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[Thoth1972]

Currently dwarf fortress workshop profiles offer restriction/management of the dwarfs permitted to use, skill of user, particular labors, and stockpile settings. With the menu overhaul in swing I think it would make sense to add settings for material and quality restrictions as well. You could restrict a jewelers station to only encrust masterpiece granite cabinets for example. Or a mason shop to only use quartz. It’s a small addition that would add a lot of control.

 While we’re talking about labor management, what do we think is the best way forward/future of the game in that regard? With the introduction of guilds, and with the military screen overhaul that’s coming, I think it makes the most sense to move toward a more ‘macro’ system of management. Rather than assigning individual dwarfs labors, you could create a metalworkers guild, post job openings for a smelter, metalcrafter, and weapon smith, and the dwarfs would fill the role based on skill and preference(with the option to overrule them). That way temple, tavern, military, and industry staffing all line up into one system. Take the best of each(calendar schedule with military, job assignments with taverns, guilds and labor become more related).
 I think that there’s this idea that a fort that runs itself is a bad thing, because it gets boring. But changing the labor system to be more self-sufficient, streamlined, and tied to one of the more robust parts of the game(the complexity of dwarves lives and personalities) doesn’t have to sacrifice the ability to micromanage. You could have a guild/squad schedule to control the macro level, say having a squad that takes a break in spring to gather fruit, and then an individual schedule where you could find a particular dwarf and tell him to get metalworking jobs through the winters. I think it makes the world a little more tangible and real than sifting through a list of labors that you need, and I think it would be easier to manage a fort with. What are y’all’s thoughts?

[Thoth1972]

Tryna give a little more of an idea as to what I'm talking about by hacking apart some of the screens from steam and rebuilding a vague concept for a 'squads' screen.

[Thoth1972]

The labor system can be tweaked into three categories - Artisan's Guilds for labor where skill imparts added value, and Yeoman's Unions for labor where skill imparts speed. The third category would be the military squads to streamline and integrate the systems. This system would tweak the current way guilds work because the dwarves wouldn't ask you to form them. You would form guilds for industries you want and they would fill the roles as needed.

[El_Stono]

I'm not sure about the guilds, but I like the idea of more restrictions. I guess the most beneficial would be the addition of a qualitiy at most / at least restriction in work orders details.

[Thorjelly]

You can already restrict workshops by material and quality by assigning it a stockpile which only accepts items of a specific material and quality, iirc. Does require a bit more stockpile management though. I kind of like the guild idea though, make guilds actually useful.

[Hl_Handgranate]

I like the idea of the guild filling jobs and having a schedule. A lot like those medieval guilds that did organize quite the whole life of their members, including drafting militias (and wouldn't suffer an Urist without membership crafting a single -slate earring-).

I would love this to be a cultural thing with civilisations where e.g. guild membership for brewers is mandatory or maybe the pump operators guild has become a decadent social club leaving all the pumping to the poor Urists who belong to no guild at all.

Guild masters could scheme to get their guild more rights like being exempted from military service if enough of their members 'find obligation confining'. Oh I am getting carried away... ^^

[Azerty]

I would love this to be a cultural thing with civilisations where e.g. guild membership for brewers is mandatory or maybe the pump operators guild has become a decadent social club leaving all the pumping to the poor Urists who belong to no guild at all.

Guild masters could scheme to get their guild more rights like being exempted from military service if enough of their members 'find obligation confining'. Oh I am getting carried away... ^^

In some places, they might even become the government.