Guild Wars 2

Varrg.2704:

….atleast find a better game.

I don’t think you’ll find a much better game than this.

I have a slightly different experience than the OP but share her love of this game and her sense of comfort in it.
I don’t live IN Guild wars2, and that’s actually why I love it SO much.
Since we’re sharing… I used to live in another game when I was younger and unemployed. And I won’t regret the great times I had there.
But today, now, I’m a 34 yr old student about to defend her PhD early summer. I have a fourteen month old son who’s home with me about half the week (thank everything for daycare the other half or I’d get nothing done ever!)
I can’t afford to have a game that DEMANDS my presence.
I can’t afford to have a game that yanks a monthly subscription out of my pocket and makes me feel like I need to justify that price by being online constantly.
I can’t afford to be informed that in order to contribute, I MUST grind levels, gear, materials, etc etc.
I can’t afford to raid for eight-ten hours a week.

And I don’t have to. Not here. I have this incredible, beautiful wonderland I can log onto WHENEVER I PLEASE.. and forget about the various stresses in my life. I can roleplay, or re-dye my armor, or elect to PvP.. and there is absolutely no demand that I HAVE to do it. Paradoxically, it makes me feel so very happy and at home in this game that it’s my choice.
The community really is gorgeous, also. I couldn’t believe it one day in PvP when someone I’d just stomped said cheerfully that I’d done really well but she’d “be right back”. I’d never realized we could talk to our foes. The other games I’ve played assumed that trolling and incivility were guaranteed, so I had just assumed the same. What a joy to learn otherwise!

This is a stunning game with empowering and diverse stories and characters. It’s got a lovely community, and there is no pressure to meet a time-demand at any point. Yes, I have a lot of max level fully ascended characters, but I CHOSE to have them. (late pregnancy is a time of incredible boredom and a need for escapism, yes)
So while I am not in the same position as many posting (and wish them all strength), I join my voices to theirs in celebrating this fabulous game.

Vayne.8563:

You don’t necessarily say that life sucks and escape into a video game. If the video game gives you relief from pain, of course you’re going to do it. If you find something else that gives you relief from pain you might do that instead…or you might not.

But being judgmental and that’s what this is, doesn’t help anyone. The way Chicken came across was judgmental and crass.

Maybe communications isn’t his/her strong point, which does happen. But telling people they shouldn’t react to someone who offends them is relatively pointless.

Offense is a two-way street. One party needs to state something that could be interpreted as offensive and the other party has to interpret it that way then get offended. If someone doesn’t think that what chicken said applies to them then why would they get offended?

Ultimately, it comes down to the game being an option but ideally not the only option. It’s wonderful that the OP and other commenters have found enjoyment in GW2 and I hope that they can find enjoyment in other things as well. Tyria, while no doubt beautiful, can never be a substitute for Earth and friends gained within the boundaries of internet anonymity aren’t quite the same as friends who you can reach out to in real life. No maliciousness intended.

As a sidenote, anyone quoting this please spare me the very predictable “you don’t know until you walk in their shoes” comment. I don’t believe my medical history is relevant in this discussion but be assured that it’s long with no cure for any of it. I speak from experience when I say that one should never settle for a virtual reality but use it as a spring board and, as chicken had put it, keep leveling up in real life as well.

/edit

The poster above me is a great example of what I’m trying to say.

Thank you, Aethgar!

Aethgar.1784:

Since we’re sharing… I used to live in another game when I was younger and unemployed. And I won’t regret the great times I had there.
But today, now, I’m a 34 yr old student about to defend her PhD early summer. I have a fourteen month old son who’s home with me about half the week (thank everything for daycare the other half or I’d get nothing done ever!)

I think a lot of this is being taken out of context. I just… wanted to thank Anet, that’s all, and I really didn’t think it would gain this kind of attention. I’m happy that I was able to get my thoughts out there. For some people, this is more than just a simple game. Thank you to everyone who has understood where I was trying to come from.

Geez Jaymee if you think there would ever be a thread immune to the “Lord of the Flies” effect this should be the one. Dang.

While I’m gonna guess the condescending hoseheads think they are trying to help in some Meta way… They aren’t.

Remember, there are some people you cannot teach but you can let them learn. Or you could do what I try to do… File it under chickenkitten and forget it. A good life lesson regardless.

In an effort to turn the thread back to something more pleasant… I like pets Jaymee, how about you? I’ve been a huge Cat fan all my life. Cats are great. I understand some people like Dogs too.

I read everybody and I realize that many seem to believe that the games do not help social interraction.

I think I can prove otherwise. I do not like talking about it… I pass the details.

