Arachnophobia mode

TheMajority · August 26

SilverBride wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

BasP wrote: »

I must say that I'm surprised to see that so many people that have reacted to this post seem to be against the idea.

I am against it because players know that virtually every MMO has spiders. It's not like they bought the game then were shocked to see a spider enemy. I don't want to see time and resources put it into something like this when players knew what they were getting into.

If they do something like this then what is next? Where will it end?

World of Warcraft has an arachnophobia mode. And it worked out quite well.

This isn't World of Warcraft.

World of Warcraft is one of the biggest MMOs on the planet, if not the biggest. It is also the game that had the greatest impact on the genre. If World of Warcraft can do something while still maintaining MMO gameplay, then other MMOs can do it too.

World of Warcraft is was one of the biggest MMOs on the planet, if not the biggest. But it is on the decline. They had to allow Horde and Alliance to be in the same guilds now to make up for a sinking population. So I'm not surprised they did something like that to try to keep more players.

But that has no relevance to ESO.

it's a unhelpful way to think, to say that what goes well in one mmo is not relevant in ESO just cause it is not ESO. ESO dev must look at other mmo and what their players see in those mmo that they want to have, or that works well. ESO is not all by itself in this world, it have competitors, and must look at what they do to make judgement about their own game.

we can't say "this is eso not WOW"... the fact that we are not wow is the thing which is irrelevant. the fact that there are human beings that would benefit from the arachnophobia mode is the TRUE relevance.

it does not affect anyone to have a mode which is optional. it don't affect those who don't or wont use it.

compassion is what we must have.

Elsonso · August 26

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SkaiFaith wrote: »

I just joked but talking seriously: I'm not against more accessibility features. But as someone stated well before if you work to solve this particular issue which doesn't seem to be "huge", there would be a neverending cascade of requests for snakes and whatsoever, each one requiring time and money to achieve, resources that could be spent elsewhere.

Slippery slope fallacy. Other games have arachnophobia accomodations and this did not happen.

Has not happened yet.

As someone pointed out, this can be considered a medical accommodation. This is why I referred to phobias as worthy of optioning, but also brought up zoophobia and asked where does the line get drawn. The answer is that it never does get drawn. There is always going to be another phobia. Maybe not today, or this year, but it will come.

Also let's look at the features people are likely to request because they are already requesting them or changes they have made to the game for the better.

A way to disable flashing lights when scrying

A way to make skills, mounts and other cosmetics less flashy

Arcanist skills were toned down to combat motion sickness and headaches

Color blind options

Accessibility mode

A way to hide flappy bird sorc pets

Some of the changes combat things like headaches, motion sickness, nausea, etc.

Has the game been made worse because of colorblind options? Would the game be worse off if there was a way to hide flappy bird sorc pets from view?

I had decided not to bring up all of those things to show how the line keeps being redrawn as new requests are added.

Whether these things made games better or worse is subjective, and we may never know what was sacrificed to have them. TANSTAAFL.

spartaxoxo · August 26

Elsonso wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SkaiFaith wrote: »

I just joked but talking seriously: I'm not against more accessibility features. But as someone stated well before if you work to solve this particular issue which doesn't seem to be "huge", there would be a neverending cascade of requests for snakes and whatsoever, each one requiring time and money to achieve, resources that could be spent elsewhere.

Slippery slope fallacy. Other games have arachnophobia accomodations and this did not happen.

Has not happened yet.

As someone pointed out, this can be considered a medical accommodation. This is why I referred to phobias as worthy of optioning, but also brought up zoophobia and asked where does the line get drawn. The answer is that it never does get drawn. There is always going to be another phobia. Maybe not today, or this year, but it will come.

Also let's look at the features people are likely to request because they are already requesting them or changes they have made to the game for the better.

A way to disable flashing lights when scrying

A way to make skills, mounts and other cosmetics less flashy

Arcanist skills were toned down to combat motion sickness and headaches

Color blind options

Accessibility mode

A way to hide flappy bird sorc pets

Some of the changes combat things like headaches, motion sickness, nausea, etc.

Has the game been made worse because of colorblind options? Would the game be worse off if there was a way to hide flappy bird sorc pets from view?

