Arachnid Glider & Arachnophobia

[eyestrain.3056]

I've known several players who will avoid content with spiders (dungeons, fractals etc) because even in-game spiders trigger their Arachnophobia and make them extremely uncomfortable or can cause panic attacks. It's an extremely common phobia so I'm wondering if that was considered with this glider? Since there's no way for a player to avoid this content and it can appear randomly, floating down onto their heads... It seems kind of awful.If you have Arachnophobia what do you think about this? Is it a problem?

ps- just to be constructive, I wonder how hard it would be to have a setting that toggles other player's glider skins on/off. Would be appreciated by people who don't want to see giant brightly colored gliders like the Spirit Raven, too.

[Batel.9206]

I am terrified of spiders, small and large, to the point where seeing a spider - or, heaven forbid, a spider egg sac - will cause me to freeze in panic for a few seconds before I can get away. This glider is a definite NOPE.

...but, frankly, it's pixels in a game. It's rather disturbing, but it's pixels. Not real life. So from this person with arachnophobia, the bottom line is "It's not a big deal." Doesn't move like a real spider, doesn't stare at me with its evil little eyes like a real spider, doesn't crawl down the wall like a real spider...it's fine. And you can dye it bright pink. That takes most of the scariness right out of it. XD

[Edit: And I'd totally be on board for a setting that toggles other players' glider skins on and off! I love my Spirit Raven glider, but it's REALLY DANG HUGE [especially with my norn, who uses it most often], and I don't want to bother people with it...Another edit: And with all the spiders that are enemies, or ranger pets - heck, my own ranger has a pet spider! It's named Shelob Jr. - they, too, don't bother me, mostly for two reasons: one because I can kill them painfully, and two because they don't resemble the spiders I encounter in real life. They're just pixels on a screen.)

[Ashantara.8731]

If ANet finally introduced an option to deactivate other players' gliders (and back items), that would be the best solution. I love this glider and wouldn't want to see it gone.

P.S. Do your arachnophobic friends avoid Halloween altogether then?

[Strider Pj.2193]

Wouldn't be opposed to a toggle function. I wonder if 'low model quality' would work in a pinch?

[Danikat.8537]

I have arachnophobia and the new glider is horrible for me but IMO no worse than spider pets.

I won't use it and I will avoid anyone who is using it, but I don't think it will be much of a problem to do that. Once it's not the brand new glider I doubt it will be seen a lot because there's a wide variety of them to choose from and I can't see this one being the one 'must have' glider, so it will be a matter of altering my flight path when someone is around who is using it so I'm not too close to them, which usually isn't a problem.

[Randulf.7614]

People have phobias about a wide assort of things. It id impossible to cater to them and since spiders are more widespread as a foe than the glider would ever be, i dont see this as an issue to be addressed

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

Some people fear clowns. Some fear spiders. Some fear snakes. The game can't accommodate everyone's foibles.(And when I say "fear," I don't mean, "gives the heebie jeebies" or "makes me jump" -- I mean a fear so powerful it can prevent the person from functioning.)

I'm not sure what the right balance is, but it isn't "some people have a phobia, so we won't have these things in the game at all."

---

FYI halloween transforms include spides, there's a spider-themed bow, and spiders are found in a variety of locations in Tyria. The glider isn't the first and probably won't be the last.

[Omnicron.2467]

I was wondering the same thing and came to open a topic. Personally I do not have a phobia but wow this glider even creeps me out. Like, really good job on the design, but it is gonna be a NOPE from me XD

[eyestrain.3056]

The plastic spiders are too cute and fake to have brought this to mind, but the cobweb-laden glider drifting down on your head seems particularly creepy to me (and I rather like spiders irl). I'm not sure how people with this phobia approach halloween, I don't have the same experience as them which is why it's good to hear feedback from people who do have arachnophobia.

This thread isn't a cry to remove the glider from the game. Just me being curious. If gliders like this were a problem, I think graphics settings that limit other player's skins would be a more ideal solution, since everyone could then enjoy the game as best suits them.

PS- when do you think we'll get a giant terrifying clown glider?

[SkullsandRoses.5803]

Im sorry I dont understand how pixels = fear.

Shelob, (for those who dont know Shelob is a fictional giant spider from J. R. R. Tolkien's LOTR) is a giant life like real looking spider. Shes terrifying and must be hell for people with severe cases of Arachnophobia....... because she looks real, she sounds real, she acts real. There is no form of spider in this game that looks anything like a real spider. Everything in this game looks just slightly on the toonish side of real ...

If you got past the giant spider to claim Suns Refuge you should have no trouble with someone's glider.

