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[praguepride]

My point is that this should probably be moved to "general dwarf discussion" forums rather then the

"DF should have these features" forum.

By posting here you are saying that THIS is what DF Needs to have. But you don't actually talk about in-game effects or anything, it's just a long post about how in your mind dwarves have metal beards and cat eyes and arms twice as long as their legs.

None of that really matters from a DF perspective. It's fine to have topic about "what should dwarves look like?" but if this is going to be a long narrative then it should probably end up in fanfiction or general discussions.

My dwarfs (which differ from the "standard" version) have "beards" (and hair) which are actually produced by a symbiotic fungus that grows on the dwarf's face/head.

It can grow anywhere on a dwarf's body, if "trained" to do so, but it grows best-and only naturally- around the dwarf's mouth.

The fungus produces strands of almost pure metal, so that a dwarf with a completely red beard has a beard that's made of over 90% pure copper, a blonde beard (rare) is actually made of gold, etc.

Many dwarfs have beards that are made up of several different types of metal, depending on how well they've been eating.

All dwarf beards are made up of atleast 5% lead (my dwarfs don't have any problem consuming lead, to them it's like zinc or iron for us), but having a beard that's all lead (dull grey) denotes long-term malnutrition, and is a sign of extreme poverty in childhood.

Copper or iron are the most common--because of their makeup, the beards themselves never have extensive tarnishing or rusting, by the way, and only the very elderly dwarfs (and then only if they're sick-it's a symptom of extensive glandular/hormone damage, probably in combination with organ disease-for a long period of time, or entirely unable to groom themselves) might have beards that are beginning to show these signs.

^--- this is not a suggestion. This is view into your pesonal imagination. That's fine, but it should probably go in a different thread/forum as none of this is really relevant.

Different styles of facial hair would be nice to see, as would some kind of barber (possibly a "barber-surgeon"?).

^---- this, however is completely appropriate and should be focused on. And on that note I'd disagree. I'm of the "dwarves never cut their beards" mentality and having "stylists" seems a bit to elvish to belong in a dwarf stronghold. Maybe have dwarves "clean their beards" as a substitue for the generic "on breaK' function (and it would remove layers from their beard, like vomit, blood, water etc.).

Actually, that's a good point!

MAKE BEARDS A BODY TAG! Like an arm or a leg or a kidney. An attacker might clip their beard and while the beard will eventually heal by itself, a "broken" beard will generate a ton of unhappy thoughts.

Urist McDwarf was horrified to see his beard has been cut apart.

A broken or severed beard wouldn't cause the dwarf to have to rest, but it would tank his mood something fierce and if he isn't already having tons of happy thoughts, might send him into a beserk rage.

"YOU...CUT...MY...BEARD! RAWAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWRRRRRRR!!!!!"

[Squirrelloid]

Snogo Ixnabilatus has hit Urist McStabby in the beard!
It is trimmed!

[praguepride]

That could even add a new "title"

"Beardshaver"

If I was a dwarf, I'd be more afraid of Snogo the Beard Shaver then Snoge the Eater of Bones or Snoga, Destroyer of Worlds.

[Urist McDetective]

I wouldn't be so quick to call it out as useless or pointless. A lot of what happens in DF seems to have beginnings in inspired descriptions.
Not to say I want fungus covered midgets with steel wire fluff... but it's not something I'd reject because the full list game applications haven't been drawn up.

[praguepride]

What irked me was that he started out with "my dwarfs" i.e. the dwarves running around in his imagination. Not really a suggestion or a question or even a discussion topic, just a statement about his imagination.

It wasn't a "do you think" or a "I'd really like" post, it was just a tangent.

[SirHoneyBadger]

The suggestion wasn't that Toady do this, the suggestion was that beards, and dwarfs in general, might be thought of a little differently (and possibly implemented a little differently) than the steriotypical standard, in a fantasy setting.

As in: this is a thread about dwarf beards, and here are my thoughts on dwarf beards.

And what irks me is that, apparently the suggestion (even in mod form) of anything too far afield from childhood memories of "Snow White and the 7 dwarves" causes a bad reaction.

Not every suggestion has to start with "do you think" or "I'd really like". Sometimes it can be done by more subtle means. As I'm sure it has been done before on this Forum, and most people have been able to grasp that, and move on.

Since you got that it's a "statement about my imagination", perhaps that should have been a clue. 

It wasn't how I suggested it, or why I suggested it. It was what I suggested. You're free to continue trying to bullshit about it, though.