I had decided not to bring up all of those things to show how the line keeps being redrawn as new requests are added.

Whether these things made games better or worse is subjective, and we may never know what was sacrificed to have them.

I've never heard a single player upset that they can pick their own aoe color. Sure, it's just subjective. But, the general consensus is that change made the game better.

JemadarofCaerSalis · August 26

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SkaiFaith wrote: »

I just joked but talking seriously: I'm not against more accessibility features. But as someone stated well before if you work to solve this particular issue which doesn't seem to be "huge", there would be a neverending cascade of requests for snakes and whatsoever, each one requiring time and money to achieve, resources that could be spent elsewhere.

Slippery slope fallacy. Other games have arachnophobia accomodations and this did not happen.

Has not happened yet.

As someone pointed out, this can be considered a medical accommodation. This is why I referred to phobias as worthy of optioning, but also brought up zoophobia and asked where does the line get drawn. The answer is that it never does get drawn. There is always going to be another phobia. Maybe not today, or this year, but it will come.

Also let's look at the features people are likely to request because they are already requesting them or changes they have made to the game for the better.

A way to disable flashing lights when scrying

A way to make skills, mounts and other cosmetics less flashy

Arcanist skills were toned down to combat motion sickness and headaches

Color blind options

Accessibility mode

A way to hide flappy bird sorc pets

Some of the changes combat things like headaches, motion sickness, nausea, etc.

Has the game been made worse because of colorblind options? Would the game be worse off if there was a way to hide flappy bird sorc pets from view?

I had decided not to bring up all of those things to show how the line keeps being redrawn as new requests are added.

Whether these things made games better or worse is subjective, and we may never know what was sacrificed to have them.

I've never heard a single player upset that they can pick their own aoe color. Sure, it's just subjective. But, the general consensus is that change made the game better.

you can pick aoe colors? Must have missed that option.

Beyond that, the developers are perfectly capable of saying 'no we do not have the resources to dedicate to this' or just ...not doing whatever people are saying they want.

Again, with the whole 'sacrifice' bit, what was sacrificed to bring us ToT? What is sacrificed to bring us more companions? What was sacrificed to bring us Antiquities?

All those are things I have seen people say they wish the game didn't have. yet other people feel that the sacrifice was worth it.

I see this type of mechanic as no different. There will always be those who don't like the idea of the resources being devoted to it, but there will also be others who love that ESO is doing this.

spartaxoxo · August 26

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

you can pick aoe colors? Must have missed that option.

Yes, both friendly and enemy. You can also adjust how bright it appears. It's an accessibility setting for color blind players, but honestly I use it a lot and I'm not color blind. I find it essential as I had a lot of trouble seeing the red combat cues and I'm not even color blind. I personally use a bright pink.

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/#en/answer/22870

JemadarofCaerSalis · August 26

spartaxoxo wrote: »

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

you can pick aoe colors? Must have missed that option.

Yes, both friendly and enemy. You can also adjust how bright it appears. It's an accessibility setting for color blind players, but honestly I use it a lot and I'm not color blind. I find it essential as I had a lot of trouble seeing the red combat cues and I'm not even color blind. I personally use a bright pink.

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/#en/answer/22870

Thanks for that, I might have to play around with that, because while I am not colorblind, things can get overwhelming with all the flashes and cues that popup/

Elsonso · August 26

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

you can pick aoe colors? Must have missed that option.

Off topic, but yes. I think it was a color blind setting, but in the bigger picture, it allows us to pick better colors than the developers did so that these areas stand out in places were ZOS reused similar colors. I use a very bright pink and bright green, personally. You can find the setting under the Gameplay settings where the combat stuff is, after loading a character.

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

Again, with the whole 'sacrifice' bit, what was sacrificed to bring us ToT? What is sacrificed to bring us more companions? What was sacrificed to bring us Antiquities?

I see this type of mechanic as no different. There will always be those who don't like the idea of the resources being devoted to it, but there will also be others who love that ESO is doing this.

This is why it is subjective. We will never know what was sacrificed, never to be seen again, and what was merely delayed. I am sure some people would get upset if they knew. Given how some players comment on it when they don't know, I dread the day they ever found out what they could have had.