I’m 27 year, I Phobic Social (anxiety) Irl. Social Anxiety scale 10. For me, life is impossible without having seizures fear, I easily enraged both pushed by this state of permanent paranoia. Even without thinking. I am suffering from approximately 9 years, following the very poor human experiences.

it saved my life, because after a year of confinement at home, I’ve been wanting to kill me to relieve my mind of my neuroses. GW was given and I found people I at first was terrified every time I received a message. And then slowly, I was curious, I discovered some amazing people. Away from anything I had experienced. Far from the abuse I suffered.

Slowly, I agreed to meet some, to befriend. And my faith, very slowly, I started to leave my house. I learned to defend myself, to assert myself through games, guiding groups. I have learned to tolerate the presence of people in vocal and written, and their actual presence. I discovered how to cope without annoy myself in situations that I thought too complex.

In 2011 I was able to go to the Paris Games Week. I met the devs team on site. My brother shook hands with Daniel Ducio and showed me the book art, I have had a teeshirt. And finally, very proud of myself, I thought you had a great Friday. On Saturday, it was horrible. I made three steps back and finally I returned to my isolation.

Presently, I finally get to go shopping alone and fight for my driving license without collapsing like a house of cards as soon as there are other students.

I owe it to the video game community that helped me, supported, shoved.
So no, it’s not nothing. It is not useless. The Game has some more useful approach a psychologist.

Loiterer.4235:

It doesn’t have to be work, much less paid work. Anything will do. Throwing in the towel and saying that real life sucks so much that you might as well just escape into Tyria is doing yourself a disservice. You’re a human. You were born as a member of a species that conquered this planet and then some. We rose to the peak of the food chain by being clever and not by being strong. Physical limitations shouldn’t mean an end of a life, much less an end of ambitions. Especially not in this age.

I have a freelance job waiting on me for when I can get back to work, which is more than many can say. But I can say that it’s rough to work with a tumor crushing your internal organs, or so doped up on Oxy that your brain is fried, or going through chemo.

You can’t just get up and clean a house when you’re in that much pain, or when you’ve got limited mobility. You can’t work a job, or volunteer somewhere, or do whatever. Sometimes it takes all your energy just to put on clothes, and even then there are days where I don’t have the energy.

There are days now when I can get out of the house, but the agony that puts me in takes a lot of meds to beat. Those meds cost money. My wheelchair, my only way to get around, cost a lot of money. All the adaptive equipment and meds that the disabled and many ill folks need cost money, and the disabled are predominantly poor. But MMOs, especially those with no sub fees, are one of the cheapest entertainments there is.

You say, ‘work for validation’, but when you’re a kitten , just being able to wake up every morning, sit up, or hold a controller for a half hour is work. You are asking those who are suffering to prioritise what you, a healthy person, feel validates you.

You are not losing a life by spending most of your time in an MMO when you are disabled or ill. If that is how you can connect to the world, do things and make friends, then you are simply carving out the best life that you can. If the only life you find is valid is either work or ‘go outside’ or ‘watch tv’ or ‘have another hobby’, that’s really narrow-minded. What is inherently superior about it?

Playing MMOs saved my life. If I hadn’t been able to experience imaginary sunlight and scenery and hang out with online friends when I was so ill and light-sensitive that even a flashlight would burn my skin and make my eyes bleed and swell shut (I keep my monitor dimmed and shielded, windows blacked out, etc), I’d’ve killed myself from the isolation. That MMO was GW1 and is part of why I’m here today.

i am healthy (i hope?) and i really should be studying/revising but im always drawn to video games, i know that people say im throwing my life away etc but when i first started in gaming it was a way to escape bullying and social pressures, these games (thank you guild wars 1) was a way for me to escape all the bad things happening to me and be someone that i wanted to be, when i was level 20 and bored in guild wars 1, i would often go to minister cho’s estate or shing jea monastery and sometimes a new player to the game would ask for help doing a quest or mission, when i helped them they would thank me and it meant a lot to read those messages

Getefix.9150:

i am healthy (i hope?) and i really should be studying/revising but im always drawn to video games, i know that people say im throwing my life away etc but when i first started in gaming it was a way to escape bullying and social pressures, these games (thank you guild wars 1) was a way for me to escape all the bad things happening to me and be someone that i wanted to be, when i was level 20 and bored in guild wars 1, i would often go to minister cho’s estate or shing jea monastery and sometimes a new player to the game would ask for help doing a quest or mission, when i helped them they would thank me and it meant a lot to read those messages

Good man, or woman. God I used to love being helpy helperson in GW once my hero team was brutal. Even miss going full human for zaishens. We don’t have that here

Naus the Gobbo.5172:

Varrg.2704:

….atleast find a better game.

I don’t think you’ll find a much better game than this.

I did, but it’s personal isn’kitten Not everybody likes the same things.

