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An alternative to the winter ice race for folks with disability and motor skills issues
macarthur1961
Member Posts: 107 Arc User
Altho I made several attempts [37] to try finish this race, my disabilities and motor skills damage make it impossible for me to affect this event. Maybe next year you folks could put in an alternative for those of us with similar issues. I know of several players in STO with this issue. Altho, I don't know how they are reacting, I have told my in game friends that if they talk to me about the event at all now, I will temporarily put them on my ignore list. I am that aggrieved.
Just saying...
Just saying...
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i'll say it again for emphasis...
THE SUMMER EVENT HAS TWO
One you race for... and one you can pay 150 favors to get an egg for.
At LEAST put the damn tags back in snowpiles.... after sifting 4-5 stacks of snowballs to test if there even was a "return" of them to snow... yea... not really and if so they're so rare that i'm not even gonna waste my time collecting ten stacks of snow to get 1 frelling tag.
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The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
LOL, hilarious!
@f4tamy | Sad Pandas
What proof will a player have to offer they are in fact, handicapped?
And, I am also wondering, how one apparently handles the rest of the game content just fine? Since this complaint has not been brought up before?
Why has disabled players having difficulties with races, such as the shuttle race in Delta Rising, not been an issue until now?
Oh. Waitaminnit. Free T6 ship for minimal gameplay time and no outside cost. Yeah, that's it.
Just when I thought these forums could sink no further, someone lowers the bar. Again.
as for the solo race... well aside from the 'no opponent' option, have you read the guides on it? This race is really really simple if you use either the jump or tumble tricks, and its almost impossible to loose once you use those.. Gorn are slower than any other playable species in game but they can win this race easily with either of those tricks.
Which part of 'motor skill issues' was it that was hard for you to comprehend?
Now I don't have motor skill issues on good days, but on bad ones where my arthritis is flaring then I do. Yesterday I had such as day and the pve race for the ship was undoable for me. The pvp race is actually more doable as long as I only go for placing in it, even after 1st place is done I have a full minuet to get to the finish line which means I can jog the whole way which is about as fast as I can go. Jogging the entire stretch is not an option in the pve race which on bad days is something I can't complete.
Given that my problem is only intermittent I should be able to complete the race 25 times and get the ship, but a lot of people with motor skill issues have the all the time so they have little to no option of completing the race and getting the ship.
And no, the summer race is not "basically the same thing". It has a 10 minute time, much longer than this race, which gives even disabled people plenty of time to complete it. Furthermore the summer race is not based on having as good reflexes as the winter race demands.
The rules of a game are not generally changed just because a player comes along who is unable to perform. I'll never get the type of people who demand guaranteed wins. What's the point of playing a game if you're going to win no matter what? Might as well watch the game on youtube.
The summer "race" is not a race at all, its literally jumping (flying) through hoops.
Yes, sometimes strategy, repeated trying and efforts help, but like for the 1st poster, sometimes there is no way. I actually thought about that recently even if I can eventually complete the solo race now (I had multiple dozens of fail tries before 1st success on 4/12 and I think that frustration pretty much showed on zone and fleet chat then, though for me strategy, friends, and those multiple dozens of tries eventually helped. But not all can do that run, it's a fact. For others, it will NEVER ever be simple).
To the second poster: as I understood, it's not even about winning the PvP race, it's about merely being able (or not) to finish the solo PvE race at all, as the only "free" option to get a ship. And possibly some other similar "hard" limitations. I am ok with "winning" 2 tags instead of 12 in each and every PvP run ("winning" 2 is what which happens if I am "lucky" to catch the flag, btw), personally, but this beside the point. Not all can finish the PvP race at all (flag grabbing is the hardest part for most, I think) and while it's nice to have, an epoh is not a reward of the scale of a ship and is not crucial
People have their different style, pace and ways of enjoying the game, different ways of showing their skills. This should be in my opinion an integrated approach in the game. Time, efforts and using other skills should be rewarding as well at least for crucial (PvE) rewards. Having so many players (and encouraging diversity
If this is not possible for you (and/or your patience), then the only provided alternative is to invest in piles of lobi to buy the event tokens...
