EA's Jedi Survivor extremely difficult to access for lefties and people with a disability.

[Stonedog]

I held off installing Jedi Survivor until now because of the abysmal state of the game at launch. However I gave it a go last night, and crashed face first into an issue that makes the game *unplayable*.

 

I am left handed. 

 

I've had to rebind the keys on every 1st and 3rd person game I've played in the last 25 years. I use the mouse with my left hand, and the cursor keys to control movement. 

 

In Jedi Survivor these keys are locked for use by the UI.

 

I rage Googled, and discovered dozens of comments on the Steam and EA forums from left handers, people with disabilities, and even right handers who just don't want to use WASD. 

Solutions included editing game files, downloading autohotkey etc. 

 

But the core issue is that this has been ongoing since April. And it's not fixed.

[LAwLz]

I think it is a very big stretch to say you are being discriminated against just because a game doesn't allow you to change the controls in a particular way. I don't like when people stretch the definition of words because it makes them lose their meaning. By categorizing minor annoyances as "discrimination" you are in a way making fun of people who have suffered more severe discrimination. 

 

This seems like a big oversight on the developer's part though. If it's been this way for so long, and people have voiced their opinions about it without any fix in sight then I think it would be best for you to use one of the several workarounds suggested. If you don't want that, then refunding the game and not playing it until the issue is fixed is your best bet.

[PDifolco]

5 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

I think it is a very big stretch to say you are being discriminated against just because a game doesn't allow you to change the controls in a particular way. I don't like when people stretch the definition of words because it makes them lose their meaning. By categorizing minor annoyances as "discrimination" you are in a way making fun of people who have suffered more severe discrimination. 

 

This seems like a big oversight on the developer's part though. If it's been this way for so long, and people have voiced their opinions about it without any fix in sight then I think it would be best for you to use one of the several workarounds suggested. If you don't want that, then refunding the game and not playing it until the issue is fixed is your best bet.

Kinda agree

And then why isn't then even keyboards for left handed persons in the first place, rather than forcing them to rebind keys ?

Blame the manufacturers

[Stonedog]

14 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

I think it is a very big stretch to say you are being discriminated against just because a game doesn't allow you to change the controls in a particular way. I don't like when people stretch the definition of words because it makes them lose their meaning. By categorizing minor annoyances as "discrimination" you are in a way making fun of people who have suffered more severe discrimination. 

 

This seems like a big oversight on the developer's part though. If it's been this way for so long, and people have voiced their opinions about it without any fix in sight then I think it would be best for you to use one of the several workarounds suggested. If you don't want that, then refunding the game and not playing it until the issue is fixed is your best bet.

It is *absolutely* discrimination if, after learning about the issue, which has a fundamental impact on the ability of some players to interact with the game, they do nothing about it.

 

Assuming you are right handed here, have you tried playing a game as a lefty? 

I don't think you get to say what is and isn't discrimination based on your perception of its severity. 

 

Why should I have to edit game files or download 3rd party software to access a game? 

[WereCat]

Have you tried editing the game config files? 

[Stonedog]

13 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Kinda agree

And then why isn't then even keyboards for left handed persons in the first place, rather than forcing them to rebind keys ?

Blame the manufacturers

I mean, not sure what a lefty keyboard would look like. The issue is more that somebody didn't imagine a situation where somebody wouldn't be able to use WASD.... yet when it was brought to their attention,  they did nothing about it.

[Vishera]

It's pissing me off when people exaggerate things like that and portray things like that as if they were done maliciously.

 

A lot of developers don't think about those sort of things, also it's just not a priority for developers,

It takes time and money and the studio may not have the time or money to make it happen.

[Stonedog]

1 minute ago, WereCat said:

Have you tried editing the game config files? 

This is one of the possible workarounds. But as soon as the game files need verified, my fix gets deleted. And why should I have to edit game files or download 3rd party software to access this game? I'm left handed. 10-15% of people are in the same boat. 

[IkeaGnome]

This is satire, right?

[Stonedog]

1 minute ago, Vishera said:

It's pissing me off when people exaggerate things like that and portray things like that as if they were done maliciously.

 

A lot of developers don't think about those sort of things, also it's just not a priority for developers,

It takes time and money and the studio may not have the time or money to make it happen.

The issue is that it hasn't been fixed. 1. It was a careless oversight. 2. *months* later, with full understanding of the impact it has on a group of players, EA have not fixed it.

[Stonedog]

1 minute ago, IkeaGnome said:

This is satire, right?

Swap your mouse to your other hand and play a game.

[PDifolco]

5 minutes ago, Stonedog said:

I mean, not sure what a lefty keyboard would look like. The issue is more that somebody didn't imagine a situation where somebody wouldn't be able to use WASD.... yet when it was brought to their attention,  they did nothing about it.

You tell me what a lefty needs

But why is WASD hard to access for you ? I mean you can use your right hand for them as we righties use our left ?

 

[John Reactor]

@Stonedog Maybe you should consider remaping key outside the game. In system or with key remaper?
https://www.howtogeek.com/710290/how-to-remap-any-key-or-shortcut-on-windows-10/

[Vishera]

6 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

You tell me what a lefty needs

But why is WASD hard to access for you ? I mean you can use your right hand for them as we righties use our left ?

