[throwawaw]

I've been playing this game for 15 years now. Somehow, it just doesn't get old.

One great DCSS tradition: whenever a new major patch is released, there's a two week long tournament. You more or less just try to win a lot, in as many ways as you can, for two weeks -- but it's more fun than it sounds, if you can believe that. For example, there's all sorts of "achievement"-like mini goals, such as "make it to level 6 of the Lair without using a potion" (approximately remembered). Between that and some other quirks, even players who aren't in the habit of winning the game can score some points for their team.

Taking a completely single player game and deciding that tournaments for it should be team-based was a minor stroke of brilliance, by the way. It's surprising how much it adds to the experience.

[zeofig]

The tournaments kick ass. Agree that challenges make for some fun gameplay. Playing in a tournament with a random team I found really increased my enjoyment of the game.