Accessibility and Jumping Puzzles. Why Are We Still Doing This?

[Jeeqbit]

I'm sorry if it seemed like I was asking for the game to be made easier for everyone or for content to be taken away. I wasn't. I was just hoping to ask - gently - whether there could be ways to make certain experiences more accessible

I think everyone can understand what you're saying and why accessibility is important. I don't think you said it wrong at all. It's just that in many cases, accessibility can trivialize content - for example, if difficulty seeing something is part of the difficulty then making it easy to see for visual impairments could trivialize it for everyone else. Likewise, if moving and jumping is part of the difficulty then making a button that trivializes that somehow could trivialize it for everyone.

Fortunately, as the responses showed, the game is actually trivialized enough that there are already numerous workarounds that allow others to assist. Even in raid content you could, for example, use a /follow macro to trivialize some of the mechanics and avoid even needing to press movement keys, and then have someone rescue you into safe spots, etc.

Being made to feel even smaller, or like a burden, wasn't what I expected when I posted.

Although I can do things, I don't actually take it for granted. I know that a day may come where I can't do as many things. I'm already seeing the wear and tear on my body even. Bad knees from injuries while trying to keep fit. Damaged, scarred up muscle on the right of my back that may not ever be quite the same. At one point all these issues were so bad I wasn't sure I would be able to do raid content, and it was very painful farming SoS ex. Fortunately, I rested all day every day for a month after that and healed up.

But my mindset with that is I will find a way to do things if I can. And if I can't, then I just won't, or I'll watch others do it.

My point with this is, we all age and undergo wear and tear. And sometimes that may affect our ability to do certain things. And in some cases we are born with this so that we have these struggles from the start. But more than likely, all of us will eventually experience a limitation at something someday, so everyone will have their day feeling like this. And since it'll affect everyone in some form eventually, you don't need to feel small.

if some of the community can't be open to even hearing these kinds of experiences without judgment, then maybe it's better that I just quietly fade back into the background, like so many of us often do.

Everyone has mixed and varied opinions and perspectives. These opinions and perspectives are not always sober, given differing experiences and states of mind. When communicating on a worldwide forum with people from all over the world, there is a 100% chance to encounter all these different opinions and perspectives. I know it's hard to take them, but you get used to it when you debate a lot. It's just getting used to it initially.

[yesnt]

If everything was accessible to everyone, the game would lose all its charm. I constantly read about raiders who bully casual gamers because they are "too lazy to learn" and "skill issue lmao", "git gud". Do we really want to take away all of this wholesome joy, just so everyone can beat savage??

And now you are even coming for the jump puzzles? How am I supposed to feel superior when I can't even claim to be superior in this stale content niche. How am I supposed to compensate for the lack of real life achievements if I can't flex online with things nobody cares about.

Next thing I know you suddenly ask for housing for everyone without demolition. Suddenly EVERYONE could have a large house. Oh no...

[Volgia]

on a scale of 1 to 10 how was the tremor?-move mic to him-

It disconnected our healers so I'd say 8/10.

[Fynlar]

Some things/games simply won't be for everyone, disability or not. Just how it is. They aren't going to simplify/homogenize everything just to cater to everyone.

If you're really insistent on doing this and if all else fails, blow yourself up with BLU Self-Destruct and get someone with a Raise spell (someone who is able to do the jumps) to give you a lift.

Should you need to do it more than once, you can quickly queue into and immediately leave an unsynced duty to remove the 10m cooldown on being able to blow yourself up.

[cutestfox]

I just did this yesterday and the hitboxes are definitely off. You have to stand off of the end of some wooden posts (so you are floating) to make the jump to the next without hitting an invisible wall. It's pretty ganky, reminds me of Dark Souls, climbing down the inside of that giant tree in the blight town swamp.

The hitboxes are actually very accurate! It's unintuitive, but unlike raids and battle mechanics (where your "hitbox" is the actual pixel beneath your feet) your characters physical hitbox is equal to your self-targeting circle, and this is what messes people up
When doing jumping puzzles it's always worth targeting yourself to get a proper idea of the hitboxes at work

[Nero-Voidstails]

It disconnected our healers so I'd say 8/10.

holy cow did you still beat the savage? or it did the tremor destroyed everything

[JohnLakeside]

Some things aren't for everyone. I'd like to be able to dunk a basketball, but I can't because I'm short. But just like I can still enjoy playing basketball without being able to dunk, you can still enjoy playing FFXIV without being able to do the odd jump puzzle here and there.

I wouldn't want the basketball rim lowered just so short people like me can dunk. In the same vein, maybe you shouldn't want the game made easier.

I also don't think you should view yourself as lesser than people because of something in a video game.

[Anarnee]

I find it incredibly hard to believe you can do high end raids but not jumping puzzles

this post feels like bait

See... With raids I get better the more I do them.

With jumpl puzzles I get worst the more I do them.

I was doing savage raids up till ShB... but Kugane I gave up for years until a friend offered to rez me to the top. I don't feel like raids take even half as much precision as the jump puzzles. If I see leap of faith in the gold saucer I just nope on out of there.

[Mesarthim]

The title alone sounds poorly thought out. "Why are we still doing this?" makes it sound like people who do like this game's (albeit awful in controls) jumping puzzles shouldn't have them as an option. I can climb Kugane tower. I sometimes do it well, I sometimes suck and fall several times. I've NEVER been to the top of the summer tower but that doesn't mean they shouldn't exist for those that can.

Stop using accessibility as a crutch for everything, otherwise you imply things should be dumbed down that are not even combat based. Different things for different people, and those different things have different skillsets. Accessibility, disability, whatever the topic, you are not going to be good at everything. "I" am not good at everything.

[RenegadeInferno]

I can already imagine it, Kugane tower with a ramp.

Genuinely sorry, couldn't resist.

However, I will echo some sentiment that others have already said.
Not everything is for everyone.

There are many many things that I cannot do in this game for one reason or the next, however, I do not go moaning to the forums about it.

I'm lucky that I'm not restricted by any disabilities, and I can appreciate adding accessibility for QoL, so it makes the game easier for those that have difficulty.
Things like color blindness, UI scaling, sound and visual queues.

But I don't think the experience and difficulty of something like a jumping puzzle should be dampened because of that.

At one stage, Kugane tower was my white whale, it took me many months of attempts and then I sat down in one 6 hour session, and I did it.
Euphoria.

Was it demoralising? Yes. Did I give up on it? No.

Keep trying, it may be difficult, but it's not impossible.
Perseverance is key.