It’s not really that amazing. I’m oversimplifying it but I just cracked the xbox controller open, hooked the pedals into some of the buttons, and glued it all to a piece of plywood.
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@TiaPriestess: Are you using double monitors? I don’t have any kind of focus-stealing problem on a single monitor windowed fullscreen; my task bar doesn’t pop up or anything that would interfere with smooth mouse movement, and it’s possible to block most to all pop-up events. I’m wondering if this aspect is fixable with minor changes.
I’m guessing Bartender was what you tried to shift the action bars to the left. It can definitely be fussy, and if not set for the actions to be locked in place, a nightmare as you accidentally drag skills out of their slots when clicking. What was it doing in combat?
I don’t suppose you have a screenshot of your old UI?
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Way more MacGuyver than I’ll ever be!
I don’t see anything out of my left eye unless my right eye is closed or something is blocking it. Because of this I have a very poor sense of depth perception, on top of my left eye being so bad my brain thinks it’s better to just ignore it.
There’s plenty of alliance around. I heard it’s a handicapped faction
I have arthritis in both hands, the worst is the left. I can’t use my left thumb at all without severely pinching nerves resulting is massive pain.
I use a Naga mouse with 12 buttons and lots of keybinds - right hand.
I also have fibromyalgia which can effect ones ability to coordinate - hit the proper keys in the proper rotation, so while I tell the brain to hit button 1 it may hit 0 or 12 or who knows what, on occasion. Any type of stress really sets it off so no dungeons or raids. One can also end up with “brain fog” which basically means that under pressure you go blank. You just sit there and stare at the screen trying in vain to remember what you are supposed to do.
I have other issues as well but they don’t effect my game play, only the above ones cause game playing problems.
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Thank you all for sharing your stories. It was hard for me to write this post as I am really shy and have a hard time communicating with people. I also have anxiety and depression and ptsd. I got those from a previous marriage due to abuse. I look at life very positively these days because I just want to be me and even though life has been very hard for me I keep going because I feel like I have a lot to offer.
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I have arthritis, spinal weirdness that makes my extremities go numb, and fibromyalgia. But since everything hurts, eh, might as well hurt playing WoW.
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No tests are a reliable way to screen for autism/Asperger’s Syndrome. You get a diagnosis mostly by having others observe you. There are LOTS of disabilities they can’t test for yet.
Autism is super tricky because it is a spectrum disorder so you can have a guy who gets along pretty well but sleeps under a weighted blanket and has obsessive hobbies but you ALSO have a guy who bangs his head on walls and bites people and can’t talk and we call them both autistic. But one looks like a difference and the other looks like a disability. That makes it hard to talk about.
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Epilepsy doesn’t count as a physical disability does it?
I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. And while most would just think, “So? Arthritis. Not a big deal,” it’s actually quite debilitating.
Most don’t understand the difference between Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid. For those that don’t, it can deform joints permanently and the disability can lead to an earlier death. It starts in the smaller joints usually and then just destroys from there.
My hands and wrists and toes and ankles are my disability. I can no longer hold pens. I have no strength in my hands. Some days, I can’t use them at all.
I still work a crap ton and do as best I can. Driving I’m okay as long as I still have use of one hand. Memory foam sandals are my best friend.
Dispatch gets tricky with typing some days, but I’ve found some great therapy gloves and wrist supports to help.
But my ability to game like I used to is shot. I still do it. Just can’t as often or as well as I used to. I’d still raid if my guild had interest. But we do low level M+ keys and I’m fine to do those some days. Healing is always easier for me. Healbot makes it so that I can quickly and easily use my mouse in a smaller area to heal with the hand that’s not as bad yet.
It takes some creativity, but I don’t think I will ever stop gaming. ![:slightly_smiling_face:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/slightly_smiling_face.png?v=6" ":slightly_smiling_face:")
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Due to an autoimmune condition I have some arthritis in my wrists and knuckles that can make gaming hurt a fair bit. I also don’t have great coordination and perhaps my reaction time could be better, but for the most part I can play WoW okay. Probably not top dps, but I’m happy being middling to good.
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The problems you have mentioned sound almost exactly like me. Fibromyalgia, nerve damage from surgery, degenerative disc disease, neuropathy and the almost certain depression and social anxiety that goes with it are hard to play with.
I am blessed with a great guild that has been patient with me and helpful when I have trouble with certain mechanics so I have been able to raid. I do feel like a burden at times but I try really hard and try to make up for it by bringing raid food and stuff as often as I can.
Gaming in WOW has helped my depression a lot so keep trying, it might help you as well. Good luck!!!
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This comment made me smile. I hope I can find a guild that will be as kind as yours that accepts me with my limitations.
Thank you!
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We have a player in our guild now with mid-stage MS who can’t play well, but plays enthusiastically and my GF lost the use of a hand and most of the use of a leg from a stroke and plays well despite that.
