Can we talk about 3rd party tools and disability?

[Vahlnir]

I don't think ReShade is going to get you into trouble. You can use Nvidia Freestyle/whatever it's called now in it, and it needs approval from SE for it to work. You can add filters and effects, and kinda freecam there as well. If that's allowed.. doubt it's going to cause a problem with Reshade.

Might not be allowed regardless though, but they're pretty similar, and their purpose/way of using them are more or less the same.

In theory, AMD and Nvidia programs should be fine. But they did a poor job of specifying that. All we got was "Internet's too big and it's sooo hard to offer specifics, so we're just gonna ban everything".

[Jybril]

They made a pretty blanket announcement today, so I think that Reshade is potentially on the list of ban worthy programs. By their logic, my AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition is also not allowed, which is something baked into my PC and its drivers. So...I think more clarification is needed. I play primarily on console, but I definitely want to know more here.

This game looks like dated garbage without Reshade.
Please don't take this away from me.

[ManaEterna]

The color of the target's hit circle can be set by changing the nameplate color for engaged enemies.

I did not know this! Thank you very much for this information!

[Packetdancer]

I don't think ReShade is going to get you into trouble. You can use Nvidia Freestyle/whatever it's called now in it, and it needs approval from SE for it to work.

Minor correction: unlike its sibling Ansel (Nvidia's fancy photography/screenshot mode), Freestyle doesn't require approval or any code integration from a game's developer to work; it's part of the Nvidia driver, so it'll work anywhere. But Nvidia won't list the game on the "officially supported games" page for Freestyle on their website unless the developer has given the thumbs-up.

That said, they do list "Final Fantasy XIV Online" in the officially supported games list, so you're not wrong that at some point SQEX demonstrably approved of it.

[sagacious]

In theory, AMD and Nvidia programs should be fine. But they did a poor job of specifying that. All we got was "Internet's too big and it's sooo hard to offer specifics, so we're just gonna ban everything".

is discord a third party tool?

[Vahlnir]

is discord a third party tool?

I mean, yeah. lol But it is already its own thing anyway, so I'm not sure how they'd go about monitoring that.

[Ralphe2449]

If you are unable to play on the same level play field as everyone else then you are simply not able and shouldnt demand special treatment, it is unfair to all when a few are given special treatment.

Either all get it or no one gets it.

[Xirean]

If you are unable to play on the same level play field as everyone else then you are simply not able and shouldnt demand special treatment, it is unfair to all when a few are given special treatment.

Either all get it or no one gets it.

Right, so how do you feel about wheelchair ramps?

[sagacious]

I mean, yeah. lol But it is already its own thing anyway, so I'm not sure how they'd go about monitoring that.

So are you saying discord is against the tos and you could get banned for using it? if so every static is going to get banned and no one will do high end content spelling the extinction of the game.

[Packetdancer]

If you are unable to play on the same level play field as everyone else then you are simply not able and shouldnt demand special treatment, it is unfair to all when a few are given special treatment.

Either all get it or no one gets it.

You say "either all get it or no one gets it" like that's an argument against this thread, but people are kind of asking for all to get it. That's more or less the entire point of this thread: SQEX should not be relying on third-party mods which they themselves disallow as the accessibility plan for their game, and which only some people can use, but rather should add some accessibility options -- even just basic ones -- to the game itself, so that they're available to everyone.

(And available without breaking TOS.)

That said, I'd be curious how either of these proposed/requested accessibility features would give people an unfair benefit over other players. (Especially if these features were in the base game, and so you could turn them on yourself if you wanted.)

• A feature which audibly calls out things seen on screen for visually-impaired players, such as "Hesperos is casting Bloodrake..." (e.g., specifically calling out things like a cast bar which you can see on screen and read the text of, if you have average vision or better). It gives them no information a player without that feature wouldn't have, because you can see the castbar and clearly read what the cast is... but it makes the information that is there already accessible in another format.
• A feature which lets you change the color of ground AoEs, so that people who are colorblind (or, y'know, just tired of Phoinix's red-and-orange-and-yellow-with-some-extra-orange color scheme) can make the ground AoEs more visible. It gives them no information that isn't available to other players, the ones who don't need to use the color-correction; those folks can see the AoE already.

When doing design for accessibility in software, these are the sort of things you consider. Not things that make the game easier, because generally folks wanting accessibility options don't want the difficulty reduced, they just want the information that is there already presented in a format which they are capable of perceiving and/or interacting with.

Even if you think that it gives a significant gameplay advantage to have the castbar spoken aloud as well as visible, or in being able to change the AoE color to something that contrasts better for a given fight... if those options are added to the base game, hey, you can use them too!

And maybe, just maybe, if you're struggling with something to the point you think would be easier to perceive and process in a different format -- that it wouldn't just be the same information in a different form, but that it would make gameplay easier from your perspective and provide a meaningful advantage -- there's a chance you might be a bit colorblind, or your vision isn't as good as you thought it is, or whatever else. A chance that maybe the accessibility options would in fact be relevant to you as well.