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

[Klokwerkaos]

2 hours ago, NuttyNuti said:

Keeping this thread afloat.

I suffer form anxiety issues as well, even though Wally's appearances have not been quite as serious problem to me as it has been to the OP (which doesn't make their experiences any less unpleasant). I understand well where the OP is coming from; having a fun game experience interrupted by something that triggers a serious psychosomatic reaction is awful. Anxiety attacks and panic attacks are not something one can just get over with by pure logic; it is an over-clocked flee-or-fight reaction that just hits on no matter how much you reason that it shouldn't be the case. I have had dozens of times having an anxiety attack among which I know I shouldn't feel anxious about something, but my brain just decides to put on full panic trottle and make my body tremble, my heart race, and my mind jump on unrealistic conclusions in very ungraceful style.

What makes this sadder is that The Chains of Harrow and Wally's appearances came with a genre shift that wasn't predictable to anxious people like us; we know to stay away from horror games and psychologically too pressing media when it reads all over the coverart or when the first minutes of the game strike as too creepy. Warframe, however, did not fall into this category at least during the initial game: sure, we are space ninjas killing people from enemy factions, but the heavier and scarier story elements came only later. Warframe is more like a Power Fantasy the Game: player has the control on events, which is essentially the opposite of what horror games usually do. We got invested into the game before it started to exhibit features that are less comfortable to us. I personally needed to play The Chains of Harrow in a well illuminated room to be able to distance myself from the creepiness.

I do understand this side; even if implementing a Wally toggle would be easy to implement, game devs may also have plenty of other things to address, or they are not sure how to address this (Wally's jumpscariness is a narrative tool after all). I am also aware that the world can't infinitely go around people with mental or physical challenges, and that we need to ne independent in finding workarounds. Not every person I meet will know about my issues. Not every media can or is supposed to be purged so that I could enjoy it without having creeps -- the horror genre goes on without me and that's alright.

However, I see OP requesting this feature as an act of forwardness and definitely something that deserves voice, especially as this game offered spooky elements later in the story. A Wally Voice Toggle would certainly also benefit other people as well, whether they had anxiety issues or they just find him too distracting. There are already toggles for Ordis and Operator, and we even have a toggle for visualized bloodshed. While we can't expect the devs to certainly take this request, it is worth putting forward, to make the ride less bumpy to those people who were surprised by the more intense material of the game.

NuttyNuti, out.

Just to be clear, like I said, I don't think there is anything wrong with asking, but i just wanted to make sure that OP is managing expectations appropriately.

[Educated_Beast]

You can always turn sound off in orbiter / make your operator look like a sissy...

 

[Grahark]

Kids these days. 😩

[tockron]

I really feel for people who struggle because of this, and I'm really glad someone decided to speak up about it. I have stalled story progression specifically to avoid wally, which is really frustrating because (I think we can agree) this is a fantastic game with lots of options on how to play. Personally, I don't have a medical reason to avoid wally. I just can't stand jump scares, especially in my "safe hub". It took me a few hours of play on Eris to stop feeling uneasy in the infested ships and stop checking over my shoulder. I (and other it would seem) started and enjoyed this game, not with horror elements and jump scares, but as it was. Pure and simple FUN. Wally is not a part of the game we enjoy.

Supposedly dropping objects where wally appears stops the events, but I haven't seen any proof, and it's a bit ridiculous to have to go through all of that. And having to turn off volume/voices and navigate the orbiter by menu really isn't an option either. I for one actually like running around the ship, and that's a lot of extra steps to avoid a "feature" that can easily be deactivated with a 1-0 toggle switch on his chance of appearing.@[DE]Rebecca Please review this and take action. There is a community want for this, even a community NEED. Many may not use the switch, but the ones who do will be extremely grateful. 

(And please don't link it to creator mode. Just make it a basic feature like turning off the operator voice...) 

[anonymous14z]

Being brainless

But being a bit concerned about this.

Bump.

[Xzorn]

10 hours ago, anonymous14z said:

Being brainless

But being a bit concerned about this.

Bump.

 

OP has anxiety and one of their triggers is jump scares which is common.

Anxiety in simple terms is just the fight or flight instinct that every person has being triggered or over stimulated. If you were about to get in a car accident your pulse would race, adrenaline would pump and your body would go into a hyper stimulated state in an attempt to avoid that accident or potentially die. That's a normal trigger for every person. Anxiety disorder is when that happens for less reasonable things like a video game jump scare. It's a normal response but for less than critical reasons.

There's more to it because it's the brain after all but generally anything that causes fear, worry or stress is amplified.