Longtime player returning after about 4 years

[NiJabbieJabba]

This has been done before, but I thought I'd contribute some perspective from a returning player. I've played on and off since... sometime in the 90s. Usually I'll play a few winners through to the end, drop Angband for a while, and come back when the itch returns in 3 or 4 years.

Anyhow, the big picture is that I'm delighted with recent changes. Gameplay is smooth, interesting, and balance has been improved. I like the new spellbook system, the current ID mechanics, and thematic improvements to monsters.

I recently won with a hobbit rogue, and am now tidying up uniques and collecting consumables at DL 97 with a high-elf ranger.

Thoughts:

1) Stealth + TO is overpowered. Maybe it always has been; I'm not sure I've played that kind of character before. Both of these characters have just spent the mid- and endgame sneaking around, using TO on every inconvenient enemy, and looting at will. Strangely it was particularly important for the ranger simply because I couldn't find a decent bow until DL 97. Until then I had some weird conflict between wielding a Long Bow of Power and Cubragol - obviously a ranger wants the extra bow shots, but who doesn't love speed? Went with the bow since I had independent sources of +20 permanent speed.

2) Recharging is too good. My rogue played a weird item-dependent game. For most of the early and midgame, my staple for damage was a stack of Wands of Dragon's Fire that I recharged hundreds of times. I found one moderately early, and then basically never used weapons again. I just stealthed away from enemies with fire resist. Later that got supplemented with Wands of Drain Life, and I murdered Morgoth with Wands of Annihilation. A big stack of Staves of Banishment deleted any inconvenient enemies. Recharging almost never failed, so I felt like I could banish anything at will. I'm not sure where the sweet spot lies, but recharging Staves of Banishment in particular made the endgame pretty trivial. Recharge should fail more often.

Many, many thanks to all the work from recent developers. Nick, you're doing a great job with this.

I keep wondering what the health/size of the overall Angband community is. Is the game attracting new players, or is it all folks like me who found the game 25 years ago? I hope it's the former, but I'm not sure if there's really any way of knowing.

[Nick]

Thanks for the feedback.

Originally Posted by NiJabbieJabba

I keep wondering what the health/size of the overall Angband community is. Is the game attracting new players, or is it all folks like me who found the game 25 years ago? I hope it's the former, but I'm not sure if there's really any way of knowing.

I often wonder this too. That said, I'm a n00b who's only been playing 16 years...

[archolewa]

Well, Im a very new player. Only been playing for about a year. Found the game when I bought Tales of Maj'Eyal on GOG, enjoyed the game and learned about Angband when I read about TOME4 on TV Tropes. Very quickly fell in love with it.

[DrWho42]

welcome back! i played a lot in elementary school but rediscovered the game in the mid-2000s.

[DavidMedley]

Thanks for sharing!