For all intents and purposes, this is a zero-sum situation. When a feature is added to the plan, another feature didn't make it. Probably several other features didn't make it.

This is what I think of when people want options. Arachnophobia is a worthy option, but is it more worthy than some other feature?

spartaxoxo · August 26

One features existence doesn't means another feature didn't get made. A lot of times in brainstorming sessions, there was never any plan or work done to make anything else than what they decided on.

They'll often make accessibility options by specifically wanting to figure out how to make a game more accessible. It's the plan from the start. I used to have a blind friend that's been asked by companies before to play test games and give feedback on how to make the game more accessible.

Edit:

You can see how they are done in this game with the aforementioned color blind settings. It came alongside a number of fixes and improvements and did not stop the normal dlc dungeon from dropping either. It's usually not how it works.

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/26159?Horns-of-the-Reach-–-Base-Game-Update-

JemadarofCaerSalis · August 26

spartaxoxo wrote: »

One features existence doesn't means another feature didn't get made. A lot of times in brainstorming sessions, there was never any plan or work done to make anything else than what they decided on.

They'll often make accessibility options by specifically wanting to figure out how to make a game more accessible. It's the plan from the start. I used to have a blind friend that's been asked by companies before to play test games and give feedback on how to make the game more accessible.

Edit:

You can see how they are done in this game with the aforementioned color blind settings. It came alongside a number of fixes and improvements and did not stop the normal dlc dungeon from dropping either. It's usually not how it works.

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/26159?Horns-of-the-Reach-–-Base-Game-Update-

Pretty much this.

Yes, sometimes features have to come at the cost of a different feature, but most of the time, if they are features that the player base wants and the developers are willing to add, those features are going to come eventually, they might just be delayed while something is worked on.

Otherwise, the feature that 'didn't get developed' was likely never going to be developed in the first place. It might have been an idea someone had but never truly was going to go somewhere, or it might never have even made it onto their radar. Or it was something they already thought about and rejected. (as a note, this is not about ESO at all but just developing a game at all. I am not trying to say that I have any insights on how ZoS handles things nor what they plan or planned to do)

Just as an example (and I have no clue if this were truly what happened, not trying to say it is!)

For instance, they released Transmute stations with Clockwork city and Jewelry crafting with Summerset the following year. Two years (give or take) later they released the antiquities system.

For all we know, they might have planned the antiquities system when they were developing the Transmute stations and jewelry crafting, but they focused on those and then released antiquities later on down the line.

While they were developing the antiquities system they might have been already planning the companions (and with the little knowledge I have of developing games, they likely were), but weren't actively developing them.

Basically what I am saying is that just because something gets the focus at the moment doesn't mean that whatever else is in development is just dropped, never to see the light of day again. It is possible to be planning something while doing active development on something else.

Tra_Lalan · August 26

Haven't seen anyone with arachnophobia asking for it. But I have seen many people asking for fixing stuck in combat bug. Developers' resources arent infinite. I really think they should focus on other things.

Also, I personally have Acrophobia (intense fear of heights). Never in my life had I the need of an ALL-FLAT ESO mode.

AlienSlof · August 26

SilverBride wrote: »

Maybe players that fear spiders that much should go on a spree to kill as many spiders as they can, rather than avoiding them. This may actually help them alleviate their fear knowing that they are the one with control over them in the game setting.

Every so often, I do exactly this - I absolutely loathe wasps, but now and again I go on a wasp murdering rampage just to get revenge for the time I was attacked by a swarm of the horrible little things when I was a kid. I hate them with such passion, yet I can still be curious about them. I guess mine is less fear and more just hatred!

Nharimlur_Finor · August 26

removed non-constructive comment and replaced it with this:

https://abc.net.au/news/2019-12-03/phobias-a-risk-for-15-per-cent-of-population/11734718

Elsonso · August 26

AlienSlof wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Maybe players that fear spiders that much should go on a spree to kill as many spiders as they can, rather than avoiding them. This may actually help them alleviate their fear knowing that they are the one with control over them in the game setting.