[Little Leota.5849]

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:Some people fear clowns. Some fear spiders. Some fear snakes. The game can't accommodate everyone's foibles.(And when I say "fear," I don't mean, "gives the heebie jeebies" or "makes me jump" -- I mean a fear so powerful it can prevent the person from functioning.)

I'm not sure what the right balance is, but it isn't "some people have a phobia, so we won't have these things in the game at all."

---

FYI halloween transforms include spides, there's a spider-themed bow, and spiders are found in a variety of locations in Tyria. The glider isn't the first and probably won't be the last.

I am one of those with arachnophobia so bad it can prevent me from functioning. When there are map objectives that are surrounded by, or involve fighting, spiders, I avoid them until one of my guildies can help me. The same goes for story instances. I am extremely thankful for the wonderful people in my guild who are incredibly patient and understanding with me.

While I understand that ArenaNet can't possibly cater to every phobia out there, I also don't know how I am going to reasonably deal with this. I tell myself all the time that these are just pixels in a game, but it doesn't help. The mere sight of a spider in-game literally sends me into panic mode.

Once, a guildie and I were exploring an area known for spiders, so he was clearing them for me. Unfortunately they respawn rather quickly. I was on Discord with him at the time and was mid-sentence with push-to-talk on, when the spiders respawned all around me. I screamed involuntarily and reflexively, right into my microphone. My panic was off the charts. He killed them all, and spoke very calmly to me. He wasn't angry, thank the gods.

Also, although I don't have much luck with rng in Black Lion Chests, I managed to get the longbow skin Araneae from a wardrobe unlock. I couldn't sell it because those unlocks go directly into your wardrobe. I have not looked at it, much less used it. I was really upset upon receiving this item, even though I know others would be happy to have it. I would be happy to give it to someone if only I could.

So, tl;dr, I am terrified of spiders and would very much appreciate a toggle function for other players' gliders.

(And I don't avoid Halloween - I just avoid the spiders as much as possible.)

[eyestrain.3056]

@Little Leota.5849 said:

Also, although I don't have much luck with rng in Black Lion Chests, I managed to get the longbow skin Araneae from a wardrobe unlock. I couldn't sell it because those unlocks go directly into your wardrobe. I have not looked at it, much less used it. I was really upset upon receiving this item, even though I know others would be happy to have it. I would be happy to give it to someone if only I could.

I was wondering about people like you in particular Leota, so I'm grateful to you for sharing. I'm glad you have supportive friends to help you out since it's unfortunately a bit inevitable to run into spiders in fantasy video games. I wonder if you sent a support ticket in asking for the skin to be removed from your wardrobe, if they would be able to? I imagine it's fairly simple on their end and customer support has been very helpful and accommodating to me about purchasing/crafting the wrong items etc.Might be worth sending the ticket in to find out! Best of luck out there.

[Ariurotl.3718]

That spider glider is too goofy and unrealistic anyway. I keep tarantulas and adore spiders in general but I wouldn't use the glider. Just too corny.

[Blocki.4931]

It clearly looks like a toy. No spider would cover itself with its own web, that's just plain silly.

[hugo.4705]

I agree that everyone have a phobia or if you are "lucky" you don't have any, personally I can't support seeing blood whereas I'm in biology doing dissections (will pass the details...) but we can't simply erase the existence of a thing/insect/animal just because a minority or many peoples (I know that arachnophobia is a very common fear) fear it. I personally enjoy, like, love the glider, and I think we shouldn't hyperbole too, the glider give you extra legs within a web like if you was a spider, but they are only almost 0 spider within the skin. (EDIT: excuse me, I haven't seen the spider body the first time, was very discreet.) If you are feared by it, you haven't precisely arachnophobia, but maybe the phobia of unnatural moving, I mean here, non-humanoid movement of multiple legs.People who like it should enjoy it, for the others, don't zoom at it.... As said before it's PIXELS, what about the veteran plastic spider in mad king lab then? The champ in gandaran fields? I've already seen worse in term of spider in video games! Where I should agree about, is the option to hide the gliders of other players, that's the only solution if you can't dominate your fear of pixels. (Speaking about in-game, I know that in real life I would be more affected by my phobia too). But to conclude, each one must distinguish their types of phobia, if it's just annoyance, but can live with it, or literally paralysed.

[BlueIce.6951]

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:Some people fear clowns. Some fear spiders. Some fear snakes. The game can't accommodate everyone's foibles.(And when I say "fear," I don't mean, "gives the heebie jeebies" or "makes me jump" -- I mean a fear so powerful it can prevent the person from functioning.)

I'm not sure what the right balance is, but it isn't "some people have a phobia, so we won't have these things in the game at all."

