To the devs. PLEASE consider players with RSI!

[Hugh Manatee]

Let me begin by stating this IS NOT a complaint or a demand. It is merely raising a point based on a medical condition many people suffer from as a result of using a mouse. In case you haven't heard of it before, it's called, Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI). This condition arises after years of excessive use of a mouse. Quite often, as it is in my case, the person used a mouse at work and for leisure.

Once the problem surfaces, it tends to send sharp pain that starts at your wrist and up the arm and hands. This happens when I use my mouse too much. I often need to wear a wrist supporter, but it's only partially helpful. Usually, I am forced to stop playing a game, simply because of unnecessary clicking that can easily be streamlined.

The paths top the list since each tile must be placed a mouse click at a time. 100 tiles, 100 clicks. Making them drag and drop or add a convenient keyboard command to place them as a bulk would make the world of difference to a players like myself. Reducing 100 clicks to 1 or to a keystroke means I can play longer, with the painful side effects surfacing later, not sooner.

Anyway, this post not only raises the issue for current sufferers, it also helps players who don't suffer from RSI avoid the issue at a later date. You may not suffer now. But, I guarantee if you use a mouse a lot at work and home, it's highly likely it will develop in the future. REDUCE THOSE CLICKS!

Trust me, I'd hate to think of more sufferers when it could be prevented. This is an issue in game after game that I play. Devs simply have us on a click-fest when it shouldn't be the case.

[Hugh Manatee]

Oh yea! I almost forgot. All the food and drink stalls etc. force you to click through all the extras. It's a nightmare when you have a new stall that hasn't been set to repeat its features!

[Eekhoorn]

Have you looked into alternative controls?

- pen
- trackerball
- trackerpad
- touchscreen
- controler

and I'm sure there are a ton more if you look into it.

I'm left handed... 80% of the games don't support full keymapping. If they can't even get that right, I fear handicapped people are even lower on their consideration list. I think you're better off trying to find your own solution.

[Hugh Manatee]

Origineel geplaatst door Eekhoorn:

Have you looked into alternative controls?

- pen
- trackerball
- trackerpad
- touchscreen
- controler

and I'm sure there are a ton more if you look into it.

I'm left handed... 80% of the games don't support full keymapping. If they can't even get that right, I fear handicapped people are even lower on their consideration list. I think you're better off trying to find your own solution.

For the past few decades I have used a Logitech Trackball Trackman. It is the best mouse I have ever used. It had a ton of buttons you could assign keystrokes. Unfortunately, Logitech stopped making it a few years ago with no warning. I had a working mouse at the time. I was forced to buy one at an inflated price, a few years ago. Had I known it was going to be discontinued, I would have purchased a few. That last mouse recently broke and after literally decades I was forced to find a new mouse.

The best trackball Logitech now sell is the MX Ergo Trackball. I was forced to buy one of those and it's taken me months to get used to it. For a start, the trackball on this mouse has moved to the thumb. Also, the programmable buttons have been cut in half.

Like you, I am left-handed. However, as you know, we live in a right-handed world. We learn how to use scissors, for example, with our right hand. We adapt because we have to. Actually, you're 100% correct. We can't hold our breath waiting for devs to act. Sadly, we have no choice but to find our own solution.

Excellent post. Thank you for the suggestions. I've never considered a trackerpad before, to be honest. However, I will check them out now to see if it's a viable option.

[Kajsa_Kavat]

You might want to try actually telling Frontier:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/703080/discussions/0/1640926712953958962/
Though I'd estimate your chances to be about 0%

[Hugh Manatee]

Origineel geplaatst door Hlaine:

You might want to try actually telling Frontier:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/703080/discussions/0/1640926712953958962/
Though I'd estimate your chances to be about 0%

Much obliged. Typical. I thought I was telling them in the actual forum of their game. Guess I was wrong.

0% chance you say? Can't help but quote Hans Solo.