Every so often, I do exactly this - I absolutely loathe wasps, but now and again I go on a wasp murdering rampage just to get revenge for the time I was attacked by a swarm of the horrible little things when I was a kid. I hate them with such passion, yet I can still be curious about them. I guess mine is less fear and more just hatred!

Ugh. Wasps. The size of a cow. Despise the flying vermin. Unlike spiders, who sound gleeful that they get to attack, wasps just make that menacing buzzing sound.

I avoid them unless I absolutely have to engage them. Usually, there is a way to get around them.

Does anyone know if they still leave their kid to follow us around if we kill a pair of them?

Holycannoli · August 26

Maybe I'm just old but arachnophobia mode is weird.

The only thing that would scare me is if I was fighting a spider in game and one came down off the ceiling in front of my face.

AlienSlof · August 26

Elsonso wrote: »

Does anyone know if they still leave their kid to follow us around if we kill a pair of them?

Yes they do!

BagOfBadgers · August 26

[/quote]

Also let's look at the features people are likely to request because they are already requesting them or changes they have made to the game for the better.

A way to disable flashing lights when scrying

A way to make skills, mounts and other cosmetics less flashy

Arcanist skills were toned down to combat motion sickness and headaches

Color blind options

Accessibility mode

A way to hide flappy bird sorc pets

Some of the changes combat things like headaches, motion sickness, nausea, etc.

Has the game been made worse because of colorblind options? Would the game be worse off if there was a way to hide flappy bird sorc pets from view?
[/quote]

In my opinion Arachnophobia mode aligns with the above quote. It benefits some players for who it is a serious issue and it has no impact on my enjoyment (I can't speak for others). So it would be great, in my opinion, if ZOS implemented the change. Whether they do, how and when is a different discussion.

Now off to play ESO.

the1andonlyskwex · August 26

Aren't the in-game monsters supposed to be scary? I wish there were more things in the game that triggered my phobias, not less.

Also, of all of the things that limited development resources could be spent on, I think phobia modes are pretty low on my list of preferences. I don't even think they're very high on my list of accessibility options.

belial5221_ESO · August 26

LaintalAy wrote: »

removed non-constructive comment and replaced it with this:

https://abc.net.au/news/2019-12-03/phobias-a-risk-for-15-per-cent-of-population/11734718

That's Australia,it's probably gonna have more people with phobias,lol.But it's better to avoid games with anything in em,or get help to stop fearing them.I think the bigget phobia people have is getting the help they need,not the things they fear.

JemadarofCaerSalis · August 26

belial5221_ESO wrote: »

LaintalAy wrote: »

removed non-constructive comment and replaced it with this:

https://abc.net.au/news/2019-12-03/phobias-a-risk-for-15-per-cent-of-population/11734718

That's Australia,it's probably gonna have more people with phobias,lol.But it's better to avoid games with anything in em,or get help to stop fearing them.I think the bigget phobia people have is getting the help they need,not the things they fear.

I mean, it isn't an either or situation, someone can want to be able to relax with a game they love and still work on getting over their fear of spiders (or whatever) outside that time.

Again, at least some people play video games to relax and would far prefer it if they could relax without worrying about a spider dropping down off the ceiling (which I absolutely loathe, I can handle spiders running around on the ground, though I hate them, but coming down off the ceiling? no thanks). Not every moment of a person's life has to be about bettering themselves or getting over their fears.

As for playing other games? As someone who is arachnophobic, finding other games to play that don't have spiders is nearly impossible, unless you want to go to the most simple of games, and even then it is amazing exactly how many of those will add spiders somewhere (hidden object games often have spiders as one of the things to find). Pet sites often have spiders as either enemies, pets or apparel.

I have found a handful of games that don't have spiders or spider like creatures in them (that I remember at least), and I have played those games. But there are only so many times I can replay the same game, so I would like to branch out into other games.

I also live in a place where spiders are a common intrusion in my home. I have had a spider run up my side (a wolf spider at that) while laying in bed reading. That was a fun night. My cat also wasn't fond of it running across his tail. I have had a spider join me in the bath tub (jumper). I am amazed I managed to get out of the tub without killing myself. I regularly have to remove webs that they build across porches. If I see my cats staring intently someplace, I steel myself for it to be a spider, usually a wolf spider. I am always relieved when it isn't a spider. I have almost stepped on a tarantula outside. We had one inside go into a molting state before we found it. I have been in the bathroom and looked near my knee and, yep, there was a wolf spider. I have been sitting at my desk and glanced to my left and saw a wolf spider nearly on my desktop.

