Rogue's Challenge

I've been seeing a lot of discussions concerning difficulty and would like to present challenge-seekers with something new.

Try to play the game the way I have to.

For this challenge you need to do the following:

1. Adjust your monitor to brightness:2 and contrast:3 (a friend played with monitor settings as I described what I actually see and he said this is the closest you can get)
2. Completely cover your right eye so that you halve your field of view. You shouldn't be able to see anything at all with your right eye (I don't have one)
3. Play the game without looking directly at the monitor. Focus your gaze on the monitor's frame and use ONLY peripheral vision if you attempt to use visual information to play the game. This is extremely key. No direct vision allowed at all. I don't have direct vision, just one corner of peripheral vision in one eye.

Understand that even with this, you still see more than I do. I don't know how I can get someone to replicate the visual damage I have (such as reducing field of view for the left eye, reducing ability to perceive higher frequency light such as blue, and limiting the ability to see detail). However, I think this is good enough to give everyone a massive challenge.

You'll find that you have to rely on memorization of game mechanics and maps. You'll also need to rely more on audio cues and feedback. I advise you start in the open world of core Tyria until you can get used to it. I am able to easily do 7 jump puzzles, I struggle to do another 5 or so, and the rest I don't bother with anymore. I can do all open world content, all story instances, sPvP, and some dungeons with ease (though I will occasionally fly off a random cliff here and there, when you play like this you'll soon understand).

Anyways, I thought this was something I can lay down to the community to see if others can do it.
If any Anet employees would like to try that would be awesome.

Questions, comments, concerns, spasmatic ravings, prophetic visions of the end times, mystic riddles, or revelations on how the charr will blow up the world, please call the Bookah Hotline. Please note: All of our Asuran customer service representatives exist in a constant state of irritation ranging from exasperated to blood-boiling, mouth-frothing psychosis.

Good Luck and Have Fun! Good hunting and fly safe. Keelah Se'lai.how can I tag Arenanet?

EDIT: Don't handle inventory while doing this challenge. You'll make some very expensive mistakes!

To handle inventory you must be able to use spatial reasoning and spatial memory. All windows must be organized and never moved (they never move on their own). You're inventory must be organized using the the appropriate bags, so you know where new items are. Having infinite kits helps with the salvage process, as you can stick those somewhere and never move them. Finally, you must be able to track where your mouse is by feel. You must be able to identify the position of the cursor on the screen based on the position of the mouse on the mouse pad. One trick is to scroll all the way to a corner, pick up the mouse and place it on the corresponding corner and there, it's reset. You have to be able to track the conversion of distance between your mouse hand and the cursor/screen space.

Once you can do all this, then it's a little safer to handle inventory.

Hey there!

It's so cool that you can play the game like that. I'm a completely blind player who has been playing on and off for a few years now.Unfortunately I can only play with sighted help, so I mostly handle skills while my wife moves us and targets.Since you have so much more experience, I'd like to ask you about the state of the game. Do you think it would be playable completely blind? Do you have any advice, tips and techniques you can share?

Sorry it took me a while to reply, but definitely I can help!

First thing you need to do is identify the comfort profession. This is the profession that you can intuitively understand in its entirety. An example is thief for me. I know how much damage my thief can take without knowing what my health is. I know my recharge timers without actually tracking the numbers or even knowing them. I know what I can do and when I can do it through the flow of combat. I have an intuitive sense of recharge time by feel. I also know how to be defensive to analyze a situation and stall a fight.

For you, you have to just experiment by actually trying out every profession. You'll know when something feels right, even at low levels. After that you need to read the wiki. Design a build that gives you all the tools you need (such as stun breaks and condition cleanse). First, I identify the synergized offense that will be the theme of your build. For my thief, it's poison. It is designed completely around poison damage, with traits and skills to give me the defensive tools I need in any given situation.

When it comes to designing your personal build, it's safe to ignore meta builds. These make sense when you can see the game, not when your blind. It has to be something that feels right for you, personally.

With build templates, you need a sighted person to help you set up the build and hotkeys for the build and equipment templates. After that, just two button presses and you know exactly what you're playing.

Unfortunately the user interface is flash based. There is no chance for a screen reader to read it. Additionally, there has been a shake up in the screen reading industry that makes an OCR workaround untenable. When it comes to inventory management, there is really nothing that can be done without a sighted person to help. I personally use screen sharing and video calls with family to help. One thing that can be done is to have a sighted person help you establish your inventory bags. There are inventory bags that will prioritize a category of items that can help maintain organization. I'm willing to donate some 20 slot bags to you if need be. Maybe others in the community will also help.