---

FYI halloween transforms include spides, there's a spider-themed bow, and spiders are found in a variety of locations in Tyria. The glider isn't the first and probably won't be the last.

I understand what you are going for, but there is a difference with spiders in the game. They are in every core map and a fairly popular ranger pet. I have friends who want to play but cannot even watch streams of the game because of the frequency of spiders.

Personally, I would like to see snakes as pets and mounts in game. The closest we have to snakes are krait and sand eels.

I also personally have a major issue with bugs and get extremely stressed out in the latest maps with the beetle plague. When someone has the queen bee infusion on, I have to leave that map. The first time I encountered that infusion, I almost broke my screen trying to physically kill the bugs.

All of that said, there are some fears which are much more common than others. Anet made toggles for equipment sounds and fusions, why couldn't they do a filters that replace those items which correspond to very common fears with a generic place holder?

[BlueIce.6951]

Something I would like to add to this discussion. If you have a phobia, it does not matter if that trigger is a picture, real, cartoonish, or distorted.

You react to that trigger the same as any other.

I do not have Arachnophobia, I have other phobias that for me are severe. One of these is acrophobia. There are some areas that I cannot go to in game without all of the typical fear responses I deal with in real world situations. I do not have this so bad that I freeze, but I do need to leave the game or go to a larger ground area for a while.

I also love gliding and the mounts (I have the beetle but do not use it) but have to be extremely careful of where my camera is located and how far out I have the zoom when using those items or risk triggering my fear.

With how inclusive this community is in general, I am very surprised that there is not more push to apply filters to help increase the player base.

[Teratus.2859]

Can't stand spiders either.. game spiders do nothing for me though they don't bug me at all.. pun intended.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

@eyestrain.3056 said:

@Little Leota.5849 said:

Also, although I don't have much luck with rng in Black Lion Chests, I managed to get the longbow skin Araneae from a wardrobe unlock. I couldn't sell it because those unlocks go directly into your wardrobe. I have not looked at it, much less used it. I was really upset upon receiving this item, even though I know others would be happy to have it. I would be happy to

give

it to someone if only I could.

I was wondering about people like you in particular Leota, so I'm grateful to you for sharing. I'm glad you have supportive friends to help you out since it's unfortunately a bit inevitable to run into spiders in fantasy video games. I wonder if you sent a support ticket in asking for the skin to be removed from your wardrobe, if they would be able to? I imagine it's fairly simple on their end and customer support has been very helpful and accommodating to me about purchasing/crafting the wrong items etc.Might be worth sending the ticket in to find out! Best of luck out there.

The CS Team can not remove unlocks of any kind from the Wardrobe (due to technical limitations).

[Little Leota.5849]

Thank you, eyestrain.It’s been a while since I got the skin, and I didn’t know (at the time) that it was possible to send a support ticket for something like that. Since I rarely even see the thumbnail of the skin, I hadn’t thought about. I will do that!

[Little Leota.5849]

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:The CS Team can not remove unlocks of any kind from the Wardrobe (due to technical limitations).

Oops, I didn't see this before my last post. Thank you for the info.

[hugo.4705]

Can't agree about the fact that any support can trigger your phobia. My blood phobia only happens with Real-life alive or dead specimens (mouse etc) but if I look at some really gore chirurgies footages on TV/ on my computer, it doesn't affect me. Everyone is different.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

@"Little Leota.5849" said:I am one of those with arachnophobia so bad it can prevent me from functioning. When there are map objectives that are surrounded by, or involve fighting, spiders, I avoid them until one of my guildies can help me. The same goes for story instances. I am extremely thankful for the wonderful people in my guild who are incredibly patient and understanding with me.

While I understand that ArenaNet can't possibly cater to every phobia out there, I also don't know how I am going to reasonably deal with this. I tell myself all the time that these are just pixels in a game, but it doesn't help. The mere sight of a spider in-game literally sends me into panic mode.

And before anyone (even me) suggests that this can be overcome with "just... [fill in the blank]," it can't be. Many of those with phobias work incredibly hard to overcome them, with no particular method working for more than a plurality. Some people will never do better than "manage less poorly."

As I said in my post above: I don't really have a good idea of how a game studio balances things so it's fun for the vast majority without being an obstacle to whatever size minority.

[eyestrain.3056]

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:The CS Team can not remove unlocks of any kind from the Wardrobe (due to technical limitations).

Hmm... That's unfortunate. Apologies for raising any false hope :(

[biczkowski.2961]

@eyestrain.3056 said:I've known several players who will avoid content with spiders (dungeons, fractals etc) because even in-game spiders trigger their Arachnophobia and make them extremely uncomfortable or can cause panic attacks. It's an extremely common phobia so I'm wondering if that was considered with this glider?

stop trolling