It’s great that people who have situations like the OP can find games like this to have such a great impact on their lives.

And as we sink into the Toxic Ooze that are the Forums we’d like to thank you for tuning in to another episode of “As the Disk Drive Turns”

Remember, no matter where you go… There you are.

MFoy.3284:

And as we sink into the Toxic Ooze that are the Forums we’d like to thank you for tuning in to another episode of “As the Disk Drive Turns”

Remember, no matter where you go… There you are.

I hear that, in season two, Trahearne dies, but his twin is found in a coma in the maguuma jungle.

She is the best person in the whole world

her Husband !!!!

hwpersia.2065:

She is the best person in the whole world

her Husband !!!!

lmao… I love you too, baby… Now stop snooping on my posts :P

Jaymee.1560:

hwpersia.2065:

She is the best person in the whole world

her Husband !!!!

lmao… I love you too, baby… Now stop snooping on my posts :P

Okay that’s just…adorable. lol

“She would rather light a candle than curse the darkness, and her glow has warmed the world.”

- Adlai Stevenson

Sylv.5324:

You say, ‘work for validation’, but when you’re a kitten , just being able to wake up every morning, sit up, or hold a controller for a half hour is work. You are asking those who are suffering to prioritise what you, a healthy person, feel validates you.

Because I believe that one should always strive for more regardless of their current predicament, that must mean I’m healthy and know nothing about the difficulties an ill and/or disabled person has to face. Hmm.

I have made an error of judgement and as such I apologize for commenting on this thread. Please feel free to disregard my previous two posts. I wish you all the best.

Hello, OP!

Every now and again, a thread like this pops up - and we find there’s a lot of us with different conditions, disabilities, and other difficult circumstances, all enjoying playing GW2. It’s always heartening to read the messages, and to hear people really do find comfort and meaning in a game, and the social interactions it brings, though I have personally cut my social behaviour because I "don’t play well with others". Though, it’s just a game, and that seems silly to some, it really doesn’t matter. It also doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about it, either.

For me, parts of the game are sometimes a little difficult owing to my photosensitive epilepsy, but there’s more than enough here to keep me happy. I can’t wait for hang gliding in HoT, however it turns out, considering that’s something I’d never be able to do in real life. Of course, none of us are going to be asura or sylvari, charr or norn, or even humans wielding magic - none of us, wherever we are on any scale, are going to kill a dragon today. A game such as this gives all of us common ground at the start, and no one should be picking at anyone for finding it a release.

Speaking about photosensitive epilepsy - or maybe just epilepsy in general - anyone else bugged by the lighting involved in the LS encounters with mordrem? I had a very near miss in the last Camp Resolve instance where I stupidly got stuck under a ramp, and the resulting graphic really wanted to kill me. Somehow managed to get out of it, but I’ve found the lighting to be rather disturbing, though it could be because I have to have the screen much darker than standard (same sort of issue in the Labyrinth as well).

Naus the Gobbo.5172:

Varrg.2704:

….atleast find a better game.

I don’t think you’ll find a much better game than this.

There are actually heaps of games better than this. The only reason this game is popular is because its so easy to succeed in, pretty much everyone is a winner.

Lifestealer.4910:

Naus the Gobbo.5172:

Varrg.2704:

….atleast find a better game.

I don’t think you’ll find a much better game than this.

There are actually heaps of games better than this. The only reason this game is popular is because its so easy to succeed in, pretty much everyone is a winner.

Totally your opinion. I don’t think there are heaps better MMOs than this one, for sure. And every MMO that everyone said was going to kill this game that came out has struggled. Every single one.

So I’m not sure where all those better games are. And it’s entirely possible you might fight those games better than this one, but some of us don’t. It’s not like I can’t go raid in other games. I just find raiding annoying and a colossal waste of energy.

Vayne.8563:

Lifestealer.4910:

Naus the Gobbo.5172:

Varrg.2704:

….atleast find a better game.

I don’t think you’ll find a much better game than this.

There are actually heaps of games better than this. The only reason this game is popular is because its so easy to succeed in, pretty much everyone is a winner.

Totally your opinion. I don’t think there are heaps better MMOs than this one, for sure. And every MMO that everyone said was going to kill this game that came out has struggled. Every single one.

So I’m not sure where all those better games are. And it’s entirely possible you might fight those games better than this one, but some of us don’t. It’s not like I can’t go raid in other games. I just find raiding annoying and a colossal waste of energy.

So what if its my opinion?.. subjects like this has always been preference mostly.

I do not look for raids though i wouldn’t mind them, i look for content where there is tension, where i have to learn things, improve to succeed. This game really lacks content for such things. 98% of the content in this game can be breezed through without even learning your class. This is why so many people are still clueless as to how to play their class, because the game hardly ever challenges anybody to give it their best or experiment.

