After 3000+ hours of warframe, I have to stop playing due to my anxiety and im heartbroken over it (Spoilers for chains of harrow)

[Monstercatinabox]

I'm making this post in the hopes this reaches DE and I trying every method of contact, I tried posting about this on Reddit seeming as my posts never really get attention here, but I got harassed and down voted due to people misunderstanding me. I avoided posting about this because I was scared that people would say i'm stupid (Which happened anyway and caused my panic attack the get worse)

For a short backstory, I suffer from an anxiety disorder and have a weakness to sudden and unexpected loud noises. After completing the COH quest I have been suffering for 2 years trying every possible method of avoiding the random man in the wall jump scare because of how easily it makes me panic. I have no other problems with Warframe other then this.

I hoped that creator mode would get rid of this, but it doesn't. And after enabling it I felt safe for a while until last night when I was playing and I have a panic attack after being jumped. I avoided posting about this because I was scared that people would say i'm stupid (Which happened anyway and caused my panic attack the get worse).

DE, I love your game so very much and i'm obsessed with it, but unfortunately for my own health and well-being I have to stop playing, even though I don't want to.

[(PSN)Kamranos]

A good trick to spot when it happens. When you spawn in your orbiter, the camera will be pulled back further than usual and snap back to normal. This is a tell tale sign that the man-in-the-wall is lurking somewhere. When this happens, just hit your menu and fast travel right to your arsenal and wait a minute. The man in the wall will vanish and you should be able to resume wandering your orbiter in peace. This works for my other friends I know that have the same issue. 

I also leave my operators hood up so there is no creep factor as it just looks like my typical operator.

If you have not done so, I suggest you contact support regarding this issue

https://digitalextremes.zendesk.com/hc/en-us

Edited July 26, 2019 by (PS4)Kamranos

[(NSW)1kSakura]

Your disorder shouldn’t be laughed at as it is something serious. It’s good that you’re letting DE know. I don’t think it will be that difficult for them to find a way for players to activate/deactivate this feature at will once they see this post.

[Monstercatinabox]

44 minutes ago, (PS4)Kamranos said:

A good trick to spot when it happens. When you spawn in your orbiter, the camera will be pulled back further than usual and snap back to normal. This is a tell tale sign that the man-in-the-wall is lurking somewhere. When this happens, just hit your menu and fast travel right to your arsenal and wait a minute. The man in the wall will vanish and you should be able to resume wandering your orbiter in peace. This works for my other friends I know that have the same issue. 

I also leave my operators hood up so there is no creep factor as it just looks like my typical operator.

If you have not done so, I suggest you contact support regarding this issue

https://digitalextremes.zendesk.com/hc/en-us

I have sent a letter to DE.

[kgabor]

Sounds interesting.

I'm not fond of jumpscares myself (though i consider CoH a relatively mild one at that)and didn't even know that through a medium such as a video game this affects someone with an anxiety disorder (probably a different sort than mine)differently, even though i'm one such person.

Anyways, wish you good luck with the Rng, regarding this.

Edited July 26, 2019 by kgabor

[(PSN)Kamranos]

7 minutes ago, Monstercatinabox said:

I have sent a letter to DE.

Did you send a letter or contact support directly? Because sending a letter might as well have been throwing it into the wind where are support might actually be able to help.

[Xzorn]

Hm. I never thought of that. I have GAD myself though I don't have any specific triggers.

Jump scares bother me but they don't generally trigger a panic attack though having lived with it most my life I understand there's no gauge and no comparisons. Everyone is different which can make it all the more difficult to treat. I am lucky? In that my Doctor has seen me in a 9/10 Panic attack that had been going for 3 days so for the medication side of things I have that safety blanket that I'm sure all people who've suffered Panic attacks know about.

If you've had it a while though you should know there's really no one to blame. It is what it is. I assume you've had treatment? The triggered or what I call spike Panic attacks are the hardest to deal with for me. I have two kinds, the creeper is the other. It slowly builds over time but can be fought off with moderate success.

Coping mechanism are very important for a triggered attack. It's all in your head after all and I know it sounds impossible when it happens because your mind plays tricks but you are still very much in control and the right coping mechanism is useful for reminding yourself of that. It's all easier said than done. I know. I freak myself out if I get low on benzos and simply knowing how often I have to take them freaks me out even more knowing the side effects and then I get stuck in that circle of worry.

Honestly, even talking about Anxiety gives me symptoms. It really is like PTSD once you've had enough hardcore panic attacks. It does seem like a good idea to remove jump scares for an otherwise stress free game though. I can only PvP for short periods myself. Turns out the reason I used to be so good was my anxiety which of course got worse and worse the more I exposed myself.

I would definitely put the Fight in fight or flight if someone made fun of me for having anxiety. Don't let that bother you for a second.

[(PSN)JayCeeV3]

Kamranos has given good advice. Just hit menu when you see the camera in the orbiter acting funny, jump into the arsenal, then go get a cup of herbal tea (or hot beverage of choice), chill for a while, then get right back into it without a care. Another trick I would recommend trying is lowering the sound of the game and listening to a podcast or some music you like while you play. 

You can do this Tenno. Dont leave the system unguarded; the innocents undefended from the mutated, the covetous, the ravenous and the vengeful. Your brother Tennos stand with you in your struggles, dont go. 

[Monstercatinabox]

49 minutes ago, (PS4)Kamranos said:

Did you send a letter or contact support directly? Because sending a letter might as well have been throwing it into the wind where are support might actually be able to help.

I did go to support, yes.

