Rapids is gated behind a medical condition: Anxiety

Eiagra

Hey folks.

I wanted to open discussion for the recent changes to Rapids that has caused some vocal outcry among the community, with the topic being medical in nature. Specifically: the percentage of players who avoid PvP behaviors because it causes or worsens anxiety. This percentage may not be very large, but that doesn't mean these needs are invalid.

Prior to the change, players who engaged in avoidant behavior to keep anxiety levels from spiking had the option to simply perform the introductory quests or skip them entirely and still get sufficient AP to unlock Rapids. The areas were safe (barring glitches) so a player that wants to gain Rapids to help with overland traversal in other parts of the game can usually acquire it without issue.

After the change, players now must engage in PvP behaviors to effectively gain the ability. I've observed some suggestions that indicate there may be ways to gain the ability without directly engaging in those behaviors (such as intentionally throwing Battlegrounds matches), but I'm not yet sure of their efficacy. It's technically possible to unlock them on alts with a 3000 crown purchase in the Crown Store, but you need to have fully unlocked them on another character first (forcing the player to engage in PvP behaviors in addition to having a monetary cost).

This discussion sets the precedent that Rapids is used for overland traversal, not for PvP -- in other words, it's used significantly in PvE as well.

For those players who experience anxiety when performing PvP behaviors, what are your thoughts on the change? Does the change prevent you from gaining the ability on your primary character due to the PvP engagement requirements? For your alts? Have you found a way to gain the ability in a manner that circumvents situations that cause anxiety? Did this turn into a wall, or were you able to break through it? If distress was caused, to what degree did you experience it? If you broke through it, do you have any tips to help other players who may have a similar condition?

I know this is an emotionally-charged topic, but let's try keep this discussion mindful, respectful, productive, and stay within the scope of what impact it has had on a specific segment of the community with a specific medical condition.

Grandchamp1989

Personly I think it is really stupid that you have to unlock rank 10 in pvp alliance to be able to buy the skill line for your next character.
Not everyone enjoys pvp, and for some it is really unpleasant.

Make the alliance skill line purchable.

Don't force PVE tanks and healers into PVP to unlock War Horn and Barrier...

ectoplasmicninja

You could make the same argument for PvE stamina players with anxiety being unfairly kept from the very necessary stamina heal Vigor. I feel like a decent solution would have been to keep Rapids as rank 3 Assault and move Vigor over to rank 3 Support, but then you have the problem of Purge being pushed further down the tree and PvE healers would be displeased.

It's a difficult situation trying to be fair to both the folks who just want Rapids and the stam players who need Vigor.

Eiagra

ectoplasmicninja wrote: »

You could make the same argument for PvE stamina players with anxiety being unfairly kept from the very necessary stamina heal Vigor. I feel like a decent solution would have been to keep Rapids as rank 3 Assault and move Vigor over to rank 3 Support, but then you have the problem of Purge being pushed further down the tree and PvE healers would be displeased.

It's a difficult situation trying to be fair to both the folks who just want Rapids and the stam players who need Vigor.

That's true. There's definitely a balancing act when it comes to making certain skills accessible in this scenario, especially if there aren't alternatives available otherwise. For example, I can't think of any other place where you can get the Major Gallop buff. (come to think... is there anything at all that gives Minor Gallop? Does that even exist?) Stamina-based heals may also fall into that limited category. I suppose that may also fall into whether what is available falls into a class-based line (some availability) or a world-based line (full availability).

xWarbrain

No one is forcing you to do anything. Just like PvP players aren't forced to find hundreds of mages guild lore books, complete undaunted dailies for weeks, run the Psijic skill line marathon, farm gear in PvE dungeons and arenas and everything else that involves gaining the skill lines and equipment to play the content they are actually interested in.

Anyway.... You can be non-violent and still get the PvP skill lines. Go to an empty campaign, take resources from NPCs (assuming you're okay with PvE) and use the AP gained to buy wall & door repair kits. Repair every wall and door you see that isn't at 100%. In fact, you can skip the fighting all together and buy those repair kits with gold.

