So, legendary workers turning into more lazy demanding nobles. For the sake of verisimilitude, when it actually goes against verisimilitude. Where was the up side?
...You know, while that wasn't my intent, I can see where you're coming from. I was just listing off a bunch of stuff that could happen as dwarves age. I certainly didn't mean to imply that all of that happens to every dwarf over the age of 50.
Old people teach children, dont they? Atleast the ones where I live do.
-Edit-
"Happy to be lectured by a elder recently."
"Unhappy to be bored by a elder recently."
-
"Angered by a unruly child recently."
"Happy to see the youth at work."
Good idea.
Dwarfs retire? Not likely. Its not that they could not. Its just that they would not want to.
Dwarfs love working. I cant imagine them not wanting to work.
I can imagine them not
being able to work. After all, in our modern day and age, with our advanced medicine, the body really starts deteriorating before most reach 60. With dwarves, between their more limited medical skills, more strenuous lifestyle, poorer diet (probably), lower vitamin D intake, and so forth, these issues would arise more and earlier (unless dwarves are supposed to live longer thn humans...although, human lifespans are a bit long in DF for medieval times). Just adding something to simulate like lowering speed and physical attributes gradually once a creature reaches about the halfway point in its maximum lifespan? would help these issues. Of course, there would also need to be some AI changes to elderly dwarves, like trying to pass on their knowledge, to balance out this and other disadvantages to the elderly. While they might sleep longer and take more breaks, the elderly might talk to people around them when they're not working, raising the listeners' skills; ideally, idlers related to or friends with the senior (or bored ones) would actively try to listen. Letting an old, retired axedwarf relax in the meeting hall and talk about his career in wax working and how he got drafted might mean children grow up as wax workers and/or with axedwarf and other combat skills! How is that not great?
Anyway, how many dwarves have you seen die of old age anyway. It's not like it's a common occurence.
Depends on how you run your forts, I've managed to see my dwarves die of old age.
Certainly, they should. Eventually. Once/If we get dwarven forts to not fall in under a decade to various causes. Especially since few people IRL reach "max age" before succumbing to some age-related complication (cancer, arthritis, alzheimers, etc), especially in ages where these conditions didn't lead to special care.
Certainly, things like this should be considered in worldgen.