On Gaming while blind, and why I will punch every fan of FromSoftware straight in the dick

[objectinspace]

https://twitter.com/cat_pretentious/sta ... 4992368641

My twitch has been unwatchable the last two weeks because everyone is playing either Horizon Forbidden West or Elden Ring, neither of which I can play. I've never played Dark/Demon Souls either and know very little about them. I have picked up that they are known for being outrageously hard to complete, the type where you go on a crazy adventure of hacking and slashing, dying over and over, learning the exact combination of stats, skills, equipment and timing necessary to complete a run, then sit back and bask in the your meaningless accomplishment before doing it all over again. There is no easy mode, you win or you give up like some kind of miserable giving-up-type person. From that description, you might think I know quite a bit about these games, but I assure you, my entire exposure is limited to dumb online jackasses. And I know it is wrong to judge a work based on the mouthbreathing morons who consider themselves fans, but these cunts really make it hard.

Should a game have difficulty modes? IDK. I guess I do, since I bothered to write up this paragraph. But it never occurred to me to think really hard about it. FromFans have! And they are not for them. The game, they say, should be frustratingly difficult with no undo button, because that is like life. This is not me making fun of them, this is what I have read these actual humans actually say to defend their passion. The mockery is further down, but first I feel the need to underscore a point for the people in the back. The question isn't over whether playing on easy mode makes you a worthless cuck beta. (because obviously it does) The objection is over having the option. Including this choice would harm the developers' creative vision. If you play it, die a bunch and get frustrated, then put the game down and never touch it again, hey--that's okay! Not every game is for every kind of person. Some games just aren't for you!

Alright, so it has one difficulty mode. Fine. Oddworld had one difficulty mode, and I played it... mostly no problem. Accept this attitude is far more pervasive than mere difficulty modes. It extends to every facet of the game's design. Altering any aspect whatsoever is an insult to the 40,000 hours of crunch the developers poured into this perfect work of art. (making use of the exploits is just fine tho!) At one point in the tweet thread I linked above, I am told that adding the option--the option! Adding the *option* for an audio cue to go along with visual attack animations would be unacceptable, because of-- and I quote--"what the game is." Why should I, as someone who might be interested to play the game, expect a developer to code features to make it easier? "Asking artists to alter their art walks video games as art backwards." The nerve of me, expecting that a game be as playable for me as it is for other people.

They even have a term for my wrong and shitty attitude: toxic entitlement. Which is pretty rich coming from guys (and it is a 100.8 percent probability that this entitled horseshit is coming from men) who choose to spend time going after people for daring to criticize their favorite video game. But I digress! Another more revealing quote from the manchild: "I'd rather a smaller set of people experience this in the pure ecstatic endorphin rush that it is than more people experience a diluted watered down version that's been done in other titles over time. If that means people are excluded due to audio cues, or needing visual tells and telegraphing intrinsic to the souls series, then that may be how it has to be. Or again, adapt and overcome like it teaches."

Adapt and overcome.

Hey, you with the fucked up legs? WALK IT OFF, PUSSY.

And the thing is, it's not just this one idiot. Nearly every interaction I have had with someone about how I'm not gonna try it if they aren't interested in designing it for people like me to play, the response is some version of this angry shrug emoji. Hey man, not all games are designed for all people. Nor should they be! It is okay that you can't play with your weird broken eyes, because mine work just fine so I can. You can play all those little weirdo blindy games that were made for weird little blindy people like you. It's just how life--and therefore video games--should be!

If you're wondering why it's hard for people with disabilities to play games, this is why. He went on to claim that adding such options would cause the games to lose popularity and sales would decline. I'm not sure what data he was using to make this assertion, but one simple fact shows how utterly full of shit it is: DS was remastered for PS5, and all these panting shills bought it. How can this be? Artistic intent ruined! Do you know how carefully these games are crafted? Every tick of every patrol rout for every NPC is calibrated to the hardware capabilities of the PS3 generation! You can't just plop that in a new console and expect it to run the same. And those textures sure look nice--in fact, they're too nice. It's distracting to me and I hate it. So you can beat it if you like, but a real gamer would snag a used console, risking death at the local pawn shop. (Or buying it off ebay for a cool $250, abusing the exploit of having more money than sense) If you're not a real gamer, that's okay! Winning isn't for everyone. Life is hard, and so should playing video games.

[AArdvark]

There really arent a lot of video games foe the visually impaired, are there. Have you tried the Oculous yet?

[Tdarcos]

Another more revealing quote from the manchild: [it's more important the game be difficult] "than more people experience a diluted watered down version that's been done in other titles over time. If that means people are excluded due to audio cues, or needing visual tells and telegraphing intrinsic to the souls series, then that may be how it has to be. Or again, adapt and overcome like it teaches."

Adapt and overcome.

The law says it's supposed to be accommodate and accept.

Life is hard, and so should [be] playing video games.

That sort of attitude is, sooner or later, going to get some game developer studio hauled into a Federal District Court, ordered to make reasonable accommodations for disabled players, and pay the other side's legal fees, backed by fines and even jail time for company executives for contempt of court if they don't comply. The Americans with Disabilities Act has been law in the United States for, oh, over 30 years. Electronic entertainment is not exempt; several website operators have been sued to make changes to improve accessibility.

Game makers need to realize this is not the era of commercial doors with knobs and buildings having steps without ramps for wheelchair and other handicapped users. Video games are not excluded from the ADA, and a game that costs $5 million to develop can easily afford, say, an extra $50,000 to retrofit or upgrade a published game to make the game accessible. (If they had included it in the game in the first place, the extra cost would have been negligible,) Or maybe they end up under a court order that all future games must have accessibility features baked in.

