Can we talk about 3rd party tools and disability?

[Xirean]

Just because a tool may be helpful doesn't mean that it's okay to use. Of course you can ask SE to implement features that would help you to play the game better with your disability. But don't ask SE to be lenient with you for using third party tools because your disability "forced" you to use them.

This thread is literally discussing things that would be nice as features. Nobody is advocating for using 3rd party software that is against ToS.

I mean.. if it helps someone with a severe impairment, there's nothing wrong with it. This is something that needs to be addressed. The game needs more disability friendly options.

Agreed. I'm all for more accessibility.

[DamianFatale]

This thread is literally discussing things that would be nice as features. Nobody is advocating for using 3rd party software that is against ToS.

I mean.. if it helps someone with a severe impairment, there's nothing wrong with it. This is something that needs to be addressed. The game needs more disability friendly options.

[Kaurhz]

Just because a tool may be helpful doesn't mean that it's okay to use. Of course you can ask SE to implement features that would help you to play the game better with your disability. But don't ask SE to be lenient with you for using third party tools because your disability "forced" you to use them.

You aren't really reading anything being said. Nobody here is trying to justify the uses of said tools, just that the tools have practical applications that can and should be native features within the game.

Personally, I never use such tools. I haven't raided in this game since Eden's Verse and this is the entire reason. I refuse to touch raids in this game with a barge pole until their native accessibility functions aren't mediocre, or until they rethink their design strategy around encounters that don't have them using a bizarre combination of colors that to any reasonable individual would be inaccessible.

To say that people are asking for leniency, or to imply that people think they're OK is a laughable misinterpretation of this thread. Equally to say they are against terms of service and thus should not be used, I would agree with you, heck I'll even pat you on the back and call it an astute observation. But to try and misconstrue this thread as to deny the practical applications of such tools for those with visual impairments or a disability is just either ignorant or misunderstanding the topic, and quite severely need I might add.

Edit: This thread exists solely to discourage the need or potential reliance on such tools, and to encourage better incorporation of accessibility features in the game.

[DamianFatale]

You aren't really reading anything being said. Nobody here is trying to justify the uses of said tools, just that the tools have practical applications that can and should be native features within the game.

Personally, I never use such tools. I haven't raided in this game since Eden's Verse and this is the entire reason. I refuse to touch raids in this game with a barge pole until their native accessibility functions aren't mediocre, or until they rethink their design strategy around encounters that don't have them using a bizarre combination of colors that to any reasonable individual would be inaccessible.

To say that people are asking for leniency, or to imply that people think they're OK is a laughable misinterpretation of this thread. Equally to say they are against terms of service and thus should not be used, I would agree with you, heck I'll even pat you on the back and call it an astute observation. But to try and misconstrue this thread as to deny the practical applications of such tools for those with visual impairments or a disability is just either ignorant or misunderstanding the topic, and quite severely need I might add.

Edit: This thread exists solely to discourage the need or potential reliance on such tools, and to encourage better incorporation of accessibility features in the game.

AMEN to that.

[ACE135]

This thread is literally discussing things that would be nice as features. Nobody is advocating for using 3rd party software that is against ToS.

OP says "I would like to discuss the specific case of accessibly in FF14 that relates to banning or not 3rd party tools." which in my eyes equates to discussing if (certain) third party tools are okay to use if they grant accessebility. If I see this wrong, then I apologise.

[Packetdancer]

No way. I thought Ansel and Freestyle were the same thing!

Probably because Nvidia does zero to clarify this; they bundle the Ansel and Freestyle settings together. Moreover, Ansel contains Freestyle, so if you're using Ansel you have Freestyle right there... so it is sure easy to think they're the same thing.

But Freestyle can also be used separately from Ansel; it is only the ReShade-style shaders (albeit with the shaders presented as "filters" you can combine) which you can use on any game -- paused or otherwise -- while Ansel is the full photo mode that lets you freeze the game and move the camera around and all (and use Freestyle shaders in addition), and which actually requires support in the game engine.

