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[Shizmoo]

Makes dwarf fortress playable. Vanilla is too easy/repetitive. Along with the many features like seeing items at different z-levels, images of items on the ground like a picture of an axe for an axe, etc.. Its exactly like I read someone else said - Vanilla is a skeleton and Masterwork is the flesh, blood, etc.. completing it. All these negative comments about adding too much fluff - you can disable it not hard.

[Dyret]

Makes dwarf fortress playable. Vanilla is too easy/repetitive.

OP told you not to do this for a reason.

[Putnam]

Along with the many features like seeing items at different z-levels, images of items on the ground like a picture of an axe for an axe, etc..

This is not Masterwork. This is Text Will Be Text, a DFHack plugin. Meph did not develop this. He was not involved. He most likely doesn't know how it works (based on his insistence of not being a programmer). It is not Masterwork, it's something that it grabbed and ate and put into the settings without a single word as to what it actually is except on the very surface. The very fact that you think that this is somehow something Masterwork does is the exact reason why I dislike it so much.

[Shizmoo]

Didn't know that, but I still thank someone for grouping all awesome features into one package instead of downloading/installing everything individually.

[Scruiser]

    The version of masterwork I currently have on my computer is one that still has concubines.  I liked Masterwork because one of the big draws of dwarf fortress for me was simply exploring everything I could do (build a fort to try penetrating the aquifer, build a fort with a water distribution system because I could).  Eventually I had tried many of the basic things and I was looking for something more to try.  The first Mod I seriously used was the fortress defense mod because it allowed me to really explore developing an army and fighting invaders (I did cheat with danger rooms though).  Eventually, as I got bored of the fortress defense mod, I stopped playing DF for a while as I was waiting for the 2012 release.  I went back to vanilla DF with the release of DF 2012, until I got tired of vanilla again, then I tried Masterwork for the first time (opening the version I still have, it was version 1.9.5).  I played Masterwork often for around a year.  I enjoyed all the different things there was to do.  I gradually got tired of it, and by 2014 I wasn't playing DF or MwDF very often.  Then as we neared the new release, I opened up Masterwork (the version still on my computer and not the latest version) again just to get back into DF.  Now that the new release of DF is out, I have been playing vanilla DF.  I have been trying forts that make a lot more usage of wood, along with the adventure mode.  I am also planning on systemically trying features that the new bug fixes have made more functional.  I will probably wait for myself to get tired of DF again and for MwDF to update to 40.xx before I try MwDF again.  Judging by all the new features that have been added, it will probably keep me going for a year or so before I start to get tired of DF again.
    Also, I don't want to get into the arguments that are going on about Vanilla versus Masterwork, so I will just clarify once that by "tired" I simply mean that I am looking for something else to play for a while.  By "tired" I do not mean that I dislike it or think that it need fundamental change or anything like, I just personally want to play something different for a while.

*Edit:

Didn't know that, but I still thank someone for grouping all awesome features into one package instead of downloading/installing everything individually.

This is one of the best characteristics of Masterwork.

[smakemupagus]

Maybe for some start-ups with unique concepts, there could be a post from the largely known modders with basically a 'Hey, check out this interesting thing.'  Maybe only a fragment will look at it, and only a fragment of those might stick around, but it would give the smaller modders a boost of confidence that a fair amount people are actually interested in the mod, which would drive them on to continue building it up, maybe even to the point their mod could be easily recognized.

Some folks might not know, that the Masterwork launcher does in fact include links to about ~20 other mods on the main hotbar.  Some which I've been a long time fan of (LFR)!, but I'm pretty sure that that was where I discovered Nchardahrk and Underhive.  (not to imply any of those are small mods or needed any external help building up -- just saying it's kind of a nice thing)

[tootboot]

Dwarf Fortress already has a large learning curve, and then Masterwork adds a crapton of extra stuff that isn't nearly as well documented.  It's cool you've put so much work into it and have been so successful but the scope of things you're willing to add seems unlimited and it's too much.

