Rather amusingly, I started to write some answers to this questionaire friday morning when i got it through the entombed list, but had to run off to catch a train before completing it so i'll do it here.
1: If you don't mind sharing, what is the nature of your disability
and how does it effect your ability to play board games/RPGs/video
games?
I was born with congenital Glaucoma and catteracts which were removed at birth, however this removal along with other operations caused extensive ocula damage to both eyes. Then, at the age of 7 I had a massive expulsive hemmerage in my right eye leaving me with only a small amount of vision in my left eye, enough to see colour and light and dark at close range.
I have always played computer games and standard board games, ---- beginning with an atari 2600 at the age of 4. sinse I cannot read in game text, this limits me from playing many game types such as rpgs and stratogy games, however i have had success playing a variety of 2D action games (particularly of the 16 bit era), especially exploration platformers such as metroid, Turrican or mega man as well as beat em ups and occasionally puzle games through a combination of using highlighting in text and memory to understand menue structure, occasionally with recourse to faqs, game scripts or other internet resources (some games would be unplayable without these).
with the release of the ps1 however, this situation changed, sinse 3D games are too spacially complex for me to comprehend, thus reducing the number of computer games I could play exponentially.
I have however continued to collect playable computer games for the Snes, Mega drive (genesis), and more recently the gameboy advanced using the gamecube gameboy player adapter.
In 2001, I discovered online text games and brouser rpgs which I could play with my screen reading software, and later in 2004, was introduced to specifically designed audio games which use sound as the only output.
I have played various standard boardgames such as monopoly, chess and conventional card games using either braille cards or pieces and cards which could be braille labeled, and more recently computerized versions, though due to my poor ability to understand spacial relations more complex war stratogy board games would probably not be something i would seak out.
In terms of tabletop rp, I played d&d for a short amount of time before going to university. Though I've wanted to take this up again, due to it's high accessibility and the fact that rpgs are my favourite style of game, i have only done so comparatively recently in the last few years, through a group i was introduced to by a mutual friend.
i now play Mutants and masterminds each Saturday, pluss have met friends for one off sessions as well.
2. How long have you been gaming?
I have bene Playing brailled or adapted standard card and board games from before i can remember, probably as young as two or three, (sinse my mum is also registered blind, adaptation such as high contrast or tactile signals pluss brailling of important text was always easy).
I began playing video games at the age of four on an atari 2600 console.
I started playing interactive fiction, online brouser based games and other textual games in 2001 on a laptop at university, then in 2006 I was inttroduced to audio based computer games as well.
i first engaged in tabletop rp at the age of 18 just before I went to uni. Though i wished to take this up again, I wasn't able to until a couple of years ago when I was 25, ---- though mostly this was due to time constraints.
3. For comparison, how long have you been disabled?
My condition is congenital, and was made more serious by birth complications so I have always had limited vision, ---- registered as blind in the Uk, and a braille user.
However, i lost a large amount of vision due to an expulsive hemmerage in my right eye when i was 7.
I am currently 28 years old.
4. How have others reacted to your disability at the game table...
A: with your regular group?
My regular group were met through a mutual friend and thus were people I'd met previously before gaming with them.
they have thus been extremely accepting of access measures such as me using a laptop both to record my character sheet and use an electronic dice roller, and were quite happy to read appropriate rules sinse when i originally started playing with them I didn't have a readable copy of the mutants and masterminds rulebook.
the same has been true in other one off sessions I've played with mutual friends as well.
B: in game store/game convention setting with strangers?
I've never actually attended one of these, sinse I bought my rp books online and met my group through mutual friends, however sinse my brother (who is registered partially sited), is a well known international standard ccg player and regularly attends conventions I do not envisage a problem.
5. Do you play with other disabled gamers regularly?
One of the members of our rp group has a mental illness and is thus officially registered as diabled in Britain, however this has litle effect on the actual game other than her occasionally missing sessions.
I do not play regularly with any other disabled gamers, however I do interact extensively online, through playing audio games, brouser games or muds, and sinse I work for www.audiogames.net and also moderate the discussion list for entombed, the first ever audio rpg.
I also regularly try out new brouser or indi games or other materials and work with developers regarding access changes.
6. Briefly describe your most difficult experience in regards to
gaming with a disability.
I think certainly the most upsetting experience I had was my attempt to play mario 64. though i longed to play complex rpg games with plot and story, I did do fairly well playing 2d games, and thus could participate in the anticipation of newly released titles such as Donkey kong Country, Versions of street fighter 2, killer instinct or Marrio all stars.
In mario 64 however, i found a game which was totally unplayable and signified the point when I could no longer have much chance of playing the latest releases and the rapid decline in the number of games I could play.
