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[finite.]

I'm hoping this is the best place to put this topic but if not please delete/move it as per the moderators wish. Anyways, I just wanted to share what this deep, complex, amazing, "insert related word", has done to change my attitude towards games. So I was a perfectionist when it comes to games, one of those achievement junkies that jizzed each time I got one for jumping a million times or something rudimentary as achievements usually are. It wasn't just the achievements also but pretty much the first time I picked up a game I had to have a perfect play through. Games like Mass Effect 2 in particular where I had reload each time when at the end mission when... well.. yeah. Generally this meant I had to do research online and this pretty much ruins it for me but it ruined it more so if I went in blind and fucked up my "perfect" run.

   Eventually I came to Dwarf Fortress a week ago. I've known about it for awhile but I never really had the time to get into it. I heard the stories about the graphics and how steep the learning curve was and instantly that is a plus for me because I love a game with a challenge (I also play with default graphics - so hardcore). So, me being the perfectionist I am, I pretty much research the fuck out of this game with the quest of making my first run the one where I outlast everything that's thrown at me. At this time I learned about the motto, "Losing is fun!". I thought it was down-right hilarious the shit that could occur in this game but I still pressed on with my researching and then a point came when I said to myself, "I'm ready".

    You know what happens next. No matter how much preparation you put into this game, nothing can prepare you without experience. Needless to say my first tantrum spiral was dramatic, my fortress collapsed in a spiral of berserk rages and hissy fits and severe depression all around. No backup saves, no turning back, it was a first for me. It was a life changing experience (sad, I know) and it made me remember the motto, "Losing is Fun!" and I realized, it was fun. It was satisfying. I felt free of the burden of having to worry about whether or not it'd be a perfect run, it was just fun to play a game. And that is my tale of how Dwarf Fortress freed me from the evil shackles of gaming perfection. Considering I was allowed to tell my tale, I would like to hear about other peoples experiences from delving into Dwarf Fortress for the first time. How did Dwarf Fortress change your life?

[antymattar]

make soap and engrave your dining rooms/bedrooms and noeither tantrums or infections will occur.

[Raging Mouse]

OP was a joy to read. Therapy for completionists using Dwarf Fortress? The thought had never dawned to me, until now.

I suspect another possible game with the same effect might be the Combat Mission series.

[Oliolli]

DF has had a similar effect on me as well. When playing other games, I can take losing/dying/othersuchthings much more easily after finding Dwarf Fortress.

But I must say, I have always found "hard" as a good thing to a game, not a bad, as some seem to think (elsewhere).

[finite.]

make soap and engrave your dining rooms/bedrooms and noeither tantrums or infections will occur.

Thanks for the tip! I did try to hold out engraving as long as I could mainly because my stone detailer was low leveled and I wanted it to be quality engravings but if I notice it going to happen again I'll definitely go for it.

OP was a joy to read. Therapy for completionists using Dwarf Fortress? The thought had never dawned to me, until now.

I suspect another possible game with the same effect might be the Combat Mission series.

You definitely find therapy in the most unlikely of places though considering it's a game based around losing (and learning) it does make logical sense in the end. Also I'll check out the Combat Mission series, I'm glad you enjoyed my post.

DF has had a similar effect on me as well. When playing other games, I can take losing/dying/othersuchthings much more easily after finding Dwarf Fortress.

But I must say, I have always found "hard" as a good thing to a game, not a bad, as some seem to think (elsewhere).

Hard is definitely a good thing in my opinion. I don't appreciate games that feel like a chore but I DO appreciate games that of this depth require a heavy learning curve and serious thought and consideration.

Just now on my new fortress I must of really been half-asleep choosing my embark because I'm in semi-glacier area and lets just say, I wasn't prepared for this kind of environment. I'll stick with it though and see how far I can get knowing that it'll just be a learning experience for the future.

[jrmy]

DF has changed my life too. I've developed a fear of ampersands.

[optimumtact]

OP was a joy to read. Therapy for completionists using Dwarf Fortress? The thought had never dawned to me, until now.

I suspect another possible game with the same effect might be the Combat Mission series.

The tactical wargame ones? Because they rule.

[Azated]

DF has changed my life too. I've developed a fear of ampersands.

I think developing some kind of fear or irrational attraction to something is a side effect of playing the game.

Whenever I see something flammable I wonder how many !!humans!! will walk by before someone decides to put the fire out.

[cerapa]

DF has had a similar effect on me as well. When playing other games, I can take losing/dying/othersuchthings much more easily after finding Dwarf Fortress.

Same here.

Now I can play a game with permadeath with the same character for 7 hours, have it die and go "Meh." at its death.

[Shook]

Well, the only things that changed about me is that i picked up a liking for roguelikes and magma. I may also be a bit more easygoing around failure now, since the times where i'm the most absorbed by the game are when the little bearded blighters are in major trouble. A fort where everything runs smoothly with no opposition is just... Boring. A fort in the middle of a terrifying glacier where a squad of goblins managed to slip inside is hectic and FUN. Although i still savescum occasionally (mostly before doing something that will likely fail due to oversights), i'm getting used to just making do with the dorfs i have left after the minor tantrum spiral has ended (caused in part by an all-too-eager sheriff with an iron axe). It's way more enjoyable that way. I still have a far way to go before losing does become fun, unless the failure is particularly spectacular. Thankfully, most endings in DF are pretty spectacular.

[BronzeElemental]

Dwarf Fortress made me anal about symmetry and interested in geology.

[Lightning4]

Can I have a little of what you had?

I find I have trouble actually finishing games. Also I sometimes think about going for 100% completion in games I have beaten, or think about going for it on the way, and never do get around to doing so ever again.

Notorious examples: Never finished Oblivion, never finished HL2, never finished Homeworld (all three of them), quite a few others.

Though they're rarely abandoned for the same reasons.

[Thief^]

I never finished Oblivion because of the glaring game design flaws. The levelling system is completely shot. As a game programmer myself, that just rubbed me the wrong way.

I never finished Homeworld because it got too damn hard. Loved it though

Dwarf Fortress keeps getting me to come back for more. It's awesome.

[Lightning4]

Oblivion was because I got kind of bored after a bit... or probably burned out from playing too much. Then I think other games distracted me from it, and I never did play it again. Eventually I lost the save and never got that far again. I might get into it again after I (eventually) finish my current Morrowind playthrough.

Homeworld is a funny example. The first playthrough of the first game I stopped playing because I was in fact too obsessive. Remember the huge ball of ion frigates? I wanted to capture every single one.
Yeah.
I did get to the final level of Homeworld 2 though. I don't remember if I beat it or not, but I remember it being rather difficult.

[jaxy15]

It's sorta changed my life too.
Whenever I hear or read the word "carp" I cringe.