RNG

So, now that we're back on track, let me briefly talk about RNG and how it's used, and why I dislike when something is too RNG heavy. I don't know exactly how RNG works so I'll just go off of what I do know, so we're not here for years as I try to explain something I don't fully understand.

So RNG - Random Number Generator - plays a big part in a lot of games. It dictates spawn rates for games that have it, it dictates whether a Pokémon will be shiny or not, or whether it'll have a certain nature or not, and in some RPG cases, it dictates how your stats level up. For the most part, RNG is at a fixed rate, and can't be influenced without certain items or other stuff. Let's start simple and use Fire Emblem as our go-to.

So let's say you're playing Fire Emblem Awakening, and Chrom just leveled up, but he only got +1 to his Strength, and nothing else. Not a very good level up, right? But let's say you reset your game and did it again, but this time all of his stats gain +1, essentially a perfect level up. This is because the RNG has rolled again randomly. Sure, every character has concrete and fixed growth rates, which dictates the likelihood that a stat will go up or not upon level up, but even the low chances are possible if you're lucky. Some people like to do RNG manipulation, where they'd soft-reset until the character got the perfect stats upon leveling up (But in the case of Awakening, why bother when you can infinitely level your characters and hit their stat caps with some time/effort, while getting some awesome skills?) to have better characters overall. Long story short: The stats that get raised are random, but are also influenced by the percentage of their stat growths, so if someone has a 100% in HP, they will ALWAYS gain more HP when they level up. And that's not even factoring in the percentages from each class and how they influence the numbers as is. But I won't go further because even my mind is starting to explode here. But, I don't mind this RNG, because the game isn't 100% RNG,it's also based on your skills and your movements/placement, so it has skill to it.

Let's go to Pokémon, where chance has always been a big element in some cases. RNG affects the lotto numbers drawn each day, as well as the odds of a Pokémon being shiny. Let's say you're playing Sun/Moon, where the default odds of finding a shiny are 1/4096. Tough odds, but not impossible. But add the Shiny Charm after finishing the Alola Pokedex, and your odds are now 3/4096, or roughly 1/1365. The Shiny Charm adds 3 additional RNG rolls to attempt to produce a shiny Pokémon, essentially giving you a 3x shiny rate, to simplify. And of course, if you decide to Masuda Method, which already affects the odds, with a Shiny Charm, you get to a 1/512 chance of hatching a shiny, which, based on the original odds, is a x8 boost, as 8/4096 can be simplified into 1/512.

Okay so there's a lot of math/percents/and numbers, so let me go to the last case I want to explain: Spawn rates.

In all RPG games, that I am aware of, there's RNG at work. It dictates the encounter rates for monsters, dictates the items they drop, and so on. While you can obviously say, "Oh that's a rare spawn so it will spawn less than a normal enemy," that's definitely true, because that's what it boils down to. But sometimes you hunt for that one rare monster, whether to simply encounter it, or to get a lot of exp/currency/items from it, and you could hunt for hours and not find it. Meanwhile some people find it very fast. It's all down to luck, and not skill, and that can be very infuriating at times.

While going through Tales of Zestiria, RNG plays a HUGE role in everything you're aiming to do. It affects item drop rates, and the items that get dropped, if any. It affects the skills that appear on these items. And even with Normin set to influence the skills, it's not a 1-to-1 foolproof method. It affects what gets made with Snack/Remedy Preparation, and can affect the rate you obtain Double/Triple Skills from drops when you're on Hard difficulty or higher. Games that are RNG-heavy like this are pretty frustrating, in my opinion, especially when you consider that Zestiria's whole fusion mechanic is the literal key to your success, and WILL be the difference between victory and failure. It doesn't matter how well you play, if you don't have the right equipment/skills/stacks, you're going to lose, and I hate that a lot. But... more on that when I eventually do a trophy guide on Zestiria.

Anyways, thanks for reading my huge garbled mess of a blog post. I appreciate any/all support you guys give me and I'm always happy to type more stuff/play more games for the sake of more posts to give you all, even if they're lackluster.

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Have a nice day!~