I'd be more willing to put the time in if there was a version with only maybe 10-20% of the best content, all extensively documented.

[GhostDwemer]

Played an early version of Masterwork, didn't like it as I felt it changed the feel of the game too much. Guns? Steam? This is a medieval fantasy game! Played a more recent version (as dwarves) a few months ago, and got totally hooked. It really fleshes out the game and makes mid to late game play much more interesting.  It's "Steampunk DF," I can enjoy that. Truly an amazing piece of work. Thanks, Meph! Hopefully, there will be a new version that works with .40?

[sayke]

This is not Masterwork. This is Text Will Be Text, a DFHack plugin. Meph did not develop this. He was not involved. He most likely doesn't know how it works (based on his insistence of not being a programmer). It is not Masterwork, it's something that it grabbed and ate and put into the settings without a single word as to what it actually is except on the very surface. The very fact that you think that this is somehow something Masterwork does is the exact reason why I dislike it so much.

Masterwork smoothly integrates the best of everything in the DF community. Nothing else does that nearly as cleanly. If anyone is interested in all the moving parts under the hood, they can poke around and look at the changelog and credits - it's all there. Credit is given where due.

But what's so incoherent about it? It all draws from classic fiction tropes, and its modularity makes complaining about this pretty pointless. If there's something you feel is incoherent, can't you just disable it?

And what is so unbalanced about it? The baseline is vanilla, which is incredibly easy to game... And other mods have their own pseudo-exploits and unbalanced stuff. Again, if there's something you feel is unbalanced, can't you just disable it?

I've poked around the rest of the mods quite a bit, and while there's a lot of good work out there, the depth, coherence, and modularity of MW really does it for me.

[Putnam]

This is not Masterwork. This is Text Will Be Text, a DFHack plugin. Meph did not develop this. He was not involved. He most likely doesn't know how it works (based on his insistence of not being a programmer). It is not Masterwork, it's something that it grabbed and ate and put into the settings without a single word as to what it actually is except on the very surface. The very fact that you think that this is somehow something Masterwork does is the exact reason why I dislike it so much.

Masterwork smoothly integrates the best of everything in the DF community. Nothing else does that nearly as cleanly. If anyone is interested in all the moving parts under the hood, they can poke around and look at the changelog and credits - it's all there. Credit is given where due.

The problem is that you have to poke around simply to find what the hell you've enabled, and many of them are presented as part of Masterwork rather than their own things that happen to be included. It's like the difference between Technic Pack and FTB in Minecraft. FTB includes a bunch of mods and people know which mod they're all from because there's a lot of effort made to make sure of that. With Technic, people talk about something like "Macerator from Technic" while in FTB they'll say "Macerator from Industrialcraft". It's shit like this that made Minecraft's community so terrible; people didn't want their stuff in mod packs because the mod pack devours their mod and makes it its own. Thankfully, Minecraft at least has actually managed to get out of that by having multiple.

Dwarf Fortress has no such thing, and it could be worse because we're all too nice to each other to refuse permission to include stuff. This is why I've endeavored to create a modpack. Partially because it's a fun thing to do, partially because I want an excuse to make a bunch of small mods instead of ever making one big one ever again, and the rest because Masterwork is snowballing out of control and eating the rest of the mod community whole.

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

Dwarf Fortress has no such thing, and it could be worse because we're all too nice to each other to refuse permission to include stuff. This is why I've endeavored to create a modpack. Partially because it's a fun thing to do, partially because I want an excuse to make a bunch of small mods instead of ever making one big one ever again, and the rest because Masterwork is snowballing out of control and eating the rest of the mod community whole.

...Masterwork is replicating the rise of monopolies...
In the DF modding community, each mod is analogous to a small business with players being customers.  Masterwork is taking those businesses and turning them into a monopoly.  The only way we dissolved those was by courts.  This does not bode well for the economy that is the DF modding community if it winds up going as far as monopolies did.

