I Have To Be The Worst Roguelike Player

[MarshP]

Save scumming is backing up all the saved files so you can overwrite the files you're left with if you die. Just like a traditional game. Definitely un-roguelike.

To get loadsa good items, yes you hack the source. Easy in DCSS - just remove all start vaults apart from your own and fill it with goodies. The documentation provides help with this.

[Game Hunter]

Sometimes there are good reasons to save-scum things (e.g., practicing a particularly difficult part, just so you can get it right when playing through without trying), but it arguably devolves the gameplay experience such that you're playing a very different type of game. Over the years I've leaned away from save-scumming (even in games where it's totally accepted and expected), but it's more a result of my desire to be hardcore than anything else.

Not sure how that ends up with tons of awesome items though.....is it like hacking the source? I've done that before with Spelunky to make it easier.

The reason that save-scumming can lead to better circumstances and/or results has to do with the way that things are randomly generated. Here's a simple example: let us suppose that, when an enemy dies, a roll is made to determine what it drops. You can manipulate this by saving just before the killing blow, kill the enemy, and reload if it's not an item you want. This can be done repeatedly until you get a good item. There are plenty of other ways to deal with the various randomizations, but that's the general idea.

[XLambda]

I used to be a really bad player (well, apart from my years of Nethack), but then I took a magic missile to the knee discovered ToME. IMO one of the most newb-friendly RLs. I don't feel like a particularly bad player nowadays, and on some days I even dare touch DCSS.

Sometimes there are good reasons to save-scum things (e.g., practicing a particularly difficult part, just so you can get it right when playing through without trying), but it arguably devolves the gameplay experience such that you're playing a very different type of game. Over the years I've leaned away from save-scumming (even in games where it's totally accepted and expected), but it's more a result of my desire to be hardcore than anything else.

One reason might be bugs. If I know I'm playing a bug-infested game, I tend to make backups of saves so I have something to go back to if it crashes. Who knows, I might even manage to isolate the problem.

[Pueo]

I tried jumping around from RL to RL, but then I figured if I just stayed on one (I chose Brogue), I could be really good and win.  At first, I could barely get to level 10, then, with a few strategy adjustments, I made it to level 18.  That's when I found out polymorphism does not transfer allied status.  Polymorph-ed my Troll into a Golem.  Poof, dead. 

My deepest dive (and most recent) was mostly luck.  Got 14 enchantment scrolls and beefed up my war-pike to +17, additional +4 because of excess strength.  Breezed through until 17, had a few near deaths with revenants until I found a staff of firebolt, made it all the way to 21.  Then I woke a tentacle horror, had to swim to safety, then got torched by a dragon.  Ouch. 

I guess the moral of my story is to just focus on one game, preferably a newbie friendly game, and try and learn all the little nuances the developer put in.  For example, in Brogue, treasure rooms and scrolls of enchantment are the key to success. Never waste enchantments until you have a good weapon, use detect magic potions every other level, etc.

[Lorik]

You're not the worst. I have yet to get past level 7 on any roguelike. Doesn't stop me from occasionally trying, though. I usually wind up getting frustrated at the obscure interface and giving up after a few runs. The tiled games with decent documentation are slowly improving the genre for me though.

I'm finding DoomRL fun enough to keep trying.

[runequester]

Im pretty terrible but that's okay. Journey, not destination, right?

Haven't beaten any, and doubt I will anytime soon, but the feeling when you find something you haven't seen before or reach an area you never got to before, is intoxicating. There really is nothing quite like it in computer gaming.