Players With Chronic Illness

So I was just wondering if there were any other players on here that suffer with chronic illnesses?

FFXIV ARR did win best game of the year from Ablegamers charity.

Yes there are.

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Originally Posted by Chiramu

FFXIV ARR did win best game of the year from Ablegamers charity.

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That's amazing! I had no idea! :D

I imagine there's plenty. Not something you just throw out there I guess so more often than not I'd assume you just don't know it about someone.

I dont know, these are things that are pretty personal. And unless you get to know someone really well, they might not be willing to share.

It took a while before one of my FC friends told us she was deaf. We were all completely fine with it. But the main point was that she didnt want anyone to think diffirently of her or act diffirently towards her.

I bet it's that way for a lot of people. Especially those with chronic illnesses.

Do they play? I have no doubt that they do. But dont expect them to shout it off the roofs that they do.

*checks pill packs on table*

Maybe?

I am epileptic. Only was an issue once so far, I woke up somewhat on the floor and 3/4 members in my Haukke Manor NM party were doing /poke emotes at me. ._.; Ugh. LOL

I also have some yet to be diagnosed stomach issue that makes me have to go AFK at the weirdest times. Multiple times. TMI?

A little annoying. People think I am not raiding because I am lazy or don't want to and thus kinda stopped asking, which is good I guess because 90% of the time I wouldn't have the strength to finish a raid. Every now and then I just get this health boost where I whack through as much content as I can before I feel too sick again. :)

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Originally Posted by Fizzie

So I was just wondering if there were any other players on here that suffer with chronic illnesses?

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Do you mean just physical illnesses? Because I've known people myself who have mental illnesses which can affect gaming too. I've got an anxiety disorder, me personally it doesn't affect how I play, well very very rarely! From talking with other people online, i.e. someone who's got bi-polar disorder, got a lot of grief from people for how she behaved (irrationally, strange if you know someone who's got BP, you'll know what I mean - my Mum has it too), yet explaining that her illness made her like that, no-one believed her or understood, apart from those who experienced it themselves :) There' still a lot of stigma and disbelief that people can be "mentally ill" even nowadays ;) Don't mind me, I'm rambling/thinking out loud!

Who cares? It shouldn't/doesn't matter.

Oh a lot of people that play this game suffer from chronic illnesses.

Problem is a lot of those illnesses are not recognized by any medical institution (yet).

Does boredom count?

granted, it only happens while playing ARR...

I have been diagnosed with Epilepsy, Bipolar Disorder, Asperger's Syndrome, and a few other things. I also know for a fact that there are deaf, or mute people who play this game. So yes, there are people who play this game who have Chronic Illnesses, Disorders, or Disabilities...

It's not a "chronic illness", but I have no sight in my right eye and very little in my left. A friend of mine who's going to join the game in a month or two is nearly completely deaf.

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Originally Posted by Zantetsuken

Does boredom count?

granted, it only happens while playing ARR...

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Then why are you playing? Wait, maybe we've discovered a new chronic illness here: *moderated*

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Originally Posted by Zantetsuken

Does boredom count?

granted, it only happens while playing ARR...

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Watch out, someone might cut themselves on that edge.

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Originally Posted by Kerii

It's not a "chronic illness", but I have no sight in my right eye and very little in my left. A friend of mine who's going to join the game in a month or two is nearly completely deaf.

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those would both qualify as Chronic Disabilities. Chronic is a word that simply means Long Term.

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Originally Posted by Kat_Manx

I am epileptic. Only was an issue once so far, I woke up somewhat on the floor and 3/4 members in my Haukke Manor NM party were doing /poke emotes at me. ._.; Ugh. LOL

I also have some yet to be diagnosed stomach issue that makes me have to go AFK at the weirdest times. Multiple times. TMI?

A little annoying. People think I am not raiding because I am lazy or don't want to and thus kinda stopped asking, which is good I guess because 90% of the time I wouldn't have the strength to finish a raid. Every now and then I just get this health boost where I whack through as much content as I can before I feel too sick again. :)

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playing this particular game while being epileptic. either you have balls of steel (or the female equivalent), or a very good healthcare plan :) (magic dps LB? holy f)

and, please let that stomach issue checked out, I don't know you, it isn't of my concern, but let me tell you, do it.

I hate people and working retail. Does that count?

All jokes aside, most don't want to share those types of things with people because
they don't want people to feel bad for them or treat them differently. And I totally
understand that.

What I "need to bring up"

I had someone in FFXI, who exclaimed he was deaf/partly deaf. He wrote something in LS chat that nobody could make heads or tails of his excuse "I am deaf". He made our party wipe 20 times with the same mistake, which we calmly explained to him each time after the wipe in chat. His explanation, "I am deaf". A certain item drops he wants to have but doesnt want to spend points on "I want it, I am deaf". For every excuse and demand he had, he added that he is deaf.
At one point I told him "I don't care if you are deaf or not, I have several serious medical conditions which I never would use for demanding items or as excuse for screwing up. This is a game, while I bring respect to every player it doesn't matter to me which gender/religion/sexual orientation/physical or psychical malady this person has. If he is a good person and a good player, good. If he is a *swearword* I will not interact with him anymore"

THESE kind of people, probably also are a reason why some players have issues making any kind of illness known to people in a game they barely know.