It may take a while, but so does every other skill line mentioned above. And you don't need to participate in groups or fight anyone.

P.S - Outside of Cyrodiil I've been forgoing the mount altogether. Ring of the Wild Hunt is pretty fast and you don't need to dismount / remount to get all the shiny resource nodes. You can skip the butterflies and torchbugs though, they have feelings too.

Nestor

ectoplasmicninja wrote: »

very necessary stamina heal Vigor.

None of my Stamina Characters have this skill. All of my Characters have Rapids.

Now, I don't know about anxiety, but I will say disappointment, anger, frustration and general feeling of getting screwed over. They took a skill I had been using for years on all my alts, and removed it from me. Now, I have to grind an activity I hate for hours on each character that I want to get it back on. It's like my GF dumped me, then kicked me in the jewels and told me to go sweep the driveway with a 3 inch wide brush.

And, their reasoning makes no sense, what so ever. That is what is so Baffling.

kadochka

[Quoted Post Removed]

You're, sadly, being un-empathetic, and you may not be able to understand.. but I hope you will, in time.
To try and put it in perspective: ESO is a beautiful game with fun story, and people play for that. It's a world you can lose yourself in, and the loss of Rapids (without having to go to PvP) hits hard.

ectoplasmicninja wrote: »

It's a difficult situation trying to be fair to both the folks who just want Rapids and the stam players who need Vigor.

I wish they'd made Vigor and Rapids the first skill in each line. It's a perfect compromise, but apparently the people behind the change didn't hear before it went Live. We can only hope they'll change it after the fact.

doomette

Everyone with anxiety has their own unique triggers and coping mechanisms that may or may not work for others, but I’ve found ungrouped Cyrodiil to be the best for me. It allowed me to learn how to PVP better without feeling like I’m letting down a group or be embarrassed when the group sees me fall on my face. Doing that has even allowed me to be comfortable enough to play in a group sometimes (though to be honest, I play better ungrouped as I’m still less anxious). That doesn’t mean I’m off solo ganking players or whatever. My favorite part of Cyro is big keep defenses, so I’m usually not alone, save when I go take a resource or something.
And this isn’t to say that I’m completely at ease. I’m still really jumpy, but that has helped me be able to react quickly to, say, a gank attempt. Though it also means I sometimes roll dodge to my doom off a high things, oops.
Getting killed itself, eh, doesn’t bother me all that much. I came in knowing I was going to die a lot. I improve where I can and accept my limitations and just try to have fun.


Edit to add: I came in to PVP grudgingly to get vigor on my main (stamblade). Thought I’d hate it and would get to rank 5, leave, and never return. That was well over a year ago and I still PVP because I had a blast.

SeaUnicorn

You can AFK in BGs and still get AP. You can also repair walls in Cyrodiil. There are ways to get AP and avoid any action.

oregonrob

The only two skills I use from the Assault and Support skill line are Purge and Rapid Movement. I get Purge for those classes who do not have a Purge skill and Rapid Movement was for kicking in the afterburners when chased. Unfortunately with the freeze screen problem combined with the Caltrops skill, Rapid Movement is all but useless in Cyrodiil. I have gone with 60 speed and 60 stamina, used Rapid Movement and still have been brought down by the freeze screen because it reduces your speed to zero and allows your pursuers to catch up to you. Until they fix the freeze screen in Cyrodiil, Rapid Movement is a moot skill except for cutting off a few seconds in PVE activities.

Syldras

Eiagra wrote: »

I wanted to open discussion for the recent changes to Rapids that has caused some vocal outcry among the community, with the topic being medical in nature. Specifically: the percentage of players who avoid PvP behaviors because it causes or worsens anxiety. This percentage may not be very large, but that doesn't mean these needs are invalid.

