Guild Wars 2

I’m writing this because I think that I, like many disabled gamers, have been having huge issues with the vistas in GW2. I’d say that most are generally fine. But there are things like the Vizier’s tower which are unnecessarily vindictive to people with impaired motor function. I would really appreciate it if some concessions were made on certain vistas like this. It’s no fun falling and repeating the same thing over and over again because of your disability. Especially when it’s an essential function towards getting map completion.

you can ask a friend of yours to help you out, like a mesmer with the portal skill etc etc

The problem is tha the vizier tower is one of the two vistas which are also jumping puzzles and therefor hard to reach.

And yeah this one is also hard for non-disabled gamer or at least for me…

Umm, hate to say this, but if you can’t get the Vizier’s Tower then you will have much bigger problems than jumping puzzle difficulty in this game.

Not asking for details that you seem uncofortable giving, but if it’s a mouse issue, then you should chime in on the requests for look up/look down keybinds.

Otherwise, I think you’ll just have to remap keys to something you can use more effectively. You can map modifiers on keys, so you can have, for example, “1” as basic attack, “shift-1” as profession ability 1, etc…

Hope that helps.

that’s not a disability, that’s because you haven’t trained your brain to calculate your movements just meditate and exercise, and that will improve your motor function. it will help you i had the same problem as you and over time doing exercises im less clumsy and my perception doubled try it out it works.

or alternatively, he’s actually talking about REAL disabilities, like muscle disorders, don’t assume he’s just whining about being bad at jumping puzzles

I could believe that they’re talking impaired motor function; I with impaired cognitive functions myself. The only problem that I had with Vizier’s Tower is reaching a ‘platform’ and not being able to figure out where to go next, even though the next jump was right in front of me. That and being able to adequately judge the distances that needed to be covered through the jumps. Spekk’s Laboratory, for example, was extremely challenging to me because I kept dropping into the lava; forgetting that I had to activate the platforms, forgetting that the platforms were timed, and not being able to figure out where to go even if the path was right in front of me.

So yes, this game, in many ways, isn’t friendly to people with disabilities. Unfortunately, with as many disabilities that there are, I don’t see a feasible way to attempt to remedy the problem.

Calcifire.1864:

or alternatively, he’s actually talking about REAL disabilities, like muscle disorders, don’t assume he’s just whining about being bad at jumping puzzles

Okay thank you for actually being understanding about this. You can still be okay at this game and have troubles with these vistas due to issues with fine motor control.

All I’m saying is that there should be slightly more leeway with some of these jumps. Most jumps in this game are perfectly fine and not an issue. But there are ones, usually involving trees, which have a punishing margin of error. Platforming in an MMO isn’t really fun to begin with. There’s really no reason to make it extra difficult like that.

Yeah, I have troubles with some vistas too and I’m disabled as well. If I see a vista is too difficult I skip it. There are times when I’m with guildies they show me the right way to get there, but most of the time I’m on my own. Also, my sense of equilibrium is bad too so that is something else negative I bring in the game. I wish the vistas were easier, usually the view is pretty nice there and I always take screenshots.

vistas are a huge problem for anyone that hates jump puzzles as well. I don;t mind that they;re there, I hate being penalized for not doing them though.

If you’re unable to reach a particular vista, because it’s too hard to you or because you have a disability problem, you could ask a friend to do it for you. I’m not talking about sharing accounts, it’s obvious you should never do that, I’m talking about a friend, relative,… who would take your seat in front of the computer for a few minutes, just to help you momentarily with that problem.

I don’t have anyone in real life, either a friend or a relative that plays videogames. I deeply envy those who do and who have tons of friendly contacts in MMOs with family and friends. Alas it’s not my case.

Unfortunately, action and platform games can’t be made with people with disabilities in mind. They required fast-paced action that quite often can’t be achieved with certain disabilities.

You are lucky this is Guild Wars, in many other games, you’ll receive a negative, immature response, and possibly silence from the developers, as they’ll rather say nothing over giving the bad news, that could be perceived negatively when it’s just the sad truth.

I recommend you enlist the help of friends in these one-time-thing situations.

While these are a problem for people with disabilities, and this is not your fault i know, making them easy would ruin the sense of achievement for people who like them.

But since this is a special case, having a special mesmer friend might be the solution right?

