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Lets Build a Neverwinter For Everyone. Needed Accessibility Features.
aandrethegiant
Member Posts: 3,369 Arc User
A Neverwinter for EVERYONE. Wouldn't that be grand?
Back in 2013 I tried to push some buttons at Cryptic to see if there was interest to build more support in Neverwinter for those in need of adaptive devices and/or simply better programming code, in order to allow them to play this game.
Our video definitely arose awareness, but maybe if we can get more of the Neverwinter community behind this cause this time around, something can get done.
About 12% of the World's population suffers from a disability ranging from mild to severe physical disability or handicap. The percentage of gamers that suffer from a handicap of some sort is as high as 20%. More than 33.5 million gamers in the United States alone are gamers with disabilities. That number grows every year.
Physical disabilities include (but are not limited to): paralysis, neurological disorders, Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) and age related issues. We have those that are color blind, hard of hearing, and those with various head trauma and/or missing limbs. Some are even coming back from multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there are so many veterans from around the world who find solace playing MMOs, including Neverwinter. And for MANY, this is their ONLY method for entertainment in their lives.
I created this video to inspire us ALL, and to get developers and most importantly the industry EXECS that make these kind of decisions to THINK, and ACT. We need a few big companies with the intestinal fortitude to make waves, and change the way other developers think.
****
My question to our playerbase:
If you were a Cryptic Developer, what would YOU DO to make Neverwinter more accessible to those of us with disabilities?
Thank you for your participation!
****
PS: Turbine added UI improvements a while back, even changed a popular raid in DDO to make a puzzle more accessible (The Reaver), Blizzard has just added huge customizable color-blind improvements to WoWs UI.
My challenge to Cryptic is, please, throw your creative hats into this, for the gamers in us.
Back in 2013 I tried to push some buttons at Cryptic to see if there was interest to build more support in Neverwinter for those in need of adaptive devices and/or simply better programming code, in order to allow them to play this game.
Our video definitely arose awareness, but maybe if we can get more of the Neverwinter community behind this cause this time around, something can get done.
About 12% of the World's population suffers from a disability ranging from mild to severe physical disability or handicap. The percentage of gamers that suffer from a handicap of some sort is as high as 20%. More than 33.5 million gamers in the United States alone are gamers with disabilities. That number grows every year.
Physical disabilities include (but are not limited to): paralysis, neurological disorders, Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) and age related issues. We have those that are color blind, hard of hearing, and those with various head trauma and/or missing limbs. Some are even coming back from multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there are so many veterans from around the world who find solace playing MMOs, including Neverwinter. And for MANY, this is their ONLY method for entertainment in their lives.
I created this video to inspire us ALL, and to get developers and most importantly the industry EXECS that make these kind of decisions to THINK, and ACT. We need a few big companies with the intestinal fortitude to make waves, and change the way other developers think.
****
My question to our playerbase:
If you were a Cryptic Developer, what would YOU DO to make Neverwinter more accessible to those of us with disabilities?
Thank you for your participation!
****
PS: Turbine added UI improvements a while back, even changed a popular raid in DDO to make a puzzle more accessible (The Reaver), Blizzard has just added huge customizable color-blind improvements to WoWs UI.
My challenge to Cryptic is, please, throw your creative hats into this, for the gamers in us.
TYRS PALADIUM - A Premier Neverwinter Online Guild
No Drama. Camaraderie. TEAM Focus. That's the TYRS way. If that's your style, come join us!
Research our Guild here: Read our official Recruitment thread | Sign up here: Tyrs Guild Website! | NEVERWINTER GUILD LEADERS: Join the Fellowship!
Post edited by aandrethegiant on
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Comments
Good points!
Here's some of my general ideas...
Button-customization
Relatively simple and inexpensive to implement, button-customization functionality is just one of many ways gamemakers can make their products more accessible for players with physical disabilities. And it's not just people born with medical problems who could potentially benefit from the implementation of accessibility standards: Genetic diseases and injuries can affect anybody at any time.
