I have plenty of friends that play minecraft and other games like that, but refuse to play complex games like DF or Ultima Online because they lack basic 3D graphics, don't have a decent UI and controlling them is highly infuriating. While these people can be pulled over the line with such a little investment of effort.
It just pains me that Minecraft is hugely popular and a Game of Dwarves will likely rake in lots of money too, while DF will always be the bastard child and will never get much attention until the above things improve.
Ultima Online, complex? I put 12 years into that game with up to 7 active paying accounts at one time and at no time did I ever consider that game complex:-)
UO lost its steam early when EQ came out with a carebear ruleset that catered to people that wine and cry when they died. Graphics, interface, and UI had little to nothing to do with UO's decline (and note, it was a decline; meaning, UO was at one time a top dog). It was gameplay fundamentals. but I digress...
DF suffers from the problems you write (but I would argue that graphics is actually one of the smaller problems...). you struck true with targeting UI and control! I love DF, but honestly have not played in many many months solely due to the fact that setting up an army is a pain in the ass. That is it. That is the ONLY reason I don't play. The un-intuitive, confusing, and annoying control required to do that just makes it not worth my time anymore. It is not being able to do even the most basic actions without a step-by-step instruction available that turns people away.
I *like* complexity. I play complex, micromanaging games for fun. But when said games are so poorly designed from a usability standpoint the fun is destroyed. I still play Aurora, and there are no graphics! oddly enough the game is quite accessible to me, though. Control, UI, and usability for the win.
As you say yourself: Minecraft is popular.
Does it have good graphics? No. Does it have decent graphics? No. Do most people I show it to immediately criticize the graphics? Yes.
but it is still popular.
Is it easy to use? Yes. Can an 8 year old successfully play? Yes. Is the gameplay fun? Yes.
That is why it remains popular.
The *gameplay* wins it for those that give it a try, and the ability to experience that gameplay (the usability) is likely what keeps people playing. The open ended imagination orgy it induces, accessible with just a few buttons, is the key selling point, not graphics or simplicity or whatnot.
A Game of Dwarves will win or lose based on gameplay and design.
People here like to whine about big budget graphic games too much. But when you REALLY look into it, there are a TON of big budget cutting edge graphics games that BOMBED. Why? They sucked. The gameplay sucked, and more often than not, the interface or control sucked.
Gameplay and UI win, not graphics. People need to stop pretending otherwise.
Again, I digress...
DF is bastard child because it deserves to be bastard child. It doesn't take a shower or brush its teeth; so, except for its best, devoted friends no one wants to get near it, or stay near it. I agree, it is infuriating. You said it yourself, people COULD be pulled over with little investment or effort! But don't blame the game, other games, or the players for that... blame the developer that *doesn't* make that little investment. And since it is only that developer that suffers or succeeds with financial success, it is ultimately more confusing than infuriating, to me...
So as long as Thorwaldsson here takes the time- puts in that little investment- to make the game accessible and it is fun (has gameplay), it should do swimmingly. Sure, that may mean the devs have to pause during their awesome streak of implementing great ideas to say "hmm, maybe we should actually take the time to implement this function *well* rather than just keep cramming good things into this". Because a whole ton of great features that are near impossible to use ends up sucking a heck of a lot more than a few great ideas that are easy to use. And even better, a whole ton of great ideas that are easy to use!
Oh, and Toady doesn't charge, so it kind of makes sense that these games that actually make an effort to make money make money (oh gawd noes, Goron just endorsed 'big business' strategy as a winning strategy to make money! Everyone should yell at him, despite the fact that he is (historically) right, because evil big businesses are evil! ... [please don't yell])