This game is extremely unfriendly to Deaf players.

[nkato 18]

Okay, well. I finally got back into DayZ, and to my chagrin, I found that the Global Chat had been removed. Why am I upset about this? The answer is simple: I am Deaf.

Now, there are varying degrees of deafness. I am on the end of the spectrum where I have no hearing in my left ear, and only passable hearing in the right with a hearing aid. I can hear explosions and such, but not the direction from which they come, nor can I comprehend what people are saying over the microphone.

So, the lack of ability to communicate with people effectively for me to relearn this game (I played it for a short while before the chat channels were removed), along with an extremely unforgiving environment, has made it very, very difficult for me to enjoy this game. In fact, I have begun to loath this game inside of the first 30 minutes of playing this game, because I have died repeatedly without knowing why, and the severe lack of information hurts a lot.

I do not like the prospect of having to treat every moving object as 100% hostile and eventually turning bandit against my wishes.

From my perspective, this kind of game design is what could end up shutting out small subset of gamers - and that is backwards-thinking in today's game industry. Considering that DayZ will have a commercial release in its future, this will be a product that flies in the face of decency standards for game development. (Ubisoft was one of the last few publishers to finally institute a policy of requiring subtitles in all of their releases.)

So, the key here? Communication tools. Coordination tools. The ability to actually enjoy the fricking game. A game experience will die very quickly for some people if it's just full of problems that cannot be overcome in any reasonable capacity.

If you have any suggestions to make on how to resolve these issues, I'm open to hearing it - although I have long given up on actually believing that people are decent enough to respect the kinds of problems I have had with these kinds of games. You don't wanna know the long story, because it's full of crap.

[Mysticales 118]

Valid concerns, and I am sure they will be addressed soon. =)

[Riem 164]

I'm not sure I've seen a thread like this, and first off, I apologize for all the times you've died because you couldn't hear clompy boots coming around the corner at you, or when a sniper took a potshot.

Honestly I don't know what could be implemented to solve this, but I do hope they manage to do so.

[Lights Out 141]

I must say I'm a fan of not having a chat but in your situation, it's definitely a problem. I would initially say, have an on/off feature for that chat but you'd still be in a tight spot if you're trying to communicate with someone who has it off.

I guess the best way to implement this while trying to keep everyone happy is, have it work like the chat communication. Depending on whether you put it on, let's say a whisper channel or shout channel, players within an X distance would have it pop up on their screen depending on which channel you're typing in.

Edit: Whisper being a much shorter distance versus the shout channel. I think it would work nicely.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Lights Out

[terex 322]

There are a lot of private hives with global chat enabled.

[deep*kick 33]

This game is about realism though, no?

[justinsider 4]

I agree with you man as im not deaf but do know people who are and would like to see something done! i have all the respect in the world for deaf people!

[aoshi 32]

all game that use sound as part of game,will be unfriendly to deaf,the game was made for people without deficiencies, it is an sin/fps, not an action rpg with history and things like that, I think unfair to compare with ubisoft and the type of game that they sell, there is a way, putting a minimap, like bf3, but in my opinion it will ruin the game

Play with a partner who listens well on your side, so you can enjoy the game better

excuse me if I seem insensitive but the company thinks only about profit (even though all games for me are an art) and deaf players are a minority (and the question in the caption of ubisoft games are more for worldwide sales and not to deaf players I believe)

[otherd 5]

People generally use voice chat in dayz, and location based voice is one of it's main features. Is it reasonable to expect the developers to have something like a speech to text subtitle feature?

[Wubgunz 1]

Hmm

Maybe some kind of markers(like damage markers)that people could turn on/off to show the ruff direction and distance a gunshot comes from. So three bars on the right of the screen could mean gunshots at close range in that direction, one bar could mean they are further away. That might help with gunshots at least.

With communication I suppose if there was some voice to text software that would be helpful but probably tricky/expensive to include. ? It would be good if when people spoke on their mics you could read that. Not sure how you would communicate back though if you cant/dont use a mic and they have text turned off.

Maybe if there was some predetermined voice commands that could be used so you push a key and have "friendly" spoken in game/written only to those close enough. So those that just use mics could hear the character saying "friendly" in game with the option to turn that into text when others do it.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Wubgunz

[Jgut90 71]

Hmm

Maybe some kind of markers(like damage markers)that people could turn on/off to show the ruff direction and distance a gunshot comes from. So three bars on the right of the screen could mean gunshots at close range in that direction, one bar could mean they are further away. That might help with gunshots at least.

No, it would make the game too easy to know where the shots were coming from.

I feel bad for the op though. :(

[Wubgunz 1]

No, it would make the game too easy to know where the shots were coming from.

I feel bad for the op though. :(

It's pretty easy to tell the direction anyway. If it was an option I wouldnt use it because I wouldnt need it and would rather it not come up on screen but if I was deaf I would use it.

[zak757 146]

This game is about realism though, no?

You play as a soldier, not a deaf person.

I'd like this to be addressed, but how?

[irishcavemen@yahoo.ie 65]

you should play on private hives , Some have side chat enabled

[Riem 164]

you should play on private hives , Some have side chat enabled

That's true, and while it is a small help, that's for the mod, and is a problem that should be taken into consideration for the standalone.

I think more visual cues should be entered into the system, such as more gestures. Being able to wave to your right or left and direct people without needing to speak would do wonders for playing as a team. Being able to wave stupidly in the air would be fun too.