[Scruiser]

Dwarf Fortress has no such thing, and it could be worse because we're all too nice to each other to refuse permission to include stuff. This is why I've endeavored to create a modpack. Partially because it's a fun thing to do, partially because I want an excuse to make a bunch of small mods instead of ever making one big one ever again, and the rest because Masterwork is snowballing out of control and eating the rest of the mod community whole.

...Masterwork is replicating the rise of monopolies...
In the DF modding community, each mod is analogous to a small business with players being customers.  Masterwork is taking those businesses and turning them into a monopoly.  The only way we dissolved those was by courts.  This does not bode well for the economy that is the DF modding community if it winds up going as far as monopolies did.

I can think of two major exceptions to the Masterwork sucks everything up trend:
Total conversion mods.  As in Masterwork beats out other mods for general generic fantasy expansion to vanilla DF, but it doesn't out compete all the crossover mods right? 
Minor tweaks.  If I just want to add in a few metals or individual creatures or a few spells, I just copy the RAWs from the mod thread directly into the .txt RAW files.

And really, is this such a bad trend if it results in the mods being more usable and enjoyable to the average player.  Keep track of all the utilities can be confusing at times.  I really appreciate having the all available through one download and one interface (I like the starter pack for this reason also).  It seems like the only thing to address is making sure that credit is given clearly and fairly.

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

Total conversion mods.  As in Masterwork beats out other mods for general generic fantasy expansion to vanilla DF, but it doesn't out compete all the crossover mods right?

As I see it, with Total Conversion mods, there are two types of industries in that analogy.  The Crossovers (Zelda, Final Fantasy, Homestuck, etc.) and the Original Content (which is where Masterwork is).  In the industry it is in, Masterwork is dominating everything else.  For example, the latest release of Legend of Forlorn Realms, with the Ironhand graphics preinstalled, is at 1,354 downloads and 2,335 views, last updated on Dec 02, 2013.  Masterwork's latest version, on the DFFD mirror (one of two, both of which barely noticeable compared to the large letters of the main branch) has 298 downloads and 690 views, and it was updated on Aug 11, 2014.  That's about 1/5 the downloads, 1/3 the views, in 1/51 of the time on just a single mirror.  As I said, that is just one of the mirrors.  Who knows how many downloads there are on the other and the main download.

And really, is this such a bad trend if it results in the mods being more usable and enjoyable to the average player.  Keep track of all the utilities can be confusing at times.  I really appreciate having the all available through one download and one interface (I like the starter pack for this reason also).  It seems like the only thing to address is making sure that credit is given clearly and fairly.

Meph himself had to start out within an a fairly large community himself, but at that time, there was less of a presence of an all encompassing mod.  Without a single mod dominating a large portion of the modding community, it would have been easier to get players to come and test and build up a fan base.  Now, with much of the player base of the modding community flocking to Masterwork, many who have the potential to build a great mod like Meph might become discouraged or mostly ignored because they can't get that start-up base of fans to a good enough point to be able to become a well known face.

I do have a potential solution.  I need to make a mock-up of it to be able to explain it more clearly, so give me a bit of time to make it.

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

Decided to place it in its own thread here, since it was too far derailed from the main topic.  Sorry if this is a double post, I had been working on it here before I decided to move it over to its own topic.

[samanato]

For example, the latest release of Legend of Forlorn Realms, with the Ironhand graphics preinstalled, is at 1,354 downloads and 2,335 views, last updated on Dec 02, 2013.  Masterwork's latest version, on the DFFD mirror (one of two, both of which barely noticeable compared to the large letters of the main branch) has 298 downloads and 690 views, and it was updated on Aug 11, 2014.  That's about 1/5 the downloads, 1/3 the views, in 1/51 of the time on just a single mirror.  As I said, that is just one of the mirrors.  Who knows how many downloads there are on the other and the main download.

Speaking of which, where is the creator of LFR these days?  It would really be a shame, if she outright quit altogether and left an excellent mod for dead because another one is holding a monopoly over original content.