[games_access] MMOG Topics for Terra Nova?

[d. michelle hinn]

Thanks Tim and Barrie! I'll gather together a post that covers your 
ideas (and, no, Tim...you aren't crazy!). I have a whole bunch of 
posts ready to go and I think I'm just going to overload the TN 
crowd. I like how one person assumed that I was wholesale rallying 
AGAINST the industry -- yes, in part...but only because I want people 
INCLUDED and not the usual "let's shut down the industry" rants.

And I'd like to welcome Mike from AbleGamers to our list! It's great 
to have a MMOG group joining in! Mike -- please let us know some of 
the exciting things that you are up to. We're not a huge group but we 
are loud and passionate. Sometimes we argue but we all are on the 
same side -- what family doesn't have it's spats now and again? :)

Michelle

>Excellent post, Tim. I think you've covered most of it there.
>
>I think it's worth posting up some information on 
>http://www.ablegamers.com/ - as they are particullarly into 
>Massively Multiplayer On-line Role Playing Games (MMORPG's). They 
>aren't huge, but they seem a good bunch.
>
>Bit more on them here: http://ablegamers.com/content/view/16/66/
>
>I think that the partitioning idea may be essential for some gamers 
>where they can play according to ability. I remember going to 
>MegaZone 
>(http://www.rayleighmegazone.co.uk/index.php?page=gallery&sub=picsub) 
>where you wear a special flak jacket and carry a laser gun in a 
>warehouse full of dry ice. My friends and I were obiliterated by 
>'hard-core gamers'. I.e. some pathetic geeky kids that probably 
>spent all their spare time playing this game. We'd have had much 
>more fun if they'd had their seperate gaming arena - and us - 
>less-able - gamers our own. Can't see any problem at all in that for 
>MMORPGs either.
>
>Anyway, my witterings done - keep chipping away. Perhaps we really 
>do need to reassure the insecure hard-core gamers with 
>12-year-old-boy mentality that they can still keep their zen-master 
>settings and gameplay alongside others being able to play their game 
>too.
>
>Barrie
>www.OneSwitch.org.uk
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Tim Chase" <agdev at thechases.com>
>To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
>Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2007 1:36 AM
>Subject: Re: [games_access] MMOG Topics for Terra Nova?
>
>>>I have LOTS of ideas for posts but I don't think that they
>>>will be received well by the Terra Nova crowd -- if anyone
>>>can help me think through how to post about a particular
>>>topic, even if it's only very narrowly related, I'd
>>>appreciate it!
>>
>>In these forums (forae?) at TN and on other popular gaming
>>boards, I repeatedly see a couple issues thrown in the face
>>of efforts here:
>>
>>1) adding accessibility features "dumbs down" the game
>>removing the fun/challenge for the hard-core gamers;
>>
>>2) equating the accomodation of all disabilities with
>>accomodating even *some* disabilities; and
>>
>>3) the difficulty of adding certain accessibility features
>>to MMOG worlds
>>
>>Yes, it's hard to be all things to all people without it
>>dominating the design of the game--an aspect that may churn
>>the stomach of even the most socially-minded game designer.
>>However, even small advances on any of these fronts may make
>>significant headway for accessibility in gaming.
>>
>>For #1, there are repeated themes of how *certain* features
>>added for accessibility benefit all gamers.  Things like
>>remappable controls or [CC] are often mentioned.  Also, a
>>variety of difficulty levels, though not mentioned quite as
>>much, offer entry points for the casual gamer, but allow for
>>deeper challenges for the "industrial-strength" gamer.
>>
>>Just because a game offers remappable controls doesn't mean
>>hard-core gamers are going to be impared by it.  Just
>>because someone can turn on [CC] and play with the audio off
>>while their wife/kids are sleeping, doesn't mean they have
>>some advantage over other folks.  And if a hard-core gamer
>>finds the "easy" level too easy, well, that's their own dumb
>>fault and they should crank up the difficulty.
>>
>>Requiring less complex controls (whether as drastic as
>>one-switch or simply cutting back on the 20-buttons, 2
>>D-pads, 2 analog sticks, and 6 DoF gyro controls) makes the
>>game more accessibile not just to folks with mobility
>>problems, but to casual gamers in general.  Cell-phone games
>>and one-switch games seem to be made for each other and for
>>marketing to the casual gamer.
>>
>>With #2, I think it would be helpful to enhance our
>>suggestions/top-10 list with annotations regarding the
>>difficulty to implement such a feature, how it impacts game
>>design, and how it helps reach a larger demographic (and how
>>large that market-increase is).  The idea of creating a game
>>for the Who's _Tommy_ scares a lot of folks.  When we
>>mention the word "accessibility", folks see a
>>black-and-white world in which a game is either
>>inaccessibile, or the "deaf, dumb, and blind kid [that] sure
>>plays a mean pinball" can play it.  Perhaps clarifying that
>>there's a gradient of accessibility would soften our
>>message.  While, yes, it would be great to make games that
>>Tommy can play against the hard-core gamer where they're
>>both on an equal footing, there's also a range of less
>>drastic measures that game designers can incorporate that
>>allow them to retain freedom of design while still
>>increasing their audience.
>>
>>The third item is one of the hardest and something that's
>>not been discussed quite so much on the list.  A number of
>>features for accessibility come at odds with these worlds,
>>often because they mirror the same barriers that the real
>>world presents.  Some of the items in our top-10 are
>>difficult if not impossible to implement in such a world:
>>
>>- slowing the game down like bullet-time impacts the whole
>>  world, or
>>- giving everybody access to auto-aiming reduces the
>>  challenge for those crazy hard-core gamers, and unlevels
>>  some of the playing field
>>- adding [CC] becomes more difficult because there's not
>>  just a pre-scripted set of lines that the audio department
>>  records, but you have live voice-chat that doesn't [CC]
>>  easily
>>- a broad range of difficulties is hard to implement when
>>  the hard-core gamers are in the same world as those that
>>  need easier challenges
>>
>>Theoretically, one could use voice recognition software to
>>do dynamic [CC] of voice-chat, but voice recognition
>>software still has a long way to go, and sucks up a lot of
>>processor time/power from games that may want it.
>>
>>I understand that some MMOGs have a partitioned world in
>>which the newbies (and those that need the "easy" setting)
>>can gain their footing.  This is an elegant solution to the
>>problem, that players can stay in such a world as long as
>>they want/need, and venture into harder partitions as their
>>skills grow or as they need more difficulty.
>>
>>Perhaps a way to address some of the disparity in the world
>>is to make it publicly known which settings a person is
>>using and perhaps partition players by assistive
>>technologies; or reduce assistance as the player levels-up.
>>Or newbie players in the sandbox world may have very sloppy
>>aiming where auto-assist helps them.  However, as they level
>>up, or adventure into more challenging sectors of the
>>universe, the auto-assist features start dialing back.  This
>>could allow a player that needs assistive features to still
>>play, but also allow the hard-core gamers to get their fix
>>of difficulty.
>>
>>Anyways, if you've read this far and haven't written me off
>>as a loonie yet, thanks for playing the audience to my
>>long-winded ramblings.  Michelle, I don't know if any of
>>this is helpful fodder for future postings, but it's mostly
>>a brain-dump of my reactions to some of these myths and
>>mis-impressions I see on such gaming boards when the topic
>>of accessibility comes up.
>>
>>-tim
>>
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