 

NUMPAD should also work.

[WereCat]

12 minutes ago, Stonedog said:

This is one of the possible workarounds. But as soon as the game files need verified, my fix gets deleted. And why should I have to edit game files or download 3rd party software to access this game? I'm left handed. 10-15% of people are in the same boat. 

Then set the file to read only after you change the settings

[Stonedog]

32 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

You tell me what a lefty needs

But why is WASD hard to access for you ? I mean you can use your right hand for them as we righties use our left ?

 

Hey, so if I use WASD then my keyboard is way over to the right? Not sure it's the most ergonomic of solutions

[Holmes108]

1 hour ago, LAwLz said:

I think it is a very big stretch to say you are being discriminated against just because a game doesn't allow you to change the controls in a particular way. I don't like when people stretch the definition of words because it makes them lose their meaning. By categorizing minor annoyances as "discrimination" you are in a way making fun of people who have suffered more severe discrimination. 

 

This seems like a big oversight on the developer's part though. If it's been this way for so long, and people have voiced their opinions about it without any fix in sight then I think it would be best for you to use one of the several workarounds suggested. If you don't want that, then refunding the game and not playing it until the issue is fixed is your best bet.

 

 

Agree with all of this.

 

I'm also a lefty and can sympathize though. I use the numpad myself, but rely on the arrow keys as additional keys for my thumb to hit, along with the insert, home, pgup, pgdn, etc etc... once in a while a game won't let me remap these keys and it's super frustrating. Sorry OP. And thanks for the heads up. In this case, it would probably end up being a controller game for me if/when I get around to playing it.

[Holmes108]

1 hour ago, PDifolco said:

You tell me what a lefty needs

But why is WASD hard to access for you ? I mean you can use your right hand for them as we righties use our left ?

 

 

The WASD keys themselves would work fine, but all the usual surrounding buttons are then super awkward. Your thumb and index finger become next to useless except for basically the left most column of keys.

 

Edit: and as mentioned, keyboard location can become less than ideal.

[thevictor390]

46 minutes ago, Holmes108 said:

 

The WASD keys themselves would work fine, but all the usual surrounding buttons are then super awkward. Your thumb and index finger become next to useless except for basically the left most column of keys.

 

Edit: and as mentioned, keyboard location can become less than ideal.

Isn't that even more true for the arrow keys? There's nothing below them. I would imagine IJKL is a more equivalent substitute for WASD, especially if you put your numpad on the left.

[Holmes108]

12 minutes ago, thevictor390 said:

Isn't that even more true for the arrow keys? There's nothing below them. I would imagine IJKL is a more equivalent substitute for WASD, especially if you put your numpad on the left.

 

I personally agree. I mentioned in the post immediately above the one you quoted that I use the numpad myself. 

 

A much better solution to using the WASD though would be to mirror it with something like IJKL or something, retaining access to the space bar with your thumb etc.

 

For me, I just happen to prefer the layout of the numpad. I like the fact that the keys aren't offset, and I also like that the arrow keys, and the insert, home etc are essentially separated into groupings of sorts. I like the organization of it. (which is why I don't use an IJKL type setup.

 

So there are solutions, but I also think all keys should be remappable. 

[Eigenvektor]

2 hours ago, PDifolco said:

You tell me what a lefty needs

But why is WASD hard to access for you ? I mean you can use your right hand for them as we righties use our left ?

 

Try holding your mouse with your left hand and then access WASD with your right. It's a super cramped position unless you can move your keyboard to the right a fair amount.

 

As a left handed person myself I can understand the pain. I always remap to numpad keys.

[Holmes108]

25 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

Try holding your mouse with your left hand and then access WASD with your right. It's a super cramped position unless you can move your keyboard to the right a fair amount.

 

As a left handed person myself I can understand the pain. I always remap to numpad keys.

 

Out of curiosity, what button do you generally use to jump? I use Right Arrow.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Stonedog said:

It is *absolutely* discrimination 

No. 

 

PC ports often just suck and often times hard code keys because 95% of people use standard controls and don't change them. 

[Eigenvektor]

3 minutes ago, fpo said:

No. 

 

PC ports often just suck and often times hard code keys because 95% of people use standard controls and don't change them. 

Yes

 

If you do not include keyboard remapping out of the box, that is one thing. If you refuse to include it, even after it has been pointed out that this is an accessibility issue for some people, it becomes discrimination. I would assume not having remapping is even worse for people with an actual disability.

 

You may not notice it, but every time a left handed person dares to point out that something isn't accessible to them, we get laughed at and mocked. Yes, it's not as bad as a physical disability. But by designing things in a way that makes it more difficult for left handed people to use, you are essentially turning it into a disability or at the very least a strong disadvantage.

 

1 hour ago, Holmes108 said:

Out of curiosity, what button do you generally use to jump? I use Right Arrow.

Depends a bit on the game, but right arrow is often my go to choice for either jump or evade.

[Guest]

49 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

Yes

I use non-standard controls.
I am not discriminated against.

It's just lazy programming.

There are so many things that don't accommodate non-standard things.
It's not intentional discrimination. It's lazy design.

Some crappy programmer hard coded keys and the game made most of the money it will make.
It's not economically justifiable to high up company people to put someone on a past project when he could work towards the next bigger money maker.