That was brilliantly said! ![:smiley:](https://d1bg94bbsh66ji.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/smiley.png?v=6" ":smiley:")
1 Like
I, myself was diagnosed with PDD-NOS which is also related to autism.
I don’t do much raids at all mainly because i feel that in most cases, i only slow the rest of the group down or they may even get wiped with some bosses due to the lack of damage i do. Maybe in some cases, it’s good enough but i don’t know.
Living with a “handicap”, “limitation” (or however u wanna call it) such as autism, is’nt really easy and in some cases (like with some raids) very tiresome.
But people often judge on the first thing they see and that’s a shame really.
If only they looked abit further, like to the person behind it… they actually might understand because with a limitation like PDD-NOS, making contact, let alone make friends is’nt exactly easy.
6 Likes
Yup, same here. I’m not even in a guild anymore, these days. 
I’m awfully hesitant about using the LFR even to get basic stuff done because of an anxiety disorder linked to a brain that is like a computer with a state of the art processor, but not enough RAM to make it run properly - so completely useless.
It has nothing to do with autism, but initially I thought that it was - turned out to be something else. I forget stuff when overstrung, am quickly frustrated and have a hard time truly connecting with people, because most of the time people stick to this pointless level of communication that is just more meaningless information to manage. I know this sounds a tad a-social, but that’s not by choice. I don’t do well in groups of people, despite the fact that I would like to… 1 on 1 there’s no issue, though 
not that the group will notice anything, it’s all in me - tension just builds up to a degree that triggers the basic flight or fight mechanism, always leading to the former because the latter is a no-go.
Stupid thing is that I do get drawn to stuff that is likely to overload my ‘sensors’. The moth and flame story, I guess. Used to game with a drink, because that lessens the intake of information to a manageable degree… but that’s not really the way to go.
So yeah, I would love to have a guild to game and instance with, perhaps even raid - but I have no idea how to get there and putting myself out there is complicated at best… one would easily dismiss himself as a noob, and older gamer or just not good enough. All baseless reasons to not get stuck-in to tricky situations and ultimately getting you nowhere.
Am managing this in RL, but somehow - online is a different story, altogether.
6 Likes
Thanks for this post. Although I haven’t been formally diagnosed, a friend of mine with experience in psychology training told me once she thought I had Aspergers and I do resonate with a lot of autistic symptoms. It’s very interesting to read that other people also get exhausted by raids and dungeons, I thought it was just me.
I was so disappointed that they locked the rest of the war campaign behind the raid that I have finally unsubbed - profession quests in dungeons as well were a contributing factor. It should be optional, especially when the war campaign is otherwise a solo affair.
6 Likes
That is not what is meant by accessibility in this sense. Accessibility for people with disabilities is completely different to it being generally accessible.
Changes such as colourblind mode are accessibility in this sense.
i’ve got aspergers syndrome, and i start having difficulties with the entire game, so not only raiding., lets hope it wil get better… sorry english is not my native tongue.
3 Likes
I have aspergers and inattentive ADHD so I can relate a lot to some of the other posts here.
Problem is I always loved raiding and playing with other people but the fear of messing up to badly or being flamed used to keep me away.
Yes I mess up sometimes, on basic things even but I try my damn hardest to understand what I did wrong and do better next time.
What helped me was joining a amazing community with people who did not care for this common pug attitude many have these days. The rushing, flaming and rudeness. I know not everyone is like that but its very common to see among pugs these days.
Since joining the community I managed to do mythic keys, even healed a 10 key and made timer. Doing BoD raid on both normal and heroic (no full clear yet) and yes it is a struggle sometimes to try and process all the information/things happening at once. I find it myself much easier to understand a mechanic if I can actually see it first hand.
I strongly suggest joining a guild/community and play with people who are chill and dont flame when a wipe happen.
For anyone playing Alliance you can join Scared of Dungeons community. Simply a amazing bunch of people and I owe them so much, would never have thought it being possible to run mythic keys or raids if not for them.
(Alliance) Scared of Dungeons EU EN - #37 by Sinaaki-doomhammer
6 Likes
Yeah I’m both responding to and agreeing with OP and at the same time misunderstanding the person above me about accessibility.
But how would it work? Dumb down lfr even more? Create a sensory-light version that’s basically just a tour without rewards other than being able to complete the quest? Then everyone is simply going to use that and the quest itself will become obsolete in a way.
You can dumb down raids all you want, take away as many unnecessary flashes and colours and sounds and whatnot. But what you cannot take away is the fact that you would need to group up and deal with other people. That are unpredictable. Might be mean but might also simply have a bad day, still leaving their mark on you.
Stop forcing people into content they don’t have interest in by making it easier for them. It’s no fun for those that like the challenge and work hard to get where they get.
And I’m by no means a raider. I’m filthier than a dirty casual right now, and also on the spectrum. But I also see the value in working towards a goal, one that’s reachable. For me it’s basically getting my alts at 120 now while for a raider it might be get BiS in all slots. I don’t care so no need to tailor raids for me…
Well I am very minorly on the spectrum so it doesn’t bother me too much but there is no need to dumb it down and sometimes sensitivity can be useful, like a puzzle involving sound or patterns. I am very good at those in games.
