Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Disabled Fans Shut Out of Galaxies

Posted by Zonk on from the how-to-make-friends-and-influence-people dept.

Ant writes "Wired News' Game|Life reports on Nick Dupree, a disability rights activist and writer who is confined to a wheelchair with severely limited mobility. He used to use one thumb and an index finger to play MMORPG Star Wars: Galaxies. This limited mobility was more than adequate to play the game when it was a sandbox-style adventure, and he was a devotee of the game. With the New Game Enhancements, he is no longer able to play because of the reliance on keyboard/mouse combinations and the action-style combat." There really is nothing good to report on this game update.

5 of 387 comments (clear)

  1. one thumb and an index finger by craXORjack · · Score: 0, Troll

    Maybe he should try Star Wars:Pong

    --
    Liberals call everyone Nazis yet they are the closest thing to it.
  2. Forgive me, but... by ValiantSoul · · Score: 0, Troll

    Um...let me state two questions that everyone's thinking:
    Who the hell cares?!
    How is this /. news (or even news at all)?!

    Games are meant to be played with more than 2 fingers - except for pong maybe. The target audience is NOT people with use of two or less fingers!!!

  3. Re:It's all well and good one way by EtherealStrife · · Score: 0, Troll
    Unfortunately the individual in question is leeching off society already, fighting for more and more tax dollars going to his paralyzed posterior, and now he's whining about NOT BEING ABLE TO PLAY A GAME? How about he gets a job (I can program with one finger, and he's got a whole extra finger!), and THEN worries about playing games? Oh I'm sorry, I guess he's too busy to get a job, what with all that campaigning for further handouts.

    I realize I'm not being PC here, but enough is enough. It's bad enough that we're paying for all his living expenses and in-home nursing, now he wants video games tailored to him?

    I'd like to be able to simultaneously write a report, masturbate, and play Star Wars Galaxies. I'd also like to have sexual intercourse occasionally, but due to a genetic defect (Geekarheanerdititus) I am unable to do so. What about my needs/desires?

  4. The Free Software angle by Minna+Kirai · · Score: 0, Troll

    This incident illustrates another way the Free Software model protects the user. The situation is that a corporation has rented use of a program for a couple of years, and customers became accustomed to it's availability. But later, the corp decided (for reasons that will turn out to have been mistaken) that they no longer wanted to provide access to the software.

    Since the software is proprietary, it goes away when the developer loses interest, even though there may remain a strong customer base willing to financially support the older version.

    If SWG had been a Free Software project, then this would've never happened. Or, more realistically, if the developer had released their obseleted server code as Free Software (like idsoftware does with the Quake and Doom series 4 years after publication), then amateur servers offering "SWG Classic" would pop up, and all of this negative publicity would've been avoided.

  5. Re:It's all well and good one way by MrBandersnatch · · Score: 0, Troll

    I was tempted to just mod you down, instead I thought Id reply.

    Youre not being un-PC...youre just an idiot. Consider any geek credentials withdrawn; your lack of reading comprehension and understanding of just how a severe disability such as his (he requires a portable ventilator as well as only having 2 digit mobility) would prohibit him from entering a working environment (hint 1: no company would be able to justify the insurance premium hike) places YOU squarely in the WTF (http://thedailywtf.com/) coding category.

    To quote the article :- "Now the NGE has the mouse solely for combat and movement solely reserved for the WASD keys, no customization possible. So since left click is a basic attack and right click is a special, how do I move forward? Now I can't even walk my character to the starport."

    Please note what he is complaining about. That no customization is possible so he cant play the game that he used to be able to play. As a developer who has had to consider disability access in the past I know it isnt necessarily easy to do but with what is comparably little effort, access for those with disabilities can be vastly improved. It would have probably taken one coder under 2 weeks to have provided sufficient customization to the UI to have accommodated disabled access AND give additional options to others who dislike their control layout. Usability work on a UI usually benefits EVERYONE!

    Anyways, It isnt your genetic defect that prevents you having sexual intercourse. Its the fact that you are such a fucking worthless peace of shit that no woman in her right mind would give the time of fucking day to. But if you do ever successfully breed just consider for a moment what would happen if YOU had a child with a severe disability (god forbid, even for you I pray they are all healthy)...wouldnt YOU rather that the state/government had the heart to provide a sufficient level of care to ensure that your child lived as comfortable and satisfying life as was possible within the confines of their disability? Or would you rather watch your child slowly suffer and possibly die while you go bankrupt and your marriage disintegrates because youre worthless insurance provider tries everything and anything to minimize the amount of money they have to pay out in order to meet the letter of the contract?