[Article about games letting down people with disabilities]

On 12/8/2021 at 5:39 PM, AgentMoore.9453 said:

There are numerous reasons for this, and the question isn't at all offensive if you genuinely want to know, so I'm glad you asked. There are probably more explanations than this, but these are the first that spring to mind:

1.) A lot of things were different at launch. For one, the visual noise was much lower (still present, but lower). It was confined to certain bosses/activities/instances and so it was much easier to avoid/predict flashes and other visual intensity and enjoy your preferred MMO without disruption.

This changed over time. New effects, player attacks, infusions, particle cosmetics, dyeable mounts, AoE tells (some the same color for enemies as for allies), novelties, adjustments to old effects, and other noise continued piling in with plenty of outcry from players throughout. And while these things kept being added, next to nothing was added to settings that would help players compensate. By this point, if you were someone who had been playing for a while, possibly with thousands of hours (or dollars) in your account, would it seem more cost effective to walk away from GuildWars2, or stay and do your best to avoid visual triggers while advocating for changes?

2.) Gamers with disabilities are still gamers. Despite the risks, there may be some areas of the game that are perfectly safe and enjoyable for people with visual and auditory ailments. In some cases, more of the game would be safer for them if adjustments were made to player settings, and I can't think of a reason why someone wouldn't want to play more of a game they enjoy. It's the same reason people with lactose intolerance occasionally throw caution to the wind for the love of ice cream - it doesn't mean they're stupid or attempting to self-harm, they just like the good stuff same as anyone else.

3.) Friends & Family. I almost called this point 'peer pressure', but that's not quite what it is. It's a natural phenomenon to want to engage in the same activities as your friends, so if your herd has recently emigrated from one MMO and landed in GW2, there's a natural inclination to want to join in. In these cases, people with limitations might understandably follow their people to Tyria, even with the risks involved.

4.) Style shouldn't matter. GW2 is marketed as an MMORPG, which for most people means roleplaying game with lots of people in. Nothing about this screams 'flashing lights simulator' to me the way 'DDR: Online' might. Nothing about the world of Tyria necessitates that everything be glowing or blinking all the time, and so requests to control some of that in settings seem like a fair ask, and not even just for health reasons. People with severe aversions to the glitz and glitter may love the world and genre otherwise.

And lastly - this isn't really in response to your question, I just wanted to add it - people want to keep playing GuildWars2 and are looking for ways to do so more comfortably/safely within the limitations of what's reasonable. Whether they're looking for solutions to health-related problems, personal preference, gameplay efficiency, or some other motive, they are all hoping to make the game 'better' in some way. And while some players may feel 'let down' when calls for things like this have gone unanswered for so long, no one has a gun to ArenaNet's head when suggestions like these are made/repeated, they are simply requests.

 

Perfectly put on all points and at the end of the day YES we're ALL GAMERS

[Article about games letting down people with disabilities]

On 12/5/2021 at 4:28 AM, tclark.8956 said:

    

This is something you'll only ever hear from someone who isn't having any problems themselves, and is completely incapable of understanding what other people go through in order to try and play games.    

     

When I first got into the playing the game, it was a time when both my wife and I left WoW to find something else. I stayed because I love this game; my wife tried it, and was unable to play because the combination of lights and something with the movement gives her extreme motion sickness. She's far from the only one who's had this problem with the game, and there's posts about it from the time that GW2 initially launched, but there aren't any real solutions to it. It hasn't really been addressed at any point.    

     

Of course she's been let down by the inability to address that problem with the game; it's a disservice to anyone who's had the same issue that it has gone unaddressed all these years, and it's disappointing to me because the person that I'd like to be enjoying the game with can't play it. It could be an issue of being unable to track down the exact cause of the issue, or that the budget doesn't support trying to address it for affected players, but this is virtually no different than a game breaking bug for the people affected and it shows a lack of empathy by certain people posting here to not even make a base effort to understand what they're going through.    

    

I have Parkinson's. Games that require fast button mashing are virtually impossible for me to play; I can't physically do it. There's a really simple fix that can be implemented for that problem, such as press and hold to complete those sequences; some developers choose to do it, and others don't.  I guess I don't buy that companies who choose to do nothing shouldn't be called out it.    

      

Try for just a second to put yourself in others' shoes and maybe you'll understand.

 

Couldn't have put it better myself, those who don't suffer will never understand the difficulties/challenges some players face or they don't want to.

[Article about games letting down people with disabilities]

I did have a friend (from another country) who played GW2 religiously, and now has had to stop because some of the professions were as she put it 'too flashy' she meant that the flashes caused by certain weapons and skills sometimes both set her epilepsy off, so as a result has now had to stop playing GW2 all together. (which is a shame)

 

Personally i think GW2 should implement some sort of adjustment mechanism into the game to reduce sufferers not wanting to play because they too suffer from either epilepsy or are extremely sensitive to light (which i suffer from, but i don't have epilepsy). I have Fibromyalgia, and one of the biggest symptoms is sensitivity to light.

Yes i do know you can turn down the graphics in the settings, but this does not solve the issues it makes the game vertually impossible to play for some.

 

And also give other players an option to utilize a colour correctness option for players who are colour blind too ( sorry for mentioing another game, it's for reference purposes)  like Black Desert have a option to change the game graphics to suit players who have colour blindness problems, so they too can enjoy playing a game they love.

 

Implement some sort of adjustment so that it becomes more acceptable and be a more comfortable level for each player, please consider these thoughts/ideas for future gaming Anet and thank you for continuing to be my Favourite game  🤩

[Willbender Feedback Thread]

Will bender is my second favourite so far, love the visuals on the skills, using the skills took me a little bit to get used to but still liked playing it. ☺️

[Virtuoso Feedback Thread [Merged]]

I absolutely love the vertuoso, awesome to play and i love the visual effects of the skills.

Did enjoy every minute playing it. 😍

[Harbinger Feedback Thread [Merged]]

The pistol skills kinda suck really, thought they might have had a tad more condition damage (thought pistol was pretty meh) and the elixirs are boring to me.

But once in shroud the skills are ok just bearable and workable, i don't really like Harbringer as it is atm, who knows it may grow on me when expansion does come out 😂  😋

 

[[Suggestion] 1 More New mount]

sorry for being late to this discussion, only just noticed it and was going to do a new one lol :)Here is my idea............. I too would love to see a underwater mout (i thought to myself as the skyscale came out) perhaps a Dolphin, as we see them playfully swimming round the waters of Tyria, instead of riding it's back (cos that just won't work lol) gripping onto it's top fin, pressing the appropiate keybind just under/or deep under the sea/water and be able to dive/rise with the commander attached at speed to be able to get to the under water events quicker, and it's special skill send a protective bubble towards your allies which gives roughly , maybe 6 seconds of reduced damage. just an idea.............and think of all the skins the fashion wars players could have lol ;)as far as i know we have several land based mounts, 2 air based mounts (semi flying style) and 1 water based mount, personally i think it's about time anet gave us another and final mount as a water based one . (to be more equal).As i said just an idea take it or leave it like marmite lmao :)

[Bug: Tower Down [Merged]]

I too am having the same problem as you, where Demologist Tonn is not doing his thing ;) glad it's not just me :)