Biscuithammer.8615:

I’m writing this because I think that I, like many disabled gamers, have been having huge issues with the vistas in GW2. I’d say that most are generally fine. But there are things like the Vizier’s tower which are unnecessarily vindictive to people with impaired motor function. I would really appreciate it if some concessions were made on certain vistas like this. It’s no fun falling and repeating the same thing over and over again because of your disability. Especially when it’s an essential function towards getting map completion.

Does laughing at this make me a horrible person?

Tarque Sinister.9032:

Biscuithammer.8615:

I’m writing this because I think that I, like many disabled gamers, have been having huge issues with the vistas in GW2. I’d say that most are generally fine. But there are things like the Vizier’s tower which are unnecessarily vindictive to people with impaired motor function. I would really appreciate it if some concessions were made on certain vistas like this. It’s no fun falling and repeating the same thing over and over again because of your disability. Especially when it’s an essential function towards getting map completion.

Does laughing at this make me a horrible person?

And very immature.

I had problems with this one too and I am not impaired. A random person stood by at the bottom waiting for me to fall to my death. Took me about 10 tries and 30 minutes, but I am not sure how being impaired would give you a disadvantage here.

Willowleaf.5721:

I don’t have anyone in real life, either a friend or a relative that plays videogames. I deeply envy those who do and who have tons of friendly contacts in MMOs with family and friends. Alas it’s not my case.

I would see about finding a mesmer in game and asking them to help you out. They could do the jumps for you and then portal you up there.

Other than that, I don’t know how anet could accommodate people with disabilities like or similar to yours without lacking these more challenging jumps for everybody else.

shastawong.3486:

that’s not a disability, that’s because you haven’t trained your brain to calculate your movements just meditate and exercise, and that will improve your motor function. it will help you i had the same problem as you and over time doing exercises im less clumsy and my perception doubled try it out it works.

I’m sorry but how on earth could you possibly know what form of disability he/she has, and also assume you ’KNOW" how to fix it. I never troll a post but I am also disabled, and this uninformed response to the OP is utterly astounding in its ignorance towards the disabled.

I understand that vistas could prove challenging for the physically impaired, but I really don’t want to see them changed.

One of the most fun things in this game, I’ve found, is navigating complex terrain and jumping puzzles for vistas. If you’re having trouble with it due to a disability, then… Well, I won’t tell you to give up, that’d be inappropriate and rude. But I’d recommend looking for alternatives.

You could try slowing it down on the puzzles, though I don’t know if that’s helpful at all. Taking everything one movement at a time instead of trying to fly through may be an option.
Mesmers have portals and teleport abilities, look into those or get help from ones who can. Thieves can teleport with the short bow, and even though it’s about a God-awful useless ability, the Engineer can do a rocket jump of some sort that could help in that way (though it won’t move up in elevation).

I wish I could be more helpful than this, but I really want to see the challenge stay.

Although I’m sympathetic to the disability, I’d like the vistas to stay as they are. ANet has been fairly thoughtful about most of the game – they may be able to devise an alternate path to the rewards of map completion, as well.

Maybe a reward for this alternate map completion would be an ability that would teleport you to the vistas so you can see them but not get ‘credit’ for them, since you went down the alternate path.

I agree with the OP – besides the jumping, once you get there the vistas are just beautiful.

There are definitely a few jumping “puzzles” in this game that have driven me crazy, even being a fairly skilled gamer of 30 years with unimpaired motor skills (Wall vista in Diessa Plateau, Metrica Province), so I am sympathetic to anybody with disabilities trying to complete map exploration. Without knowing anything about your situation (so maybe I’m completely off-base here), is it possible they would be easier to complete using a controller rather than a keyboard/mouse combo? I’ve known some players with disabilities to be much more dextrous with a gamepad, and have seen threads mentioning Xbox 360 controller support, so maybe that would be worth trying. Of course, it’s not like this game engine is made with reliable jumping physics, so I’m sure it would still be tough.

I wouldn’t hold your breath- disabled players having trouble with Vistas, and therefore 100% map completion, came up multiple times during beta, and they basically got ripped apart for wanting to ‘dumb down’ the game. Even when people tried to say they didn’t want to get rid of Vistas, just not have them a map completion requirement, they got treated like dirt.

Some of the dungeons require a fair bit of fine motor control too. Obviously if a game is the sort of game that requires fine motor control there just isn’t much you can do. GW2 is that sort of game, at least in parts. That isn’t going to change.