I understand the problem. Although, I'm wondering if you can really consider every possible condition and special need when creating game mechanics? There are hundreds of phobias. There are people phobic to spiders, to dogs, to cats. Animals you come across regularly in ESO. I'm afraid you can't design a game that doesn't cause phobic reactions in one person or another? Please don't think I mean it as an offense. I'm just wondering.

As for rapids being locked behind PvP: There are many people who are unhappy with that change, with and without medical reasons. I think it wouldn't be wrong to offer non-PvPers an alternative way to gain that skill.

Sgrug

doomette wrote: »

Everyone with anxiety has their own unique triggers and coping mechanisms that may or may not work for others, but I’ve found ungrouped Cyrodiil to be the best for me. It allowed me to learn how to PVP better without feeling like I’m letting down a group or be embarrassed when the group sees me fall on my face. Doing that has even allowed me to be comfortable enough to play in a group sometimes (though to be honest, I play better ungrouped as I’m still less anxious). That doesn’t mean I’m off solo ganking players or whatever. My favorite part of Cyro is big keep defenses, so I’m usually not alone, save when I go take a resource or something.
And this isn’t to say that I’m completely at ease. I’m still really jumpy, but that has helped me be able to react quickly to, say, a gank attempt. Though it also means I sometimes roll dodge to my doom off a high things, oops.
Getting killed itself, eh, doesn’t bother me all that much. I came in knowing I was going to die a lot. I improve where I can and accept my limitations and just try to have fun.


Edit to add: I came in to PVP grudgingly to get vigor on my main (stamblade). Thought I’d hate it and would get to rank 5, leave, and never return. That was well over a year ago and I still PVP because I had a blast.

Which is a great story and similar experiences have happened to me. ONE big difference, at the time when you did it that was the game play and progression. now we have many who have to do it because they LOST rapids and are forced to go back to get it back, that is a different motivation and most I would predict will likely cause resentment because they are doing it as a result of losing what they had, not trying to get what they never had to start with.

Vevvev

SeaUnicorn wrote: »

You can AFK in BGs and still get AP.

While this is true lets not encourage this behavior by drawing attention to it

Repairing walls is better since they repair on their own super duper slowly and are almost always guaranteed to be damage due to the fact resources increase their max health, but don't fill that health bar back up.

Killing a delve boss in Cyrodiil does increase AP gain by 100% I believe for an hour, and I guess people could also group up with those who already have rapids to get a speed boost to the ongoing battles. Capturing stuff and getting assists/kills can be very profitable!

AlnilamE

OP, I think the most low-stress way to level Assault would be going to keeps and repairing walls.

When you take a keep and then its resources, the walls "level up" but their current health doesn't go up, which leaves an amount that can be repaired. So if you go to a campaign and start checking the keeps your alliance owns, look at the different wall sections and repair anything that's not at 100%

That will give you AP. If you are wearing sets that increase healing done, that will make things go faster because the game considers you are "healing" the wall.

Another thing you can do is see if you can find a chill group that is going around taking resources. You may find enemy players, but if you all go in with the frame of mind that dying doesn't matter, it might help with anxiety levels.

Finally, this is the slowest way, but getting scouting missions doesn't require you to fight anyone. You just go to a keep/resource, fill out your report, then suicide at the flag to port back to base. But if your alliance doesn't own a lot of the map, this may involve running around A LOT.

Wishing you all the best in your Cyrodiil adventure.

Integral1900

As someone who suffers from anxiety I am fine with this change. It does not affect me in PVE because ultimately that is simply a matter of remembering mechanics combined with mathematics. The lack of a human being on the other end of the equation means that the anxiety I have does not fire. Although there are two points I’d like to make 🙂

First, the part of the brain where anxiety is seated is the primitive part. A part that we share with basically every mammal on Earth. It isn’t able to tell the difference between a game and reality because this part of the brain doesn’t understand anything beyond basic bodily needs, memory and our moods. It certainly doesn’t understand what a computer game is, because although it can automate patterns and action such as pressing the right keys at the right time this is not the same as comprehending what a computer game actually is. One example would be that your conscious brain knows what a hammer is, but the motions of your arm required to use it are primarily automated and are housed in the primitive brain. A clock does not have to understand time in order to tell you what part of the day you’re in because ultimately it’s just a mechanism. 🤓