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I’ve got rheumatoid arthritis, some days my body is less cooperative than others, but overall I’ve found plenty ways to play just fine. I use a trackball mouse as I find that better on my hand. I also use the steam controller sometimes when I just want to goof around and do old raids etc, I’ve found the steam controller can be used just fine for up to normal raiding. I also use a laptop as I find the keys softer and requires less pressure to push, which is great for achy arthritis fingers!
My wrists are too stiff to do some of the mouse turning needed for certain things, but with the trackball I more or less get to do what I want in game - except for some achievements such as “Goodness Gracious” from WoD.
Overall though as far as disabilities and gaming go, if you or someone you know have a disability that don’t let them play games with easy to get accommodations then check out able gamers! https://ablegamers.org/
There’s a set-up out there that can let anyone game, no matter the challenge ![:blush:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/blush.png?v=6" ":blush:")
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Seeing a lot of stroke-related posts here and I just wanted to throw this out: if you suspect someone is having a stroke, use BEFAST!
B: balance
E: eyes (vision loss)
F: face (uneven smile)
A: arms (is one of them weak)
S: speech (slurred)
T: Time! Time lost is brain lost!!!
If ANY of the above seems off to you, call 911.
Please OVERREACT if you think someone is having a stroke, including yourself! It’s better to be wrong at the hospital than right at home.
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No. I use a single monitor (46" Samsung TV actually, as my eyesight doesn’t do well with smaller displays anymore). The focus steal can come from quite a few things, such as the Dock (I’m in OS X), Notifications (either platform), or another app or background daemon temporarily grabbing focus. The point is without exclusive fullscreen, we can’t prevent the focus steal, and invariably mouse control is fubared for me, and that’s on top of the software I need relying on EFS for proper hooking in games. Otherwise, when focus is stolen it reverts to the curve I use for OS-wide mouse navigation, which is different from the more fine tuned acceleration curve needed for WoW and clicking the abilities without constant over or undershooting of my intended click target.
I avoid Bartender like the plague. It’s flexible, but it has conflicts with too many addons. I used MoveAnything, which I only needed previously for buffs and things like the class hall icon and the quest tracker (moved buffs to the left of the top of the right side action bars and the tracker to the left side of the screen so I could read them without having to turn my head as I’m blind in my right eye).
https://imgur.com/yNjkpu4
Notice the location of the tracker. Also notice that the most frequently used abilities are all clustered toward the leftmost buttons. I purposely had everything tilted toward hard left usage due to having only one usable eye.
The focus and loss of EFS issues are paramount though. Regardless of addons, without a steady and reliable acceleration curve, I can’t overcome my right arm’s problems, which are spasms and lesser fine motor control vs. my left arm.
Here’s the text of a post I made last year before the forum changeover detailing the issues I have:
Begin post quote
Not for my specific needs, there isn’t. Believe me, I’ve tried.
For reference, my right arm is as follows:
-
The Radius bone sticks out at elbow. It is also curved more than normal. I cannot change this.
-
The Ulna bone is rotated at a near 90 degree angle, necessitating my arm to be at an angle equivalant to 8 o’clock moving toward 12 o’clock from the elbow, while coming from the right side instead of straight up.
-
#1 and #2 force me to hold a controller at lap level to maintain playability without severe pain or risking RSI. Because both hands are taken, I can only use the keyboard superficially, occasionally hitting spacebar to jump, which requires me to move my hand from my leg to the keyboard (1.5-2 feet distance). This is while using my right hand to maneuver the mouse for clicking abilities and the occasional hard (fast) turns.
-
For general movement I’m typically combining the left analog stick with the mouse for fine grained turning. I can’t click abilities when utilizing both for this purpose. It’s a necessary tradeoff for my physical condition.
-
I’m blind in my right eye and nearsighted in my left. I’m also deaf in my right ear. The lack of right side sight means I cluster what I can outside of the base UI into as compact a space for each set of items as possible.
End post quote
And here’s a description of my arm’s issues from another post:
Hold your left arm straight out to the side and flex your muscles (like a bodybuilder showoff might). Done properly, your hand will be angled toward your head completing a “C” shape along a fairly straight line.
Now, my right arm? If I do that, my hand, when at the same angle, is pointing in front of me, not toward my head. Think of it as a “[” with the top leg rotated at a 90 degree angle.
With both hands free I can do most things others can do, making adjustments for pushing/pulling objects such that I don’t strain the right arm too much or break the forearm from excessive pressure. But once my hands have to do many things like in WoW, it gets much trickier.
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I really wish the colorblind options weren’t worthless
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I have pretty severe Meniere’s disease (my balance is toast and I have non-stop vertigo) and can’t turn quickly in game without falling out of my chair.
Needless to say, I only play ranged classes and always stay way back in dungeons and raids so I don’t have to move my POV. Still, I make it work most of the time.
And WOW is amazing since when I can’t leave the house, it still lets me get some social interaction.
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