The only thing that is even remotely challenging is fractals but it is so old and done to death a million times.

I believe tension is crucial to have in any game because if there aren’t any, then people like me fall asleep facerolling everything. But i don’t think Anet is going to change their stance as they continue to pump out mindless living stories and silverwaste map that even a 12 year old can beat with one hand.

Lifestealer.4910:

Vayne.8563:

Lifestealer.4910:

Naus the Gobbo.5172:

Varrg.2704:

….atleast find a better game.

I don’t think you’ll find a much better game than this.

There are actually heaps of games better than this. The only reason this game is popular is because its so easy to succeed in, pretty much everyone is a winner.

Totally your opinion. I don’t think there are heaps better MMOs than this one, for sure. And every MMO that everyone said was going to kill this game that came out has struggled. Every single one.

So I’m not sure where all those better games are. And it’s entirely possible you might fight those games better than this one, but some of us don’t. It’s not like I can’t go raid in other games. I just find raiding annoying and a colossal waste of energy.

So what if its my opinion?.. subjects like this has always been preference mostly.

I do not look for raids though i wouldn’t mind them, i look for content where there is tension, where i have to learn things, improve to succeed. This game really lacks content for such things. 98% of the content in this game can be breezed through without even learning your class. This is why so many people are still clueless as to how to play their class, because the game hardly ever challenges anybody to give it their best or experiment.

The only thing that is even remotely challenging is fractals but it is so old and done to death a million times.

I believe tension is crucial to have in any game because if there aren’t any, then people like me fall asleep facerolling everything. But i don’t think Anet is going to change their stance as they continue to pump out mindless living stories and silverwaste map that even a 12 year old can beat with one hand.

I believe that tension isn’t crucial to any game. Now you may like tension, but there are lots of people who play games to relax and not have tension. It’s entirely possible that what you want out of a game is diametrically opposed to what I want out of a game. You want tension. You find that good and acceptable.

I don’t want tension. I don’t find that good or acceptable. If I wanted tension, I’d remarry my ex-wife.

The point is, there is more to games than just challenge…for some people. And for many people this game has challenging things in it.

Funny, I like GW2 for the exact opposite reason from the OP: because it is NOT a lifestyle (kinda like Aethgar.1784).

WoW is a lifestyle. I had some of that and don’t want any more.

GW2 is a lovely place where I come to chill out with some friendly strangers and run through breathtakingly beautiful environments. There are shortcuts everywhere and I love it. I used experience scrolls, writs, tomes of knowledge and WvW to level my mothballed Elementalist from 5 to 80 in under a month (considering that I try not to play more than 3 hours at a time and don’t play every day, that’s something). I love that you can legally buy gold, because I suck at making it and I don’t have the time to be a dragon slayer AND a commodities broker AND a miner/lumberjack/vegetable farmer. I love that I can buy the nearly-top-tier gear with the gold I bought, and survive 90% of the content while feeling like an utter AWESOME DUDE (kitten you felinecensor).

And I love that I can walk away from the game at any time, and then come right back days or months or a year later, and there won’t be a crying peon trying to dissuade me from leaving. Yeah, I’ll probably get gkcked, but them’s the breaks.

To each his own I suppose.

Out of Respect to the original poster’s honesty, I’ve found personally found MMOs provide this relief as well. A few years ago a person spiked my drink at a party while attending college. I had a violent reaction to whatever was put in my drink. I was rushed to the hospital shortly and spent two days fighting for my life. I came out of that with memory problems and an amnesia, that at the time, was severe.

Video games were my ‘safe’ way of getting back in touch with the world around me. At the time World of Warcraft was the thing to be playing, but I’ve always been into retro games so I played Dark Age of Camelot.
The player-friendly community-oriented family environment of that game let me heal more than any psychology test and MRI treadmills the doctors had me running as they tried to figure out how long-term the amnesia would be. It’s very hard for people who are healthy and whole to understand neurological damage. Some people think it is a psychological disorder. This can become very awkward and unmanageable. Especially if they are uneducated or family. Some people are naturally belligerent. Their only goal in life is to be hostile to all that doesn’t fit the architecture of their world-ideal. Most of all there’s enough of someone’s plate already when their health is major focus of their lives. Human beings are the most destructive forces a human being will ever be challenged with.
MMOs were a way to put some distance between humanity and myself. It is acceptable in a video game when I type “afk” when in reality I’m trying to remember “Now how does this word function in English again?” because my brain wouldn’t output despite that I could recall. That turned out to be the issue with my amnesia. I could know something internally, and through motor control (like what video games largely function through) I could output. But, asked to speak what I knew… very difficult. Type, yes… speak, no.
Video games enforce a different set of rules and priorities than ‘reality’. In games we move with our fingers and wrist actions. Maybe a subtle arm motion here or there. In games snow and rain are not challenges. We have no sensory feed of those. They are inconsequential. Much of everything has aesthetic priority first. Affinities and consistencies matter. Reward is that meeting between my heart and those around me. When we gather around the harpest and smile together just because we’ve gathered around to do nothing more than listen to the harp. That’s the high reward of video games. Connection. Genuine humanity. Games build toward complexity, just like biology does.

