4 ms·

Most of the slots these days are just cabinets with touchscreen LCDs, a bill changer, a player's card reader, and a computer running software. Of course it's e

Most of the slots these days are just cabinets with touchscreen LCDs, a bill changer, a player's card reader, and a computer running software. Of course it's evil, but I'm surprised they aren't split testing the reward frequencies, and then having the software adjust automatically to the one that generates the most total action for the game. That way they wouldn't have to ripoff other manufacturers' games when they start doing well....all the games would be optimized over time for maximum appeal/profit/addiction.

thefalcon 10y ago
Gaming regulators prohibit many on-the-fly changes to machines while on the floor. Online casinos certainly could and probably are doing some variation of this though, and all those manufacturers sell "at home" software versions of their machines and would be smart to be doing split testing of player behavior in that software.
- downandout 10y ago
  I'm aware, but most gambling regulations are heavily influenced by lobbyists. If the industry realized how much more money they could make from this, they would get it approved.
  - grogenaut 10y ago
    Gambling regulation's #1 worry is fraud/theft. Everything has to be predictable. Builds have to be repeatable. Think about that, gcc has to emit the same binary / assets down to the timestamps from the same inputs. Java too. All source is read, all rng's are run massive numbers of times to experimentally prove them. Program storage needs to be non-volitale and they will run an arc welder across the frame of the box to try and skew the computer. All of this is to say that they are ultra paranoid of changes that could lead to fraud. Remote updates without their review woudn't pass. With their approval and auditing maybe. Source: My boss worked in this industry and talks about it basically every lunch.
kartan 10y ago
> I'm surprised they aren't split testing the reward frequencies Of course this is done. It is just slower than in the web as other people has pointed out you can't change things on the fly. I worked for the gambling industry and we had a statistics department that take care of this kind of things. You try different machines and you have different local maximums: - There is the machine for the slow player that is there all day. It gives back a lot of small rewards so people keep playing and playing. It doesn't makes so much money but makes sure that your section of machines (each section is from a different company) is never empty. - There are hard machines for places like Las Vegas. People bets hard and expects big colorful prices. - There are machines for the small town casinos. This machines are softer than the ones in Las Vegas. But also optimized for its target audience. Then there is the amount of noise, your section of machines should look like is giving prices all the time. The design of the cabinet (in Mexico they have a place to put plates as people eats there). Yes. It is serious business. And there are a million considerations that each company takes into account. A/B testing was there a lot before the web was a thing.

thefalcon 10y ago

Gaming regulators prohibit many on-the-fly changes to machines while on the floor. Online casinos certainly could and probably are doing some variation of this though, and all those manufacturers sell "at home" software versions of their machines and would be smart to be doing split testing of player behavior in that software.

downandout 10y ago
I'm aware, but most gambling regulations are heavily influenced by lobbyists. If the industry realized how much more money they could make from this, they would get it approved.
- grogenaut 10y ago
  Gambling regulation's #1 worry is fraud/theft. Everything has to be predictable. Builds have to be repeatable. Think about that, gcc has to emit the same binary / assets down to the timestamps from the same inputs. Java too. All source is read, all rng's are run massive numbers of times to experimentally prove them. Program storage needs to be non-volitale and they will run an arc welder across the frame of the box to try and skew the computer. All of this is to say that they are ultra paranoid of changes that could lead to fraud. Remote updates without their review woudn't pass. With their approval and auditing maybe. Source: My boss worked in this industry and talks about it basically every lunch.

kartan 10y ago

> I'm surprised they aren't split testing the reward frequencies Of course this is done. It is just slower than in the web as other people has pointed out you can't change things on the fly. I worked for the gambling industry and we had a statistics department that take care of this kind of things. You try different machines and you have different local maximums: - There is the machine for the slow player that is there all day. It gives back a lot of small rewards so people keep playing and playing. It doesn't makes so much money but makes sure that your section of machines (each section is from a different company) is never empty. - There are hard machines for places like Las Vegas. People bets hard and expects big colorful prices. - There are machines for the small town casinos. This machines are softer than the ones in Las Vegas. But also optimized for its target audience. Then there is the amount of noise, your section of machines should look like is giving prices all the time. The design of the cabinet (in Mexico they have a place to put plates as people eats there). Yes. It is serious business. And there are a million considerations that each company takes into account. A/B testing was there a lot before the web was a thing.