So maybe an option to remove certain other characters spell graphics and sounds? I know it is done in others and WoW even has a specific raid graphics tab so your PC doesn’t explode.
Edit: Note I am a huge supporter of ending forced content. I quit WoW because of it. I am just all for making changes for sensory overload for some people. We remain intelligent and capable so if people with such want to do it they should feel comfortable doing so rather than getting their senses bombarded 
1 Like
I don’t use addons at all.
I find it hard to turn off the sound, because often there are pointers in the sound as well ( for example, if boss says [phrase] then [this attack]). I wish it were possible to tone this down.
But mostly I wish that this kind of content were optional and not “sorry, if you can’t / don’t want to do this, then it’s end of the road for you!”
True, the sounds can give some pointers in a fight.
May I suggest one of the communities, where you (might, but not guaranteed) could be in a group and learn your fellow group members pattern
I know this suggestion might not be what you want to hear, but I know when I was in a group I slowly began to read everyones patterns as they played, and that helps a lot in some situations
I agree with this, not being one who wants to do any dungeon/raid content, this means I have things that forever will be out of reach (or till I get enough courage to do it 
)
1 Like
Can I at this point mention, I’m happy this is such a friendly discussion? I had been reluctant to post here at all, afraid to run into the usual fanbois who throw insults, but now I’m really glad I did.
Someone mentioned ‘dumbing down’ raids - that is not the point. ASD and related conditions are on a spectrum and you will never find a solution that fits all.
That’s why I suggested, there should be an option, to just be able to skip content - obviously without getting rewards for it. In the case of a raid for example, your char could just come to at a medic’s tent, with the healer telling them, sorry mate, you got knocked out right away, you missed all the fun!
I also think this is legit, to avoid forced content. Some people enjoy raiding. Some don’t. Some people love PvP. Others like to collect achievements. WoW already has so much content for different player types, this would be just one more option to choose.
6 Likes
That gave me idea about implementing a reward for being good to people.
Like if you are genuinely nice to LFR people, they can give you a +1, your karma lvl grows and when your Nicer io score reaches 2k you get in game cosmetic rewards.
Why not give a shy people a tool to stay away from flaming people by this RIO analog, an indicator that they will not regret trying to overcome their medical condition?
If raider helps to find experienced edgelords, we can use that experience for ideas.
1 Like
I think Blizzard will eventually have to implement some form of incentive, to stop the community from deteriorating. I think there is at least one other thread here currently about the same topic.
In the meantime, maybe it could be an idea to start some ingame community of “these are nice, mostly grown up people who value kindness and tolerance in order to have fun in the game”.
I remember, the first few years (Classic and BC) I was very spoiled, because I played on a RP server, that had a very active RP community.
We actually had a raid group, that cleared all raids up to Karazhan without any kind of voice chat and completely in roleplaying. It took forever, but it was FUN! and not as exhausting, because there were always breaks in between.
Sadly that community dissolved, but I’m sure there are still enough nice people to be found, who put an emphasis on having fun as a group, instead of just some IG achievements or purple pixels…
5 Likes
Let me know if you need any help running this, we could tag together and I’ll dps for 2+ people.
1 Like
Yeah that was me. And that’s pretty much what I meant, be it in an awkward way (cuz that’s my thing, I’m socially awkward and get in unintended arguments where we end up saying the exact same thing in different ways…)
Now for me, I am one hand short basically. I need 2 hands on my keyboard and 1 on my mouse. I only have 2 hands, so I’m often just a tad too late. I would pull much better dps if I could stand still the entire fight, but I also know from experience (raiding in legion where I could stand in the fire while draining…) that it gets boring really fast. However, does that really matter for people who only want to do it once to finish the story?
With dumbing down I meant it as a catch-all phrase for taking out things that are too much for some of us. But I absolutely did not mean to say we’re not intelligent enough to tackle mythic even if we wanted.
Part of the problem is the community. A lot of people have years experience raiding, and part of that group doesn’t have the patience to wait for newer people to catch up. Which is their right, don’t get me wrong.
But for me too, experiencing mechanics first hand works best to learn how to deal with a fight, which means having to go through them several times before the routine is set.
I dunno, maybe we can all form a community and raid together
2 Likes
I would be totally up for this, especially if it was without voice chat but with good old fashioned chat typing. But I would be a complete beginner!
well, i can tell you that you are most definitely not the only one that gets affected by doing dungeons and raids or using voice chat, I have Autism, Asbergers syndrome and ADD, so quite a mix , the degree of it is different for me, the Asbergers is not bad in my case, the ADD I have is and the Autism is not a super severe case but bad enough that I can’t function in the job market anymore and can barely get by in life, and yes i am in the process of getting help. In my case the dungeons i feel are the worst , the use of addons like DBM (deadly boss mods.) help a lot to let me know where not to be in a boss fight, the social aspect, well i tend to join LFR alone and basically do the best i can.
I think I may have misunderstood what you originally said as well, which is also MY problem 
At least I can understand tone of voice irl, be lost without it.
1 Like
So i wasnt the only one! I do get sensory overload with WoW, i play the game with sound and music off, unless its a new story quest I havent experienced yet.