How do I make dwarves meet their family?

[Sophtopus]

Apparently a lot of them miss their family but I don't know how to make them meet, despite having a tavern and multiple temples.

[Xcorps]

Look at your tasks. If the number of tasks waiting to be assigned is like 2x or 3x your number of WORKING dwarves (not eating, sleeping, drinking etc) then you have too many jobs.

This is how I usually handle it:

1) Go through the labors screen and set all labors except hauling and planting to "Nobody does this"
2) Create a burrow that covers taverns and temples. It can be helpful to have a nice dorm included. After all the pending hauling tasks are completed, assign all dwarves to the burrow that are having social needs. This can be a little clunky, as I go through the dwarf list I usually rename the dwarves so they have *S* in their name. It's a pain to figure out who needs what, for sure. Especially if the family members of the dwarf needing the interaction DON'T have the need. You have to go by names only at that point, and this is where the UI fails us.
3) Assign performers. I assign anyone with skill, in my current fort it's like 9.

You have to pay attention. Important tasks that come up will be ignored, and if you leave your dwarves confined to the burrows for too long, you will have problems. It takes less than a season for social needs to be filled in my non-science observations.

[Rainbow Jeremy]

A few of my dwarves were really torn up over missing their family until I threw them into the volcano too and reunited them at last.

[Sophtopus]

Originally posted by Xcorps:

Look at your tasks. If the number of tasks waiting to be assigned is like 2x or 3x your number of WORKING dwarves (not eating, sleeping, drinking etc) then you have too many jobs.

This is how I usually handle it:

1) Go through the labors screen and set all labors except hauling and planting to "Nobody does this"
2) Create a burrow that covers taverns and temples. It can be helpful to have a nice dorm included. After all the pending hauling tasks are completed, assign all dwarves to the burrow that are having social needs. This can be a little clunky, as I go through the dwarf list I usually rename the dwarves so they have *S* in their name. It's a pain to figure out who needs what, for sure. Especially if the family members of the dwarf needing the interaction DON'T have the need. You have to go by names only at that point, and this is where the UI fails us.
3) Assign performers. I assign anyone with skill, in my current fort it's like 9.

You have to pay attention. Important tasks that come up will be ignored, and if you leave your dwarves confined to the burrows for too long, you will have problems. It takes less than a season for social needs to be filled in my non-science observations.

If I queue up less tasks, will they eventually meet together naturally?

[kheftel]

Yeah, they need actual time off, if there's a task to do they'll do it instead.

[Xcorps]

Originally posted by Sophtopus:

If I queue up less tasks, will they eventually meet together naturally?

Yes, I try to keep the number of pending tasks to less than double the number of working dwarves. All my dwarves are in good or better moods. I was struggling with the first 50, but cutting down on the workload made a big difference. Also, make sure to rotate your squads. Military training has a big impact, and I think your dwarves will fill social needs as well. Guild halls will help as well, but require a bigger investment.

Specifically filling family needs is a pain when you first realize it hasn't been happening, but once you clear it up it manages itself.

[Sophtopus]

Originally posted by Xcorps:

Originally posted by Sophtopus:

If I queue up less tasks, will they eventually meet together naturally?

Yes, I try to keep the number of pending tasks to less than double the number of working dwarves. All my dwarves are in good or better moods. I was struggling with the first 50, but cutting down on the workload made a big difference. Also, make sure to rotate your squads. Military training has a big impact, and I think your dwarves will fill social needs as well. Guild halls will help as well, but require a bigger investment.

Specifically filling family needs is a pain when you first realize it hasn't been happening, but once you clear it up it manages itself.

Thank you very much! This issue had been bothering me ever since I started my first fort. I should put all my soldiers off duty too as well since i know this fella's wife is in one of the squads.