== Ascensions per version or variety in Junethack 2023 ==
This text is a comment about the results of Junethack, not a notification related to NetHack Wiki.
The Junethack competition of 2023 has finished. This is the proportion of ascensions for each of the versions or varieties played. Eight servers have participated: one of Nethack Alt Org, one of Nethack 4, three of Gnollhack, and three of Hardfought.
Hardfought servers also have few other versions available, such as NetHack version 1.3d, but they have not been included in Junethack. The list is ordered by the proportion of ascensions obtained.
<pre>
Version or.............Ascensions...............Total games played......Per cent of ascensions
variety................of the hero..............in Junethack 2023.......per version or variety
NetHack 3.4.3...........23..............................575................................4
NotDNetHack..............8..............................211................................3.79
GnollHack................3...............................92................................3.26
DNetHack.................7..............................248................................2.82
SlashTHEM................2...............................99................................2.02
AceHack..................3..............................174................................1.72
NetHack4.................9..............................588................................1.53
NetHack 3.6.7...........51.............................3936................................1.3
NetHack Fourk............1...............................84................................1.19
NetHack 3.7.0...........25.............................3333................................0.75
XNetHack.................3..............................501................................0.6
EvilHack.................4..............................742................................0.54
Slash'EM.................1..............................221................................0.45
DynaHack.................1..............................358................................0.28
HackEM...................2..............................837................................0.24
GruntHack................1..............................470................................0.21
UnNetHack................2.............................1245................................0.16
NetHack 1.3d.............0...............................61................................0
SporkHack................0...............................77................................0
FIQHack..................0..............................196................................0
SpliceHack...............0.............................1630................................0
</pre>
Average: 7 ascensions and 747 games per version or variety, less than 1 per cent ascended. On average, one ascension out of more than a hundred games, the others are not ascended. Dungeon games are amongst the most difficult, but they are also amongst
the most addictive. A combination that seems to suggest a certain... 'masochism' amongst dungeon enthusiasts.
The table given above is reasonably well aligned on our screen, but maybe not so well on other screens, or printers, as it depends on the spacing and the character font used by each machine. If the automatic formatting executed by the wiki look gibberish,
as I am afraid that it look, please look at the source by activating 'Edit'.
The table shows only the proportion of ascensions in Junethack 2023, not in other competitions, and not in the total number of games played throughout the years. It is also known in Statistical Science that samples with small numbers tend to be less
reliable than samples with big numbers, therefore the table should not be taken as an absolute indication of play difficulty, especially for versions or varieties in which the number of games played, or of ascensions, has been small.
Let alone should the table be seen as indication of play 'enjoyability', a very subjective perception that varies greatly from an individual player to another. The style of a player may be rapid, playing our dungeon game almost as he would play a 'point
and shoot' arcade game. The style of another player may be slow, playing almost as he would play a classic game of Chess, thinking every action and considering possibilities at every few turns. Or at every turn, in particularly difficult situations.
Turn-based dungeon games are unique in accommodating to both kinds of players, rapid and slow.
One is the 'action' player who goes for muscular Barbarians attacking in melée, at close quarters. The other is the reflexive player who prefers brainy Wizards casting magical spells. In between we have Walkyrie, Ranger, Knight, Samurai, Monk, and the
other rôles. Every player has some choice for him.
Of 1630 games played in SpliceHack, not even one has been ascended. FIQHack, SporkHack and NetHack version 1.3d have not been ascended either, but they have been played less than 200 times each (196, 77 and 61 times), not 1630 times. At the opposite
extreme we have NetHack version 3.4.3 heading the ranking with NotDNetHack and GnollHack, each with an impressive ascension rate of between three and four per cent. Four per cent exactly, in the case of NetHack version 3.4.3.
Some other factors may account for such disparities in results, from four per cent to virtually zero ascensions. NetHack version 3.4.3 was for many years the only official version available, meaning that plenty of detail in game mechanics is known to a
vast number of players. Once the Dev Team decided to take action and release NetHack versions 3.6.x (NetHack version 3.5 never was official), a number of dungeon devotees started to migrate to them, but version 3.4.3 is still very well known.
However, that explanation does not account for NotDNetHack, which is not so well known. Let alone for GnollHack, which is, besides, a recent arrival on the field and known only to a select minority of dungeon enthusiasts. GnollHack can be played off-line
in classic or modern mode (permanent death or not), casual or serious commit (preserving older sessions or not), with seven levels of difficulty (damage inflicted to the hero or by the hero to monsters), but in Junethack it is assumed that all the 92
GnollHack participating games have been played in standard configuration. Then, it is difficult to think of what has made GnollHack so successful in the number of ascensions. I have myself played GnollHack a few times and I am playing it at present. It
is interesting in the unique features that do not exist in any other variety, but it is not 'excessively' easy. My hero has died a few times already, and in the others I have made him exit the dungeon from first depth, with the remaining pets beside.
It may be that the exclusive features of GnollHack (including even music and speech sounds with the recorded voices of actors when playing off-line) make GnollHack singularly attractive, therefore its players pay more attention and make fewer mistakes.
However, that is only a hypothesis. The true cause may be a different one, yet to be discovered.
Sources:
https://junethack.net/activity
https://junethack.net/post_tournament_statistics
A more readable presentation of the statistical table given above can be read at the GnollHack Forum:
https://community.soundmindgames.com/threads/ascensions-per-version-or-variety-in-junethack-2023.75/#post-366
[[User:Cssdixieland|Cssdixieland]] ([[User talk:Cssdixieland|talk]]) 02:34, 1 July 2023 (UTC)
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