To rob a line: [quote: Mariemaia Kushrenada] Forum Posting is much like an endless waltz. The three beats of war, peace and revolution continue on forever. However, opinions will change upon the reading of my post.[/quote]
I do want to say though, those of you that assume that Cryptic doesn't care or that they make the game intentionally difficult for people with disabilities are out of your mind. They're a game company, they make the game with the intention of appealing to the broadest range possible. While it's unfortunate that there are some that physically can't complete the game, it takes a lot of nerve to suggest this was somehow intentional and that they don't care or enjoy punishing people that can't handle the race.
It would be nice if on a case by case basis they would just give some people the ship. It's a 'free' ship anyway, it wouldn't hurt anything.. if they waited 25 days to do it, no one would even know. The only other real solution is giving a method where other players can help. If I could run one of my alts once a day and give you the rewards, I would gladly do it.
I don't think they should put them back in or you'll just have people farming them again...purchasable from the Ferengi on the other hand would be a fine idea.
That being the case, there is no reason Cryptic shouldn't provide an alternative channel to fulfilling that daily "jump through the hoop" that doesn't require Mario Kart skills, unless somebody can present a clear and compelling case why a small minority of users who are physically unable to deal with 'twitch' tasks must be barred from the big prize that everybody else gets.
Just as a random example, you could use the 3x2 slider lock puzzle that appears elsewhere in the game, perhaps with some festive seasonal artwork. Put it on a shared cooldown with Fastest Game so people can do one or the other, but not both. The slider puzzle is easy enough that most of us can complete it, hard enough that it sinks the right amount of time, and it's untimed so players can take as long as they need.
It's also an adaption of existing code, so it might be possible to push it out this year. It might not be soon enough to complete the project, but people could at least slot the ship and get started on it and then finish it next year.
Another alternative is to give the standard reward to everybody who completes the course, no matter how long they take to do it, but offer additional rewards on top of that for speedy completion. The additional rewards don't have to be starship tokens -- they can be epoh tags or holiday bric-a-brac. If they're feeling especially generous, hand out a grand prize for daily fastest times, like a five-pack of lockbox keys or an exclusive winter jacket with racing stripes.
Where do you draw the line?
Or should instead people send Cryptic documentation proving their disability and thus only select customers get access to easier modes of game?
If that is the point you want to make, fine; but that would apply to everything, not just this event. So if you really want to make that point, you are asking them to rework the entire game.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
That's how I see it as well. Which game out there does actually provide methods to circumvent regular game functions for disabled people? While certainly this is an understandable request and certainly is a field the game industry needs to start scouting out and surveying how they can ease accessability for disabled players right now I don't know of a single videogame which is not specifically tailored toward a certain group that offers any kind of function to help out handicapped people, aside from maybe a colour pallette swap for colour blind folks.
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There's no challenge in Fastest Game for people with average or somewhat below average motor skills. It's a "jump through the hoop" task with unlimited tries. It's a gate that only locks out a small group of people, one that has more challenge in their day-to-day lives than most of us could imagine.
It takes ZERO away from anybody else to offer an alternative way to EARN a ship that utilizes a different skill set. An untimed puzzle would fit the bill nicely. Most people will opt to do the race instead, because most people are allergic to thinking. And the few who feel a posterior ache that somebody might get a ship without running in circles can comfort themselves with the knowledge that this is already an option for the wealthy. Life goes on.
As for those who say they can't because they would have to provide alternative to all mission. They already do, it's the team up function. Can't complete a part of a mission then ask someone to team up and complete the part you are having trouble with. We have had that request from perfectly able in real life but not so much in game people, in our fleet and armada already. Heck I was doffing in sector space when someone asked me for help on a mission they couldn't complete and couldn't get any help from their fleet, they are now a fleet member.
These are all good ideas. Cryptic wants us to log in and visit the Winter Wonderland every day then complete a hoop-jump. There is no good reason there has to be exactly one hoop that is tied to having good motor skills. An ice cubes slide puzzle, an ever-changing snow maze, scanning 10 ice-nomalies, whatever could be used as a second method to earn the ship.
This topic has nothing to do with PvP. The Fastest Game on Ice is not a PvP event.
That is a valid point. Here is the next question: if there is a simpler/easier way to complete an event, wouldn't everyone(or most people) just do that? And what happens when someone who has a different issue wants a simpler/easier version of that?
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008