Do you own a set of "crystal" dice?

[Psychic Warrior]

I have a few of them but they are possibly the worst rolling dice I have ever seen. When you can get them to stop rolling without hitting something that is.

Terrible design.

And for the record when you say 'crystal dice' I think of these

http://www.advancinghordes.com/product_info.php/products_id/146

Although i guess they are more often called 'gem dice'. I still have the first d20 I bought from gamescience over 20 years ago and it looks the same as the day I bought it.

 

[Greylock]

Anyone care to explain why they are so awful? I have no experience with them, but the opinions seem mighty one-sided.

 

[Vigwyn the Unruly]

I own 2 d10's. I like them, and I set them out on the table every game session...but when I need a d10, I seem to never grab them. Oh, well--they still look cool and they add to the ambiance of the gaming table, so I will continue to put them out.

 

[Krieg]

I like the idea of Crystal Caste's new dice shapes, but in practice they are just more of a hassle than they are worth.

The D4 really annoys me. Instead of a four sided log Crystal Caste should have gone with a more pleasing shape.

If you look at the photo below the sour cream package is the shape I think they should have gone with. It's a bit hard to see but it is the best I could find. Essentially it is two triangles, each split open into a V, then rotated so that the open ends mesh together...

Edit:

OK I did some poking and found a slightly better pic:

 

[Psychic Warrior]

Anyone care to explain why they are so awful? I have no experience with them, but the opinions seem mighty one-sided.

Difficult to find the right die as they all look so similar. ROlling habits that will make you pull you hair out (they keep going and going and going...) and poorly 'balanced'. That is one or two numbers will come up far more often than any others. I have personally done this (using test roll pools of about 100 rolls per die - why yes i do have a lot of time on my hands ) and have seen sources that have done it as well and they are consistantly off-balance.

Also just look at them! They are the ugliest things in dice!

 

[Davelozzi]

That's an awful lot of options for a yes or no poll. How many ways do we need to express our dislike? As for me, I'v never really used them, and don't particularly care to, but they don't upset me.

 

[Nifft]

The don't appeal to me, but I have not used them and thus have no real reason to hate them.

-- N

 

[Volaran]

I own two sets, but I don't generally use them in games. I like strange dice, so I have large, small, oddly shaped, unusual materials. So as someone who collects dice, I've quite enjoyed them.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

I own several of the 4 sided die, a couple of the six sided, and two of the 20 sided.

I prefer to use the 4-sided from this group as opposed to the traditional pyramid die. The six sideds I use the traditional cube. but some times when I want to throw my players off I use the crystal caste dice.

The 20 sided crystal caste dice suck. They just keep rolling and rolling and rolling...Needlesss to say they almost never get used at my table.

 

[Mercule]

I picked up a d4 when I was in another city, because I liked the look of 'em. The only thing that kept me from getting a whole set was that the store didn't have any d20. I actually really like my d4 and it doesn't seem weighted. I'd love to get my hands on a whole set, and maybe an extra d4.