Have you ever somehow missed that crucial auto attack? Or perhaps the enemy dodged that spell that was definitely about to kill them? You’ve stacked critical chance and you just need your last auto attack to crit but it doesn’t… of course.
You’ve come across what gamers across the world refer to as ‘RNG’ and let me tell you, whilst it can almost certainly be your friend in times of need, it can also be the one thing that ruins your entire day. Alright, I hear you; “what does RNG mean and what does it even stand for?” Let’s start with the latter. RNG stands simply for ‘Random Number Generator’ and yes I realize that doesn’t really make much sense to you, just stick with me on this one alright. As for what it means…
A Random Number Generator (RNG) is a mathematical construct, either computational or as a hardware device that is designed to generate a random set of numbers that should not display any distinguishable patterns in their appearance or generation, hence the word random.*
All that being said, when your ADC¹ is shouting about how bad his RNG is, he’s not exactly referring to the above. Within the gaming world, RNG has become synonymous with luck, good RNG equates to good luck and vice versa. Now that you know what it is, let’s talk about where it’s most commonly found.
RNG crops up absolutely everywhere in gaming, the chance of you hitting that critical hit is RNG, you drawing that perfect card in Hearthstone? Yeah, that’s RNG too. Even the dragons in League of Legends are considered RNG now, it’s crazy. Now that you know what RNG is, the next time your ADC is ready to rage quit complaining about his RNG, perhaps you can cheer him up with stories of your own misfortunes!
Thanks for reading and may you be blessed with good RNG for eternity!
¹ Attack Damage Carry, Marksman etc – A term commonly used in League of Legends.
