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[Nyxalinth]

I like Mike Mayday's, I've used it for almost 3 years.  Having said that, I can still do just fine without graphics.  I figure if I'm using ASCII and I don't know what something is, well, that's what the 'k' command is for

[Iapetus]

My main concern with graphics is being able to easily spot and identify hostiles.

I find that with a lot of graphics packs, the various different types of goblins are quite hard to tell apart (or even to see sometimes), compared to a swarm of bright green or pink "g"s.  Back in 40d days, I tried some of the graphics packs, but went back to using the default graphics for that reason.

With the more recent versions I tend to use graphics packs, because there are so many domestic animals that use the same tiles and colour-schemes as goblins that I kept having false alarms.

[misko27]

With the more recent versions I tend to use graphics packs, because there are so many domestic animals that use the same tiles and colour-schemes as goblins that I kept having false alarms.

I've noticed this problem myself. Got scared when I thought a group of geese was a goblin squad. I can just imagine a overseer going "LOOK THERE THEY ARE! THE GOBLINS ARE COMING!" and all the assembled military dwarves just staring at him...

[SuicideJunkie]

I use the ICBIN-ASCII on a netbook.
I'm running under linux, so I've tried the actual text mode, but the 2D is nice for zooming.

I've got DFhack in a virtual machine for fixing critical faults like caveins on underground ice floors turning tiles into unknown material.
0.5 FPS is plenty for that.

I've set my graphical fps to 10 to save horsepower, and let my physics FPS roam between 8 and 25.
At the moment the goblins are sieging me with FPS drain... A solo axedwarf can reliably turn a squad of 6 gobbos into 60 body parts and a scattered mess of items, but I'm fighting back with a minecart-based garbage collection system.

[FlickerFly]

Furthermore, I find the default graphics to just look a bit more... Dwarfy. Someone posted once that playing with the default graphics without Dwarf Therapist is akin to a bunch of drunk dwarfs trying to run anything.

I guess in the end it doesn't matter what graphics you use, but rather if you use dwarf therapist. Because if you don't you are one crazy muthaf*****!

Well, I guess I'm crazy then, but Dwarf Therapist isn't actually all that useful to me so I don't bother. Well, it probably would be but then I'd get dependent on it and not be able to play without it, meaning more downloading and downloading is annoying. I do use graphic packs sometimes though.

[AndreaReina]

ascii lets me see more fortress in the same viewing window. When you get used to it it's pretty unambiguous.

[wrwr]

When something is unknown, I press 'k' and take a look. Not a problem. I am used to the vanilla tileset and had to memorize a completely new one if I changed. Not worth the effort. Because I assume anything else than the vanilla tileset will probably have a negative impact on the fps and I will change back to vanilla anyway.

[BillyTheKid]

graphic tileset are always very small. I want to see big symbols, but in graphics it's very very small and annoys my eyes. It is also very annoying when fish looks like meat, and that makes the game look very broken.
With ASCII i am also knowing easier what things are. I had graphics first, but when a new version came i had to use ASCII, and now i play it with ASCII since then.

[Andal]

I started playing with Phoebus. I was occasionally annoyed by the symbols replacing letters/punctuation/etc., but all in all I thought at the time it was easier for me to grasp as a new player than the default.

Then, quite a number of updates ago, I got bored waiting for the Lazy Newb Pack to catch up with the latest release, and decided to give the (square) default a try. I've never gone back to graphic packs.

The symbols are easy to understand once you have familiarity with the game, and everything is clear and concise. And, like others have mentioned, it gets me to use my imagination more, which has improved my gameplay experience.

But to each their own. However people enjoy their game, that's what they should do.

(Though it would be nice if people posted screenshots in ASCII so that I could actually tell what's going on!  )

[Talvieno]

I use ASCII. When I started around august 2011, I used Phoebus with the Lazy Newb Pack... largely because I was a lazy newb. After a few months, I decided to switch to ASCII and see if I could handle it. It looked fresher, newer, and cleaner... And as GoombaGeek pointed out, tile mixups don't happen anymore. It looks less buggy.

The reason I switched, though, was basically because it felt more 1337 to use ASCII. It feels dwarfier. I used to use Dwarf Therapist, but I don't anymore. I micromanage a lot less as a result... but it's still just as fun. It's a lot more Fun, too, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the graphics pack. I look at the ASCII and I know exactly what everything is - it's like being fluent in a different language. You don't even think about it anymore - you just speak.

I think this image probably sums it up best.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Dyret]

I tend to switch back and forth between ASCII and graphics packs for reasons not known to myself. Prefer ASCII though... it's cleaner and generally works better with my imagination than tilesets.

[Broseph Stalin]

I would have never learned to play if it hadn't been for graphics. I can play with or without them but I usually use them just so people looking over my shoulder don't ask how I broke my computer.

[omg_scout]

I play onfly vanillia graphics. It the cleanest for me, and after playing games like ADOM I am not scared of it. Although it scares off even hardcore vi programmers.

[Noodz]

One more vote for ascii, there are so many little things to ascii dwarf fortress that i wonder if graph users even know they exist, such as hard to spot, small vermin roaming, grass and vegetation changing colors and the mist and foam ocean waves generate.

[Minuit]

That's an easy one.  < and > are stairs, . is the floor, { is a fountain, & is a demon, @ is a person and " is the Amulet of Yendor.  It's just like Izchak intended.

Messing with that is just wrong.