[dunstad]

Having played both Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft, I think that there are a lot of different people who enjoy many different things about Minecraft. Dwarf Fortress doesn't fulfill all the same roles, so depending on your preferences, you might like it more or less. I don't really see it as progression personally, although they do share a subset of their audiences.

[Retra]

The appeal Dwarf Fortress has over Minecraft is its depth, detail, and propensity for interactive story telling. If you just want to futz around and build things, Minecraft is probably much better.