On December 6, Dwarf Fortress will be released on Steam. The fantasy simulation gives players maximum freedom: it is a deep and complex sandbox. The dwarf simulation has been in development as an indie game since 2002. In 2008, the legend of the “mermaid farm” emerged, one of the most cruel and worst ideas on how to exploit game mechanics. What it is about and how the idea originated, we explain on MeinMMO.
Why is this story so legendary? The story shows how deeply the game “Dwarf Fortress” simulates the world with its countless rules.
The story also shows how ruthless players can be in seeking their advantage in the world.
This is the goal: In an early version of Dwarf Fortress, around 2008, the bones of mermaids and their male counterparts were extremely valuable.
So players discussed in a forum thread: How can we get to the bones of mermaids as effectively as possible? (via bay12forums)
The idea of the “mermaid farm” became worse throughout the discussion
How did the idea develop? The original idea was to create a cave near the sea, lure in mermaids, drain the water from the cave, let the merfolk suffocate in the air, and then grab their bones.
But that seemed a bit cumbersome: Catching extra mermaids was exhausting. Why not breed them? Well, the objection was that it would take so long for baby mermaids to grow up.
On the other hand, why wait? Why not just kill the babies and sell their bones?
But there was the problem that dwarves refuse to dissect the bodies of beings that have a consciousness, and mermaids indeed have a consciousness in Dwarf Fortress.
Therefore, the idea arose to catapult the babies against a wall, so that the dwarves would only have to collect the bones of the exploded mermaid babies.
The idea was so repulsive to the developer that he massively reduced the value of the bones
What was the outcome? The idea of a farm where mermaids are bred, killed as babies, and their bones sold became so terrible that even the developers intervened.
It is said that one of the two brothers who develop Dwarf Fortress, Tarn “Toady” Adams, found the idea so awful that in the next patch, he completely lowered the value of mermaid bones. Since then, the exotic bones are only worth as much as ordinary cow bones.
Whether the “genocide mermaid farm” was ever built is unknown.
In any case, it seems this was the point at which even the hardened developers said: “No, at some point it’s enough. We won’t allow this anymore.”
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