It's far better to make games accessible in the first place, because it is the right thing to do, as opposed to be required to make patches for existing games and/or required to add them in the first place, backed up by court order and force..

If game makers started doing this, putting in accessibility to begin with, they wouldn't be blindsighted when some disabled gamer or the FTC sues them for intentionally failing to include accessibility in their software, if for no other reason than your game can be sold to many more people if it's accessible by the handicapped and disabled. For the guy who thinks that way, remember, nothing says you have to play using those enhancements, any more than you have to use cheat codes.

It does not "spoil" a single-player game because other people, that you don't even know, use accessibility features, and you don't. Just like the ability for gays and lesbians to be married toes not "degredate" or devalue marriage. If you don't want accessibility features, nobody's gonna force them on you, just as much as because gays can marry doesn't mean you have to marry one.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Somehow I missed the op. Will read and respond today. Thanks for posting!

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

What could FROM Software have done to make the game more accessible to you?

[Jizaboz]

When is the handicapped version of Taiko no Tatsujin coming out?

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

That sort of attitude is, sooner or later, going to get some game developer studio hauled into a Federal District Court, ordered to make reasonable accommodations for disabled players, and pay the other side's legal fees, backed by fines and even jail time for company executives for contempt of court if they don't comply. The Americans with Disabilities Act has been law in the United States for, oh, over 30 years. Electronic entertainment is not exempt; several website operators have been sued to make changes to improve accessibility.

No this will never, ever happen in a billion Earthen years.

[Flack]

You just wait, they're organizing a march right now.

[Tdarcos]

Electronic entertainment is not exempt [from the Americans with Disabilities Act]; several website operators have been sued to make changes to improve accessibility.

No this will never, ever happen in a billion Earthen years.

What won't happen? That some person who wants to play a game is going to sue a developer because no accommodation was made for players with disabilities, or that a game company will be ordered to make changes to do so?

Because it is going to happen.

I'm not talking about indie games or ones from individuals or small groups, or don't make much money, I'm talking about mainstream, multi-million dollar game companies, or that produce games costing over a million dollars. One example: The FCC requires - with a few exceptions - that all TV programs must be closed captioned. One of these exceptions is production companies having less than $3 million a year in revenue.

If a (large) game manufacturer releases a game where it could have been made accessible, and it is not, the manufacturer must prove that the accommodation is unreasonable, or they will be forced by court order to do so, or face serious penalties for contempt if they don't. Or they will be required to do so for all games they produce in the future, again with penalties like severe fines. Plus, under the ADA they have to pay the other side's attorney's fees.

If for no other reason than millions in legal fees, if some large game manufacturer made games difficult or impossible to play by persons with a disability that it was possible to have made the game accessible, they are going to get sued. Lawyers will go where the deep pockets can be found.

[Jizaboz]

If a (large) game manufacturer releases a game where it could have been made accessible, and it is not, the manufacturer must prove that the accommodation is unreasonable, or they will be forced by court order to do so, or face serious penalties for contempt if they don't. Or they will be required to do so for all games they produce in the future, again with penalties like severe fines.

This is the issue right here. Many, many modern games are made that cannot even be made more accessible. Taiko no Tatsujin, Call of Duty - Warzone, and basically any game that requires you do use Jedi reflexes while you rely on audio cues to bang out what is happening visually. Other games though this SHOULD be implemented when possible. Persona 5 for example has easier modes and allows audio in a few different languages and text in just about every language. I would like my mobile app game, "Duck Slide" to have both Spanish and Japanese versions.. if anything to have a larger market!

[pinback]

If any of you have not watched one of objectinspace's Twitch streams, I'd recommend it. Quite impressive and fascinating.

[objectinspace]

That sort of attitude is, sooner or later, going to get some game developer studio hauled into a Federal District Court, ordered to make reasonable accommodations for disabled players, and pay the other side's legal fees, backed by fines and even jail time for company executives for contempt of court if they don't comply.

No this will never, ever happen in a billion Earthen years.

RobB is, as usual, correct. People do sue websites under the ADA all the time--and usually lose. Without getting too weedy, The relevant law here is actually the Communications and Video Accessibility act. Since games like COD/Gears of War contain both video and communication (even if said communication is limited to watching your teammates die, screaming "HAH! Done carrying you maggots!" and disconnecting), you might think games count double. But you forget the massive amount of swimming pools the Entertainment Software Association is willing to provide for members of the FCC.

What could FROM Software have done to make the game more accessible to you?

Literally nothing, which is what fascinates me about the situation. In fact, there are many things they could do--TTS to read the game text seems like a simple, non-controversial change. Or making sure that visual actions have togglable audio feedback. And the reverse--subtitles for things that are only audible. And I'd like to believe that the people who make these things are reasonable humans, who would like for more people to play and enjoy their games. I've never seen any pushback from any From developer on any of these ideas. It's the fans who make these insane, cultish arguments.

The games they make have attracted a certain crowd, and they have made it clear they do not want From to do anything to "cheapen" the games by making them easier for people to complete. If they did that, these people have told me, they would stop playing them. So From is unable to do these things, as they are held hostage by their extremist fanbase. If they did make it so more people could win, it would cheapen others' experience of winning. Since winning has no value in and of itself, the satisfaction comes from knowing they've done something other people couldn't.

[objectinspace]

*(This actually happened to me earlier this evening--only He didn't say "maggots"!)