Best Way to Introduce Crawl?

[tannisroot]

What's the best way to introduce or describe DCSS to an outsider that has never heard of roguelikes but is familiar with modern RPGs?

For instance, how would you spark the interest of a hardened "Dark Souls" veteran?

[Sar]

It's like Diablo with fun turn-based combat and without grind, good visuals and sounds.

[adozu]

it's harder than dark souls (most dark souls players have a bit of a masochistic side)

[Hirsch I]

"dark souls is for pussies, try some REAL , HARDCORE, gaming experience. do you think dying is harsh in DS because you lose all your souls? in crawl,death is the end. that's it. worms will feed on your dead character's corpse, and his ghost will come back to kill the next one. do you feel like an elite gamer for beating DS? most people try more than five THOUSANDS TIMES, and never ever get close to winning the game. the Souls series will look like the gentle caress of your significant other after you play DCSS. it is only for the best. I dont think a scrub like you could manage. git gud kid."

[XuaXua]

What's the best way to introduce or describe DCSS to an outsider

Lubricated.

[duvessa]

dont introduce them, its a bad game

[tannisroot]

it's harder than dark souls (most dark souls players have a bit of a masochistic side)

I was playing Dark Souls II with some friends and recommended DCSS. They were horrified by the idea of losing their character on death and it proved to be a major hurdle in the discussion.

[adozu]

well you cna tell them that crawl has a tutorial race... Felid! they have simplified gameplay (banned from most items) and can afford to die a few times.

[Hirsch I]

and also will bore you to death, making sure you never try to play crawl again. or videogames. it is so bad it actually forces you to do something productive with your life. pretty bad.

[dowan]

If someone is horrified at the idea of permadeath, I can't imagine they'd enjoy crawl.

You could always play in wizard or exploration mode, but crawl is a really crappy game without permadeath.

[Rast]

Casual mode Crawl: Infinite lives, like a felid, but apply a heavy drain status on each death.

[n1000]

I would get on your favorite voip program, send them the link to webtiles and sort of walk them through some of the tougher stuff, e.g., what character should I play? how do/can I do X? early game skilling, etc.

Don't hold their hand too much, it's a nightmare when someone introduces you to a game, spectates, and then proceeds to explain every detail and hijack every decision without prompting. It's much better to give suggestions in general terms if they're having a hard time. For example, it's better to tell a player to play carefully when they see a monster they're not familiar with than to say "Ok, that's Sigmund, do X...now do Y..."

If you're not a strong enough player to make good recommendations confidently you're actually in a perfect situation. Now you can frame introducing your friends to the game as figuring out together, or with a competitive angle if you like.

Have fun