Thanks for mentioning Nethack, had heard about it, but never played it. It's on the list of games to check out.

Yes! Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes Yes! Yes! Yesyesyesyesyesyes yes! Yes! Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes Yes!

There are some jokes in the game.

For example, there is an enemy called a quantum mechanic. When killed, it drops a box with a cat inside it.

This is great. Ironically I came to the GOG forums looking for something to cheer me up after I just died a stupid death in ToME. I had just started a new character and several random events came together in a way that made me think the RNG gods were smiling on me.Then BAM!! I'm dead.

For those who like to hear death stories:
I was playing ToME version 2, which has my favorite magic class in a roguelike - the Mindcrafter. It's a psychic character who uses mental powers rather than actual magic, so they don't need to find spell books and can still cast "spells" if they are blinded or in the dark. The only downside is that my favorite combat skill is Archery, but this isn't available to Mindcrafters. This means I can be an Archer or Mindcrafter but not both. There is one exception however, sometimes when you first enter a dungeon level there is a random chance to run into a mysterious stranger who needs your help. Upon completing his quest he offers to teach you a random skill. The problem is that I usually don't run into this guy until later in the game and when I do he doesn't give me any skills I'd want. Last time I met him he offered me a choice of learning several schools of magic, but I had an Anti-Magic character. Anti-Magic is an actual skill that prevents spells from being used by you or on you, it makes certain enemies super easy. Well this morning, my Mindcrafter ran into this quest giver on level one of the very first "starter" dungeon in the game. When I completed his quest he offered me Archery! I was thrilled, I'd lucked onto my ideal skill combination at level 4. That meant I'd be able maximize my skill points from the very beginning. I immediately headed for the nearest dungeon exit with thoughts of how awesome this run was going to be, and ran into a Floating Eye. Once you get too close to a Floating Eye they paralyze you and drain life every turn. Your only hope is to live long enough for the paralysis to wear off and move away before they can cast it again, which didn't happen for me. I have been waiting for years to get the kind of good fortune I had today, and it lasted about 45 seconds.

I'm just wondering how long it's going to take for everybody to realize that I posted that meme without even knowing what on earth NetHack is. So far, I seem to have gotten away with it.

Now that's funny!
Now that's funny!!

I have a love/hate relationship with rouge-likes. They are both great fun and often ever so frustrating. I am currently making my way down the Pit in Sword of the Stars: the Pit.

The story so far: The first soul to brave the depths died because he ran out of most of his ammo on level 24 only to be teleported down a level into a room full of baddies. Trying to make his way back up before they turned him into minced meat, he used what little ammo he had left, before legging it for the floor previous floor. Sadly he got blocked in a hallway by an invisible enemy, which made him a sitting duck for his pursuers. After bashing the critter to death with his bare hands he made it! ...all the way to within two tiles of (temporary) salvation, before I lost control of my character as he started panicing. RIP, Sgt Marine.

Character number two had a less eventful life: After spending much time and money on his education Mr. Engineer decided to eat something rotten to see what would appen. Disease happened. Mr. Engineer died in delirium having managed to get only a few floor down. So third times the charm.

Ms. Scout has all the survival skill one could ever hope for. This time around I'm hamstering every food source and all the ammo I can get hold of, crafting items are left on the ground where they belong. Surely this time I'll make it...

Such is the nature of RNG god.

When I find that crystal armor or great artifact weapon on level 2 in Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup I know that I'm screwed. Either by hubris or something awful lurking in next corridor.

I think all my wins are without such powerful items.

Hmmm... I'd almost say make a mod and make your own class that has archery as a class skill, although it would be it's own thing.

I've found Archer & Trap setter to be a very lucrative combination. Although my experience is sorta limited to about 4 classes that halfway work for me.
Rogue-likes very much teach you to rely not on brute force, but planning, choke points, playing dirty. You do everything you can to get an edge. It's a different and hard concept, but each time you implement a slightly better tactic, you go a little further. It's very much trial and error until you find a technique of playing that helps you survive.

I've yet to beat many rogue-likes, I think Castle of the Winds is still one of the only ones I've completed.

Yeah, I feel that as long as I've learnt something new during the run, I'm mosty fine with the death. Sometimes, though, the deck just isn't stacked in your favour.

For shame!!
Allow me to enlighten you:
http://www.thegreatestgameyouwilleverplay.com/
Yes, that is a legit website, dedicated to all things NetHack.

Try agin
Fail again
Fail better

Yeah, pretty much like that. Unless I get it into my head to eat some rotten food.

Hey thanks for pointing at this.

Sounds interesting, I'll try it this weekend.