So, when I do play games, I want to just relax and get away from spiders, and I always appreciate games that allow me to do that.

SilverBride · August 26

We need to distinguish between a fear of spiders and an actual phobia which is an anxiety disorder. It's one thing to jump when a spider comes near us, but another to have a full blown panic attack just looking at an image of a spider.

Just how many players have a fear of spiders so crippling that it causes a panic reaction just seeing the pixilated image of one on their screen? I suspect that number would be very low.

Virtually every MMO is full of spiders and players know this. They can avoid these games or learn to cope, but asking games to create a special mode for the very few that have a true phobia is not the answer.

I never heard any complaints about this until WoW created their arachnophobia mode, now all at once it's a big problem. How did these players play WoW for the last 20 years without it? How have they played ESO for the last 10?

Syldras · August 26

belial5221_ESO wrote: »

That's Australia,it's probably gonna have more people with phobias

Not sure if just bashing Australians, or you actually mean that phobias would be more common in a more dangerous environment (although I doubt there's a big difference between city dwellers in, let's say, Los Angeles and Brisbane, even if dangerous animals are more common in Australia): According to statistics, phobias against animals are most common in Western developed countries and barely exist in developing countries where the wildlife is actually more dangerous (poisonous snakes, spiders, scorpions, etc). And among developed countries there's a difference based on how rural people still live or not. The general rule seems to be: Less contact to nature = more fear (traumatic experiences let aside, that's a different thing if the fear is based on something horrible that actually happened in the past, and not on the mere expectation that something horrible could happen). If there's a snake in your garden every day, you're just used to it.

The same problem exists with allergies and asthma, btw. The cleaner the environment, the more allergies people have. Which leads to the question whether today's modern urban lifestyle with a rather limited contact to nature is really as optimal as many people think it was.

Ph1p · August 26

SilverBride wrote: »

I never heard any complaints about this until WoW created their arachnophobia mode, now all at once it's a big problem. How did these players play WoW for the last 20 years without it? How have they played ESO for the last 10?

Good question. The article linked by OP outlined that WoW only implemented this mode after some of their own employees expressed discomfort at working on new, spider-heavy content. This triggered some follow-up research and they concluded that "for quite a lot of people this is a big thing". So at least in part, it's an awareness issue.

How did people play these games before? Maybe they just didn't, like you suggested, and you'd never hear about them here. Some probably played like anyone else and made do. Others played and raised the issue here or elsewhere.

It's a bit like asking how people lived with neurodivergence before widespread public awareness. Or how color-blind people played video games before developers started to pay attention to them.

Elsonso · August 26

Ph1p wrote: »

Or how color-blind people played video games before developers started to pay attention to them.

They just played them. It was just harder until they learned different cues. At least, in the cases that came to my attention. I had the issue with a game I worked on a long time ago where red and green were used for damage numbers. A player commented. He didn't want color changes, he wanted better context so that the color wasn't the only indicator. I am not sure that "color blind mode" where the colors changed even came to his mind. As near as I can remember, he was just used to dealing with it through other means, and that is what he suggested.

Syldras · August 26

Ph1p wrote: »

It's a bit like asking how people lived with neurodivergence before widespread public awareness.

I can only speak for my country, but while the term "neurodivergent" didn't exist (and I'm quite sure that 90% of the population still don't know it and don't care), people still knew very well about different neurological conditions. And even when these didn't have a label yet, people still knew that everyone is different and people have "quirks" (that's how behavioral differences, for example in people with autism or ADHS, were perceived back then). The attitude was different from person to person, some more understanding, others less, not different to today. Actually I sometimes even have the impression that people were more tolerant when the general mindset was "everyone is different and some are a little quirky" instead of the "label label label label label" society we now live in.

