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[Sindayven]

Would it be possible to make any time a dwarf spends idle count towards their "quota" for a break?

I'm sure we've all experienced the time when our trader, who does nothing all season, goes on break the moment he is actually required to do work.
...and then goes to sleep.

[PTTG??]

Absolutely, totally, 100% doubleplus seconded.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Thirded. There really needs to be a way to order a dwarf to "ignore personal desires/needs and do this now!" Negative thoughts/performance impairment are an entirely reasonable price to pay to have the job you abso-fucking-loutely need done now, done now.

[Charrat]

We need a DF equivalent of the ability to slap your minions, as seen in Dungeon Keeper.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Yeah, I'd agree with that.

[Aqizzar]

Slapping would be great, except it introduces the player as a genuine being instead of the sorta omnicient collective will of the fortress.  That designates tasks.  Which the dwarves acknowledge and cancel.

Yeah, I'm on board for slapping.


To expand on the OP, if you set up multiple meeting areas, or just give a dwarf a bedroom, when they go On Break, they shuffle back and forth between loaf stations.  I'm pretty sure that they don't count Time In Transit between locations as On Break time.  I've seen a dwarf spend an entire season lounging around, and it'd be nice if they counted walking around time as well.

[Faces of Mu]

Toady could always give the option for the player to produce a carrot-and-stick for every single dwarf. You'd have some new tool to 'lure' a dwarf to a job, but only if you have made that particular dwarf's carrot as according to their profile. Using the lure would expend it.

[Anu Necunoscut]

Simpler than that, I wonder if happiness could be made the major factor--the more ecstatic the dwarf, the less likely he/she would be to put off a task for personal reasons.

[Align]

It IS possible to emergency-interrupt everything a dwarf wants to do except eat and drink, both of which are done with quickly enough, and Attend Meeting, which is fortunately rare.
But regardless, I like the original idea.

[Joseph Miles]

Agreed

[Tiler]

Do I even need to say 'agreed', or has it already been decided that this is a good idea?

[Nesoo]

Oh, yes, yes, yes! One of the things at the top of my (relatively short) list of annoyances is when a carpenter, for example, who has been idling for the entire last season while I worked on other things, decides to take a break right when I finally start ordering barrels or whatever.

"Where the heck is the engraver? I know he doesn't do any other jobs, so why isn't this floor smoothed yet? Wait, he's what?! On break? How can he be on break when he just spent the last 2 seasons since he arrived doing nothing?!"

But I'd probably set it up the opposite way... rather than having idle time count as break time, have an "I need a break" counter add up while they do work. Idle time could subtract from the counter. Obviously, personality (and possibly stats) should affect how high this counter goes before they take a break, and could allow them to shrug it off until they finish their current task... or drop their current task immediately.

[Faces of Mu]

Ooooh, an "I need a break" counter sounds better. It would be rediculous building up a huge store of breakless work just because they had a huge break.

[Joseph Miles]

Ooooh, an "I need a break" counter sounds better. It would be rediculous building up a huge store of breakless work just because they had a huge break.

Ah, but that shows more of the "Slave" aspect of "Slaves to Armok: God of Blood"

[Qmarx]

Just make them take shorter breaks if you've made a snazzy +Sign+