So yeah, I’m entirely with you Jaymee. There are a lot of us out there like you. These games are like a living embodiment of Jung’s mandalas. I feel that’s why people get so touchy with inconsistency in games and in-harmony with their community members. Some people are sensitive(intelligent) enough realize… “Oh, this really flows against the aesthetic,” and from that realize that really translates to, “Oh, this is elbowing out player-types A, B, C,” etc.

IndigoSundown.5419:

“She would rather light a candle than curse the darkness, and her glow has warmed the world.”

- Adlai Stevenson

I don’t know if that was meant for me, but if it was… why, thank you!

Hey Jaymee,

After reading your post, you brought tears to my eyes. It fills me with joy when I see that there are outlets for people with health conditions. Despite whatever you are going through, and even to many of us who are healthy, guild wars 2 is a game we can become engaged in, to forget about the world at times.

This post reminds me of a particular episode in the anime “Sword Art Online II” and how a guild leader and her 5-6 other members all had severe health problems that halted their physical abilities in the RL. They all engaged in the MMO Through a virtual reality display, where in that world they were able to walk run and fight, amongst many other activities they could not do in the real world.

The guild leader had the worst health conditions out of all of her guild members, she was virtually non-responsive in RL, she couldn’t move, talk, etc. but in the game she was one of the most, if not the best swords woman there was. At the end of her days she was honored by everyone in the virtual world ( for she had an advance form of AIDS that would take her life in the show). It really makes you appreciate everything about the game, and your character(s) even more. Because games aren’t jus games anymore. They are also apart of life.

So Jaymee, don’t worry if people say otherwise because even though iam healthy, I enjoy this game jus like you do, I work and pay bills, yes, but Tyria is a life I get to live in order to escape from the current reality. If you ever want to play or party up together, that would be an honor! Karma Mindbreaker is my dear Sylvari’s name. She is me in another world. I hope to hear from you soon!

My the Six watch over you! Forever and always

Jaymee.1560:

IndigoSundown.5419:

“She would rather light a candle than curse the darkness, and her glow has warmed the world.”

- Adlai Stevenson

I don’t know if that was meant for me, but if it was… why, thank you!

It was a comment about positive outlooks. Since you are adopting a positive outlook, you’re welcome!

The quote was about Eleanor Roosevelt, who had to deal with a husband who was in a wheelchair. Different circumstances, same outlook. Keep on truckin’.

It is bitterly ironic that there are people complaining about artificial difficulty in a thread about overcoming actual difficulty.

Futabot.5780:

It is bitterly ironic that there are people complaining about artificial difficulty in a thread about overcoming actual difficulty.

What do you mean?

Jaymee.1560:

I think a lot of this is being taken out of context. I just… wanted to thank Anet, that’s all, and I really didn’t think it would gain this kind of attention. I’m happy that I was able to get my thoughts out there. For some people, this is more than just a simple game. Thank you to everyone who has understood where I was trying to come from.

Most people unfortunately and I’m sure you’ve experienced this outside of the virtual space as I have, don’t understand the choices people like you and I have to make about even the most basic of basics. Things they don’t have to think about because they take their time and energy for granted. Like having to decide whether or not you can clean the house or go shopping for groceries because you don’t have energy for both that day. Or having to try to stay for a visit at a friends house because you are suddenly having inflammation pain.

I suffer from an extremely rare condition known as Eosinophilia. I was hospitalized 2 years ago when it was aggressively attacking my lungs. I’m still on oxygen daily and I am currently searching desperately for a specialist who knows anything at all about this condition so I understand what’s happening.

I’m sorry you’ve experienced these flame wars on your thread. While I don’t like certain aspects of this game and have since decided to sit back and wait for things to change before joining again in key areas, I felt that my reply to your post not derail your thread and turn it into something it’s not. You’re not advocating for the game you’re expressing something that many gamers experience in many mmo environments so I thought I might share that aspect of the post and save the discussion of design philosophy for another thread. I just wish more had in this case.

From someone who suffers from ongoing problems from disease, I’m happy that you found an online space that you can get the support you need because nothing nothing is more terrible than for people like you and I to be alone when we need support like this.

