In the gaming community, inclusivity and accessibility are essential aspects that enable all players to enjoy their favorite games. Recently, The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) announced an upcoming change to the Oakensoul HA build, which has sparked concerns about its impact on disabled players.
Relatively recent changes made a special type of Heavy Attack buildcompetitive in PVE (Player vs Environment) content. This has led to many less dextrous players, such as older players and those with disabilities, to take advantage of the build to compete effectively in content that they were previously excluded from. “While my love for gaming never gets old, sadly I do” said one player. “With Oakensoul I am finally able to clear content others were always able to, and I’m not kicked out of groups because my damage is too low”.
The key to the build working is a physically easier playstyle where players are able to hold down a button for their major attacks, rather than quickly use a variety of keystrokes and buttons to switch between many skills across multiple weapon bars, especially using a technique known as Light Attack weaving where, with the right timing, players can cancel intended animations and skill delays in order to dramatically increase their own damage output. This itself has been the target of shifting statements from Zenimax with many describing it as an exploit but, for now at least, Zenimax appear to be supporting the weaving function as the way to play.
The damage output of the Oakensoul HA builds is near the top end of what can be achieved, but is not the most powerful which remains with builds using multiple bars and rapid skill weaving, making it unclear as to the specific reasons that this build has been targeted for reduction in effectiveness of, by some reports, up to 30%. The builds were brought to the attention of Zenimax by YouTubers who were exploiting the mechanics to achieve extremely high results with mixed credibility as to the actual in-game potential for the average player.
The ability to play has been widely lauded by those with accessibility issues as well as those with other challenges such as high ping. “My hands don’t function as well anymore due to nerve damage and light attack weaving and bar swapping can be a challenge. Oakensoul makes playing the game and content I love possible again. I hadn’t played in 4 years because of my hands. Able bodied people really just gloss over accessibility when anyone can become disabled at any time.”
Whilst there is a large amount of community support for those concerned about the change, another clue as to why ZoS may have targeted this build comes from a vocal section of the playerbase who feel that the simpler playstyle should not be able to reach the range of outputs that can be achieved by those who invest the time and effort to master the more physically demanding 2 bar weaving styles. “I get that some people have problems but it’s their problems. No way they should be anywhere near a proper player in terms of damage output. Oakensoul needs this nerf.”
The reaction of supporters of the Oakensoul HA build are unsympathetic to these points of view “ There’s nothing wrong with Oakensoul (HA), never has been. All the complaining is done by people who want to gatekeep and prevent others from being able to complete content due to personal insecurity and other reasons.”
Zenimax have not yet provided clear statements over the accessibility concerns of this game change but did appear to confirm their intended direction in a recent Twitch livestream discussing the new Arcanist build where they confirmed that whilst simple playstyles would be an option, those who were physically able to weave in additional skills and actions could expect significantly higher outcomes, while patch notes to date refer to changes as game balancing which is a process intended to ensure fairness across character types and builds. For those who have benefited from this build for physical reasons, it remains to be seen whether a change that, they argue, affects them negatively and disproportionately feels fair or inclusive.
Edited by ZOS_Icy on May 28, 2023 1:59PM