[(PSN)Schobii564]

Afaik wally disappears after the chimera prologue, i havent seen him since

[Monstercatinabox]

So I contacted support and they literally just said to post to here...

[Sabremouse]

Nothing stupid about it, I have this too. Got back to my orbiter yesterday when a "hey kiddo" loudly in my left headphone has me jumping out of my skin. Had to take a break for feelings to settle I was so unnerved by it. It is for me exactly like being attacked, like a slap to the back of the head. Misophonia is not always easy to manage in many situations either so you often end up avoiding them. In my case a time-out is usually enough to come back to it, especially if it's something I enjoy alot. Would be a pity if you felt you had to quit Warframe when you've done so well to come this far already. Wow, 3000 hours is double my own, here's hoping you can add to that.

[smebjulak]

Bye.

[Autongnosis]

Try also the community message inbox. It might help. I hope they solve this problem for you man. From a past experience i do know they tend to care about health related issues so chances are, if it's possible, they'll try to help. 

 

Uh also you can ping a DE staff member here @[DE]Rebecca

Edited July 26, 2019 by Autongnosis

[Monstercatinabox]

10 minutes ago, Autongnosis said:

Try also the community message inbox. It might help. I hope they solve this problem for you man. From a past experience i do know they tend to care about health related issues so chances are, if it's possible, they'll try to help. 

Thanks, I will try that.

[Cosmic_Elf]

Well since you have a serious medical issue in regards to this, there should be an option to turn own/off this in settings after the quest. I personally don't get a fright over this as its just a game. I find it amusing that the operator appears at random.. she usually sits on the marketplace desk, when she appears at the front of the ship where navigation is. Never seen her anywhere else. So she is usually on my ship expected to be there if she re-appears again. On the Marketplace desk .,

I am surprised you don't find the infested as frightening as the man-in-the wall operator doppleganger, they just about run and creep up and attack from behind in almost any mission...or even the grineer manic that would come out of nowhere at super speeds and invisibility, jump on top of you, pinning you to the ground, and attacking you like a rabid cat to death... I get a fright with that grineer manic all the time, when it unexpectedly grabs me, holds me down... can't do anything to block or get yourself free while being hacked to death.. and have to be revived. 

 

I personally find that being grabbed by a grineer manic unexpectedly way more frightening than a ghost operator appearing randomly with glowey eyes on my ship.

Edited July 26, 2019 by Cosmic_Elf

[Monstercatinabox]

11 minutes ago, Cosmic_Elf said:

Well since you have a serious medical issue in regards to this, there should be an option to turn own/off this in settings after the quest. I personally don't get a fright over this as its just a game. I find it amusing that the operator appears at random.. she usually sits on the marketplace desk, when she appears at the front of the ship where navigation is. Never seen her anywhere else. So she is usually on my ship expected to be there if she re-appears again. On the Marketplace desk .,

I am surprised you don't find the infested as frightening as the man-in-the wall operator doppleganger, they just about run and creep up and attack from behind in almost any mission...or even the grineer manic that would come out of nowhere at super speeds and invisibility, jump on top of you, pinning you to the ground, and attacking you like a rabid cat to death... I get a fright with that grineer manic all the time, when it unexpectedly grabs me, holds me down... can't do anything to block or get yourself free while being hacked to death.. and have to be revived. 

 

I personally find that being grabbed by a grineer manic unexpectedly way more frightening than a ghost operator appearing randomly with glowey eyes on my ship.

It's more to do with loud noises "Misophonia". I do feel a bit creeped out by some of the enemies in the game, but thats only really short term and besides I actually love stuff like that and I have even done art work of scary creatures my self.

[(PSN)guzmantt1977]

Kind of confused by why people are scared of Wally. 

[Shalath]

3 hours ago, (PS4)Schobii564 said:

Afaik wally disappears after the chimera prologue, i havent seen him since

I was actually just thinking about how long it had been since I last saw him when reading the thread.

I think there should be a toggle for this in the options if he doesn't vanish after Chimera.

[(PSN)Kamranos]

37 minutes ago, (PS4)guzmantt1977 said:

Kind of confused by why people are scared of Wally. 

Anxiety is an enigma to those without it; that doesn’t make it and less real.

Edited July 26, 2019 by (PS4)Kamranos

[(PSN)corpusbonds]

4 hours ago, (PS4)Schobii564 said:

Afaik wally disappears after the chimera prologue, i havent seen him since

He definitely doesn’t disappear. He came three times in one day for me yesterday, and I’ve had the chimera prologue completed.

 OP, I understand the anxiety and even at times he gets my heart racing to the point I have to ground myself. My anxiety isn’t as severe anymore though, so I wish you luck.

Edited July 26, 2019 by (PS4)corpusbonds

[(PSN)Schobii564]

Just now, (PS4)corpusbonds said:

He definitely doesn’t disappear. He came three times in one day for me yesterday, and I’ve had the chimera prologue completed.

 OP, I understand the anxiety and even at times he gets my heart racing to the point I have to ground myself. My anxiety isn’t as severe anymore though, so I wish you luck.

Oh, weird, i havent seen him in ages

[PhazonMagala]

Have you tried to reduce Speech Volume ?

[OwlOfJune]

I don't have any panic attack but it can be far more annoying for a gimmick that isn't fully related to more story.

 

It SHOULD have turn off for option like Operator voice, Ordis lines etc.

[xMarvin732]

38 minutes ago, OwlOfJune said:

I don't have any panic attack but it can be far more annoying for a gimmick that isn't fully related to more story.

 

It SHOULD have turn off for option like Operator voice, Ordis lines etc.

There is, Toggle on/off for operator voice as well as ordis volume