I actually tended to prefer the "straight-forward" roguelikes, like Moria and Angband. Nethack struck me as requiring participation in some esoteric cult-like

I actually tended to prefer the "straight-forward" roguelikes, like Moria and Angband. Nethack struck me as requiring participation in some esoteric cult-like sub-culture to really appreciate the game. Whereas the original Rogue and descendants were more pure games, that focused on strategy and risk management, rather than exploiting a never ending stream of "gimmicks." Ultimately, I stopped playing these and started playing the commercial fare like Diablo. It wasn't the graphics, though. It was the simple fact that the commerical games were designed to be beaten. It used to be a matter of course for the developers of the roguelikes to constantly patch or change the games to make it harder and harder to win. I, quite frankly, got tired of playing games that only provided one primary goal (beating the Balrog/Morgoth; getting the Amulet) and pulling the goal away from me faster than I could adapt. Even the modern MMORPGs (like WoW, which is my current addiction) provide intermediary goals that make the time investment feel more productive.