Have you heard of spoon theory? Just curious.

http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/

Vayne.8563:

People who don’t suffer chronic, constant pain, often don’t get it. They don’t understand how it wears you down. It’s an endless battle just to get out of bed, nevermind worrying about doing something productive. There are times when you can’t sleep for weeks or months at a time that make it hard to focus or concentrate. There are times when just doing the basic stuff you need to do seems impossibly hard.

The distraction of a game that comes with no real expectations or pressure is very different than a job, or something that these people would consider socially acceptable. Because if you don’t or can’t do it one day, it’s okay it’ll be there the next day.

I wouldn’t listen to those who have never lived in that situation because they can’t know. They speak from the point of view of a healthy person trying to tell people less healthy what they can and can’t do, what they should and shouldn’t do.

My wife and I have met, over the years, many such people. I truly hope those people never end up suffering something so debilitating that they’d know what others are going through.

This, so much this. Such words of wisdom.

To the others that maybe dont’ get it yet:

Try to put into perspective that you cannot put your experiences on others. What may be a small deal to you could be devastating to someone else.

Its people that dont’ get it in powerful places why people don’t take such things seriously.

Physical illness, mental illness, all of it wears on you. All of it effects everyone differently, but people should be compassionate about it all.

I wonder how much the world would be different if we loved people as much as we crush them with negativity?

Loiterer.4235:

Because I believe that one should always strive for more regardless of their current predicament,

firstly..some “predicaments” aren’t current..but lifelong

secondly what you consider “more” or worth striving for, does not mean everyone else must also consider it worth striving for.

Ceridwen.6703:

Hello, OP!

Every now and again, a thread like this pops up – and we find there’s a lot of us with different conditions, disabilities, and other difficult circumstances, all enjoying playing GW2. It’s always heartening to read the messages, and to hear people really do find comfort and meaning in a game, and the social interactions it brings, though I have personally cut my social behaviour because I “don’t play well with others”. Though, it’s just a game, and that seems silly to some, it really doesn’t matter. It also doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about it, either.

For me, parts of the game are sometimes a little difficult owing to my photosensitive epilepsy, but there’s more than enough here to keep me happy. I can’t wait for hang gliding in HoT, however it turns out, considering that’s something I’d never be able to do in real life. Of course, none of us are going to be asura or sylvari, charr or norn, or even humans wielding magic – none of us, wherever we are on any scale, are going to kill a dragon today. A game such as this gives all of us common ground at the start, and no one should be picking at anyone for finding it a release.

Speaking about photosensitive epilepsy – or maybe just epilepsy in general – anyone else bugged by the lighting involved in the LS encounters with mordrem? I had a very near miss in the last Camp Resolve instance where I stupidly got stuck under a ramp, and the resulting graphic really wanted to kill me. Somehow managed to get out of it, but I’ve found the lighting to be rather disturbing, though it could be because I have to have the screen much darker than standard (same sort of issue in the Labyrinth as well).

I don’t have epilepsy but I’m hypersensitive, and I’ve found the lighting in some scenes to be very difficult to look at. In chapt8 the scene in sw where you’re fighting all the modrem and it’s smoky …HORRIBLE. Towards the end of it my eyes were actually hurting.
I also have similar trouble during the sandstorm in drytop. Would like if these could be turned off. I avoid drytop completely during the sandstorm.

Chise.4726:

It’s not a lifestyle.

It’s a form of mass produced mainstream entertainment, part of a multi-billion Dollar industry, which people consume. Nothing else. Yes, there are artistic elements in it, but ultimately it’s about the money made with it. Just like any company on the planet AN wants to make a profit.

It’s great that the OP enjoys playing the game, etc, but that doesn’t change what the game itself ultimately is: a form of mass produced mainstream entertainment.

As for “the community”, it exists solely because of the need of people to belong to something, because humans are herd animals and many crave the same social dynamics they are used to, which are not necessarily good social dynamics.

Also, let me be utterly brutal and realistic for a second: the notion that what I do in the game and the community makes other people feel better is utterly irrelevant. I don’t know these people. They are not “my” people. They are not part of my family, not part of my friends. They are random kitten sapiens #8,998,100, #5,529,113,876 and #100,562,267, etc. They are not part of the very small group of people I truly care about/for.

I’ve once said that becoming a Navy SEAL is easier than entering the group of people I truly care about and I stick to it.

And before anyone says “You’ll be missing out!” (which usually always comes): experience tells me that I’m 100% right.

tigirius.9014:

Jaymee.1560:

I think a lot of this is being taken out of context. I just… wanted to thank Anet, that’s all, and I really didn’t think it would gain this kind of attention. I’m happy that I was able to get my thoughts out there. For some people, this is more than just a simple game. Thank you to everyone who has understood where I was trying to come from.

