If you didn't like the game, why bother pointing out flaws with it?
That's a disclaimer you shouldn't have to write.
I find it hard to believe anyone would have trouble learning the game due to horror stories they heard beforehand. Precognitions can have an effect on some things like enjoyability, but not difficulty. DF isn't hard to learn because you expected it to be hard to learn.
Here's some points I doubt anyone will disagree on:
- The interface sucks. Toady himself has said it could be pretty vastly improved. Some parts of it work okay, but Therapist exists for a very good reason.
- Necessities to keep a fort alive and sane are not immediately apparent to a new player. Nothing in-game tells you you need to make food or clothes until your dwarves are starving or going wacko, respectively. Traps and/or military are needed to ward off goblins, but nothing tells you that until they show up and slaughter you.
- Even if you believe the above necessities are "obvious," achieving them is definitely not. The farming section on the wiki is huge for a good reason.
As such, I think we can agree DF has a "high learning curve." And of course, the above problems can potentially be fixed. Hell, just fixing one (the interface) would go a long way toward fixing the other two (giving player necessary information).