Now I'm curious, though: Are there special game modes for "neurodivergent" people? If so, for whom are they, as "neurodivergence" is a term that means a lot of different conditions which all need a different approach (which is why I don't like the term, because it's extremely unprecise)?

belial5221_ESO · August 26

Syldras wrote: »

belial5221_ESO wrote: »

That's Australia,it's probably gonna have more people with phobias

Not sure if just bashing Australians, or you actually mean that phobias would be more common in a more dangerous environment (although I doubt there's a big difference between city dwellers in, let's say, Los Angeles and Brisbane, even if dangerous animals are more common in Australia): According to statistics, phobias against animals are most common in Western developed countries and barely exist in developing countries where the wildlife is actually more dangerous (poisonous snakes, spiders, scorpions, etc). And among developed countries there's a difference based on how rural people still live or not. The general rule seems to be: Less contact to nature = more fear (traumatic experiences let aside, that's a different thing if the fear is based on something horrible that actually happened in the past, and not on the mere expectation that something horrible could happen). If there's a snake in your garden every day, you're just used to it.

The same problem exists with allergies and asthma, btw. The cleaner the environment, the more allergies people have. Which leads to the question whether today's modern urban lifestyle with a rather limited contact to nature is really as optimal as many people think it was.

You misqutoed me,I had a LOL in there,meaning a joke.People should read fully,and not jump to conclusions about things.People are taught the fear by telling kids about things can hurt or kill them,so they get scared of things.Phobias are mostly from traumatic events,like a dog attacks child that gets hurt bad and now they think all will do it,cause they were too young to understand.Alot sicknesses and allergies are because of more sterile environments,since their bodies can't learn to fight them,and again cause we are taught it's bad.

Ardriel · August 26

I have arachnophobia myself. When I started with WOW, I first thought, oh my God, so many spiders...

but it never triggered my phobia. I thought the WOW spiders were cute and hunters with spider pets were cool. Even the biggest and nastiest ones didn't scare me. Here in ESO, the spiders are a bit more realistic. Nevertheless, none of them trigger my phobia, no matter how disgusting. And Velidreth is really disgusting. But also funny. She says funny things. When I do the dungeon, I just pay attention to the mechanics and all that’s scary is when people have no idea about these. Not the spider boss.
No offence but I can't understand this discussion. It's completely exaggerated. The spiders are absolutely part of the ESO world. Tamriel wouldn't be the same without them. I hope the developers have enough sense and ignore this concern. Bugs and server performance should be the focus, not silly little things like this.

Please realize that this is just a game. The spiders are not real. Perhaps it will help you to get used to them a little. I mean, my own arachnophobia actually got better after all these virtual battles... Now I let smaller specimens (up to 2 cm in diameter) crawl over my hand... um .. ok well, 1.5 cm...

JemadarofCaerSalis · August 26

Ph1p wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I never heard any complaints about this until WoW created their arachnophobia mode, now all at once it's a big problem. How did these players play WoW for the last 20 years without it? How have they played ESO for the last 10?

Good question. The article linked by OP outlined that WoW only implemented this mode after some of their own employees expressed discomfort at working on new, spider-heavy content. This triggered some follow-up research and they concluded that "for quite a lot of people this is a big thing". So at least in part, it's an awareness issue.

How did people play these games before? Maybe they just didn't, like you suggested, and you'd never hear about them here. Some probably played like anyone else and made do. Others played and raised the issue here or elsewhere.

It's a bit like asking how people lived with neurodivergence before widespread public awareness. Or how color-blind people played video games before developers started to pay attention to them.

Yeah, while I haven't heard calls for arachnophobia mode for ESO before, I have played pet sites where people have asked for it, there is a mod for skyrim that changes the spiders to draugrs and skeevers and maybe bears (can't quite remember the details), Ark Survivial evolved has the ability to remove any creature from spawners and once I found that, bye bye spider like creatures. I have seen another game with arachnophobia mode, but I don't know what it did, because the game kept crashing and I couldn't play it.

For me, personally, I played like normal, because there is a distinct lack of games that I like without spiders or spider like creatures. I would just not look at the screen when there was a spider on it. Fortunately the games with more realistic looking spiders tended to have 'tells' where you could tell when you are getting near one (webs is a common one), so I wasn't necessarily 'jump scared' by them, because I could steel myself for the idea that there might be a spider nearby.