Most people unfortunately and I’m sure you’ve experienced this outside of the virtual space as I have, don’t understand the choices people like you and I have to make about even the most basic of basics. Things they don’t have to think about because they take their time and energy for granted. Like having to decide whether or not you can clean the house or go shopping for groceries because you don’t have energy for both that day. Or having to try to stay for a visit at a friends house because you are suddenly having inflammation pain.

I suffer from an extremely rare condition known as Eosinophilia. I was hospitalized 2 years ago when it was aggressively attacking my lungs. I’m still on oxygen daily and I am currently searching desperately for a specialist who knows anything at all about this condition so I understand what’s happening.

I’m sorry you’ve experienced these flame wars on your thread. While I don’t like certain aspects of this game and have since decided to sit back and wait for things to change before joining again in key areas, I felt that my reply to your post not derail your thread and turn it into something it’s not. You’re not advocating for the game you’re expressing something that many gamers experience in many mmo environments so I thought I might share that aspect of the post and save the discussion of design philosophy for another thread. I just wish more had in this case.

From someone who suffers from ongoing problems from disease, I’m happy that you found an online space that you can get the support you need because nothing nothing is more terrible than for people like you and I to be alone when we need support like this.

Have you heard of spoon theory? Just curious.

Nope, never heard of this! And it is a famous way of trying to explain to people what

http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/

No! I have never heard of this! I read it and I think it is a fabulous way to explain what one may be going through when they are sick.

So, with that having been said, there was only one phrase that came to mind, for me, on THIS particular day. How’s today been treating me?

“Realize the truth; there is no spoon…”

aka, not one of my BEST days…. but… I got Metrica Provence map cleared.

Wait… maybe that counted as a spoon? But I have no more spoons left, I went back to Divinity’s Reach.

Maybe Brisban Wildlands is for tomorrow…

Ceridwen.6703:

Hello, OP!

Every now and again, a thread like this pops up – and we find there’s a lot of us with different conditions, disabilities, and other difficult circumstances, all enjoying playing GW2. It’s always heartening to read the messages, and to hear people really do find comfort and meaning in a game, and the social interactions it brings, though I have personally cut my social behaviour because I “don’t play well with others”. Though, it’s just a game, and that seems silly to some, it really doesn’t matter. It also doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about it, either.

For me, parts of the game are sometimes a little difficult owing to my photosensitive epilepsy, but there’s more than enough here to keep me happy. I can’t wait for hang gliding in HoT, however it turns out, considering that’s something I’d never be able to do in real life. Of course, none of us are going to be asura or sylvari, charr or norn, or even humans wielding magic – none of us, wherever we are on any scale, are going to kill a dragon today. A game such as this gives all of us common ground at the start, and no one should be picking at anyone for finding it a release.

Speaking about photosensitive epilepsy – or maybe just epilepsy in general – anyone else bugged by the lighting involved in the LS encounters with mordrem? I had a very near miss in the last Camp Resolve instance where I stupidly got stuck under a ramp, and the resulting graphic really wanted to kill me. Somehow managed to get out of it, but I’ve found the lighting to be rather disturbing, though it could be because I have to have the screen much darker than standard (same sort of issue in the Labyrinth as well).

Photosensitive as well, though less for recurring flashes, mostyly big intensity changes are the main trigger, I can watch into a strobe and keep standing, but lightning or flashphotography can down me quick.

I still notice most problems in the temple events in orr. Dwaybna and Lyssa are problematic…

I run lower intensity screens nowadays, and screen backlighting to lessen the intensity of changes, which tend to solve all but the worst problems. And I haven’t suffered a serial TC attack in the last 4 yrs now.. leaving me hopefull I’m only having PC and single TC attacks nowadays.
.

Chise.4726:

Also, let me be utterly brutal and realistic for a second: the notion that what I do in the game and the community makes other people feel better is utterly irrelevant.

Utterly irrelevant to you, sure. To many gamers who like to actually make a real connection with the player standing in front of him or her, its very relevant.

My first day in an MMO was in Dark Age of Camelot and I was still trying to figure out what I should be doing in this new word except for dying a lot. One female character approached me and investigated my starter armor and said “Oh dear, that explains all the dirt naps. Here, let me make you something better”.

And while I stood there awdwardly protesting, this woman made me an entirely new set of lowbie armor from helm to toe. I told her I had no money to give her and she just laughed and said that she coud see I had no money because of what I’d already been wearing. As for payment, she told me to learn my own crafting skill and pass it on by making something nice for someone else.

