Wizard's Comments on Par Sheets today: "I don't want to say too much" -- I get it, sort of

In another thread a while ago Wizard said:

Wizard of Vegas:

"Par sheets these days are not very useful. I don't want to say too much, buy they withhold some details that are essential to quantifying the return. Often some feature will happen "randomly," but they don't say the probability. I suspect that the slot makers must have real par sheets they keep internally and tease casinos with the incomplete ones.
It's not whether you win or lose; it's whether or not you had a good bet."

I know what Wizard means by "I don't want to say too much". But I don't think it can hurt and it might be interesting to talk about this new wrinkle. I think the new par sheet techniques on more recent games, while almost useless if you obtain them, is also a bit unfair to players because most still believe that simple virtual reels are being used and THEY ARE NOT.

Well, how is that for a first post?

Not bad for a first post. However, video slots still do use virtual reels unless it's a class II or pull-tab game. Why I meant about not being able to quantify the odds usually has to do with bonus rules. For example, it might have a prize wheel, but won't say how each slice on the reel is weighted.

I guess it depends how you define virtual reels. In mechanical slots we do it by the use of weighting the stops on the reels. I have never worked on a video slot that weights the reels. That is what I think of as virtual reels. Some may argue that all reels on video are virtual.

Not to piggyback, but this article is close enough to the subject of this thread to pin it here:

https://wizardofvegas.com/articles/reel-change/

I usually don't like creating new threads for articles unless something really doesn't fit.

Actually, DRich, I'd also appreciate if you could have a look at one part of this one if you have time.