...unlike in DF, where they will work in a certain place, return home at certain time and go to sleep in their own beds.
Well...
'Why are you traveling?' "Going to the tavern." 'Tell me about yourself, do you have any kids?' "As a matter of fact I do, my daughter is a scholar and spends most of her time trying to understand the world."
'How about you? On a patrol I bet?' "Nah, was just at the well rinsing crud out of my beard." 'Ah, cool.'
'So tell me, preacher, what
is all this?' "It is a place where all who wish to do so can gather together and appreciate the glorious storms our god creates for us."
Yes I'm filling in a bit of the dialogue*, but you get the basic idea that they're out and about doing their own thing, rather than just waiting for me to come on the map so they can exist until I move out of range.
*This is a big part of why I like playing around in the worlds I make with df, when I stopped thinking about the little symbols or what they represent and just started thinking in terms of the game world and what is going on there, I really fell in love with the whole project. All the little things Toady wants to have in there because it wouldn't feel like the same sort of world without them. All the frustratingly endearing quirks that come about from various parts being implemented before others, even the occasionally crippling bugs wind up being entertaining (who ordered all those horses again?) when you stop and think about what the hell is going on sometimes.
I've only been playing for about two years, though I've been aware of the game in some way for a few years before I started with 40.06, but looking back and playing the earlier versions, following along through that development cycle, and then this current one I'm still struck by the ridiculous amount of promise it shows when you consider that the most finely tweaked and tuned worlds I make with whichever parameters I've found lead to the most interesting and unexpected behavior, all the things I do and see and take part in or just let happen, are under half of the way to where he wants these worlds to go.