Variant used as an educational tool

[VeritasAequitas]

every time you die, you have to write a YASD post!

[Voovus]

Originally Posted by bjorngudis

They like some other math games where you battle monsters but these games are very limited in how you can evolve, the types of monsters you can meet, the stuff you can find/use. The complexity of Angband would just make make the type of game more enjoyable for a longer time.

Have you tried Desktop Dungeons?

[bughunter]

Originally Posted by DavidMedley

And every time you die you have to write an essay!

Oh, jeez... I'd be more prolific than Isaac Asimov and Stephen King combined.

[bjorngudis]

Originally Posted by whartung

I wouldn't put it as part of the fundamental game play.

Instead, I'd perhaps put locks on the stairwells that had to be passed by answering a question, or on a vault door, or something like that.

I certainly wouldn't want to walk up to a random Kobold and, suddenly, a math quiz pops up.

You could also do it on events, such as WoR returning to town, leveiing up, or something like that.

I don't know how many "questions per hour" of play time you would be looking for.

But I think putting the loot behind a locked door could be useful.

The frequency of questions for melee/shooting/attack spells would have to be limited somehow, probably by only having them pop up when you meet a relatively powerful monster, based on the player level. Could also be set so that if you've killed the monster type a given number of times already you wouldn't face any question.
Also if you've recently killed the same monster type you'd also skip the question, so as not to make meeting a mob too tedious.
I agree that the length of Angband may be an obstacle, but if the questions can be varied by changing the user's question/answer array then that could allow you to do all kinds of learning. The questions should be such that they promote a quick recall of knowledge so that the learner think it's beneficial to learn things by heart rather than for example typing the problem into a calculator.
One could even make the save file in the same format as the original so that the player could jump to vanilla if they want.
At the moment my boys are sitting with Prodigy Math where they sometimes have to do long division and similar between each attack, there is only 150 or so different monsters to meet and the different gear they can find/use is almost nil.

[bjorngudis]

Originally Posted by bughunter

Oh, jeez... I'd be more prolific than Isaac Asimov and Stephen King combined.

See only benefits!!!! Imagine how many great writers Angband would create...

[bughunter]

I'd suggest the following kinds of things, to make players look forward to questions, and to keep them from interrupting the flow of play:

- Periodically (once every 10 minutes or so, when character is not in combat) ask a easy-to-moderate question. Correct answer grants a buff (like resist or bless).
- Upon descending to a new level, ask a moderate-to-hard question. Success grants an effect similar to !Enlightenment (map level and its treasure).
- Put a "boss" on each level (a unique, or an OOD monster). When it comes into sight, it asks a hard question. Success allows you to engage it; failure teleports @ away.
- Add a "Divine Aid" spell-like ability for all classes. If they get into trouble, they can invoke it to remove a debuff, heal, or remove hunger, etc. Give it a cooldown.

To keep from discouraging players "still learning," I recommend using positive reinforcement only. Never punish @ for players' failure to answer correctly.

[Hounded]

Originally Posted by bughunter

To keep from discouraging players "still learning," I recommend using positive reinforcement only. Never punish @ for players' failure to answer correctly.

...puts electrodes back in their case and returns battery to vehicle...

I really liked the lightning bolt penalty concept.

[Huqhox]

Thinking aloud here, but how about asking a question when there's something to be learned?

Two specific instances come to mind

1. Learning a new rune
2. Learning a new spell

If you get the question right it gets learned, if you get it wrong you just don't

It would keep the questions to a minimum and also mean you get more questions earlier on and not keep interrupting the game once you are further advanced (no idea if that's a good or bad thing, mind)