Normally the brain can compensate for it but in the case of people like myself with anxiety, the primitive part of the brain has been so provoked by our experiences in life that it reacts to try and protect us. Hence the anxiety that threatens to drive us insane doing things other people enjoy. It’s a bit like the way some people enjoy rollercoasters where as I would far rather hit the designer of such horrors over the head with a hammer. 🤬

Second, because of this, I am entirely happy with this change. I can walk into PVP, do the training on a new character, never see an enemy player, get the only skill I’m interested in and leave. There is no way this side of hell that I’m going to grind my way up to level five just to move slightly faster. That’s what that new mythic ring is for LOL 😇

AcadianPaladin

Though I have zero interest in using rapids in PvE, I found it rather necessary for grinding up AP on those characters I have who want vigor (caltrops was nerfed into irrelevance). I made the mistake once (due to a midyear mayhem double AP event) of bringing a young alt to Cyrodiil for vigor well before she had 60 in horse speed. Even with rapids, she could not keep up with the keep running groups. By the time she'd get to a resource capture, it would be done and she'd miss the AP. Big mistake.

I feel now for PvP and PvE players alike with young characters who have to grind to level 5 before they can keep up.

At least before, the early rapids really helped the grind to higher skills. No longer I guess.

This would be a good change to simply reverse/undo.

DarcyMardin

I don’t get particularly anxious in Cyrodiil, but I understand those who did (I have other anxiety issues). In my case, I don’t care for PvP or even elite level PvE because I’m a 72 year old woman whose reflexes and reaction times aren’t what they were when I was young. I’ve already gotten as good as I’m gonna get.

It’s bad enough that I can run IRL the way I used to 50 years ago — now I can’t even speed around on my low level fantasy avatars.

Eiagra

AlnilamE wrote: »

OP, I think the most low-stress way to level Assault would be going to keeps and repairing walls.

When you take a keep and then its resources, the walls "level up" but their current health doesn't go up, which leaves an amount that can be repaired. So if you go to a campaign and start checking the keeps your alliance owns, look at the different wall sections and repair anything that's not at 100%

That will give you AP. If you are wearing sets that increase healing done, that will make things go faster because the game considers you are "healing" the wall.

Another thing you can do is see if you can find a chill group that is going around taking resources. You may find enemy players, but if you all go in with the frame of mind that dying doesn't matter, it might help with anxiety levels.

Finally, this is the slowest way, but getting scouting missions doesn't require you to fight anyone. You just go to a keep/resource, fill out your report, then suicide at the flag to port back to base. But if your alliance doesn't own a lot of the map, this may involve running around A LOT.

Wishing you all the best in your Cyrodiil adventure.

Those are some valuable insights, thank you for providing them. So other than inting BG, repairing walls and scouting are additional possible options for players.

For those who wish to take the scout route, let me ask an additional question -- is it viable to just do these in stealth with no risk of engaging in combat with players? (There's various sets out there that can let you stealth at full speed, reduce stealth cost, etc. to make a semi-perma-stealth build; I've explored these in the past and found them very helpful.)

And for those tuning in, have there been those who suffer from anxiety and found repairing walls and scouting missions to be a good balance of gaining AP and keeping anxiety in check?

Gaggin

Anxiety and phobia arent the same things, and avoiding things that cause anxiety can lead to phobia. if pvp in a game is causing you anxiety its probably social in nature, and thats something you dont wanna avoid.

5_RAGEsMW

[snip] I have social anxiety too but never from a video game. also I can't simply ignore life as I have to go out and do stuff in the real world. [snip] You can't move on from that fear until you try. At least that's how I see it. Then you realize it wasn't that bad [snip]. That's not normal behavior and we shouldn't cave into it, if you truly care help them instead of aiding it.

