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[paxanadu]

An option to allow IDLE dwarves (i.e. not on break but actually wanting to do some work and with nothing to do), to take ANY available job. 

Each workshop has the option of being "open to idle dwarves" or not.

So for a job with multiple "ordinary" instances, i.e. like hauling wood or stone or whatever, usually there are TENs of jobs like that, and its no so very important who does it, in that case nothing special happens: the job has been filled.  But if its a dedicated-workstation job (workshop, zone, etc.), then the job made by a dwarf without that labor enabled is filled only when completed.  Meanwhile, the job is flagged as "occupied by non-specialist".  While other idle dwarves ignore that job as if it was filled, specialists (i.e. those with that job in their labor list) do not ignore it.  If a specialist arrives on the scene to do the job, the specialist takes over the work of the non-specialist, who is then immediately free to go do something else.  The only drawback is that the quality of the finished item will be greatly affected -- final quality would be determined by the worst skilled dwarf (that is why the per workshop toggle is important -- sometimes you WANT for only your best guy to go take in an important "special items" job).


This would cut down a LOT on the micromanagement of dwarf professions.

[SmashMaster]

I like this idea. A good idea for workshops is to have the ability to set the minimum skill needed to work at that workshop. Something like, "Minimum skill (or best available): Legendary" to "Minimum skill: none (anyone may use)"

A further micro-management relief idea:
It would be very useful if, when I designate tiles of high-value materials like platinum and gems, if the game would pick the highest skill miner to mine those, that way I get the maximum yield of that material without having to find all my miners and disable their labor, and then have to go back and undo it.

This would be very useful for craftsmanship and metalsmithing: When I'm forging adamantium armor I obviously only want my highest skill armorer to make it, so that I end up with high-quality armor. Though, for training armorers I wouldn't mind wasting cheap bars just to get a bunch of -copper mail shirt-s.

EDIT: Ah, on this page: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/eternal_voting.php there's an option to vote for automatic mining. Good enough for me.

[Fourdots]

Workshops can already be set to be available only to dwarfs of certain skill levels; in the q workshop menu, it's under P, I think. Workshop profiles, anyways. Allows maximum and minimum skill levels to be set, as well as only permitting certain dwarfs to work at a workshop. It would be possible to implement a very micromanaged and basic version of this using that, and enabling all workshop labors on all dwarfs, though that wouldn't necessarily work very well.

That said, idlers working in workshops is a good idea, as an opt-in thing. That is, off by default, and anyone who wants it will hopefully find it and use it. I probably wouldn't - having a body of ten to twenty dwarfs idling is good for when sudden large tasks show up (bringing items to the depot, for instance), and I would hate to have to go through and kick them all out of workshops.

Although, given that dwarfs are currently rather obsessed with working, and the most effective way to run this would by by setting whatever task is in the workshop to repeat, lots of them would probably get stuck in an endless grind of making blocks or whatever, despite the need for other tasks to be completed. Presumably, mechanics for dealing with that would be part of the implementation of this (tasks being done by an idler would be set to absolute lowest priority, so as soon as something else showed up they would wander off to do that).

Also, it seems like it would make more sense for the end quality to be determined by ... not the average of skills, but some formula involving them. A legendary stonecarver, presented with a horribly half-carved statue, would be able to make something not so horrible of it. Or perhaps just give up and say that it's done ... so having a percentage chance based on the relative levels of all involved, or mental attributes of the higher skilled dwarf, or whatever else, would seem logical.

[Wang Commander]

For things like making good armor, why not allow the manager screen to set a minimum skill for the JOB as opposed to handling min. skills at the workshop level but jobs at the fortress level?

[Deathworks]

Hi!

I am not so sure about that one, actually.

I mean, in the end we may end up replacing micro-managing the activation of labor to get the dwarves to work with the micro-managing of de-activating workshops so as to free dwarves.

In addition, how do you want to protect your broker and your expedition leader from being busy when the caravans come?

In the current version, I simply de-activate all their labor, and presto! they are available to welcome the merchants/diplomats.

Deathworks