This paper addresses recent developments in ultrafast fiber oscillators achieved by the operation in the normal dispersion regime. Based on experimental and numerical results, key features of the pulse formation and stability in the resonator will be discussed. The sensitivity of the intracavity dynamics to dissipative effects offers several possibilities to design compact and even tunable femtosecond fiber oscillators with high pulse energy. Optimization of the output characteristic can be realized by adapting the overall dispersion slope and the mode-locking mechanism.