Photosensitive friendly settings

[Hakaka.1640]

Hey all,

I just started the game this week and got into a Fractal that one part of it was just pure lightning and the boss fight had squares that would light up and flash fast. I have epilepsy so I couldn't participate in the lightning part and had to get off after the boss fight. I have all of my particle and animation settings on low but that is not enough.

I heard that in the DLCs there are a few parts that are unplayable for people that are photosensitive. Whether it's epileptics, people that are prone to migraines or motion sickness. 

I'm hoping this post can gather some traction and attention to developer team to bring in a setting or maybe some addon that can remove or at least tone down flashing effects.

 

Thank you for reading this and for any support that you provide to this community.

[Teknomancer.4895]

There are plenty of complaints about the particle-effect overload here, so while your reason is more pressing, you're not alone in wanting this.

Unfortunately, accessibility in this game is poor across the board.

[BlueJin.4127]

Players have been asking for ways to reduce flashing effects for years. Unfortunately, Anet has done basically nothing to address this. If your settings are already set to show the least amount of effects, your only other option is to skip things that constantly flash bright lights. Some events and enemies constantly flash bright lights (the most recent is a champion event chain in Inner Nayos). Some skills and professions also go overboard with flashing lights (Holosmith is one of the worst).

Edited December 14, 2023 by BlueJin.4127

[Lucy.3728]

9 hours ago, BlueJin.4127 said:

Anet has done basically nothing to address this

What?

They added the option to Hide Ally Visual Effects just some months ago which improved my wvw experience greatly.
Sure it doesn't help the op, but you can't say they basically haven't done anything.

[Surelia.2651]

14 hours ago, Hakaka.1640 said:

Hey all,

I just started the game this week and got into a Fractal that one part of it was just pure lightning and the boss fight had squares that would light up and flash fast. I have epilepsy so I couldn't participate in the lightning part and had to get off after the boss fight. I have all of my particle and animation settings on low but that is not enough.

I heard that in the DLCs there are a few parts that are unplayable for people that are photosensitive. Whether it's epileptics, people that are prone to migraines or motion sickness. 

I'm hoping this post can gather some traction and attention to developer team to bring in a setting or maybe some addon that can remove or at least tone down flashing effects.

 

Thank you for reading this and for any support that you provide to this community.

I can't address things like add ons which might help with, but for me one thing that helps it to always play the game in a well lighted room and with my camera zoomed out as far as possible.  The impact of the scene from at a distance is not as detrimental to vision issues for me this way; I don't know if it would be the same for others but you could try that.  The other advantage is that you can much better see telegraphs and ground aoes, etc., so your reaction time in combat is aided by such span.  Always best to see what is happening around you if you mean to manage more than just dps.  There is also a setting to toggle allies effects which can reduce a little bit of the overall light noise on screen, though of course it won't help on bosses.

[BlueJin.4127]

50 minutes ago, Lucy.3728 said:

What?

They added the option to Hide Ally Visual Effects just some months ago which improved my wvw experience greatly.
Sure it doesn't help the op, but you can't say they basically haven't done anything.

It's just a rhetoric. It's not meant to be a 100% accurate statement.

And to be more specific, while hiding ally effects helps reduce some visual clutter and indirectly reduces some flashing effects from other players, Anet hasn't directly addressed the problematic effects. For example, whenever a player interacts with a vista, the screen flashes white. This has been mentioned for years and nothing has been done to that effect. When Holosmith engineers use skills, they constantly spam bright flashing lights. Hiding other players' effects won't help if I'm the one playing the Holosmith. Same with Soulbeast ranger. Every time the SB mounts, it produces a bright yellow flashing light. If my camera is zoomed in when I mount, it can be quite annoying. I can't use the Pharus longbow because of the flashing light that plays every time the bow is drawn. Even if Anet adds a slider to adjust visibility of players' own visual effects, just a blanket option won't do since such an option will affect every effect, not just the problematic ones.

I myself have posted several times about these flashing effects that are painful to my eyes. Anet basically hasn't edited any of them (I THINK they may have reduced the flashing effect that plays when touching Volatile Magic in LWS4 maps, but I'm not certain).

Edited December 14, 2023 by BlueJin.4127

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

5 hours ago, Lucy.3728 said:

What?

They added the option to Hide Ally Visual Effects just some months ago which improved my wvw experience greatly.
Sure it doesn't help the op, but you can't say they basically haven't done anything.

i think no one uses this option in group settings, as it has been bugged from introduction and hides vital mechanics like greens (forced stack mechanic). turning this option to anything lower than squad-only will in fact get your entire group killed in many encounters!

Edited December 14, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Seksi.1839]

 

ACCIDENTLY DID THIS IM NEW SORRY

Edited December 14, 2023 by Seksi.1839
Accident

[Randulf.7614]

1 hour ago, SoftFootpaws.9134 said:

i think no one uses this option in group settings, as it has been bugged from introduction and hides vital mechanics like greens (forced stack mechanic). turning this option to anything lower than squad-only will in fact get your entire group killed in many encounters!

It doesn’t hide the green stack mechanic for me. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Randulf.7614