[Edited for Baiting]

Syldras

Gaggin wrote: »

Anxiety and phobia arent the same things

I'm not sure about the exact terminology, as I'm not a native English speaker. So (social) anxiety is not the same as (social) phobia?

tomofhyrule

I'll preface this by saying that I don't use either of these skills, so it's really nothing to me one way or the other. I never use rapids in overland farming since it's annoying enough to mount -> ride three feet -> dismount to pick a flower -> mount again -> ride another foot and a half -> dismount for the ore...etc. Besides, when I'm in the zone, I'm mostly RP walking in the first place. And as for a heal? Green Dragon Blood is one of the best options for me as a DK Tank.

I completely understand about the anxiety of playing with others. I've been very anti online multiplayer for years, even way back when the original XBox (not the 360 - the original one) started to offer online games. Why? If I'm playing with someone, I'd like to know who they are. I'm a complete introvert and would take almost any single-player game over something multiplayer just so I didn't have to interact with anyone else. Heck, even when I was in school, the absolute worst thing the teacher could do for my learning experience was "ok, let's work in groups!"

ESO is the first MMO I've ever played, and I'm here solely for the 'Elder Scrolls' aspect of it. If I woke up one day and they just deleted all other accounts from the game and the only thing I could do is the basic questing, I'd still be perfectly fine.

But there are some things that are forcing me outside of my shell - and a lot of it has to do with unlocking things I want. And I've chosen to let myself be open to these other experiences.

My #1 thing I wanted to get was the Beast personality. I've been eyeing that since around the time I started playing, but I saw that you needed to do group dungeons... And not only that, you needed to be really good to get the Challenger for a DLC dungeon. I didn't think it was possible for me. I could have bought a carry, I guess. I didn't know how, but I started saving my gold so eventually I could pay some group to carry me though it.

And then I decided to try to get it myself. I joined a social/beginner friendly guild, and started participating in some minor events like trivia night. And then I worked up the courage to try some dungeon training with the guild. I was a level 44 tank, and I was running nFGI, just to learn how. That was back in April.

And you know what? I had found a really supportive guild. They helped me learn. They made dungeons actually kind of fun. I've even had a few people in my guild give me great tips on how to play my class better and how ESO differs from traditional TES games and what I should do differently.

I've pretty well run dungeons with them every week since. I got all of these skill points I wouldn't have gotten if I stuck to myself. They gave me tips on how to get better, and what gear sets are good, and I kept practicing. I ended up running my first trial (nKA) by the end of May. Eventually I managed to get to vet dungeons, and vet DLCs, and even vet trials.

And last Sunday, I managed to get my first DLC vet no death run... my first Challenger achievement... my goal for the better part of the past year. And that Beast personality feels so good to have since I took a risk and got it.
(Now if it was available with just vet completion, that would have made it a lot less stressful to get, so I definitely like the direction of putting the cosmetics behind completion and not challenger)

Is it always fun to be around others? No. I've had enough bad experiences PUGging dungeons that it made me not want to do dungeons without guildies on voice comms. I can clearly look back and see that I physically can't control 16+ adds when the low-DPS DDs are running around the room chasing the adds away from me instead of attacking the ones I have, but I still feel bad since I was blamed for 'not doing my job'. I always have the feeling that I'm not doing a good job or being carried along even when I'm with my guild since it's tough to judge your abilities well especially as a tank, so sometimes I do have to step back and say thinks like we probably wouldn't have cleared vMoL if I was a bad player since both tanks need to be on point during the twins.

