(Lack of) Control

One of my first posts I made on here was in anger. Or frustration, I guess that is a more accurate word. The post was titled “F#!% you BioWare!” was out of frustration for the game Dragon Age Inquisition (DA:I). Bioware the company behind the Dragon age games also made the Mass Effect games, Mass Effect 2 remains one my favorite games of all time. The Dragon Age franchise of games had also been some of my favorites, even the not so great DA:2 was really enjoyable and I played through it maybe a few to many times. That is high praise indeed I know, so what prompted this change, my love for Bioware suddenly turning to anger. I know being angry with Bioware is pretty much the norm now For me it was a bit different, I.couldn’t play DA:I. I could not move the player character. A small change in the control scheme made it impossible for me to play. Those controls were locked on PC and I can’t play on console. Here’s the thing I’m disabled, basically I can (mostly) only play using the mouse. Bioware had for some reason chosen to lock the actions of the mouse button. I was mad, not that I couldn’t play the game, I’m used to that. I now realize I was mad because I thought I could play and I couldn’t. My expectations were shattered. I knew I could play Dragon Age and was looking forward to play My game when other games are a gamble or just plain impossible for me. In the end I played through DA:I with some annoying phenagiling and workarounds but my experience was tainted and I never truly enjoyed my time in Thedas. Something good came out of it though. I wrote my final thesis for my university degree about accessibility in video games. Fast forward to today. Video Games have the same problems for me. Seems like things are changing, slowly but surely. I see colorblind settings in most AAA titles and pretty extensive ones at that. Subtitles are getting better as well. Seems like accessibility options are getting more mainstream. Doesn't’ help me personally. Then a big development happened (fairly recently). Microsoft came out with the Xbox Adaptive Controller. Announced back in 2018. The controller lets you connect any 3rd party device to one the many usb ports. Letting you customize this xbox controller in any way you need. This still confines you to a pc or xbox for your gaming. Compared to no choices at all that is huge. So I bought the thing as soon as I was able, I must confess the hype got to me. The controller got a lot of buzz on the back of its Superbowl ad. Now I have the thing but then the question becomes what to do with it. The controller is nothing on its own, it is very simple and barebones. It is meant to be customized, to be adapted to my needs. With a little research on Microsoft website and some help from google, I found the Quadstick controller. A joystick designed for Quadrapeligecs. Makes it possible to play most anything only by using your mouth and face. Combined with the Adaptive Controller it would give me access to pretty much every Xbox and PC game. If I can set it up right. So I bought one. That is only the start of a journey. Now comes the hard part. Setting everything up and getting the software up and running. Then learning and mastering the Quadstick. I set a lofty goal, I want to beat a From Software game, From games have a reputation for being some of the most difficult games. If I can beat a Dark Souls game or even Sekiro, I should be able to play almost anything. I probably won’t be playing a new Dragon Age game anytime soon though.