I'm saying that Rogue is not a roguelike
That is like saying that Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden are not metal. Or that Lemmy isn't God.
In my opinion, the only sense in which that statement is true is because Rogue cannot technically be a roguelike because it IS Rogue. There was nothing "like" it when it originated.
I think that most the people that make such a claim that Rogue is not a roguelike are people who didn't get into the genre until after the bubble burst and roguelikes came crawling out of the wood works. I remember for a long time, Rogue, Angband, and Adom were the only options. I definitely don't think that huge amount of content equals roguelike. Just my opinion anyways.
Rogue set the template and almost all subsequent roguelikes followed the conventions that it set. It's really only in the recent past few years where devs have started to stray away from that mold as opposed to simply adding to it. At least in a major way.
As for DoomRL, it's definitely good. I don't think it's "that" good though. In it's evolution, I think it has gotten away fro it's original charm. Not all that doom-like anymore either. The gameplay almost requires you to take certain paths and make specific choices to be successful. I feel like there is less freedom of play styles. I dislike the unlockable system for the most part too.
I do give it big props for it's very well done ranged combat and how it feels very action orientated.