And yeah, I had to dip my toe into PvP (ugh, now I have to get ganked and teabagged and hatewhispered by horrible other players instead of work with them...) to get my warhorn. I went during MYM, picked some campaigns with low populations, or at least high pop for my alliance, and just tried to follow what I could. Ended up getting AP from standing outside a keep as it fell, or following a group around (I was slower than them so the fighting was usually done by the time I got there so I basically got free AP), or using the free siege/repair from the boxes to get some. And I did a lot of just roaming since there were few people around. I cleared all of the dolmens solo, all of the delves, and most of the skyshards. And all of the PvE quests as well...which also give AP rewards. And as for the 'evil other players'? Didn't really find any, and when I did I just stood still and let them kill me. Half the time I was on the wrong side of the map and wanted an easy way back to my end anyway.

I also ran some battlegrounds - I stuck to the land grab or the flag games since I'm no good at killing other players and at least those give points for a goal. Chaosball and Crazy King are actually pretty fun, and it's a lot of just sticking with the other people in the group. Also managed to get a bunch of nice Firedrake pages out of that as well.

Now I know for fact I'm not touching PvP again... until the next MYM at least. But the group PvE? I found I really like it, and I'm now finding myself joining runs a lot. I'm actually slacking on my questing at this point I do so much dungeons and trials by now. I need to get back to that...

So yes, I understand that it's better for some people to be alone. I still like that. But I've gone outside of my comfort zone to unlock things, and it ended up okay. And I still have the ability to play by myself, except now with a brand new personality (that's by far the best in the game, and I have to squee every time I turn the game on and see it). Yes I've had some bad days that made me feel anxiety, but I've also had incredible days that made me feel like people were also there to support me. Especially with being stuck at home for so long, having people who help out and chat (especially when they trust me to do a job in a run) really makes it feel good. Even for an introvert.

So I'd suggest finding a supportive guild. As a bonus, you'd be able to go into Cyrodiil with them (grouped), and then they can cast rapids on you so you can keep up and farm with the group. Especially with the AoE tests they have coming up that'll give double AP, it really could be a non-painful way to get rapids back... and maybe even you'll learn something about how to make your character better and have more fun with it.

Katahdin

The sky is not falling because it will take a few extra minutes to collect the skyshards in a map in a video game....A VIDEO GAME!

I started playing in beta and leveled my first 2 or 3 characters without rapids. They all got leveled just fine.

With all the real problems in the world going on right now, I can't agree that this is the big deal people are making it out to be.

TequilaFire

Here is some education on the subject.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anxiety/symptoms-causes/syc-20350961

Eiagra

I feel very encouraged by those who are sharing their stories and offering helpful advice and insight through their experiences, both those who have this condition and those who don't but have enough PvP experience to share some ideas. Thank you for that!

That was the main goal of this thread -- to highlight that this is a factor, and to find pragmatic ways to address it. I appreciate those who are staying on topic to this end.

VaranisArano

First off, I hate the Rapids change. I wish Vigor had switched places with Siege Shield to be first in line in Support. Then everyone could have both Rapids and Vigor right off the bat.


But as for doing PVP...
I used to be a fairly anxious PVE-only player. Hated the idea of PVP because I just knew I'd get slaughtered. But I really wanted to get my Cyrodiil fish for Master Angler. (And then the quests, and the skyshards, and tbe achievements.)

I won't pretend that this will help anyone else, but the three factors that made the biggest difference in turning me into a regular PVPer:
1. Exposure in small amounts. The tension of having the constant threat of PVP really got to me in the beginning. Doing PVP in small amounts and stopping when it got stressful and not-fun was pretty critical.
2. Giving myself permission to be new, to suck and to die a lot. PVP got a lot more relaxing when I let go of my expectations and feeling like "I have to get this done, these guys are mean for stopping me!" Instead, I could say to myself, "Self, you are new! Of course you died! What can we try next time?"
3. PVPing with friends. At first, I dragged my IRL friends along. Then I found a PUG guild who knew what they were doing. Then I joined a PVP guild (you see, I died less when I followed them around ). Turns out I really enjoy feeling like part of a team effort and winning battles, not just dueling.

For players looking to just get Rapids and get out, I'd recommend #3. Friends make everything a little more bearable.