7. Briefly describe your best experience in regards to gaming with a
disability.
While I have had some very positive experiences in general tabletop rp, probably the most positive gaming experience I have had was to do with the mega man zero series on the gba.
I had previously played and greatly enjoyed the Snes mega man offerings like Mega man x, and one of the chief reasons I wanted a gba player for the gamecube was to try the new zero series.
Not only were these some of the hardest games in the mega man series, but they also boardered on rpgs with extensive character dialogue, a massive selection of in game items and even levellable weapons.
yet, sinse the items' location was fixed and not randomized, and the in game screens and icons were easy to learn even without reading the text, I was able to anotate several faqs and a game script, and thus successfully finished zero 1-3.
this also gave me the chance to participate in the on going story of the series, which was a fantastic experience and much what I have wanted from an rpg.
8. What types of games do you like to play most? Least?
Generaly the feature I enjoy best in a game is exploration and story. The exploration can be of a physical space, or can be a matter of seeing a new enemy per level. Obviously the prime genre for this experience would be rpgs, but I've had many hours of fun getting a similar experience from other games, ---- particularly 2D platformers, or tabletop rp games with a deep back story.
Even arcade style games I play primarily for their atmosphere and for what I can experience in terms of different levels and places, rather than just to wrack up score.
sinse I am not interested in competition, games which focus purely on this aspect do not interest me.
These include sports games, sports management games, and also that catagory of brouser based rpgs eintended only for multiplayer pvp, pluss certain sorts of stratogy games.
9. What methods have you found work best for adapting games to
your disability?
Tabletop rp games are quite playable given a laptop to write a character sheet and dice rolling program, ---- pluss possibly a copy of the rules in a screen reader firendly format.
for games which are screen reader compatible such as brouser based games or occasionally other programs (such as the neils bauer smugglers series), it is important to have representations of graphical information in a format a screen reader can access, ---- eg, labled images.
for playing graphical games, firstly the games elements and contrast have to be distinguishable by having a good contrast and spacial relations which are not too complex. Then, sinse the text isn't readable there has to be another option, for instance a game script or menue description readable with a screen reader, or an audio user interface as an alternative though this has only happened in a couple of independently developed games.
where some interface element such as a map or cards is needed (as is the case ins ome online gamebooks), an alternative might also be helpful.
10. Are there specific games that you find easier to adapt?
Harder?
the less text a graphical game has, and the better contrast it's characters, the more easily playable it is.
by contrast, for brouser based or other games which rely upon screen reader use, more text which is readable with a screen reading program and less reliance on for instance a graphical map is best.
the same goes for providing textual versions of tabletop rpg rule books.
11. What do you enjoy doing when not gaming?
When not gaming, ---- or writing about gaming on mailing lists, forums etc, I read extensively mostly in audio, pluss watch films and series on dvd (sometimes with audio description though usually without). I also have a keen interest in performance and light opera, and thus perform on stage on a regular basis, ---- pluss practice extensively.
I am also currently writing a phd thesis on disability as well.
12. What message would you like to give to other gamers regarding
playing with disabled persons?
the more accessible a game, the less the gap in effort required for a disabled person to play,a nd thus the more the disability can be completely forgotten about.
this is true of many tabletop rpg games.
However by contrast, even when access aides are in place, the disabled person might have to expend more effort in playing a game, eg, taking more time to read through a pack of braille cards than a sighted person would visually.
On the occasions when this comes up, it should be taken into account in the rules, ---- eg, allowing a disabled player more time to look at his/her cards, however equally it should not be thought of as creating a difference in thought, outlook or motivation.
whatever adaptations are in place, and whatever effort the disabled person needs to expend, they are stil ultimately there for the same reason as everyone else, ---- recreation!
13. What message would you like to give to disabled persons about
gaming?
It is not true that all games are accessible, nor is it true that all games are inaccessible.
Therefore, do not allow your disability to completely influence what games you play or how you play them, ---- eg, only playing with other disabled people, however do not completely disregard your disability and assume every game is or should be playable.
if a certain game you wish to play can not be adapted, first try to adapt it, then move on and seak a similar experience in another game.
14. Is there anything else you would like to add?
Methinks my extensive verbage will cause this answer to collapse into a singularity if I do.
15. Would you be willing to have your answers re-posted on my
web site? If so, do you want a name/username associated with
them, or would you prefer to be kept anonymous?
Well, sinse I'm already posting them on the forum at audiogames.net, it'd be a bit late to keep them anonymous.
Generally online I'm known as Dark, however my real name is Luke hewitt.
Pick either or both, ---- however I would suggest that if you wish to include my real name you also include the username dark, sinse it's more commonly what I use online and thus would probably be more recognizable.
I understand that your privacy is important and will only reproduce
With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)
