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[Arcanum]

Dealing with nobles (properly, not just drowning them as soon as they show up) isn't much fun.  I think a lot of that stems from not having much knowledge of when they'll turn up, so when they arrive and find things not to their liking they almost immediately go into perpetual tantrum mode.  That in turn screws up the rest of your fortress.

I think a little (one or two seasons) warning to give some time to prepare for their arrival would make the game more fun, as well as cutting down on the "Hey look, nobles!  Drown them!" reaction some people have.

[Maurog]

Is it that hard to deal with nobles? I had 4 nobles arrive all at once (bookkeeper, sheriff, broker and manager) and they gave me no trouble at all. Except the bookkeeper, who invented money and kept demanding more and more. But keeping them happy is easy. Am I missing something? Are there deadlier nobles out there? Is drowning the Sheriff really that fun?

Someone enlighten me please.

[Aquillion]

It should be noted that partially fulfilling a noble's demands keeps them a lot happier than not fulfilling them at all.  Even if you can't churn out the rooms at the quality they're requesting, just giving them something is usually enough to tide them over for a little while.

[RPB]

Really, I think the main problem is the sheriff. The nobles' room demands aren't too hard to fill and they don't get upset very quickly at all even if you blow them off for a while. If you don't have any chains or cages in place, though, the sheriff gets really pissed really soon. And the nobles screen doesn't even bother telling you what the sheriff really wants to avoid a tantrum.

[Maurog]

Umm, the "was recently upset by lack of cages/chains" in his profile was a telltale clue. And there was a bright red 0/6 in the new Justice menu. With a working loom and a tailor workshop, ropes are not a problem at all...

I was a bit confused about cages not being able to turn 'J'ustice on, but now I know it's because wooden ones aren't good enough. Makes sense, really.

[Janne Joensuu]

quote:Originally posted by Maurog:<STRONG>
I was a bit confused about cages not being able to turn 'J'ustice on, but now I know it's because wooden ones aren't good enough. Makes sense, really.</STRONG>

Not with the silk "chains", it doesn't.  

A warning would be fair, but isn't currently needed. It's still sometimes surprising to get so many of them. You don't know when you get representants of the various houses or guilds...

Changing Sheriff's to first start bullying your dwarves, and not go all the way to berserking just from lack of chains and cages.

[Arcanum]

It's mainly the sherrif and captain of the guard, although my mayor seemed to flip out really quickly too.  I've also heard some of the higher end nobles flip out quickly in general.

[FunkyWaltDogg]

The sheriff has been no trouble for me ever since I read about silk chains (which I'm sure will be fixed without notification).  

My mayor insisted on an obsidian coffer, which took forever to make since you can't pick which kind of dark stone to use.  He also insisted on more guards, which took me a while to come up with.  He didn't flip out, despite all that, because everything else was fine and I did manage to scrounge up a handful of guards immediately.

The bookkeeper will be happy if you meet his mandates only occasionally.  It seems like the happy thought of meeting the mandate is much bigger than the sad thought of missing it.

[TheOtherHorseman]

Eh, rope is rope. If my dungeon is a litter swankier than what dwarves are used to, that's not my problem. Now, if only I could get them to make a disco ball for each jail cell...

[Abyssal Squid]

I'd like to see angry nobles express their anger differently from the crass commoners.  Instead of throwing a violent tantrum (at least immediately), they issue ridiculous mandates, such as forbidding the consumption of raw plump helmets, or demanding the construction of 10 clear glass instruments, or banning the export of [your primary export good].  These would make other dwarves slightly upset, but if the mandates are met, the issuing noble is much happier.  Only if successive tantrum mandates are ignored will they move on to real tantrums.

[Arcanum]

quote:Originally posted by Abyssal Squid:
<STRONG>I'd like to see angry nobles express their anger differently from the crass commoners.  Instead of throwing a violent tantrum (at least immediately), they issue ridiculous mandates, such as forbidding the consumption of raw plump helmets, or demanding the construction of 10 clear glass instruments, or banning the export of [your primary export good].  These would make other dwarves slightly upset, but if the mandates are met, the issuing noble is much happier.  Only if successive tantrum mandates are ignored will they move on to real tantrums.</STRONG>

...That sounds obscenely painful from a gameplay standpoint.

[PNB]

I like it.

[Pesty13480]

quote:Originally posted by Arcanum:
<STRONG>

...That sounds obscenely painful from a gameplay standpoint.</STRONG>

It certainly sounds obscenely painful, however this is not a game about sunshine and candy. It should be hard, much harder than it already is, and I think this is a clever way of bringing it  to that.

For instance, an unhappy sherrif could start throwing miners in jail just to get your attention. Clever and neat.

[Aquillion]

I would expect an unhappy sheriff to go around taking their anger out on random dwarves by administering beatings for Walking While A Dwarf or some such thing.

...but, basically, they already do this.  Anyone who gets too upset already does this.  The sheriff would just get to write a humorous log about it on the justice screen...  When they throw a tantrum, that screen could be filled with silly reasons for beating people ("Beat Prisoner.  Reason:  Suspected Goblin Sympathizer.")

[JT]

Reasons for Sheriff Beatings:

Praising wrong god.
Failing to look both ways before crossing street.
Stealing candy from babies.
Mistaken for piece of meat.
Suspect in Dwarfgate Scandal.
Conspiring to obstruct justice.
Grand theft of a pebble.
Suspect accused of embezzling suspect's funds.
Needs melee practice.