I have dyspraxia, which comes with a whole slew of things. Unfortunately this was just made clear recently and would have made my childhood so much easier only thing it really effects is: i cant read guides since i cant retain the info, i can watch videos but they need to show you each step of a phase not just talk about it as it happens quickly in a loop(looking at you mr. Happy,) i type weird things because sometimes one hand works much better than the other, and i associate words differently so i can say the same thing as someone else using a very different vocabulary and my audio and visual intake is interpreted differently so i cant do Doors in lost City, and all Levi dives can come from anywhere for me but my reaction speed is good so i usually only get hit by 1 per run. It hasn't prevented me from content, but it can take a few tries to do content depending on how many stages are in a mechanic, like opposite of titan since almost everything is one or two shots.

I have fibromyalgia. Haven't met anyone else who plays FFXIV with it, yet, though I have a friend who has family who have it.

Fibromyalgia can make it a little hard to play, somedays - we can have random pain at any time or place, and we often get what they call "fibro fog" which is a good name for something that makes you feel like you mind is foggy and you can think straight. Thankfully, the "fog" hasn't gotten in my way for healing yet, though it does make me forget STUPIDLY simple things now and then. Also, sleeplessness. It's mostly the pain, though. Makes it a bit hard to sit and play...or work...or breathe. o_o

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Originally Posted by Kimikryo

playing this particular game while being epileptic. either you have balls of steel (or the female equivalent), or a very good healthcare plan :) (magic dps LB? holy f)

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I haven't had a seizure in a good 15+ years. That is around half my lifespan. So I am not really concerned about it. My medication pretty much covers the problem anyways. I am on a pretty heavy dose of the generic brand of Neurontin.

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Originally Posted by Kimikryo

THESE kind of people, probably also are a reason why some players have issues making any kind of illness known to people in a game they barely know.

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I have a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy with my disability. If people don't ask, they have no need to know. I will however usually tell my FC or Guild Leader that I have psychiatric issues, but unless he or she specifically asks what ones, I don't feel obligated to say.

Epileptic. Have had a couple bleed through seizures playing this game but they were minor tremors. Largely due to stressing out. Take zonigran every night.

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Originally Posted by Kimikryo

playing this particular game while being epileptic. either you have balls of steel (or the female equivalent), or a very good healthcare plan :) (magic dps LB? holy f)

and, please let that stomach issue checked out, I don't know you, it isn't of my concern, but let me tell you, do it.

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I don't know, tests way back indicated it wasn't triggered by light. Mostly triggered by lack of sleep actually. Which admittedly, this game can cause. But no worries, I have equally many seizures regardless if I play or not. ^.^

Tummy is going to be checked out too, just the queue for my doctor is longer than the DPS queue ingame atm. x.x

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Originally Posted by VesperValveto

Who cares? It shouldn't/doesn't matter.

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Other people with chronic illnesses may want to hear from each other to feel solidarity in spite of difficulties they might face playing the game.

No need to be so dismissive.

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Originally Posted by VesperValveto

Who cares? It shouldn't/doesn't matter.

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While it shouldn't matter to people without chronic illnesses, or disabilities, it kind of does matter to those of us with them, as we do kind of feel a bit of kinship with others with these problems and are always interested to hear from others with similar issues. So I would like to thank you to keep your opinions to yourself.

I have neuropathy myself.

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Originally Posted by Wobble

I have neuropathy myself.

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ouch, nerve damage can't be fun...

I suffer from chronic ear infections and recurrent tumour growth in the middle ear, deafness, vertigo/dizziness as a result.

It has hampered some video games I have played (I have trouble in water zones or fights where I have to move my camera around a lot.) I have a good FC, though.

When I tell them I can literally get sea sick doing Leviathan they laugh with me about it.

My Aunt (54) has Epilepsy and Spastic Hemiplegia (sp?) which makes her hand pretty weak. She has trouble communicating with players via typing, so I have to do that for her sometimes. Shes on teamspeak and shes trying to type to someone in game, and it goes something like this:

'Can you type this for me?' 'What? Can you repeat that?' Ad infinitum. ;) All comical like.


I understand a lot of people fear having their ailments common knowledge and there are a few people who will go out of their way to make trouble with you because of it.

I deal with it with laughter, Its part of who I am now and If people are going to be a-holish about it then I will ignore them and get on with my life, and make jokes with the people who understand and are kind. That is not to say I don't have my down days, but good friends/family make it better.

One friend of mine sent me this as a pick me up one day when I had a particulary c**t-tastic tank in a mumble pug group.

When people get down on you for being what you are:

[NSFW][Swearing][Contains Fabulous] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3-YeY__E_g

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Originally Posted by Tharian

While it shouldn't matter to people without chronic illnesses, or disabilities, it kind of does matter to those of us with them, as we do kind of feel a bit of kinship with others with these problems and are always interested to hear from others with similar issues. So I would like to thank you to keep your opinions to yourself.

