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[Chimpanzee]

Mainstream                                                                    DF
Go to attack the boss                                                       Get besieged by goblins, or randomly invaded by some mismatched-bodypart beast.
World is always the same, tiny in size                                World is randomly generated and size is chosen at the beginning of worldgen.
Same lore, over and over                                                  Different history, goblin kings, dwarf vs. elf wars, giant cheetah invasion, just to name a fraction of the possiblities.
Shot in the spine? -300 HP, as usual.                                Shot in the spine? Lose the ability to stand due to severed nerves!
Pop a flask, regain health.                                                Pop a flask, quench your thirst. Happy thought if there's booze inside and not water.
Your friend dies? So what.                                                Your friend dies? Throws a tantrum, risks insanity, very low chance for fell/macabre mood.
Have vendors available 100% of the time.                         Caravans of each friendly or elven trading civilization arrive yearly.
Most games have gold. Items have fixed prices.                 You barter your goods for the caravan's goods. You may offer as much as you want.
Farm a particular area for days long for the perfect gear.    Train a weaponsmith or armorsmith and have them forge ☼steel or adamantine gear☼ for your soldiers.

[Scootagoose]

Mainstream: Arrows bounce off you or stick to your skin like it's nothing.

DF: Arrows rain hell on you, puncture organs and rip armor.

Mainstream: If you get damaged, you just need to take potion/medkit.

DF: If you get damaged you will more then likely stay that way or end up in a hospital bed for months.

Mainstream: Fall damage will kill you right away or just lower your health.

DF: Fall damage will break bones and possibly cripple you for life.

[hops]

Mainstream: "(1 hour in the game) Peasant: You ARE the (Insert chosen one here)?! Oh my god!!!!oneone11 I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN!"

Roguelike: "(20 hours in the game) Peasant: I can parry your +Artifact Sword of Doom+ with my fork."

DF: "(2 weeks in the game) Peasant: (Talking to Urist McLegendary+99999) Stories from faraway land will not save us."

Art game: "Peas & Ants: I can parry your macaroni with my hyperdimensional trout."

[comham]

It's just plain unfair to compare other games to DF. Like comparing a toddler, quite confident at walking, to a far future 9 foot tall human-gazelle superathlete.

[Mr S]

I'm not sure what Art Games Objective has been playing, but I do want that hyperdimensional trout.  It probably would work well with the Fell Joke, or the Artifact quality Antacids I've been working on.

[DireWolf64]

Mainstream: A dragon is attacking that town over there,                             Dwarf Fortress: A dragon attacked...well, no more plants for you
quick go and help before some stupid villager                                             for the next fucking year (that is, if you survived)
will wander into the orange sprinkle from it's mouth!                                                                                                         

[WillowLuman]

Is this going to be another condescending hipster thing that demonizes the nebulous strawman of "casual gamers"? Because I really don't want DF to be a condescending hipster thing.

Other games:
-born from a set development goal, encompasses that as best as circumstances and ability allow
-consists of that set scope, constrained by development time

Dwarf Fortress:
-Unlimited development time, including a life's work and eventually cryogenic brain technology
-Encompasses the entire universe, including itself, due to eventually infinite list of development goals.
-Will kill (if one already exists) and then become the Supreme Being.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Is this going to be another condescending hipster thing that demonizes the nebulous strawman of "casual gamers"? Because I really don't want DF to be a condescending hipster thing.

Don't worry, you're all casual gamers compared to us 2D DF players.
[/sarcasm]

[Mesa]

MAINSTREAM: You can't kill the King, the Necromancer or anyone else who's important because storyline.
DF/ROGUELIKE: Kill whoever the hell you wish. Just keep in mind you'll have a whole civ on your head. (until the next release anyway)

MAINSTREAM: Laggy and unbalanced multiplayer with normal gamemodes.
DF/ROGUELIKE: What's multiplayer? Oh, you mean the succession games?

MAINSTREAM: Attacking the dragon with a pick will get you killed.
DF/ROGUELIKE: Attacking the dragon with a pick will get the dragon killed, and infinite (not really) amounts of fame and loot.

MAINSTREAM: Hit in the head with [insert end-game armor here] on and at lv. 100? -1 health.
DF/ROGUELIKE: Hit in the head with [insert end-game armor here] on and with superhuman/legendary skills? At worst your head will fly off.

MAINSTREAM: You'll respawn when you die! Don't worry!
DF/ROGUELIKE: You'll have to make a new character when you die. You can loot your own corpse, though.

[Lovechild]

Is this going to be another condescending hipster thing that demonizes the nebulous strawman of "casual gamers"? Because I really don't want DF to be a condescending hipster thing.

This thread, condescending? Hipster? Why would you think that?

DF/ROGUELIKE: "Storyline" made of random elements without any narrative structure
MAINSTREAM: Deep and engaging narrative with relatable characters

DF/ROGUELIKE: ASCII
MAINSTREAM: State of the art graphics

DF/ROGUELIKE: You die from things you didn't see coming and had no way of avoiding
MAINSTREAM: Balanced mechanics designed to always give the player a fair chance

DF/ROGUELIKE: When you die you have to restart from the beginning, there is no way to replay a particular segment of the game
MAINSTREAM: Save whenever you want; go back to your favorite parts of the game whenever you want

Disclaimer: I love DF. But it's all a matter of perspective.

[Neonivek]

Hey who is doing my job of being a negative little snot?

Though really thank you... I wanted to sort of do that but I was really too lazy.

[WillowLuman]

Mainstream: God creates Dwarves, god destroys Dwarves.
Dwarf Fortress: DF destroys God, DF creates Dwarves.
Dwarves: Party at all the wells.
Universal Studios: Sues.
Me: Claims fair use.

What were we talking about again?

[itisnotlogical]

Mainstream: Small premade package designed to be played a specific way. No guarantee of being easy to modify. Random content is usually limited, or just large chunks that can be assembled in a few different ways.

DF: Huge, complicated playset that takes instruction manuals, practice and assistance to use effectively. Making your own fun is a must, but damn is it cool when you finally figure it out.

Mainstream: To some extent, it is expected that the player wins at some point and there is a reward for doing so.

DF: "Winning" only means that you haven't failed yet. It's not Toady's fault that a giant killing machine made of bronze and hatred crushed your kobold adventurer's skull; the exact same thing would happen if bronze collosi and kobolds existed and met in real life.

[WillowLuman]

Hey, his skull isn't crushed yet...

[Armok]

Linear games: A non-lucid dream in a box.
DF: The real world in a box.