[hawc 63]

Removing side/global chat was a weird idea, I've never seen a game with no chat. Who cares about realism it's still a game.

[Mos1ey 6301]

You'll find A LOT of games these days rely heavily on audio cues as the vast majority of gamers have perfect hearing and headsets. Pretty much everyone in DayZ is a bandit, hacker or both these days anyway, so I doubt side chat would help you much. The community's changed since you've been away.

[Michaelvoodoo25 3120]

Hat's off to you sir, I have never known of a Deaf player( In DayZ). I like your apporoach to life by not letting it get you down.

DayZ since being opened up to the community has many servers in which Chat has been re-openned. Perhaps you could find a server which is friendlier to your needs in this respect? I enjoy Having this ability back.

I think all game publishers and Developers strive to make issues as your's as much as possible. Wether via subtitles or a simple shows sound directional display (You will have seen them in many other games) this may give an unfair advantage but allows players in general to locate events in an acceptable range. It could be introduced into games as a standard but activated by a Game > option > on/off command (Default off). this would allow other players deaf, tinitis etc the ability to play to a certain degree. Imagine if you will the recent changes to DayZ's debug monitor, You can play now with all / any icons on or off. (Its been so long I've played without it I don't recall if the ear indicator is actually affected by local sounds?!?)

Are there some servers out there with tracers on? this could help you with directional pin pointing potential enemys.

Do you play with headphones may i ask? Is there an issue with them interferring with your hearing device? Could you simply not turn them up for vibratory / auditory effect? One ear is better than nothing.

Failing that there are groups out there and tools for similar problems, perhaps a server run by other people wivh deafness could come together. or perhaps use a tool along with other players?

http://www.deafgamers.net/ is one of the best sites i know of (I used to teach phys ed ( P.E. in U.K) A lot of my students were deaf as well as physically diasabled and we played games together even though i do not suffer from any issues. there are groups out there and I dare say players on this forum also who have hearing difficulties. Asking is usually the first step perhaps you could post in the general forum, You may be surprised.

Other than that perhaps Rocket could eventually impliment something specifically for Deaf players, It would be wise as in this day and age as all the COD kiddies no doubt have huge banging bass driven headphones, they may need a helping hand down the road ;) . In fact I wonder what Rockets thoughts are on this issue due to all the recent touring and conversations he has had with the gaming community.

Edit: are here are chat programs out there where you can fix them on your screen on top of your game of choice?

Good luck and I hope you found the link helpfull.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Michaelvoodoo25

[bazbake 456]

Simple solutions:

1) Left 4 Dead/TF2 style chat menus. Basically, you push a key and your character says "Friendly!" or "Sniper!" or "Medic!" It's pretty simple and I believe you could activate it in L4D by holding one of two keys, moving the mouse in the direction of the phrase, and then releasing the key you were pressing. There was probably a number you could press from what I remember of TF2 (it's been almost a year since I've played, though).

2) Directional-based hit recognition. If you get hit from the front, a red mark shows up in the top of the screen. This would supplement the physical, tactile sensation that playing a game lacks and give you a realistic way to recognize what direction a bullet comes from (if you were shot in the butt, you'd know you were shot from behind, that's just common sense). Not as good as hearing a bullet, but better than nothing and it's completely realistic (one of those realistic things that some snipers hate in games because they suck at sniping).

[Michaelvoodoo25 3120]

In Arma 2 there is a command mode where you give orders and can read instructions (You know with the cow bell tingle)

"enemy 12 o clock"

"Stay in formation"

Only downside is it is gonna be removed / Streamlined for SA.

[WarpNinja 6]

some australian servers still have side chat enabled, look around im sure there are still some servers with it up and running that are local to you

Edited September 24, 2012 by WarpNinja

[Flaschenkind (DayZ) 34]

Yeah, I agree, that realism is one huge feature of DayZ.

Besides that, it's still a game and all playes should have the same inital conditions to guarantee fair play.

Maybe something like a external tool as handicap aid could help by amplifing sounds and giving optical hints to determine range and direction of noises (e.g.: Green dot on left screen border = very near noise to the left).

To prevent this from being a hack, a copy of this tool is bound to the individual GUID and will be only given to those, which can grant proof of their handicap / deafness.

[Ipurgepeople 106]

On a similar note, the deaf aren't the only people who have problems playing the game. I have a few colorblind friends, 2 of which played DayZ. With the removal of the debug system, they have both quit leaving me with only one person to play with, who was banned (for having a script on his computer without running it, supposedly. I'm not sure, I heard about it after the fact, and I reamed him about it) leaving me without any friends to play with.

The lone wolf style in DayZ isn't anywhere near as much fun as cooperating with friends, even without resorting to banditry. There do need to be more visual cues in the game. For instance making the UI icons deplete instead of/in addition to subtly changing colors.

[enforcer1975 1111]

Games like these are really a bit bad for handicapped people, however everything that helps such people can be abused by healthy players. Some need to be like that because they play with sound and visual effects.

If there was f.e. a subtitle for boots on the ground the normal player could have overheard it if not for subtitles.

[Mysticales 118]

On a similar note, the deaf aren't the only people who have problems playing the game. I have a few colorblind friends, 2 of which played DayZ.

Last I heard on this, both ideas and thoughts are being looked at by the devs for BOTH deaf and color blind people. =) I do not have the full details. I just know that it was already on the table. =)