So, I used to play a fair amount of DCSS back in the day. I got 3 characters to Zot:5, but somehow never managed a win. Then, life got busy, I moved on to other things, and I didn’t play for ages. Looking at the changelogs, it looks like I started around 0.5 (2009) and the last version I really played was 0.14 (2014).
I recently decided to download the game and see what has changed since. Because I was more trying to check out the content and have fun than win, I’ve been mostly playing fully random characters, along with sticking to the conduct of worshiping at the first alter I see.
Overall, my impression of the changes that have happened since I left is really positive. All the species are much more interesting than they used to be - even the old generic ones have mostly been spruced up with something cool. The gods are less opaque and mostly seem more fun to play. And removing food, ammo and spellbooks were changes that everyone seemed to want but kept not happening back when I was playing, so that’s excellent. I am amused that we have Mountain Dwarves again. They were removed back while I was playing and a whole lot of people got very upset about it and demanded they return. By the time I had left, that had pretty completely died down and wanting them to return was more of a meme in the community than a common stance, so seeing them back (even if changed) was funny.
Anyway, I played a handful of games of 0.32 over the last few days, and somehow my average performance is quite a bit higher than when I left in spite of what should be a lack of practice, and my randomness conduct. I’m not sure if the game’s easier than it used to be, I’ve gotten better at strategy in general, I was in a rut with my play, or if it’s pure luck. After a handful of games, I lucked into a Minotaur Gladiator of Elyvion, who managed to go all the way (morgue).
I recall Elyvion being a confusing god back in the day - you needed to pacify to get piety, but pacifying lost you XP. It was also really unclear what could be pacified and when you should do it. Now Elyvion seems like a good simple god - you’ve got a nice passive, a reasonable buff, an emergency instakill against low-HP threats like mages and summoners, and a spammable self-heal to keep you alive. Probably one of the most straightforward gods in the game.
Anyway, I’m just happy about my first win - while I’m much less invested in the game now than I was then, the me of 12-years ago would have been very excited, so it’s a nice little nostalgia hit.