Originally Posted by
Blank4u47
Wouldn’t it just get fixed if you remove room effects from stairway rooms? Seems like the easiest solution to implement.
Removing room effects from stairway rooms is a fix (I would categorize that as one of many options under "special case the ID"), but this is a symptom of a larger broken mechanic where monsters get no actions while you can use stairs indefinitely. The broken mechanic manifests in other ways: for instance, stairhopping is now an extremely turn-efficient and not risky way to generate specific mobs (such as blink dogs). It's also extremely turn-efficient and not risky to regenerate ID levels until a better staircase layout is generated (for experienced players who can eyeball that). If you wind up next to a dangerous mob that can't see in the dark, stairhopping for a dark room will get rid of it. Etc. In regular gameplay, the stairs are a bigger safety valve than they used to be because monsters don't get an attack when you drag them up/down and in certain situations you are guaranteed an escape by the upstairs because of the clockwise-starting-from-12 manner in which ADOM places mobs around the PC when taking stairs. This also makes stairdancing easier (even though it was already an amazing tactic) because now you don't have to endure any attacks when taking the stairs; dragging mobs off the level now comes with no downside whereas previously -- even on Coward -- there was still *some* downside.
Since the goal of setting the time consumed by taking stairs to zero was likely to avoid frustrating instadeaths, it makes sense to look at how to achieve that in a similar way without the same drawbacks.
(I just tested this to confirm:) In DCSS, normal movement takes 10 auts (for a normal pc without specific equipment, racial advantages, etc.) while using stairs takes 25 auts -- except the first time you enter a level, nothing gets a move before you do. So, taking a down staircase to a new area will never allow you to be instakilled by the monsters there, but panicking and trying to ascend instead of evaluating your escape options first *can* get you killed. I think this is a good mechanic: the game will not instakill you, but it also isn't obligated to provide an easy escape from a dangerous mob and you may need a much better plan than "immediately go back".
Obviously ADOM is a very different game than DCSS, but this mechanic (except the instadeath part) was the same in ADOM until the change to stairs requiring 0 turn count. And so, I think reverting back to stairs being dangerous to use when next to mobs while eliminating instadeaths fixes many of the problems that arise with the current implementation.