So far as I know, no game supports Ansel in multiplayer mode. Partly because Ansel requires freezing the game state, which doesn't play well with the realities of multiplayer gaming. But also because full camera freedom would absolutely be exploited in any PvP scenario almost immediately.

[Myrany]

ok let me start by saying I am a disabled player. Unfortunately my disability involves me have periods of time when my hands do not do what my brain tells them to do. There is no way the game can adapt to that. I just avoid group content when my hands are misbehaving or don't play at all when it gets that bad. I am fortunate that the spasticity is not 24/7 and I have periods where I can play as well as most players.

The suggestions for graphical options are good ones. I know several people who tried the game and left because of vision or photo-sensitivity issues.

The suggestion for more granularity in what buffs etc are being shown is also a good one. If you are playing with resolution shifted to enlarge things screen real estate is a valuable commodity and the ability to cut what is displayed down to only the necessary elements is a good thing.

Better text cues are probably a good idea for the deaf.

The thing is all of these things that are being discussed are changes to the game itself and would be options for ANYONE to use. There is no advantage being gained. Any player could choose to use them or not as they see fit.

(I hope I caught all the typos. Sorry if I missed some. Not having a good hands night so typing is interesting. This is too important a topic not to voice my opinion on)

[Packetdancer]

OP says "I would like to discuss the specific case of accessibly in FF14 that relates to banning or not 3rd party tools." which in my eyes equates to discussing if (certain) third party tools are okay to use if they grant accessebility. If I see this wrong, then I apologise.

I would say the better reading of it -- or at least, my own interpretation of it -- is "Currently, there are third-party tools which provide accessibility options the base game itself does not provide. A strictly literal reading of the TOS bans these accessiblity tools. If SQEX does not plan to enforce TOS against accessibility tools and instead plans to leave the responsibility for accessibility options in the hands of third parties, it would be nice to have some official reassurance on that front. And if the TOS will in fact be enforced against them, SQEX may need to look into to providing equivalent accessibility options themselves in the base game, such as..."

Followed by discussion of what sort of accessibility features would be good to have, were SQEX to in fact add them to the base game. More consistent audio cues, ability to customize the AoE marker color for better contrast in certain fights, etc.

[JanVanding]

Snip

That's the correct one.

None of us would be relying on outside sources for anything if the features were already in the game, I personally do not like using Third Party anything for a game due to the inability to trust that it's safe, supported and won't make my system suddenly go haywire. There's no guarantees even with something as small as a Reshader.

Now I also believe that a lot of folks need to break this illusion they have that SE is a perfect company, so they defend them on the most outrageous and egregious of things.

This is afterall, the same company that just sold off several of their developer studios to invest in NFTs

That are responsible for blatant cash grab Gatchas like Brave Exvius and everyone's' favourite internet meme, All the Bravest.

Profitability will always be top of the Agenda and it's incredibly clear it's all been about "Budget savings", even in times when the game has grown and generated more revenue than it ever has when it comes to basic stuff that quite frankly, should have been in the game years ago.

What's their excuse for lacklustre support for accessibility? They have the full suite in their modern games, why not here?

Why haven't they implemented simple features such as party list timers, larger hotbar cooldown timers? better debuff visibility? These are things that are standard in just about every MMO from WoW to ESO to even Lost Ark.

It's not like they are short on cash, that they can't implement these features

It's because they have clearly got this misconception that it was "Good enough" and players didn't need these features so they just didn't bother, saves developer time, saves resources.

They're basic things, they should be here in the base package of the game, people should not feel the need to even think of looking elsewhere.

The fact they aren't? It's a fundamental failure by the dev team and a fundamental failure by SE for not thinking about these basic systems years ago.

For everything the dev team does get right, this one sadly, they have gotten so very, very wrong. It's time we acknowledged that.