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SOE being sued by the blind

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Comments

  • CaleveiraCaleveira Member Posts: 556
    Originally posted by mrw0lf

    Originally posted by Vagrant_Zero


    What happened to the good ol' days when they used to push blind people off cliffs?



     

    Thats disgusting, you should get your facts straight. They never pushed them off cliffs, they just told them they had a new blind dog for them, and them handed them a leash to a lemming.



     

    It's not like people with the IQ you both have would've been allowed to live long in Sparta either...

    Edit; I imagine Orlac would've been allowed to become the village idiot however.

    Just to make things clear...
    I speak for myself and no one else, unless i state otherwise mine is just an opinion. A fact is something that can be independently verified, you may challenge such but with proof. You have every right to disagree with me through sound argument, i believe in constructive debate, but baseless aggression will warrant an unkind response.

  • MMO_DoubterMMO_Doubter Member Posts: 5,056
    Originally posted by Athcear


    Crossword puzzles are pretty inaccessible to the blind.  Must newspapers now change?  Driving is difficult for those with impaired vision.  Is Ford to blame?  Deaf people can't get the full enjoyment of American Idol.  I have a busted knee and can't run, but I wouldn't expect that the Boston Marathon be altered to accommodate me.  Some things just can't be made fair.

    Remember the golfer who sued the PGA to be allowed to ride a cart, rather than have to walk the courses?

    That was ridiculous, and this is worse.

    People don't have a right to access to a form of entertainment. Period. Access to public services, yes. Access to a job (as long as they are capable of performing the job properly), yes.

    "" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2

  • MMO_DoubterMMO_Doubter Member Posts: 5,056
    Originally posted by Predator160


    This is kind of ridiculous, I feel bad for the blind but still...common it's a VIDEO GAME. How can you enjoy something that requires a sense that you don't have? You can't!
    This would be like if someone with no sense of taste sued McDonalds for not accomadating for them.

    Uh - McDonald's does accommodate those with no taste.

    "" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2

  • CaleveiraCaleveira Member Posts: 556
    Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

    Originally posted by Predator160


    This is kind of ridiculous, I feel bad for the blind but still...common it's a VIDEO GAME. How can you enjoy something that requires a sense that you don't have? You can't!
    This would be like if someone with no sense of taste sued McDonalds for not accomadating for them.

    Uh - McDonald's does accommodate those with no taste.



     

    This would explain WOW being used as a precedent for inclusiveness.

    Just to make things clear...
    I speak for myself and no one else, unless i state otherwise mine is just an opinion. A fact is something that can be independently verified, you may challenge such but with proof. You have every right to disagree with me through sound argument, i believe in constructive debate, but baseless aggression will warrant an unkind response.

  • Agricola1Agricola1 Member UncommonPosts: 4,977

    Maybe being visually impared helps to play SOE games, with sight difficulties you might not be able to see how bad the NGE suxs or tell that those gamers you've been grouping with and trying to get into their guild for the last 6 months are actually low level NPCs? The added advantage for $OE is that they can't find the cancel button as well as the rest of us. What I don't understand is why they don't just ask the lawyer to cancel the game for them? Would save a whole lot of aggravation going through the courts for money you won't get.

    Although John Smedley does seem to have that effect on gamers where they'd rather see him put in stocks and pelted with rotten fuit and vegtables and human excrement than just get over it (myself included).

    "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"

    CS Lewis

  • DeienDeien Member Posts: 121

    2 all of the Soe hater's go suck on WoW's balls or something stop really it's dumb now.  Soe yes they are not the best company but make better games then most out there Aion, lotr, WoW and etc....  Just cause you dislike them doesn't mean they suck or should go under. Now with that said.

     

    Really people are dumb and will sue for anything as long as they think it will bring them money.

  • RavZterzRavZterz Member UncommonPosts: 618
    Originally posted by CujoSWAoA


    I'm Legally Blind.
    Please don't assume "all" legally blind individuals are in "ka-hoots" with such a silly lawsuit.
    People are stupid, it doesn't matter how good parts of their bodies work or don't work.
    All people, are stupid.



     

    Your able to read these forums really well for a blind person.  I'm impressed.

    Make games you want to play.

    http://www.youtube.com/user/RavikAztar


  • GrrlGrrl Member UncommonPosts: 354
    Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

    Originally posted by TheHatter

    Touchy subject my ass. If I was the judge of the court, I would laugh at them all the way out the door.

    I would laugh very loudly though, just in case there was anyone nearby with impaired hearing.

     

    I can't hear you. Im hearing impaired.

  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,445

    You can always find a lawyer that will tell you that you have a case. If they actually only told people they had a case when they genuinely thought so they would not be able to afford a second home.

