For me Dwarf fortress is like watching TV, nethack is like reading a book.

I feel like I’ll watching some bizarre sitcom with such great stories as “dwarven child sees an elephant trample a goblin and then gets possessed, keeps making bone carvings of the scene, and then gathers all the elephant meat in a forge and kills three grown men by slapping them with meat.” I’m not anyone in that story, but it’s fun to watch.

Nethack is like getting to know the quirks of your character as they narrowly escape death.