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[Friendstrange]

The starting seven always have my attention, but out of all of them the militia commander and militia are my pampered children, as well as the bone carvers and mechanics.
I put so much effort, time and resources into my militia that I cant not get attached to them. Its always devastating to loose an entire squad to a web FB.
And the mechanic is the hero of the fortress, without all those traps and pumps, all my fortresses would have died a long time ago.

[sjm9876]

I just get to know those who earnt it.
For example, my one armed, one legged, militia captain who beat a goblin lasher with a crutch.
As a general rule, all named dwarves are given a tomb which is flooded with magma on inhumation / collapsed into magma.

[hlavaczech]

ok so what I gather from all your comments (thanks for them) is:
- almost everyone knows his starting seven. Naming them is common and they are watched.
- military gets enough attendtion thanks to the costs of training and close inspection upon their performance in battles.
- if someone does something heroic or is wounded in some funny way, he gots tracked. same goes for vampires, most nobles and other races

----- so far it's the same with me. But it makes some 20 dwarves, i.e. 5%-25% of the entire fortress
what else:
- family relationships help, so do strange moods
- the rest could be learned by carefull and regular inspection (seasonal, for example) of random dwarves. this could be done even in high numbers of dwarves.

some additional questions:
Do you name your 7 dwarves in embark screen according to books/favorites/skills or do you wait until the fortress starts, inspect them and then assign names corresponding to their personalities?
Do you rename immigrants and children?
Do you use nicknames, profession names, combination, to what purpose?

Do you think that the speed of the game influences how "deep" can one get into it? I mean - if it goes too quickly (via editing of the inits), the civilization may slide into "lemmings workforce" more easily then if you keep it normal or even slow it down a bit and spend much time querying the dwarf thoughts and looking into their lives...?
Is there a ballance between limiting the number of dwarves (in inits, for several seasons) and limiting the speed of the game that helps my issue?

[misko27]

Well, recuring dwarves get my attention, my conceited engraver Rakust Amassazir, who has thousands of masterwork engravings, and one arm, always is on my mind. He also made a artifact, and is one of the only dwarves in the whole fort with a living child.
There's also aguy, Ineth Vathsithzefon, Possible the only useful docter, and artifacter as well. My Popular Mayor, Cerol Helmspell, who I made president after the demise of the King, Lives in his old room  . Then theres a few of my military, including the Legendary swordsmen with the Masterwork candy sword, or the best axedwarf with the artifact candy axe. Then theres the cruel Docter who hates everyone appearantly, and has the Name "Bloodtomb" .

No, I dont name my dwarves usually. I like changing professions titles though. Example is the "docter" I had earlier, retitled Dwarven Butcher .Besides, It detracts from the ability of the RNG to give me names like "Bloodtomb"

[Corai]

I once had a carpenter that I left unchecked in a fort that was pure stoneware. I wanted to tick off some elves to provoke war, so I had a few crafts.


By the time the elves arrived I had thousands of crafts and a legendary woodcrafter named "Ber". I kept very close tabs on him since then.



Later on, he got trapped in a situation with several goblins. He left with three kills and broken legs. He then had several children with my mayor, who had been a soldier before the military took over the fort and made her mayor.

The kids all died in a a !!FUN!! party in a clown tent.

[guitarxe]

Wow, this is interesting. I never knew people paid attention to their dwarves on a personal level. Sometimes like people say if something unusually happens I'll probably somewhat remember the dwarf and pay more attention to it, but usually they are all the same to me, especially when migrant waves come.
I mean how can you remember names that you can't even pronounce?

[King DZA]

Make up your own pronunciations, of course.

[Loud Whispers]

I mean how can you remember names that you can't even pronounce?

Make up your own pronunciations, of course.

Or, English translation.

Dwarves tend to have great names.

For example, my two doctors Oakchanneled and Bloodmachine. My manager, Workshark, my Jewelmaster Rimcrystal, the list goes on.

[Maxmurder]

I always name my starting seven after some pop-culture icons: Bridge crew of the Enterprise or Normandy, American Dad or Family Guy families, etc.

From there I only name interesting or important dwarves. Nobles and usefull legendarys get special nicnames or titles.

If they slay a megabeast or named gobbo they get a special profession name along the lines of "Urist McBadass, Slayer of Deng".

The special dwarves recieve better treatment then the dregs of the fortress. They recive luxurious bedrooms, private dining rooms, personal workshops and the like. Their historys are tracked and their storys followed. This allows for narrative to develop within the group of elite dwarves while the majority of boring dwarves remain faceless drones. 

[guitarxe]

I mean how can you remember names that you can't even pronounce?

Make up your own pronunciations, of course.

Or, English translation.

Dwarves tend to have great names.

For example, my two doctors Oakchanneled and Bloodmachine. My manager, Workshark, my Jewelmaster Rimcrystal, the list goes on.

English translation? How did you translate them into English? 

[WJLIII3]

The game does it automatically for all last names everywhere, and in the Name (F)ortress and Name (G)roup screens there's a complete dictionary, searchable by English.