  • BizkitNLBizkitNL Member RarePosts: 2,546

    *Starts recording his character's journeys on Audio CD's"

    10 bucks on Ebay. Hubba hubba!

    Seriously though, what a joke.

    10
  • coffeecoffee Member Posts: 2,007

    Heres a small artical from 2 visualy impaired WoW players and the troublesadventures they have.

    http://www.wow.com/2009/07/06/visually-impaired-players-the-unseen-inhabitants-of-azeroth/#continued

    Next time I see crappy player I'll no longer just thinks he's 8 years old but maybe hes visualy impaired.

    image

  • VarnyVarny Member Posts: 765
    Originally posted by Deien


    2 all of the Soe hater's go suck on WoW's balls or something stop really it's dumb now.  Soe yes they are not the best company but make better games then most out there Aion, lotr, WoW and etc....  Just cause you dislike them doesn't mean they suck or should go under. Now with that said.
     
    Really people are dumb and will sue for anything as long as they think it will bring them money.

     

    Ruined Everquest

    Ruined Planetside

    Ruined SWG

    Ruined EQ2





    Why wouldn't anyone hate them?

     

  • Pcgamer81Pcgamer81 Member Posts: 186

    Mod friendly or not how the heck would they even play it. would the mod tell you move left or stop aggressive mob coming. the deaf i can see but the blind making lawsuit over mmo come on. i guess you have to be blind to know the heck they would play video game hehe pvp would be hard.

  • NeopsychNeopsych Member UncommonPosts: 324

    Varny - does the long past being funny SOE hating really not feel a little boring to you by now?

    EQ1 - broke new gorund and played a major part in estrablishing the whole damn genre that you now want to hate on for fun

    Vangaurd - SOE at least had the inclination to pick this dead attempt up and try to make it commercially viable - would be nice to see a little credit for this however the end result truened out

    SWG - yep, they well and truly borked this one up but thats a long tired set of threads

    EQ2 - fine game and a standard setter.

     

    As for blind people playing MMO's, Im all for it. They would be great for me to get my PvP rank up.

    To err is human....to play is divine

  • coffeecoffee Member Posts: 2,007
    Originally posted by Pcgamer81


    Mod friendly or not how the heck would they even play it. would the mod tell you move left or stop aggressive mob coming. the deaf i can see but the blind making lawsuit over mmo come on. i guess you have to be blind to know the heck they would play video game hehe pvp would be hard.



     

    I dont think we're dealing with people who are 100% blind, we're talking about people with very very poor depth perception, exterme colour blindness, very poor eye sight that canot be correct with lenses etc.

    When you get realy drunk in WoW the screen goes very blurry, imagine having to play like that and add to it some colour blindness, red looking likes greens etc and your part way there.

    image

  • RavenRaven Member UncommonPosts: 2,005

     Like many said, its a valid concern but one that really you cannot enforce by going to court its a VIDEO game, most MMOs are highly based on visual feedback, and even with the best UI for someone visually impaired there is no guarantee your gonna be able to enjoy the game or play it properly, because the game is not just all in the UI, you need a great deal of visual feedback for most things that if changed would affect everyone.

    image

  • Pcgamer81Pcgamer81 Member Posts: 186
    Originally posted by coffee

    Originally posted by Pcgamer81


    Mod friendly or not how the heck would they even play it. would the mod tell you move left or stop aggressive mob coming. the deaf i can see but the blind making lawsuit over mmo come on. i guess you have to be blind to know the heck they would play video game hehe pvp would be hard.



     

    I dont think we're dealing with people who are 100% blind, we're talking about people with very very poor depth perception, exterme colour blindness, very poor eye sight that canot be correct with lenses etc.

    When you get realy drunk in WoW the screen goes very blurry, imagine having to play like that and add to it some colour blindness, red looking likes greens etc and your part way there.



     

    i see what your saying now. but i know star wars galaxies can be modded. theres whole site with mods that don't break EULA. everquest and others not sure.

  • MMO_DoubterMMO_Doubter Member Posts: 5,056
    Originally posted by Scot


    You can always find a lawyer that will tell you that you have a case. If they actually only told people they had a case when they genuinely thought so they would not be able to afford a second home.

    LOL. So true.

    "" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2

  • Daffid011Daffid011 Member UncommonPosts: 7,945
    Originally posted by Astralglide


     I think that this is a good thing. This will force other game development companies to create open UI's (the suit claims that because of WoW's open UI, several 3rd party developers have come out with ease of access mods) which will lead to further development of new technologies and features.

     

    The lawsuit claims the games are not compliant with the current laws.  Creating an open UI doesn't resolve that.  It only creates the possibility that someone might volunteer to create a mod that makes a game compliant, which leaves the possibility that a mod like that never gets created.  It also puts the burden of compliance on the customers and not the business owners.