That said, vistas seem like they are a bit out of place since to be blunt about it non-vista map completion can be done by anyone. The rest of the map completion game requires zero reflexes and zero thinking. So it does seem a bit odd that they require vistas as well. They should probably be split off from the normal map completion and give their own rewards.

It’s a really tough subject. On one hand I empathise that you find it more difficult/impossible, but on the other hand I don’t want to see them removed or made easier, since the challenge is one of the main points to them.

Also, if they were removed from map completion, there’d be much less incentive to do them and many people wouldn’t bother.

Ridley.3691:

Also, if they were removed from map completion, there’d be much less incentive to do them and many people wouldn’t bother.

I think Yukishiro has a good solution for that, give Vistas their own reward, maybe something that accumulates, a bit like the HoM rewards did. And getting all of them done should have a great reward, but you wouldn’t be SOL for the map if there were ones you can’t manage.

I use two kinds of jumps. First the “human” jump where you start running then jump. Second where you jump first then start moving in mid air which seems to be a more controlable jump. I cant do the second one in real life though so its kind of wierd. Of course I know nothing about how you have to play. Good luck.

If you are a warrior (or engineer with their jump skill), you can use hammer adrenaline attack to propel you to some of the jumps. This will not work on all of them but you can activate the signet to gain adrenaline then target the area and hop across this way.

Best regards,

In a lot of the jumping puzzles and vista’s you fall a lot, its part of it.

as for the disability problems I got couple of suggestions:
Perhaps go on the lookout for aiding gear that will give you a more stable control? Write an email to a company that makes gaming gear? they could perhaps make a software version for a keyboard or a controller that could help you.

As a last resort, then i’d suggest having a friend helping out on the parts of the jumping that troubles you the most. Its not an optimum solution, but then you’ll at least be able to get 100% map.

I disagree with making things easier. My non gaming 50 year old father in law plays this game with a ball mouse. He doesn’t have any difficulty. I imagined that he would when he started playing, but after each jumping puzzle or vista, he keeps telling me “This is all they got?”.

Anet should build their game for the majority, not the minority.

Edit: Sorry if I came off rude. I didn’t intend to.

I don’t see how your father in law is a comparison for someone with a disability, unless you count 50 as old and feeble. Or unless he actually does have one.

The OP was saying they were having difficulty with some of the fine motor skills needed for some of the jumping, and was wondering if an alternate path would be available. They weren’t complaining that they wanted it easier.

Some of the jumping puzzles require the mouse directed movement approach, whereas, myself (being an old fart) rely on using the standard keyboard directed movement approach so I can’t complete them. The vistas I’ve done (100% zone completion, just not all the puzzles).

One of the things I wish all these vid games would do is have an automatic adaptable skill level adjusting capability. For example: If you try the jumping puzzle n-times the difficulty level adjusts to an easier level the more times you fail, so eventually, you can complete it. However, as you adjust the level of easiness the rewards you earn drop. That way the uber fast young guns get more rewards for being so good at it, while us old slower farts still complete it, but just don’t get as much reward.

This game would lend itself to this pretty easy in the jumping puzzles (like where the platforms you jump from disappearance would gradually take longer the more times you fail, or the wind (etc.) doesn’t blow as much the more times you fail).

I think what the OP is getting at is that some puzzles require a very narrow margin of error. The collision mask’s are very narrow (small tree branches, narrow wall ledges, etc.) I would also say that some of the puzzles, even being narrow, have wider areas to land on. I would assume by fixing the ones that have such a small margin of error would help people with disabilities moreso than changing the puzzle itself.

munkiman.3068:

I think what the OP is getting at is that some puzzles require a very narrow margin of error. The collision mask’s are very narrow (small tree branches, narrow wall ledges, etc.) I would also say that some of the puzzles, even being narrow, have wider areas to land on. I would assume by fixing the ones that have such a small margin of error would help people with disabilities moreso than changing the puzzle itself.

I’ve noticed some iffy jumping puzzles myself, and I’m all for fixing them.
Overall however I’m not sure, I can’t think of a way of making things more inclusive without reducing the difficulty. Maybe someone wiser then me has an idea.

Rendition.1342:

you can ask a friend of yours to help you out, like a mesmer with the portal skill etc etc

Indeed. I’ve yet to see a vista or jumping puzzle that can’t be skipped with a portal.