This guide is for use at Drop Parties---those with lots of players running around trying to get things. For the RWT Party Room strategy (one item, one player), see this guide here: http://www.sythe.org/showthread.php?t=455018
---------
Here is the obligatory picture for those who prefer to view over reading:
MORE PEOPLE STAND CLOSE TO THE CHEST
During Drop Parties, the majority of players are near the chest. The two main reasons are:
1) Most players who come in will go directly to the chest to see what's being dropped. Many of those players don't move far, if at all.
2) During a drop, a lot of people will repeatedly go back to the chest to see what's still available. For that reason, they don't stray far from the chest, either.
If you want to prove this to yourself, at the next Drop Party, go right-click on any of the squares adjacent to the chest. You'll see many names there----probably more than can be displayed.
The more people on or near a square, the more people there are to click on that square when a balloon falls onto it.
HOW PRIZES ARE AWARDED
Before we continue, understand that items are left based on the ORDER balloons are popped. It doesn't matter where the balloons fall. The Party Room daemon (program) looks at the first balloon pop (wherever it is) and decides (randomly) whether an item/stack/note is put there. It then looks at the second balloon pop and does the same thing, and it continues doing this until all items have been awarded.
MYTH: There are "hot zones"---more prizes are awarded near the chest than far away.
FACT: A few more prizes are awarded closer to the chest because there are three to four times as many players, per square, popping balloons there, so more balloons in that area get poppled earlier. If players spread out, the prizes would be awarded equally in all areas.
SIMPLE TRUTH: Standing closer to the chest actually DECREASES your chance of getting a prize. A balloon popped there has no better chance of yielding a prize than one popped anywhere else, and you're competing with a LOT more people to pop that balloon.
For this reason we can develop a strategy that will inprove our chance of winning:
STRATEGY
You want to stand in the western part of the room (see diagram). By doing this, you'll have fewer people to fight for the balloons that fall in your area. Do the following:
Before the Lever is Pulled
1) ]Turn Run on: You might as well have as good of a chance of getting to a balloon as possible.
2) Find an empty square: To do this, right click on squares, until you find one without others on it. Of course, others may show up on the square later, and you aren't planning on staying on that one square throughout, but if a balloon happens to fall on that square early, you have the jump on everybody else. It's an extra edge for you.
When the Balloons Fall:
1) Find the square closest to the one you're on and click as fast as you can on the spot the balloon is going to fall (more on this later), until that balloon disappears.
2) Do NOT wait until an item appears or doesn't appear! Move on to the next balloon, keeping an eye on the square you popped the balloon in. If you were the one who popped the balloon, the item will appear soon,and you'll have some time to go get it before it's available to everybody else. If you weren't the one who popped it, it won't appear unless the player who did pop it doesn't claim it in a certain amount of time (which varies).
Continue to move about, clicking as fast as you can on the balloons, and watching to see if you got a prize, for about a minute. By then, everything usually has been awarded.
TIP: Clicking on the center of a square will NOT always work! It won't pop the cluster of three balloons and it won't always pop a single balloon, either. You have to click on an actual balloon. Jagex did this to try to stop people from using auto-clickers to mash on the center of a square. This means that you actually have to watch the balloon (or group of three balloons) fall and click on one of them.
----
A BETTER CHANCE DOESN'T MEAN A GUARANTEED WINNER
By doing as instructed, you increase your chances of popping a balloon and possibly getting a prize. Since there will be others moving to the square the balloon is falling on, you seldom will be the only one clicking on it. Also, you can successfully click on a balloon and not be awarded anything. By doing it the way it's outlined here, you're only competing 4 or 5 people per square instead of 10 to 15 people (in the area close to the chest). It's a better chance, and you'll get more items this way, but you can still have a long cold streak, and it may take quite a few Drop Parties for it to even out.
---------
Here is the obligatory picture for those who prefer to view over reading:
MORE PEOPLE STAND CLOSE TO THE CHEST
During Drop Parties, the majority of players are near the chest. The two main reasons are:
1) Most players who come in will go directly to the chest to see what's being dropped. Many of those players don't move far, if at all.
2) During a drop, a lot of people will repeatedly go back to the chest to see what's still available. For that reason, they don't stray far from the chest, either.
If you want to prove this to yourself, at the next Drop Party, go right-click on any of the squares adjacent to the chest. You'll see many names there----probably more than can be displayed.
The more people on or near a square, the more people there are to click on that square when a balloon falls onto it.
HOW PRIZES ARE AWARDED
Before we continue, understand that items are left based on the ORDER balloons are popped. It doesn't matter where the balloons fall. The Party Room daemon (program) looks at the first balloon pop (wherever it is) and decides (randomly) whether an item/stack/note is put there. It then looks at the second balloon pop and does the same thing, and it continues doing this until all items have been awarded.
MYTH: There are "hot zones"---more prizes are awarded near the chest than far away.
FACT: A few more prizes are awarded closer to the chest because there are three to four times as many players, per square, popping balloons there, so more balloons in that area get poppled earlier. If players spread out, the prizes would be awarded equally in all areas.
SIMPLE TRUTH: Standing closer to the chest actually DECREASES your chance of getting a prize. A balloon popped there has no better chance of yielding a prize than one popped anywhere else, and you're competing with a LOT more people to pop that balloon.
For this reason we can develop a strategy that will inprove our chance of winning:
STRATEGY
You want to stand in the western part of the room (see diagram). By doing this, you'll have fewer people to fight for the balloons that fall in your area. Do the following:
Before the Lever is Pulled
1) ]Turn Run on: You might as well have as good of a chance of getting to a balloon as possible.
2) Find an empty square: To do this, right click on squares, until you find one without others on it. Of course, others may show up on the square later, and you aren't planning on staying on that one square throughout, but if a balloon happens to fall on that square early, you have the jump on everybody else. It's an extra edge for you.
When the Balloons Fall:
1) Find the square closest to the one you're on and click as fast as you can on the spot the balloon is going to fall (more on this later), until that balloon disappears.
2) Do NOT wait until an item appears or doesn't appear! Move on to the next balloon, keeping an eye on the square you popped the balloon in. If you were the one who popped the balloon, the item will appear soon,and you'll have some time to go get it before it's available to everybody else. If you weren't the one who popped it, it won't appear unless the player who did pop it doesn't claim it in a certain amount of time (which varies).
Continue to move about, clicking as fast as you can on the balloons, and watching to see if you got a prize, for about a minute. By then, everything usually has been awarded.
TIP: Clicking on the center of a square will NOT always work! It won't pop the cluster of three balloons and it won't always pop a single balloon, either. You have to click on an actual balloon. Jagex did this to try to stop people from using auto-clickers to mash on the center of a square. This means that you actually have to watch the balloon (or group of three balloons) fall and click on one of them.
----
A BETTER CHANCE DOESN'T MEAN A GUARANTEED WINNER
By doing as instructed, you increase your chances of popping a balloon and possibly getting a prize. Since there will be others moving to the square the balloon is falling on, you seldom will be the only one clicking on it. Also, you can successfully click on a balloon and not be awarded anything. By doing it the way it's outlined here, you're only competing 4 or 5 people per square instead of 10 to 15 people (in the area close to the chest). It's a better chance, and you'll get more items this way, but you can still have a long cold streak, and it may take quite a few Drop Parties for it to even out.