Think about it. How many other players now have to regrind for Rapids?
Ask your PVE guilds to do a Cyrodiil raid night where you can rock out on your slow horses.
Ask your PVE guild to flood the BG queue for an hour or three with people who want to have fun.
Get your friends together for an hour or two of hit-and-run attacks on resources.

It's a lot easier to be less anxious around other people you can have fun and laugh with, win or lose.

Syldras

tomofhyrule wrote: »

So yes, I understand that it's better for some people to be alone. I still like that. But I've gone outside of my comfort zone to unlock things, and it ended up okay.

It's a nice story, but as I understood you never suffered from social anxiety as a medical condition?

Katahdin wrote: »

The sky is not falling because it will take a few extra minutes to collect the skyshards in a map in a video game....A VIDEO GAME!

I think it's not about the game, but about the interaction with real people.

Soraka

I get anxiety in dungeons and it takes me awhile to unlock undaunted skills. I find people to be more elitist in dungeons than I ever run into in pvp. That's just my experience though. With things like anxiety it is up to us to cope and deal with them and not up to the world to change around us. Rapids is quality of life and not a necessity. I don't care one way or the other, but it seems like the sky is falling reading about this. I suspect the devs didn't make the game wanting everyone to fly by all the content. When you have 18 characters it gets tedious for sure, but most games aren't made based off of the people who are alt-oholics. More games are getting to be more alt friendly, but in general this is newer. Even wow is only recently becoming more friendly for people with many characters imo. I get the annoyance, but threatening to quit a game because you can't quickly get through content that you chose to play 18 times...I dunno...
If slow mounts is the main issue and rapids is necessary to deal with it, maybe the mount system is the core problem? But like most have said they get money for it so it's not likely to change. Just my two cents.
Also advice for farming AP. I have found it can be helpful to camp frequently attacked buildings like the inner circle keeps or Sej and get defense ticks. Don't have to run around much, just wait for the fights to come to you. Also big pug groups tend to be noob friendly because they're really not watching what every single person is doing. If you are EP Ahtu is a very kind pug leader.

Edit: Also I used to be the same way and never would PVP. The individuals talking about exposure are correct. Gradual exposure does help with avoidant behavior related to anxiety. It also helps to remember that no one really cares if they kill you or you die. It's just another moment to them and nothing to be embarrassed about. Just respawn and keep going. Everyone dies. A lot. Hate whispers happen less than people talk about in my experience. I've never had one. One time someone accused me of being a spy, but it was kinda just funny so meh.

caperb

You are so completely wrong.

Rapids is gated behind time. And now it takes at least double the time than it took before to get vigor.

Kiralyn2000

Nestor wrote: »

ectoplasmicninja wrote: »

very necessary stamina heal Vigor.

None of my Stamina Characters have this skill. All of my Characters have Rapids.

None of my characters have Rapids. My first/main character (bow Stamblade) has struggled along since 2016 with a terrible build (using Magika powers & Soul Trap morphs for healing) and would have loved to have Vigor.

Of course, I refuse to PvP, so I didn't get it. Which is my choice, driven by my own personal issues (like disliking pvp. Or anxiety. Or whatever other reason a person might have for choosing to skip a subset of play. Which isn't the game's fault.)

tomofhyrule

Syldras wrote: »

tomofhyrule wrote: »

So yes, I understand that it's better for some people to be alone. I still like that. But I've gone outside of my comfort zone to unlock things, and it ended up okay.

It's a nice story, but as I understood you never suffered from social anxiety as a medical condition?

Excuse me, but I don't think I should have to disclose my medical history to anyone online. Especially since I'm the only person you're calling out on this.

If you must know, I did have a therapist (and medication) for my anxiety and depression in the past. I learned a lot about how to deal with it, especially ERP and CBT, and managed to get off of the meds and stop needing a therapist. My situation was not as bad as other people, but I still needed help to get through it.

I'm proud of the fact that I was able to get better. I still have small relapses every so often, but I learned how to control it rather than let it control me.