     

    Somehow I don't think mods will be the answer in a legal sense.  Practical maybe, but I don't think it will meet legal criteria.  

  • Daffid011Daffid011 Member UncommonPosts: 7,945
    Originally posted by Neopsych


    Varny - does the long past being funny SOE hating really not feel a little boring to you by now?
    EQ1 - broke new gorund and played a major part in estrablishing the whole damn genre that you now want to hate on for fun
    Vangaurd - SOE at least had the inclination to pick this dead attempt up and try to make it commercially viable - would be nice to see a little credit for this however the end result truened out
    SWG - yep, they well and truly borked this one up but thats a long tired set of threads
    EQ2 - fine game and a standard setter.
     
    As for blind people playing MMO's, Im all for it. They would be great for me to get my PvP rank up.

    Soe allowed the same exact mistakes in vangaurd to occur that microsoft allowed.  They never intended vanguard to be commercially viable.  If they did, they would have taken some control in  the project, which they did not.  It was a total failure on the part of 3 companies and now one should be praised for their role in Vanguard, no one.

    EQ1 certainly changed the day soe kicked brad out of soe.  There is a very distinct difference in the course of the game from that point.

    EQ2 set what standards?  For a game you think set so many standards, soe couldn't rip out, revamp their own designs and clone the features of other games fast enough.  What standards did the game set again, because I sure don't see them. 

    SWG - yeah.

     

     

  • PK4GoldPK4Gold Member UncommonPosts: 62

    Honestly , if you are "Visually impaired" and your main issue/problem in life is that you cant play video games, then you have it pretty damn good!

    This is clearly a money thing , just like suing  McDonalds for being a fatass.

    BTW no where in the article does it says the person is "blind" , he might be color blind for all we know.

     

  • svannsvann Member RarePosts: 2,230

    I was all set to make a post saying that the handicap laws do not apply to video games, but after some thought I think they might have a legal case.  I know there are laws saying that stores must make reasonable accomodation for the handicapped.  Whether those laws are generic enough to apply to a game business as well as the supermarket is up to the lawyers I guess.

  • CaleveiraCaleveira Member Posts: 556
    Originally posted by Scot


    You can always find a lawyer that will tell you that you have a case. If they actually only told people they had a case when they genuinely thought so they would not be able to afford a second home.



     

    So that's the reason i can't afford a second home. Always knew i was doing something wrong...

    And no, i don't think they have a case since it can be argued that videogames as a medium require capacity to interact with sensory input. And in the case of the visually impaired this would mostly come down to three areas; Contrast, brightness and other such adjustments which may be handled through the monitor, Resolution and effects which most games (including SOE's) do provide tools for adjusting, and a zoom feature which again, most games do provide for. It is this last area, as well as perhaps the ability to tweak all three together, where the plaintiff's case would lie, and while i can see how some configurations would require modifying some files it's not clear that the plaintiff has made such a case, specially since in the article quoted he requires visual aids such as arrows which would imply a general inability to navigate the game's environment. Furthermore, the plaintiff would need to prove he has made all reasonable efforts on his end to resolve the situation (SOE can't be blamed if the user has an obsolete rig or if he lacks the skills to tweak the game without breaking EULA) and that he has provided the company with every chance to comply with the law (which a few letters might not prove if, say SOE offers troubleshooting guides which might have been ignored or any other aids such as phone assistance).

    That this wasn't outright dismissed only shows judiciary ignorance on matters pertaining videogames. All games list their display resolution on the box, it was the plaintiff's obligation to procure himself with a large enough monitor so that he could play the game in any case, as it isn't SOE's responsability to provide him with such. Were this case to be won it would set a bad precedent for all visual media, including movie theaters and television. A law calling for unreasonable acomodation of such users (unlikely to be the case, i don't specialize in such matters) should be challenged by Sony on behalf of the industry.

    Just to make things clear...
    I speak for myself and no one else, unless i state otherwise mine is just an opinion. A fact is something that can be independently verified, you may challenge such but with proof. You have every right to disagree with me through sound argument, i believe in constructive debate, but baseless aggression will warrant an unkind response.

  • benmou13benmou13 Member Posts: 89

    this is a clear money thing its a stupidity court case and im surprised it actually went to court it should be settled with a backhand slap to the boys face.

  • Gammit100Gammit100 Member UncommonPosts: 439

     Lame

    MMO games played or tested: EQ, DAoC, Archlord, Auto Assault, CoH, CoV, EQ2, EVE, Guild Wars, Hellgate: London, Linneage II, LOTRO, MxO, Planetside, SWG, Sword of the New World, Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, WWIIOL, WOW, Age of Conan

    image
    image

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