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[i2amroy]

Mac user. That's the biggest reason why, since it means that I would have to raw edit to get any sort of graphics working on my computer rather then just being able to download them in a nice little package. The second reason is that I'm a modder myself, so any sort of graphics that I want to add I need to double check against my edited raws to make sure that I haven't removed any creatures or renamed them, and then any problems would need to be fixed. Plus I learned on vanilla graphics, so at this point I pretty much have all of the various creature letter/color combinations memorized to the point when the only time I really need to view a new creature is if it's one of the rarer underground ones.

2) My computer would have a heart attack if ever I were to use anything else.

Is that really a problem? I've never tried any of the graphical tilesets yet, but I always assumed even the fanciest of them would be dwarfed by the amount of system resources the rest of the game chews up.

From what I know graphics sets can cause a small FPS decrease, but compared to the FPS impacts of all the various factors it's a tiny difference. I don't use graphics pack though, so it's all second-hand knowledge.

[smirk]

So... am I the only one that enjoys switching between tilesets? Learned on Mayday back in the day, then picked up vanilla during a rapid-release period, and since then I've been jumping around between Ironhand, Phoebus, Jolly Bastion, Matrix, some others I can't remember, and some I've made myself. Fooling around with GoombaGeek's novelty sets right now; they're pretty awesome =D  It's fun to see your forts through different lenses. Vanilla is nice and clean and default and all, but to me it's just another lens.

[Alastar]

Reason for using it in screenshots: Courtesy, it's the no-frills standard most people are going to be familiar with. Same reason why it's good form to send e-mail in plaintext.

Reason for using it in gameplay: Personally, I don't because I find it hard on the eyes for extended gameplay. I use a smoother character set and a more human-friendly colourscheme (we don't have uniform contrast sensitivity for all colours. In the default, I find the bright colours unpleasantly garish and dark blue hard to see on black).
High ASCII is easy to read at varying levels of zoom, it leaves more room for the imagination, the characters are well chosen with cute details while any graphical representation would have to be quite crude, there won't be any annoying graphical artifacts. I don't mind tilesets in most roguelikes, but they seem a step down for Dwarf Fortress because there's so much going on.

[Agrinja]

I use a tileset (Ironhand) largely because I have some color vision issues, and it gets irksome to keep having to examine things that share an ascii character but are different colors.

[Sus]

The best graphics tileset you can install will still be crappy little pixel graphics. Going from an abstraction that allows you to substitute your imagination--or not, and just read what is there--to crappy little pixel graphics is not an upgrade.

Also: "I don't even see the code anymore. I just see blonde, brunette, redhead..."

I think I'm inclined to agree. Sure, to a new DF player, the little dwarves and trees look a little less intimidating than a writhing mass of ☺ and ┤, but the (I Can't Believe It's Not) ASCII kind of grows on you. Like a fungus. That's when the inevitable little glitches in the graphics (why is there a three-legged stool on the end of my drawbridge? ) start to annoy you. Not to mention the varying degree to which the pixel graphics represent different animals and monsters. (That's supposed to be a turkey? Really?) Also, g is Goblin Axeman, no question, but what about this here <green splotch>?

Currently playing with Phoebus' graphics, but I think I'll go back to defaults once my turn at Trialfires is done and Swampconstruct crumbles to its inevitable end...

[Shades]

the newer graphics pack is so awesome grass is green, dirt is brown you can see what things are, everything is not weird symbols.

I find the exact opposite is true. I've tried numerous tilesets and although some of them looked really nice all of them made it harder for me to see what was going on. There is just so much information and clarity in the 'werid symbols', some from the symbol itself but also from the colour.

I find it very hard, especially with the smaller 16x16 tilesets to distinguish some of the things apart. As to larger tilesets, well I like having more titles visible so they add a different problem.

[blue sam3]

Because it is clear and unambiguous, and you can instantly tell what's going on, without little hard-to-identify pictures everywhere.

[Flying Fortress]

I love the default graphics for several reasons.
1:  They're awesome, I have come to really like ASCII graphics thanks to this game
2:  Other people watch me with a "wtf???" look on their face and I chuckle inside.
3:  It seems dwarfy, no self respecting dwarf would want to live in a world where an elf is more defined then a simple 'e.'  Anything more then that is too much info about those tree huggers.
I've seen a few pictures/videos with custom graphics packs, and I can never really enjoy them because I can't tell what anything is because: 
4:  Pictures put on that small of a scale (each individual block) can't convey what ASCII can on that scale imo.

As far as dwarf therapist goes, I've never used it and I probably never will.  I don't see a point to that either, dwarves get assigned jobs when they migrate.  If I need extra help/need to train someone in another skill after I reach my pop cap, I go through the farmers/crafters and pick from there, knowing they're useless already.  Though usually I never have to train anyone up, because they got assigned at migration so I already have someone being trained.  Never once have I ever felt swamped by 'extra work' that assigning jobs makes without DT.

[Sus]

Oh, and of course it's The Reference Implementation™. Most DF players are at least able to grasp the gist of what's going on from a pseudo-ASCII screenshot. Graphics packs screenshots... not so much, unless you've used that particular tileset yourself.

[Lich180]

I started with the Phoebus / Mayday tilesets, and recently converted back to ASCII because...I just felt it was time to learn it.

Then I found Mr. Frogs' 16x16 ASCII tileset, and started using that. Only changes the shape of a tile, and brightens a few colors up

[GoombaGeek]

I actually like my 8x8, because it fits a ton on one screen and is nicely proportional yet not too tiny. I made it to be my ideal ASCII set.

Spoiler: SHAMELESS PLUG (click to show/hide)

[Callista]

I use graphics because I started out using them. When I play ADoM, Angband, and Nethack, I don't use graphics because I started out not using them. Pretty simple, really. Why switch when you have to learn another set of icons for no actual benefit?

[aoxoa]

Once your used to the default ascii version, practically it all seems like graphics anyway. I actually myself have only ever used Phoebus tileset, never default... But on trying Ironhand (And its a great graphics pack) but everything was way too different for me.

It would be the same for people who started on default and never tried the graphics packs, or couldnt get used to them easily.

I used to play alot of MUD games, like Realms of Despair. MMO's that were purely just text and etc. To me you could easily visuallize everything that was happening by reading it. But today people think a game needs graphics and cannot even be called a game if it just involves text and characters (Ascii kind of characters).

If I started on default, it would be way too different to use texture packs, but I started with lazy newb pack and found Phoebus my style so that is why I have always used it

To the people on default, trust me they see everything practically just as clearly as you do with a texture pack (And me). Sure it doesn't look as fancy but the gameplay is what we all love about DF anyway. And tantrum spirals

[Lielac]

(snip)

I'm on my dinky little netbook alone instead of plugging my hugeass screen into it. 12x12 all the way!)

Bu.. Bu.. Netbook can DF? How often do you die due to FPS Death?

All the time. All the time. Mostly because I love me some 3x3s. But yes, netbook can DF.

[smirk]

Why switch when you have to learn another set of icons for no actual benefit?

Mood! If I'm feeling cheery, I can go Jolly Bastion the shit outta some bandits in adventure mode. If I'm feeling grittier, I can load up my personal grimdark set. If I get tired of animals as letters, there's always Ironhand or Phoebus.

Once you know what symbol groups always go together (bags and the male symbol, chairs and bridge corners, etc), then switching back and forth is really no trouble at all. I'm guessing most people just get comfortable where they are. (Or they don't want to fuss around with their heavily modded raws to make the change, but I use DF Mod Manager so it's only a few mouse clicks.)