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[Aquillion]

I think that the game should have a skill for hauling.  There are several reasons for this.  At the moment, haulers don't get better at anything at all; this isn't very realistic (real-world haulers get tougher, and do learn how to handle large objects better.)  It also makes it harder to keep dedicated haulers, since they won't be good at anything and will never gain stats.

This despite the fact that hauling is, in fact, one of the most important and common jobs in the fortress; to a great extent, a fortress' productivity is dependant on how quickly it can move things around.

What would a hauling skill do?  It would lower the effective weight of carried and hauled items, effectively raising the dwarf's speed while hauling heavy objects.  It would be trained by walking around while carrying enough to slow you down (the more you're slowed by, the faster you learn), so dwarves with heavy artifacts would rapidly gain the skill and strength necessary to carry them.

Thematically, it represents skill at knowing where to hold things, knowing how to stack them, how to lift and maneuver them through tight areas quickly, and so on.

It would also be a good skill for adventurer mode, of course.  What adventurer doesn't want to learn how to manage carrying more things?

[doomlichen]

It makes sense, and would be good if the skill growth was ridiculously slow so that all your peasants don't become legendary haulers by the end of two or three seasons.

[Chaos]

Legendary hauler sounds like a depressing skill if it's all you have  
I agree though that a hauling skill seems like a logical step. It has infact been suggested before if I remember right, but that was a while ago so it's ok.

[Armok]

Seconded.

[axus]

I'd be happy if it just trained strength and speed, that's all they need to do their jobs better.

[Mylon]

All of my haulers are given the pump operator labor.  I have a room full of wooden pumps attached to nothing in particular.  When they're idle and not hauling stuff, they're pumping iron to raise their stats.

When they hit legendary pump operator status, I sometimes turn them into military and make someone else a hauler/pump operator.  I wouldn't want to turn my other legendary dwarves into military because I wouldn't get the high quality crafts anymore, but pump operators also make good military because pump operating isn't all that important.

[Sean Mirrsen]

A general "hauling" skill is good, but it must be invisible, because "legendary hauler" don't sound right. So, your peasants lugging stuff around will remain peasants, but will get buffier and buffier. It will have no purpose for hauling itself (especially when levelling toughness) for the moment, but once multihauling is implemented, it will increase the amount of simultaneously carried items. Multihauling will stack similar jobs from similar sources (like hauling several stones for several stone stockpiles), thus optimizing general "haulage" in the fort.

[Len B]

quote:Originally posted by Mylon:
<STRONG>All of my haulers are given the pump operator labor.  I have a room full of wooden pumps attached to nothing in particular.  When they're idle and not hauling stuff, they're pumping iron to raise their stats.
</STRONG>

OMG that's awesome.  I must make pumps from iron too!  A whole room full of them.    The Gym!  Nearby is the barracks, where they wrestle.  I gotta hit the mod forum and request a "Steroids" extract.  Then make it illegal, dwarves get arrested if caught pumping iron with steroids in their possession.

[Skeeblix]

I like the idea of this. Would definitely make things a little less of a hassle in the long haul. Har Har.

[Nesoo]

quote:Originally posted by Sean Mirrsen:
<STRONG>A general "hauling" skill is good, but it must be invisible, because "legendary hauler" don't sound right.</STRONG>

They could always be called a "Legendary Peasant"  

[Dame de la Licorne]

Or maybe "legendary worker"?

[Hesitris]

"Legendary lifter." Sounds a little bit more 'official' than hauler.

Also, this idea gets my stamp of approval. It'd be nice to see some sort of improvement for all that running around, carrying heavy furniture.

[palin88]

Hearing "legendary hauler" makes me think of Nodwick.

Henchman class?

[Aquillion]

To solve the 'legendary hauler' thing, just make it increase real slowly.  Nobody says that they have to improve quickly, I just don't like the fact that they never get any better at all.

And if you do have an ancient dwarf who has been hauling since the fortress was founded, who hauled the very stone that built the first well and hauled away the rocks from when you first struck the earth a century before...  well, I would say that yes, he is a "legendary hauler" at that point.

Hmm...  maybe the value of the item being hauled could influence how fast their skill increases.  For a justification, we could say that they're more careful with valuable items...  but this also means that dwarves who haul lots of important things (or artifacts, in particular) can become legendary haulers relatively quickly, while dwarves who just haul rocks will take a lot longer.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Legendary haulers taken by mood would make... what? Wheelbarrows? Ah, no, no!!! They will make LEAD FLOODGATES!!! And lug them around for 5 years. With one hand. If proper combat is done at some point, I would NOT want to be an ettin attacking one of those...