This is just how some people are. They enter a new mmo game world, and they find people in need of help…and then they help them. Why? Because it makes them feel good to be useful, perhaps? Or because it encourages ties and bonds formed between players that like to help others? Who knows. But I think it’s fantastic.

This, I can’t agree more Jaymee. I found solace in GW2 at a time when I was greatly depressed due to setbacks in life. Anet, please dont take your foot off the gas, keep having great LS content and stuff. It’s a great world!

Taygus.4571:

Ceridwen.6703:

Speaking about photosensitive epilepsy – or maybe just epilepsy in general – anyone else bugged by the lighting involved in the LS encounters with mordrem? I had a very near miss in the last Camp Resolve instance where I stupidly got stuck under a ramp, and the resulting graphic really wanted to kill me. Somehow managed to get out of it, but I’ve found the lighting to be rather disturbing, though it could be because I have to have the screen much darker than standard (same sort of issue in the Labyrinth as well).

I don’t have epilepsy but I’m hypersensitive, and I’ve found the lighting in some scenes to be very difficult to look at. In chapt8 the scene in sw where you’re fighting all the modrem and it’s smoky …HORRIBLE. Towards the end of it my eyes were actually hurting.
I also have similar trouble during the sandstorm in drytop. Would like if these could be turned off. I avoid drytop completely during the sandstorm.

Yep, that lighting in Camp Resolve was difficult (and any other time it appears, like with the dragon instances). Thing is, I know it’s atmospheric, makes it a bit more than if it was just the creatures and you saw everything perfectly. Same with the sandstorm – I’ve been out in it for brief pockets of time, but there’s no joy there for me. But! at the same time, it adds interest to a zone, and I don’t think it should be removed.

So yes, the ability to turn stuff off would be nice, or rather, really lessen up on the particles and things gusting about – for example the snow in some places is bad. That said, I’m not sure it’s possible to do something with that, and there’s always the chance it could be used for an unfair advantage.

PaxTheGreatOne.9472:

Photosensitive as well, though less for recurring flashes, mostyly big intensity changes are the main trigger, I can watch into a strobe and keep standing, but lightning or flashphotography can down me quick.

I still notice most problems in the temple events in orr. Dwaybna and Lyssa are problematic…

I run lower intensity screens nowadays, and screen backlighting to lessen the intensity of changes, which tend to solve all but the worst problems. And I haven’t suffered a serial TC attack in the last 4 yrs now.. leaving me hopefull I’m only having PC and single TC attacks nowadays.

Hello! It’s great to see another PSEr! I love that we can get on games and play these days with a lot less worry. I personally don’t do strobes, yet enjoy lightning, but camera flashes are nasty. I usually tell people I don’t turn up in photographs – because I duck out of the way!

I’m with you on the temple events, though for me it’s always Dwayna more than any of the others. Other areas have presented some minor issues too, like off-kilter platforms, say in HotW, or parts of Ascalon. Though whether my poor depth perception is a result of epilepsy, or just something that co-exists up there, I don’t know. It’s a thing, anyways.

I’ve played a little with my monitor’s settings so things are duller, but in instances like the Labyrinth in the Silverwastes, I think that made it more problematic. Same with that mordrem lighting. I’ll keep tinkering to see if I can’t find a better setting.

I think your epilepsy is more severe than mine – I don’t think I’ve ever had serial attacks, and I’ve not had a single tonic-clonic for some years. I tend to avoid a lot of things that bug me, though let’s say I do get distracted sometimes, so those absences are something that persists. I’d never make a surgeon! Flat screens do make a difference, and I’ve not seen a strobe in person for years – call that getting older and no longer going out to nightclubs. XD Mind, I live in the back of nowhere in Norway; I wouldn’t have the first clue where the nearest nightclub was! If there’s strong sun on snow, that does annoy me, so I have wraparound sunglasses on standby at all times.

Hope you keep well and take care of yourself, Pax, and the game treats you well.

To players with various sensitivities to flashing animations or light effects – are you trying to end yourself by playing a game that’s loaded with rainbow ponies and flashing lights popping out of virtually every skill your character uses?
A serious, if not rhetoric, question.

On topic: I think the social aspect of GW2 might just well be the sole good part about a game I otherwise find altogether inferior to the original in.
Overall, I can relate to the experiences players have posted about here, and understand very well from my own experience how impactful online games with a strong sense of community – in particular mmos (inc GW) – can be on one’s life, and the feeling of relief, accomplishment, and fun they are able to give.
To give an example of this impactfulness, two good guild mates and friends of mine (first online, later on also irl) eventually became business partners after playing together (very successfully, too) in a close-knit pvp guild for many years, with myself coincidentally helping them choose the name for their game studio.
So yes, games do change lives, and they can be lifestyles too. And as long as it was time well spent, no regrets should be had, disability or no disability.