Possible new rumors and who should give them.

[JellySlayer]

Is it legal to code dive? And if it is, what program would you use to do so?

I'm not technically knowledgeable enough to have a clue how this is done.

TB does not approve of code-diving generally. I suspect, though I'm not certain, that code-diving could possibly constitute an infringement of TB's copyright and be illegal in the most literal sense, though this would depend on the specific laws in your/his respective jurisdictions. Unless you manage to use the extracted code to build some derivative of ADOM, I suspect TB has better things to do with his time than try to enforce it. In practice, portions of the Guidebook and other guides would probably not have been possible without code-diving, and several game bugs were probably only discovered through these means.

[Stingray1]

Something that annoyed me somewhat is Monster Memory.
The fact that it reflects the current PCs knowledge.

Now, as a new player I can do my best to memorize, make a list of all the monsters. As an experienced player I have memorized most everything about every monster none-the-less, but this takes time.

Is it best that ADOM also remains a memory training tool?
Or would it be fine if ADOM makes the list for the player, by keeping monster memory?

[Al-Khwarizmi]

As far as I know, code-diving is legal in most countries as long as you don't do it with the purpose of creating a competing product (in that case, it would be a violation of copyright).

However, in the US it's not legal if the EULA specifically says it is prohibited.

[Al-Khwarizmi]

Something that annoyed me somewhat is Monster Memory.
The fact that it reflects the current PCs knowledge.

Now, as a new player I can do my best to memorize, make a list of all the monsters. As an experienced player I have memorized most everything about every monster none-the-less, but this takes time.

Is it best that ADOM also remains a memory training tool?
Or would it be fine if ADOM makes the list for the player, by keeping monster memory?

I think the monster memory is fine as it is now. Making it a memory for the player would kill immersion. And we do have the guidebook and wikis if we want, anyway.

The same goes for gut's remark about pool messages. Yes, I do use guttbot in the IRC channel - but that's because I long figured out all the messages, so knowing what they mean now is just a matter of memory - I could have taken notes (as I commonly did for 80s games), but I didn't because I know there is the guidebook, the bot, etc. But I think it's great that you have to figure the messages out at the beginning, and that pools are not only dangerous, but mysterious as well.

Players that want to be spoiled do have loads of spoily resources, so I don't see why the spoilers should be in-game. Players should have the choice between being spoiled or not. I found playing unspoiled to be a great experience back when I did it in the olden days, and I think ADOM would have been significantly less exciting if the game were throwing explicit info like pool effects at me.

[Stingray1]

Is there a way to warn new players that they will lose out on the excitement and surprises if they are unfortunate enough to spoil themselves?

Maybe a one liner in the Starting Out section of the manual?

[grobblewobble]

Is there a way to warn new players that they will lose out on the excitement and surprises if they are unfortunate enough to spoil themselves?

Common sense.

[Stingray1]

Lack there of?

Edit- I mean, if you haven't played through ADOM unspoiled, you wouldn't know that it is filled with it as a new player(even old spoiled).

[gut]

> Yes, I do use guttbot in the IRC channel - but that's because I long figured out all the messages

Did you save scum to do that? I sure did, and I remember most other folks saying they did as well.

In fact, that may be a better frame of reference than 'what would you tell to noobs' or 'what do you use most from GB'.
What need for info made you save scum? Getting through the chaos gate might have been done via savescum marathon.
Pool messages, herb growths, tough monster battles, etc... Why is it worse to have in-game hints for these things than
to (nearly) require savescumming?

EDIT: one possible solution would be to offer advice after an event or puzzle occured, that way the player would/could
know for the next game.

meh, then again, with internet access being what it is, maybe it is OK for adom to be a game that nearly requires spoilers

[Stingray1]

I prefer the way it works now, where the game gives you hints prior to the events.

[JellySlayer]

Did you save scum to do that? I sure did, and I remember most other folks saying they did as well.

Revelation spell? Potions of insight? Not that hard to find. Or just keep track of what the messages were and check your intrinsics upon death. Pool messages are descriptive enough that you can guess what most of them do, IMHO.