Board 8 > I've been getting into game theory lately

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've been reading an old book about zero-sum matrix games and now I'm hooked

I am also glad I am reading it in the modern day where I can get a computer to do the legwork for me because you could only reasonably take that so far on pen and paper. I wanna find out more stuff though! I also wish I could apply what I know a bit faster- you don't really have time to draw out a matrix and do a bunch of math in most of the situations I'd want to apply it.
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Expected the YouTube channel
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But that's just a th.... Oh
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I did actually expect a math topic
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it's a pretty fun topic, although i never got too deeply in there

what are you looking at now?
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I am almost done with The Compleat Strategyst by JD Williams. I imagine we've made some advances in the fifty years since it was written, but I have a decent handle on zero-sum simultaneous-action two-player games now!

I've also been looking at a less dry book that applies game theory concepts to parenting.
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Yessssss

this is something I used a lot in Mercenaries. Have you read on Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma, Tom? My theory is that That Game is pretty much like that dilemma, in that it looks like a Betray game at first glance but Cooperate (and specifically unbroken Cooperate) is the key to victory until playoffs. It's very interesting to look at complicated games through the lens of game theory and see how it all plays out.
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I have read a TINY bit on that- sadly it's out of the scope of this book because it's not zero-sum.
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Tom Bombadil posted...

I have read a TINY bit on that- sadly it's out of the scope of this book because it's not zero-sum.

That's probably something to read up on - not just the basic idea of the Prisoner's Dilemma, but more importantly how you arrive at its optimal strategy (Cooperate) using selfish actors, because it's a huge part of making sure certain conceits of game balance work. Also useful for dealing with kiddos by enticing them to do something good for the whole family (like going to sleep on time) through the use of carrot instead of stick!
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I think at one point I saw that "repeat the opponent's last action" was supposed to be really good at prisoner?
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Zero sum is boring
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Tom Bombadil posted...

I think at one point I saw that "repeat the opponent's last action" was supposed to be really good at prisoner?

Mhm. This is why in Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma (IE a hundred successive iterations of PD with the same players), you end up at Cooperate Every Time, because otherwise you end up with such too many betrayals that massively minimize your gains.
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well then help me learn about the rest of it!
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KanzarisKelshen posted...

Yessssss

this is something I used a lot in Mercenaries. Have you read on Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma, Tom? My theory is that That Game is pretty much like that dilemma, in that it looks like a Betray game at first glance but Cooperate (and specifically unbroken Cooperate) is the key to victory until playoffs. It's very interesting to look at complicated games through the lens of game theory and see how it all plays out.

Psh sometimes you just gotta pick the right spot to betray in broseph
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Game Theory kinda sucks half the time. Some of the s*** they do is stupid, and they commit the sin of doing a StarFox Arwing video and NOT acknowledging the G-Diffuser system.
Film Theory is just as bad- ahem "Don't Attack the Titans".
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Airship_Canon posted...

Game Theory kinda sucks half the time. Some of the s*** they do is stupid, and they commit the sin of doing a StarFox Arwing video and NOT acknowledging the G-Diffuser system.
Film Theory is just as bad- ahem "Don't Attack the Titans".

Wrong game theory.

SANS IS NESS!?!?!
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