I fully support this sentiment about RNG, but from a different angle.
On my last winning run, I got a +8 randart rapier on D:4 while playing as a Kobold stabber. The rapier was just laying here in a quiet provincial corridor like a piece of junk.
Before that, I got a win with Octopode stabber, because I got 3(!) rings of slaying relatively early (before finishing the Lair). I wasn’t even dreaming to ever have a second win as an Octopode, I play them just for “fun”.
When RNG affects my runs this much, I have to ask myself: is it me who plays the game? Or does the game just plays itself, using me as a biological o-tabbing engine?
I too love this game, but the “honest and unbiased” RNG is certainly a downgrade, compared to the modern rogue-likes.
I too love this game, but the “honest and unbiased” RNG is certainly a downgrade, compared to the modern rogue-likes.
Hard disagree. I think the item systems/loot in DCSS is one of its strong points. Valuable things for your character are uncommon enough to feel special and impactful, and to make a tangible difference in your runs, but you’re still going to get useful things at a reasonable rate. They’re just not going to be the same useful things run to run, which promotes flexibility.
Meanwhile many modern roguelikes have characters grow largely from the “pick a card” system where on levelup you get to choose one from a selection of several perks/items, which I find dreadfully boring and un-immersive.