second card no matter what, unless I'm missing something here (like first card being special or card numbers starting from 1 instead of 0 - but then that -1 would omit the last card on that players hand instead).
4. Sep 2023 22:34 • thoun • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
There is a - 1 after bga_rand, so same result as writing $cardsInHand[bga_rand(0, $cardsNumber - 1)];
4. Sep 2023 22:41 • silkkii • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
ah, that's correct, nevermind me then :D
4. Sep 2023 22:49 • thoun • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
I made the same mistake the first time I checked my code after this bug report :) I don't remember why I wrote it this way, but it's still correct.
27. May 2024 18:06 • magroco • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
Everytime my mermaid got stolen, so there is no fun to play it when you know you lost your powerful cards that easy
31. Jul 2024 22:24 • nenptuk9Jtr • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
Shuffling the cards visually with a quick animation would help the non-technical people understand the concept of RNG a bit better.
Speaking about server-side and client-side calls would only help a fraction of a percent of the people who feel the need to open threads such as this one.
Speaking about random numbers will not help the people who insist on using www.dictionary.com/browse/anecdata to discuss the general behavior of a program.
Speaking about server-side and client-side calls would only help a fraction of a percent of the people who feel the need to open threads such as this one.
Speaking about random numbers will not help the people who insist on using www.dictionary.com/browse/anecdata to discuss the general behavior of a program.
3. Dec 2024 16:32 • Rebexus • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
Even if it is random how does the mermaid get picked much more often than any other card?
13. Mar 2025 17:40 • blockmonoid • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
Seriously. I have mermaids stolen from my hand over 50% of the time. And this happens regularly out of a hand of 5+ cards. It does not seem random to me.
I'm looking at the code quoted above:
$card = $cardsInHand[bga_rand(1, $cardsNumber) - 1];
I understand the discussion above about the card numbering starting at 0 and why the -1 makes 0 possible. I see a potential bug with the max, however. If I have 2 cards in my hand, what is the value of $cardsNumber? Is it 2 or 1? If the value is 2, then everything works as it should. But if the value is 1 (because the programmer who wrote $cardsNumber was taking into account that the card numbering starts at 0), then your $card code would always produce 0 for a 2 card hand. That would explain why mermaids got selected more often.
I'm looking at the code quoted above:
$card = $cardsInHand[bga_rand(1, $cardsNumber) - 1];
I understand the discussion above about the card numbering starting at 0 and why the -1 makes 0 possible. I see a potential bug with the max, however. If I have 2 cards in my hand, what is the value of $cardsNumber? Is it 2 or 1? If the value is 2, then everything works as it should. But if the value is 1 (because the programmer who wrote $cardsNumber was taking into account that the card numbering starts at 0), then your $card code would always produce 0 for a 2 card hand. That would explain why mermaids got selected more often.
18. Aug 2025 15:37 • rodrigocaruso • Developers think that it is not a good idea or that the cost/benefit ratio is too high:
My only match, 3 steals with 3 cards, all 3 stole the mermaid
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