Gaming What are the odds of getting a new puzzle piece when exchanging coins?

[McHaggis]

This has been bugging me for the last few weeks. I'd get a bunch of coins and, since I completed StreetPass Quest II, I'd exchange them for new puzzle pieces. Twice, I've had about 60 coins and both times I got less than 10 new pieces, despite having (much) less than half of the available pieces. I've noticed this before, too, only whilst spending less coins. Is it just me?

If I was going to speculate (and I am), I'd say that the odds aren't entirely based on the number of pieces you have. Perhaps it picks an incomplete puzzle at random from your collection, then rolls for a random piece of that puzzle separately? Does anyone have any ideas on how it works?

 

[emigre]

The Eurozone crisis has had a significant effect in the currency exchange of play coins.

Thus affecting puzzle pieces.

 

[Issac]

should be random, but sometimes I think that it's broken. once I got the same piece 10 times in a row, the same damn piece!!!

 

[McHaggis]

should be random, but sometimes I think that it's broken. once I got the same piece 10 times in a row, the same damn piece!!!

I thought that too, originally. I kept getting the same Kirby piece just right of the center. Maybe they're just using a random with non-uniform distribution; Microsoft did that for their browser selection screen on Windows. Have none of these big companies' developers heard of the Fisher-Yates Shuffle!?

 

[Ryupower]

i use 10 coins (each piece=2 coins)

i got all the puzzle pices for the puzzle i have unlocked(but the new Kirby one ands the streetpass ones pieces) using mostly coins

sometimes i get a new piece but most of the time i get repeat pieces
but i do get new pieces, it just takes time

 

[Langin]

Depends on it, did you get most pieces trough streepass or coins? The more coins you use, the less the chance a new piece will appear.

 

[McHaggis]

Depends on it, did you get most pieces trough streepass or coins? The more coins you use, the less the chance a new piece will appear.

Most of my pieces come from coins, not enough 3DS owners around here I guess. Being 29 with very few friends into gaming doesn't help.