At the moment dwarfs don't require much, some food, some booze, a bed, and maybe not being outside in the rain too much is usually enough to keep dwarfs happy even if a loved one dies.
I was thinking that perhaps there should be an extension of the nobles screen(or perhaps it's own section but god knows the main section is bloated enough).
Every dwarf would be listed with a list of his permanent and temporary requirements sans nobles who are already listed in the nobles screen with their demands and mandates.
A dwarf's wishes would be:
A) NOT MANDATORY -- This is important to differentiate between a noble's demands and a dwarf's wishes. Any wish could be stricken down by you at any time, the only downside to this is a mild unhappy thought.
B) Fortress Dependant -- A dwarf living in an outpost will not request the same things a dwarf living in the mountainhome will request. As your fortress evolves from Outpost -> Barony -> County -> Duchy -> Mountainhome requests will become harder to fulfill and perhaps(if the code allows it) more elaborate.
C) Skill Dependant -- StoneCrafters won't ask for what Miners want and Miners won't ask for what Smiths want. Dwarfs might ask for a labor item such as a pick for a miner or an axe for a woodcutter or they may ask for items that they like(obsidian mug anyone?). The higher their highest skill the more they'll ask for different stuff.
D) Noble Dependant -- Nobles can strike down requests made by dwarfs they have grudges against or inversely can mandate/demand you fulfill a dwarf's request.
E) Military/Civilian Dependant -- Military dwarfs should probably have less requests and their requests should be solely to do their job better on account of how military dwarfs are spartan and usually only think of the next gobbo head to be chopped/crushed/minced.
These wishes could be dependent on a LOT of things, there's plenty of room to play around with this idea which is why I'm intentionally being vague. For instance Toady could make the requests harder to fulfill as you create more wealth or based on population.
Below I'll list an example. THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE, IT IS NOT WHAT THE FINAL PRODUCT SHOULD/WILL LOOK LIKE:
You set out with 7 dwarves, they don't want anything.
Your created wealth is up to 50,000 DB and you have 20 dwarfs, 1 is High Master in Mining and another is Grand Master in Stone Crafting.
The miner requests a meager room, the stone crafter requests an exceptional iron flask. You supply the miner with his room but refuse the stone crafter because you haven't set up a working smith's industry yet.
A Baron shows up, half of your 45 dwarf population request meager rooms(you only supplied one to your miner). A few dwarfs with Expert and Adept skills request items.
Your created and imported wealth goes over 250,000 DB, a few legendary dwarfs ask for modest bedrooms, your quirky legendary smith asks for a zoo. Half the population is yammering for odds and ends, you get annoyed and clear the whole list with the push of a button, your population is pissed off.
Your Baron is promoted to Count, your legendary brewer requests an exceptional microcline(in a perfect world the game checks what you have in stock) table, but unfortunately the Count has a grudge against said brewer and strikes down this request himself. The masses make their usual rounds of requests which you promptly ignore.
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This continues until the king arrives, most of your population is in modest bedrooms, some have meager dining rooms and graves, a few dwarfs with 3+ legendary skills are in quarters with modest dining rooms and servant's burial chambers. You are flooded with requests, you hunt numeral down and shoot him.