Next topic: in-game sounds.

There are sound cues for everything you have control over. When you are affected by a boon or condition there is a sound cue in the form of character dialogue. Problem is that these sounds often get culled now. I'm very sure it is due to bandwidth issues from ISP's, but just take note that cues will often not trigger at all when a lot of things are going on.

Unfortunately Arena net did not program environmental reverb. You can't hear the environment like you can in real life. For anyone who is not blind, we can hear walls, buildings, etc. You learn to pay attention to the pattern of reverb to know the environment around you. Again, this doesn't exist in game. To learn the environment, be prepared to spend weeks in the same map, slowly learning everything. I only know core maps well, and it took me over 5 years to learn it. This means that you can't rush around like normal players can. You have to move with slow deliberation in order to build that spatial memory. A sighted guide on voice comm will help speed this process up.

Another thing to note, the sound cues for enemy attacks are usually in-distinctive. You have to learn what kinds of enemies are in what area as you're learning a map. You'll be able to identify when a big attack is coming, but you have to know where you are and what you're fighting to know exactly which attack it is.

In player versus player it is much easier. Everything has a distinct sound you can rely on. Most players memorize visual cues. We memorize audio cues.

A good start to learning how to track and respond to audio cues the Super Adventure Box. You need a sighted player to help with navigation, but everything in there has extremely distinctive sound cues that are one hundred percent reliable. This is a good way to learn the basics of combat in this game, such as positioning and dodging.

Ambient noises will be an issue. Enemies in this game often don't make sounds when idle, which means you won't be able to spot enemies before they engage you. This can be alleviated by learning a map, which is why it takes us weeks to do so.

User interface sound cues can be very helpful. You'll hear a sound cue when you enter an area with a renown heart that can be completed. Once completed, you'll hear a sound cue that it is done. You won't be able to hear when you leave the area though, so be mindful of this. You'll get a feel for how large a renown heart area is as they are fairly consistent. As for how to complete the heart, usually you can just kill things in the area. However, some hearts are completed in other ways. The only way to do this is through a sighted guide, as there are no sound cues for these tasks.

You need to be intimately familiar with the sound of actually hitting a target. When you attack you'll hear if you hit them and even if you critically hit them. This audio feedback plays with one hundred percent reliability. If you don't hear the hit audio feedback, you know you're not hitting anything. Additionally, you hear if an attack of yours is blocked as well. Again, this is completely reliable.

Have a sighted person help you navigate the user interface windows. Other than perfect spatial memory, there is no non-visual way of doing this. You'll hear if a dialogue box opens, but beyond that you won't know what is in the box.

There is no possible way to facilitate in game chat without a sighted person to help. This is due to it being flash based and the fact that someone bought up OCR tech and is charging extraordinary amounts of money for the blind community to reaccess it (that shake-up i mentioned earlier. We'll miss you Eloquence pack).

You can definitely navigate fights in this game. I've thus far solo'd every story through Living World season 4 without issue. This is because I started with my thief, which I am so familiar with that I can determine what is working and what isn't when it comes to story mode boss mechanics. I I have a feel for when combat is taking too long, and I need to figure out what environmental mechanic is necessary, or that a break bar needs breaking. This is what I mean by familiarity. You need to have a perfect feel of what you can do and take through your character. If I die too quickly it means there is a mechanic that I need to learn for this particular fight. It is possible to use the wiki if you are stumped. A sighted guide can also allow you to turn your brain off and just listen to them giving you instructions.

Some story missions are navigational puzzles. There is no way to do this on your own. You need a sighted guide for these. This is due to the complete lack of environmental reverb.

My in game activity is usually just randomly running around in open world or doing Player versus Player. Enjoy the game at your own pace and don't worry about the things most other players concern themselves with. For instance, the current Super Adventure Box festival has achievements that most players will get. I have long since accepted that these are inaccessible to me. I also don't mind at all, since my enjoyment of playing the game itself outweighs all other concerns. This is why I can have fun running around in the open world with no goal in mind. I'm enjoying the game purely through the playing of it. This is the mindset you must have. Adopting the attitude of quote gotta get the shineies end quote will just be a frustrating experience. Play at your own pace and enjoy the simple pleasure of playing the game.

There are some achievements you can get. Perusing the wiki may have some things pop out at you as achieveable.

I'll type more when it comes to mind, but I'll stop here. Please ask away if there is anything specific you want to know.

I invite the community to participate in the discussion as well. Please ask away!