I give the special profession "Grand Architect" to one of my starting seven, and make him architect, mechanic, bookkeeper/organizer, theoretically the entire fort is built according to his plan. He represents me, and if he dies, I abandon.

[Gukag]

It's the reason I like smaller forts. When it starts getting to 80+ dwarves you really start not giving a shit, beyond a few dwarves you can recognize at first glance.

Keep it to 30-50 max, then only get extra pop through children. Change the names of every dwarf based on blood relationships and on the ore/gems/stones present in your fortress, then you'll have the Granite family, the Limonite family, etc. Their "last names" become their first names in this case, and their first name is their family name. If possible make your fortress layout or professions based on these families, military squads, so you get a clan type atmosphere. Pick one married couple out of each family and give them the Patriarch and Matriarch titles, the oldest members or just those with the largest ammount of children.

[Loud Whispers]

English translation? How did you translate them into English? 

The game does it automatically for all last names everywhere, and in the Name (F)ortress and Name (G)roup screens there's a complete dictionary, searchable by English.

You could do that or...

1. Look in the language raws.
2.
(v)iew / (u)nit
(z)
(enter)
Look at the name in the grey bar up top. English.

[Broseph Stalin]

Don't bother getting to know everyone 90% of your fortress is going to be expendable, means-to-an-end, smiley faces with nothing about them worth noting. As a rule if they aren't important enough to have hauling turned off they probably aren't interesting. If a dwarf makes a badass artifact, defeats an enemy or group of enemies, or serves a vital and irreplacable role in your fortress (Legendary weaponsmith/armorsmith) and give them name. Do something memorable and relevant to what they do, if my fortress produces tons of brass then instead of calling my legendary  metalsmith a metalsmith or a Forgemaster I may call him "Cog Brass-God".

Focus on the big details of their life then look into the little ones and it's eerie how often the game seems to be telling stories too small for you to notice. I remember how much a kick I got when my Diagnoser/Suturer was passed over for Chief Medical Dwarf for a Diagnoser/Surgeon and he started making crafts that showed the surgeon surrounded by rats. If the mood takes you write a journal from their perspective in the tone their description suggests they have. It helps to figure out what kind of person they are, what's their code of honor. When you do that all the random things that happen suddenly have a purpose, now when Cog Brass-God punches a goblin to death and saves a child it's because he's virtuous not because the goblin got close enough for him to fight instead of running. When he pulls the lever that traps the military outside but saves the fortress it's a decision he had to wrestle with and still haunts him.  As you get to know him a little better every time Cog Brass-God has a pet die or one of his friends gets bit by a wild animal it will suddenly matter.

[misko27]

Don't bother getting to know everyone 90% of your fortress is going to be expendable, means-to-an-end, smiley faces with nothing about them worth noting. As a rule if they aren't important enough to have hauling turned off they probably aren't interesting. If a dwarf makes a badass artifact, defeats an enemy or group of enemies, or serves a vital and irreplacable role in your fortress (Legendary weaponsmith/armorsmith) and give them name. Do something memorable and relevant to what they do, if my fortress produces tons of brass then instead of calling my legendary  metalsmith a metalsmith or a Forgemaster I may call him "Cog Brass-God".

Focus on the big details of their life then look into the little ones and it's eerie how often the game seems to be telling stories too small for you to notice. I remember how much a kick I got when my Diagnoser/Suturer was passed over for Chief Medical Dwarf for a Diagnoser/Surgeon and he started making crafts that showed the surgeon surrounded by rats. If the mood takes you write a journal from their perspective in the tone their description suggests they have. It helps to figure out what kind of person they are, what's their code of honor. When you do that all the random things that happen suddenly have a purpose, now when Cog Brass-God punches a goblin to death and saves a child it's because he's virtuous not because the goblin got close enough for him to fight instead of running. When he pulls the lever that traps the military outside but saves the fortress it's a decision he had to wrestle with and still haunts him.  As you get to know him a little better every time Cog Brass-God has a pet die or one of his friends gets bit by a wild animal it will suddenly matter.

Hmm, I'm doing this to one dwarf, on a smaller scale anyway. I noticed him as he was migrating. He was a slow, fat siege engineer, but after Inspecrion I discovered he was old, and loved nature, and was a very patient if somewhat distant person. His wife, a glazer who rushed ahead of him, was very impatient, a little mean and impersonal. I imagine she pushed ahead, while he just walked calmly through the wildlife, admiring the surrounding. Then, He turns his bone setting talents to the numerous injured and moves many of them towards healing. Lter, He became inspired for a artifact and makes a ashen scepter with spikes of raw adamantine (yes, A waste, I know,) But, I like the guy alot.

I remember how much a kick I got when my Diagnoser/Suturer was passed over for Chief Medical Dwarf for a Diagnoser/Surgeon and he started making crafts that showed the surgeon surrounded by rats.

You know, It never occured to me that dwarves get offended about things like that,  I might have to look into why that engraver put that image of my mayor terrified in the mayors room.