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Sorry, but having an illness doesn't give you the right to suppress the opinions of others. It doesn't matter who suffers from what. It's just a game, and besides that; I don't like to define people by their afflictions. I'm sorry if you feel the need to.

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Originally Posted by Surian

I dont know, these are things that are pretty personal. And unless you get to know someone really well, they might not be willing to share.

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In which case, they don't have to. I'm not forcing anyone to say anything they don't want to.

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Originally Posted by Tharian

it kind of does matter to those of us with them, as we do kind of feel a bit of kinship with others with these problems and are always interested to hear from others with similar issues. So I would like to thank you to keep your opinions to yourself.

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You've hit the nail right on the head there. Just as some seek out those with similar interest, some people with chronic illnesses also seek that which is similar.

How many times have I been asked in game why I've gone missing for days/weeks on end. I prefer to be honest about so people can understand. And, to be honest, I wish people would do the same in real life. Then maybe people with certain illnesses wouldn't be brushed-off so easily.

To be quite honest, I made this thread to allow others with chronic illnesses to post if they wanted to. To share if they wanted to. And to meet people who honestly understand and share their problems/experiences.

A friend of mine with a diagnosed syndrome was playing until last month, but is now back to FFXI because he ran out of things he could do. He is lucid and can think things through, but unfortunately his reactive timing is too slow for the current game's mechanics, so he could never get past the bigger fights. My friends and I took him all the way to the first Castrum, but sadly at that point he got stuck, and he came to the point where he just couldn't stand the frustration (and often times the flaming coming from other players in duty finder who didn't know him) of trying and trying and trying to dodge this or move there in time. It's a pity because he was really looking forward to the game when SMN was released; he thought that, like in XI, he could just command the pet while sitting back with his character in a safe line without having too much trouble, but ARR has revealed to be a different type of game.

On FFXI he does great (he's SMN and GEO there), and people can hardly tell he has any reaction issues. As long as he can stand back, his damage output and contribution to the endgame event is equal to others, and he is a lot more relaxed.

I'm glad he had FFXI to turn to, but it's such a shame he couldn't continue on FFXIV. The flaming in this game is ridiculous, to be honest. Not everyone can or wants to be an elitist.

This thread is really interesting, it really allow us to be connected to each others which is great!

Alrighty, for me i'm not sure if you can call it a chronic illness or maybe it is. I'm born with what they call a Dysphasia, basically what it does is it blocks me from freely saying what i have on my mind, it also makes it difficult when i have to read walls of text and perfectly understand it on the first go, it can also be tough when i have to write something like i am doing atm.

Surprisingly, Dysphasia also makes it difficult to learn different languages but for me i don't have as much troubles to understand english (english is not my first language).

i have this illness were i have to hit the bong every 30-45 minutes. cause me to go afk alot... but on a serious note. I have a friend whose deaf, and the he plays fine. The only impairment he faces is that some pugs for t6+ require the use of voip. But no actual gameplay issues

I have a bunch of crap nobody ever figured out what was exactly, one of them could have been a minor stroke or something (left side went numb, went away in a few minutes, however I still experiance pain on that side and nobody ever figured out what it was exactly, dispite even ending up at a specialist for it so thing. *shrug*)

Coming up on 3 years ago though, I got a virus in my right eye and it totally fried my optic nerve. (At least, we think it was a virus. :P)

Obviously, the pain in my other areas mean a lot less to gaming, but my right eye can make things be a bit thing. My depth perception is shot, so sometimes I hit the wrong buttons if I panic and have to look at my keys, or lock onto the wrong target at first because from my camera view, it looks like the marked target is on the guy I'm smacking around, but no, it's the guy to the left, lol. If you ever end up in a DF with me and at the start of a pull I don't do anything for a little bit, I'm not futzing around with my LSs I promise, I'm just trying to figure out who you are killing. :o

That said though there is a few times half way through the dungeons where my eye just starts noping hard and drifting a bit, so sometimes I have to stop and put on my eyepatch, and then after that run, have to take a break for a few hours at the least.

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Originally Posted by VesperValveto

Sorry, but having an illness doesn't give you the right to suppress the opinions of others. It doesn't matter who suffers from what. It's just a game, and besides that; I don't like to define people by their afflictions. I'm sorry if you feel the need to.

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No one judging or wishing to be defined by their illness, they're just sharing. Stop trolling, and don't bother responding, you're on ignore.

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Originally Posted by VesperValveto

Who cares? It shouldn't/doesn't matter.

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It doesn't matter in the sense I assume you are thinking. But, while most with any kind of issue wouldn't want to be treated differently, it is a particular kind of experience that you can relate to others with it. For instance, if it is a illness that reduces your mobility, you might not get out as often and find yourself online a lot. So, unlike someone who might be a "hardcore" type and just is all "push push push" all the time, someone with a chronic illness that keeps them indoors might just find them "here" just because of convenience and the social aspect.

So I guess the point of such a topic isn't to garner sympathy, it's mostly just to relate to others in a similar situation. Knowing you aren't alone in the world can make all the difference. The thought that you might be the only one going through something is a tough thing to deal with.