Turning over Rocks: Advanced Strategies

The Paper Cut Posse, as any cutting edge organization should be, is 100% committed to both the development and reclamation of advanced stratagem. (Some were witness to our dedication in this area as PCP member Tom Bland attempted the dangerous "all rock" approach). This endeavor has been aided by the large body of collective work that exists in the field of game theory. Particularly interesting has been the studies into both the successful and unsuccessful algorithms tested in the 1999 and 2000 RoShamBo Programming Competition. From these programs (of which source code is freely available) we have gained insight into some advanced theories. If anyone wants to play 1000 consecutive games we predict a +20 score or better (+/- 10 is within the natural error of randomness). Some new strategies have been devised from these studies and will be tested in open competition play next week. (Hint: many involve attempting to determine patterns of the opponent, such as a proclivity to ascend, descend, or don't change their throws).