create variance -> bad idea
it would need a lot of testing to tell if it really makes equally good starts for all players. I think you can get bad start as likely as with the present system.

i think a better way is to restrict the number of connected territories to 2 or 3. i remember nexon starting with 5 connected territories.

I agree with the last two posts

I mean I agree with jurgen's and Danny DCB's posts

Shevar I think I remember the 10k with nexon you are talking about.

but what you noticed there too (and in fact in many cases where people have an awesome start) the other players consider itv a very unfair situation and if one of the first players has the guts to attack this lucky start, many others follow and in the end such a good start is not always a guaranteed win because all other players gang up on you.

"Too much intervention in the randomness would make stuff less fun."

unfortunately, the current randomness makes it totally unfair for some players because of their start position (consider 4 territories in 4 coners, surrounded by others with 5 stackers). in situations like this, you cannot but have to settle for 7th or 6th. how fair is this? how fun it this? you are basically lost before you even play!!!

can there be a formula that the combined distance (measured by the number of territories) between your territories cannot exceed a certain number???

there are a lot of times that people won because of their start position, but not their skills or luck.

i'll try and post some screen shots of unfair starts if i can.

you should make this game more like chess. chess is more fair than kdice.

also chess does not have an evil overlord changing rules as the game goes on.

Ryan I desperately need you to implement this.

This would just change it to another type of luck. If your 4 3stacks are all connected, they are a nice start. If your 4stack is in the middle of all other 4stacks, it sucks...

Quality of the start seems to be a semantic property of the position. Furthermore quality changes as the persons rolling before you have unlucky turns or are stupid or as you are having a lucky go.

Semantic properties can not be calculated and thus not be distributed in a mathematically fair way. Don't mess with it.

Everybody is unlucky at times and gets pissed - usually you are lucky at other times.

BTW - the stats on luck, is the average over all players 50%?

Can't say I've noticed any difference...