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[iEpinephrine]

Saying "I don't like the tone of D&D" doesn't make D&D bad, it makes D&D suitable for a different audience. 
I hate pretty much all high fantasy and D&D is close to top of my list, but I see my friends have fun with it all the time, so it obviously isn't bad.

Conan The Barbarian crossed with The Silmarillion with a little bit of Watership Down thrown in.

Hahaha, so true.

Though personally I feel the tone is ... call me crazy for this...Tetris, with context. 
Colours and abstract shapes floating about.  Entire goal of the game is maximum utilisation of efficiency, with inevitable death as your final reward.  It's Tetris with less reflex and more narrative.

[JohnieRWilkins]

I think what you guys are getting at is the tone of DF is: high-realism with a hint of heroism and fantasy thrown in. And that contrasts with DnD's tone of high-fantasy heroism, with no regard for realism.

[TSTwizby]

Saying "I don't like the tone of D&D" doesn't make D&D bad, it makes D&D suitable for a different audience. 
I hate pretty much all high fantasy and D&D is close to top of my list, but I see my friends have fun with it all the time, so it obviously isn't bad.

I wish more people thought like this.

As for DF's tone, I really think that it depends largely on the player. It's completely possible to make a fort where everyone's happy, and you spend all your time churning out toys, or a deathtrap where each new wave of immigrants is crushed by the insane ghosts of the last wave of immigrants, while the other dwarves kick kittens off of cliffs. Of course, some things are harder to control; if you're not careful, santa will need to figure out what to do about all the goblins stopping the exports, and the kitten kickers will eventually run out of kittens. But even things like that can be worked around (turn off invasions, cat breeding program).
On the other hand, if you don't aim for any particular playstyle, there is still a huge amount of room for interpretation of everything that happens. Are the dwarves returning from killing that forgotten beast excited by the victory? Filled with despair that death is all they have to look forward to? Telling stories to eachother about their feats of strength? Complaining about the food? Or is the trauma they constantly go through slowly driving them insane? It's all up to interpretation; DF can have almost any tone you feel like it having.

[King DZA]

I don't think it's general tone is gritty and macabre(though things certainly can get that way at times), I actually think it's quite inspiring and uplifting.

It's taking seven little bearded people with all of the odds against them, and helping them to thrive in a harsh and relentless world, regardless of what unspeakable terrors and tragedies are thrown at them. Going from a bunch of homeless drunks with a hole in the ground, to a thriving mountainhome, feared and respected throughout the land. Overcoming challenges, building wonders, and creating legends.

If anything DF's tone is one of hope, endurance, and perseverance. Unless you suck at it, then things can get pretty dark.

[darkrider2]

DF's tone: losing is fun.

[UltraValican]

I'm not sure about WOW but warcraft was pretty grimdark behind the scenes, for example.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Thrall's best childhood friend(human) was raped and decapitated in a last ditch effort to break Thrall's mind before he could destroy another internment camp.

Thats pretty damn dark.

[NobodyPro]

I'm not sure about WOW but warcraft was pretty grimdark behind the scenes, for example.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Thrall's best childhood friend(human) was raped and decapitated in a last ditch effort to break Thrall's mind before he could destroy another internment camp.

Thats pretty damn dark.

It's a pity it doesn't translate to the gameplay. Gameplay and Story Segregation etc.

[feralferret]

Any game with a 'Ready to slaughter?' button for all kittens and puppies is at least a little dark.

DF's tone is definitely what you make of it though. I find it delightfully sinister.

[UltraValican]

I'm not sure about WOW but warcraft was pretty grimdark behind the scenes, for example.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Thrall's best childhood friend(human) was raped and decapitated in a last ditch effort to break Thrall's mind before he could destroy another internment camp.

Thats pretty damn dark.

It's a pity it doesn't translate to the gameplay. Gameplay and Story Segregation etc.

It would have been considering this took place in a blizzard game that was supposed to introduce Thrall iirc: Warcraft Adventures Lord of the Clans.

[Lumix]

I'm not sure about WOW but warcraft was pretty grimdark behind the scenes, for example.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Thrall's best childhood friend(human) was raped and decapitated in a last ditch effort to break Thrall's mind before he could destroy another internment camp.

Thats pretty damn dark.

It's a pity it doesn't translate to the gameplay. Gameplay and Story Segregation etc.

It would have been considering this took place in a blizzard game that was supposed to introduce Thrall iirc: Warcraft Adventures Lord of the Clans.

I had high hopes for WoW, They took a completely solid story, dumbed it down, and babied the players 

Instead of showing Deathwing as a genius who manipulated others through politics, its more or less "Hey im a dragon, come at me"

[MaskedMiner]

I go with the "Player make up their own tone while playing DF" . Thats why I find it hard to read community stories, they never fit my imagination of what DF is like.

[Lumix]

I go with the "Player make up their own tone while playing DF" . Thats why I find it hard to read community stories, they never fit my imagination of what DF is like.

That is true.

Some talk about their fortress or adventure like a  heroic tale, others talk about it as if its documentry, others talk about it as if its a slow slide to inevitable death

[Caz]

I go with the "Player make up their own tone while playing DF" . Thats why I find it hard to read community stories, they never fit my imagination of what DF is like.

That's interesting. How does others perception of DF (gained through reading community/story forts) differ from yours? Do the others always seem similar?


I don't think DF is that dark, it depends how you play. You could be throwing every child born off the edge of a pit in sacrifice to Armok or just play a peaceful farming settlement with invaders switched off. There probably is something noble about the dwarf militia defending their kin, and I've always thought the mayor had a twisted sense of humour when he demands impossible items just so he can have someone beaten. It's a survival city-builder in its finest form. But DF is great in that you can shift it to be what you want it to be depending on your idea for the game.

[Loud Whispers]

To me, DF is pretty much a take on normal in a messed up world. No random music, amazing special effects or whatever, just your ASCII smileys trying to make something for themselves.

[thvaz]

I hate the current trend of cute or parodical fantasy games.(Dungeons of Dredmor, Majesty 2, etc). Dwarf Fortress has just the right tone.