If there was some sort of ability to get rid of the spiders, I would generally use it if the way to do so was easy enough.

I also think we are seeing this issue more and more because people are taking it more seriously. Look at what the number one prank tends to be: someone being afraid of spiders and someone else throwing a spider, whether real or not, on them and watching them react. That used to be MUCH more common, because it was 'funny' to see people panic over a 'tiny little spider' 'it won't eat much' (yes, that is something that has been said to me. No, it does not help). However, people are starting to take phobias more seriously, and as you said, that brings awareness of the issue more to the forefront.

Before, people were just expected to 'suck it up' and not let it bother them. Which, as I said, is how I played video games before.

I don't *need* an arachnophobic mode (or the ability to change certain models to others), but it would make playing that much more pleasant than it is now.

Syldras · August 26

belial5221_ESO wrote: »

Phobias are mostly from traumatic events,like a dog attacks child that gets hurt bad and now they think all will do it,cause they were too young to understand.

That's not how it works. It's not limited to children and it's not about "not understanding". It's an involuntary brain reaction. After a trauma, even completely harmless things can cause panic when they remind of the situation when something horrible happened. As an example, some people who lived in a war zone panic when they hear fireworks. It doesn't matter if they're adults, and it doesn't matter either that they know it's not shots or bombs but just fireworks and harmless, the sound of it alone will make them extremely nervous and uncomfortable.

JemadarofCaerSalis · August 26

Ardriel wrote: »

I have arachnophobia myself. When I started with WOW, I first thought, oh my God, so many spiders... but it never triggered my phobia. I thought the WOW spiders were cute and hunters with spider pets were cool. Even the biggest and nastiest ones didn't scare me. Here in ESO, the spiders are a bit more realistic. Nevertheless, none of them trigger my phobia, no matter how disgusting. And Velidreth is really disgusting. But also funny. She says funny things. When I do the dungeon, I just pay attention to the mechanics and all that’s scary is when people have no idea about these. Not the spider boss.
No offence but I can't understand this discussion. It's completely exaggerated. The spiders are absolutely part of the ESO world. Tamriel wouldn't be the same without them. I hope the developers have enough sense and ignore this concern. Bugs and server performance should be the focus, not silly little things like this.
Please realize that this is just a game. The spiders are not real. Perhaps it will help you to get used to them a little. I mean, my own arachnophobia actually got better after all these virtual battles... Now I let smaller specimens (up to 2 cm in diameter) crawl over my hand... um .. ok well, 1.5 cm...

It is great that your arachnophobia isn't triggered by the spiders, but that doesn't mean your experience is universal, nor does it mean everyone is able to get over their phobia by being constantly triggered. It also isnt' a 'silly little thing' when someone has a genuine phobia of the spiders and are triggered by them (and in that case, they probably *don't* play a lot of these games, which could mean that if more games started implementing phobia modes like WoW, it would bring in those players because now they can feel comfortable playing)

Ph1p · August 26

Syldras wrote: »

Ph1p wrote: »

It's a bit like asking how people lived with neurodivergence before widespread public awareness.

I can only speak for my country, but while the term "neurodivergent" didn't exist (and I'm quite sure that 90% of the population still don't know it and don't care), people still knew very well about different neurological conditions. And even when these didn't have a label yet, people still knew that everyone is different and people have "quirks" (that's how behavioral differences, for example in people with autism or ADHS, were perceived back then). The attitude was different from person to person, some more understanding, others less, not different to today. Actually I sometimes even have the impression that people were more tolerant when the general mindset was "everyone is different and some are a little quirky" instead of the "label label label label label" society we now live in.

Thanks for sharing. You and I are probably thinking of very different time frames. Public attitudes have definitely changed over the past decades, going from institutionalizing children and stigmatizing their parents to the more tolerant and aware situation you're describing. I should have clarified this better.

In any case, I was drawing this comparison in response to someone asking why "now all at once it's a big problem". There are many cases where the problem hasn't suddenly popped up. It's always been there and now we are simply more aware of it and of potential remedies. Apparently, that's how WoW decided to implement their arachnophobia mode.