While you're doing that, I'd eventually like to actually mod this in, and that was why I bothered to post it in the first place. It wasn't some insidious ploy to corrupt DF.

[praguepride]

WAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

That made me laugh. lol! When did I ever suggest it was a bad idea? When did I ever say that your imagination was terrible and should be banhammered rawr!

I just said that your statement of dwarves should probably go in a different thread. That's all. Sit down, relax, and don't be so defensive. Honestly, I couldn't care less how you view dwarves, and if you look back, I even posted a way to modify/improve your design before I realized how off topic we were.

I'm sorry for being a topic nazi, but it's my job IRL. I help handle the scopes of projects so its second nature to me to try and get things focused on topic.

And the topic at hand is "how should beards be implemented" and the current talking point is "should beards get their own body tag?"

[Footkerchief]

Can we end this dumb SHB pile-on now?  Yes, metallic beards are weird, who cares, he's expressing a legitimate question about the moddability of the next version.

I'm sorry for being a topic nazi, but it's my job IRL. I help handle the scopes of projects so its second nature to me to try and get things focused on topic.

Please try not to.  We're used to small tangents, especially in threads that have lost their original purpose (beards are going in anyway), and your attempts to "try and get things focused on topic" coupled with your talking-about-someone-like-they-aren't-there comes off as abrasive at best.

[praguepride]

You think I'm abrasive? 

Sure beards are going in but that doesn't mean all discussion about them has to end. I'm very interested in the idea of "beards as body parts" idea. Any thoughts?

As for SHB's thoughts, I just think that discussions like that should go into a different thread and/or forum.If every good idea is buried under tons and tons of garbage and filler, how can you expect those nuggets of joy to be seen/heard/read? If you open a thread entitled beards in the suggestion forums, it should be a suggestion about beards

Edit: Here's how to make SHB's stuff productive: Ability to edit the description box. So you have your "beard" body tag. You can then edit the random generation of items, so instead of it saying "blonde, red, brown, black gray" you can have it read "copper, gold, silver, bronze etc."

I personally think dwarves grow hair as in real hair and not from fungii attached to their face, but I think it IS neat for dwarves to call their beard/haircolor by minerals then by traditional hair color names. So I've got gold-haired, silver haired, copper-haired etc. Then if you think a beard needs more/less text you can RAWR (RAW Revision ) it in yourself.

[SirHoneyBadger]

Thank you for your support, Footkerchief. 

Praguepride, I appologise. I hadn't realized you've only been here a month, and were trying to help (didn't do a very good job, but I understand the desire, and I'll extend the benefit of doubt as to your motivation.).

For the record, and for future reference : Every single worthwile topic I've ever seen (and I've been here over a year now), is, or gets "buried under tons and tons of garbage and filler". Toady's aware of that, and he goes through them anyway, and pans for those nuggets.

That's the status quo. And it works. It's not the most efficient, true, but I think it does a lot for the popularity of the Forums, and having a laid-back attitude about it, you'll find will serve you well.

I don't mean that condescendingly, so please don't take it that way.

It also does a lot to keep people reading through some of the excrutiatingly long threads we have.

Tangents are good, Tangents inspire creativity. From them come a lot of good ideas that the OP never intended, but that their thread inspired.

It's chaotic, but not anarchic.

You may want to spend a little more time studying how things work around here. It's really amazingly elegant, despite the haphazard appearance.

It also tends to be more hospitable than a lot of other Forums too. We only have 1 monitor, but for the exception of unfortunate incidents such as this one, things tend to run remarkably smoothly, and pleasantly.

[praguepride]

Wow, you really do think you're something special. I didn't know that join dates had any correlation to...well...anything really. Anyhoo I may have only joined a month ago, but I've been lurking for a long time.

In fact, the mantra "lurk moar" is one I hold dear.

BUT BACK TO BEARDS!

[SirHoneyBadger]

Wow, you really do think you're something special.

Oh, my mistake. I guess you really are just a troll. Nevermind-I'm sorry I bothered trying to be polite.

Hopefully, someone will be along shortly to set your hair on fire. In the meantime, I'll just be ignoring you.

[Heron TSG]

Yes, time to talk about dwarves admiring facial hair, since this thread was slightly DERAILED.

just watch the video, and you will realize that you SHOULD NOT DERAIL THIS THREAD!

[inaluct]

Dammit, prague, you handled this really badly.

[Urist McDetective]

Would it be overly much to hope that dorf beards are randomly determined to be hair / metallic on world gen? Or possibly have more than one type of dwarf per world?