Closed captioning
Game designer Reid Kimball, who has worked on titles like Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Tony Hawk: Ride, said it's sad how rare closed captioning is in games.
"It's cheap to develop compared to other game technology," Kimball told Wired.com in an e-mail. "The players love having it as an option and there's tons of opportunity to innovate in this space."
Nonverbal sound cues
In many games, nonverbal sound cues can be essential for success. AbleGamers' Barlet says text-based representations of a full spectrum of sounds and visual cues would be immensely helpful for the hearing-impaired.
"These are not features that nobody has ever done before, or features that need lots of exploration and research," said game designer Matthew Burns, who has worked on titles in the Call of Duty and Halo series, in an e-mail. The problem, he says, is that accessibility options are often the first thing cut during crunch time, when time and money are at a premium.
Color-blind features
"It will continue to be piecemeal and slow unless a large, influential company took a stand and made a conscientious effort to be better about this stuff across the board. "That would be the turning point."
Should Microsoft mandate that all Xbox 360 games ship with certain accessibility options, developers would have no choice but to make them a priority. But he doesn't see this happening.
"We have high-level contacts at one of the big [hardware makers], and they have shown little interest beyond lip service at pushing content producers to think about accessibility," he said.
Still, the issue's not going away.
Actually in World of Warcraft patch 6.1, you’ll find a new user interface system that they have designed to assist players who have common visual issues related to colorblindness.
At this very moment Blizzard is getting a ton of free advertising that they would never have gotten if it weren't for the Devs' decision to add these particular features for their playerbase.
TYRS PALADIUM - A Premier Neverwinter Online Guild
No Drama. Camaraderie. TEAM Focus. That's the TYRS way. If that's your style, come join us!
Research our Guild here: Read our official Recruitment thread | Sign up here: Tyrs Guild Website! | NEVERWINTER GUILD LEADERS: Join the Fellowship!
Personally, I am one handed. There are some better mouse devices out there that help me game better than before. I have configured all my combat key combinations onto my current mouse, in total 21 different mouse presses (Razer Naga). I also tried a few 2 and 3 foot pedals but I have given up there, because the ones I have tried so far have always broken down mechanically within a few months.
dang man, i admire how you can game with a single hand
i can never imagine myself not using two hands. i would probably quit it altogether if I lost an arm/hand.
how are your reflexes ?
Guardian Fighter main. I will never switch to Paladin even if we're a dying breed. GF for ever!
Main alts: Great Weapon Fighter, Control Wizard.
The Razer Naga works well huh? Good to know! It's not a bad looker either
TYRS PALADIUM - A Premier Neverwinter Online Guild
No Drama. Camaraderie. TEAM Focus. That's the TYRS way. If that's your style, come join us!
Research our Guild here: Read our official Recruitment thread | Sign up here: Tyrs Guild Website! | NEVERWINTER GUILD LEADERS: Join the Fellowship!
I can vouch for the Naga. I've got both hands, but overloading of my left hand has caused some strain issues. Since I got the Naga I've offloaded everything but WASD, QER, and shift/tab/space to it. Actually, QER are on it, I just haven't gotten used to using those instead yet. Saves a lot of reaching for the number row or more arcane UI windows when I can just thumb a button.
I have set it up as follows:
Left Press: Move Forward
Right & Middle Press: At-Wills
4, wheel Forward, wheel Back: Encounters
Buttons behind wheel: Dailies
Wheel Left: Pickup Items, etc
Wheel Right: Class Special Skill
1,2,3: Potions
5: Move Back
6: Jump
7: Artifact Skill
8: Mount
9: Continuous Run
10, 11, 12: Need, Greed, Pass, etc.
I was using the 3 fool pedals for Move Left, Move Back, Move Right but since it broke it has hardly limited me in PvE, I just have to turn instead first. Abit more limiting in PvP but I have lost interest in PvP since they nerfed the GWF (my fav class) and anyway I was getting bored with Domination. I still have some PvP fun in Ice Wind Dale from time to time though.