Alright, we all know that losing is fun. When, in an attempt to create a well, I accidentally overdig and I fill my one magma pool with water - hey, tough cookie, I learned something and it was funny. When goblin ambushers surround my fisherdwarf, who flees directly into a pit where I am storing the previous squads of goblins, well, there are lamer ways to die, and his sacrifice gave away their location.
Two things just drive me nuts, though, and feel more like "homework" than "fun" or "challenge". Keeping the cat population down, and keeping my dwarves from being eaten by Pike. If I give cats LITTERSIZE:0:0, will that prevent them from breeding further, effectively making them like mules? If not, is there another way to prevent kittens?
Secondly, is there a way to ensure that all dangerous fish are incapable of spawning, or at least will die instantly when they do spawn? I saw another thread where a guy gimped orcs by giving them no :BRAIN: body part, but I've removed the heart and brain from Pikes in the raws, and they seem unaffected. I'd happily kill them legitimately, were it possible, but the three pikes in the river have eaten both of my fisherdwarves, a Marksdwarf, and a Legendary Wrestler. I know the deadliness of fish is supposed to be hilarious, but that kind of invincibility hardly seems like intended behavior or fun.
Not to be completely negative; I love this game! Those two things are really starting to frustrate me, though, and take the fun out of the working day.