"Never tell me the odds." lol

[Starbucaneer]

Hey Hugh Manatee (like the name),

I have used a trackball for years. I cannot understand why people use a mouse. However even a trackball can leave you in pain after extended sessions of use. I have used PC's for leisure and for work for decades. I understand your pain and your point. I have to stop doing a lot of things because the pain in my hands and arms becomes unbearable. Sadly until the current generations are sufferers as an inevitable consequence of the "click culture" with phones and pc's nothing will be done to alleviate the menace of RSI. Although it won't help us older gamers now, eventually all the newer generations with crippled hands will force the market to take action.
Stay safe and well :0)

[Hugh Manatee]

Origineel geplaatst door Starbucaneer:

Hey Hugh Manatee (like the name),

I have used a trackball for years. I cannot understand why people use a mouse. However even a trackball can leave you in pain after extended sessions of use. I have used PC's for leisure and for work for decades. I understand your pain and your point. I have to stop doing a lot of things because the pain in my hands and arms becomes unbearable. Sadly until the current generations are sufferers as an inevitable consequence of the "click culture" with phones and pc's nothing will be done to alleviate the menace of RSI. Although it won't help us older gamers now, eventually all the newer generations with crippled hands will force the market to take action.
Stay safe and well :0)

Great post. Glad you like the name. Normally, my alias is Duncan Disorderly. Clearly, I have a penchant for punned names. In fact, I have a journal with dozens listed and add one when I conjure up a new addition. lol

Yes, the trackball is a huge help and delays the onset of pain. As this isn't the first time I have started a similar thread with a different game, I have learned how to refine my OP. Previously, for some bizarre reason, people would react negatively to this topic. The very people I am trying to help. Nevertheless, I remain resolute to raise this point with every game that does this.

Call me old fashioned, but I believe a manufacturer of any product has a duty of care. This means it is their ethical duty to produce a product that has the least negative impact on their customers. Since this quite serious and quite common problem doesn't surface for a long time, they fly under the radar. I would love to make this issue go viral. This is a health issue. I know.

Tapping the screen of your iphone or ipad with your finger is another thing to avoid. It starts as a tingling, but eventually that tingling turns into a pain that travels up your finger. USE A PEN! Let the pen take the hits. Save your fingers people, FFS!

While I've found it rare for the devs to fix problems like this in other games, inevitably my issue is resolved my a modder. Modders do all the work the devs should have done. Satisfactory, for example, was one click one tile. But, there's a mod called Smart! that enables you to lay multiple tiles in one go. Transformed the game for me.

[Hugh Manatee]

Actually, think about that. The devs produce these games that force us to over-click. The problem, in one game I play, is solved by a modder. Well. That tells me a few things. It doesn't take an enormous amount of time, energy, or money to reduce clicks if a modder can do it. So, what does that tell you about how much these companies care? No need to reply, we both know the answer. I should ask Kim Carkrashian, or that Paris Bangkok Hilton to raise this issue on their Twitters. You don't, by chance, know them?

[grampers62]

Unfortunately the non handicapped have no clue what it means to have a handicap or how intensely any of them really affect daily life. Even the so called handicap entrances are far from accessible for most handicapped people. And when one tries to explain we get told we're too picky or it's not that bad. They just don't get it.

[Hugh Manatee]

Origineel geplaatst door grampers62:

Unfortunately the non handicapped have no clue what it means to have a handicap or how intensely any of them really affect daily life. Even the so called handicap entrances are far from accessible for most handicapped people. And when one tries to explain we get told we're too picky or it's not that bad. They just don't get it.

This is precisely why I am determined to help spread some awareness. It appears some non-handicapped don't consider these things since it doesn't impact their lives. This is not to say the handicapped are overlooked because they don't all care. Most people care, especially when they have better clarity. Generally, a bit of empathy can go a long way. Perhaps I sound too optimistic. That's fine. Being negative is counter-productive, i reckon.

Help spread the word. Tell them to spread the word, like I am telling you. Awareness could potentially grow at an exponential rate when you think about it.

[Starbucaneer]

The saying "walk a mile in another mans shoes" springs to mind. I agree that there is not enough awareness. It is a fault of the Human condition that we are unaware of most things until it impacts us personally. I have always had a peripheral awareness of RSI having spent most of my career in an office environment. Wrist pain prompted me to take steps to try and mitigate it and that is when I discovered Trackballs. I have to say that changing to this type of controller helped but eventually the pain was transferred elsewhere. However I will not give up using my PC which affords me hours of entertainment. I also have begun to suffer pain in various joints as a result of sports activities pursued with vigour when I was younger. Even walking is painful. People around me do not understand how much pain I will have to endure simply from sitting on their "comfy" sofa. I invested in an orthopaedic armchair at home. The same problems arise with beds etc.
I digress.
When I saw your post I felt that you made very good points. I wanted to support your views. Many of us just suffer in silence.
No I do not know any famous people lol, I do have an MP in my extended family but, sadly and predictably, that person has no interest in anything but their own "pet" issues and career advancement.
I have not tried Satisfactory. Good to know there is a mod should I ever buy that game. I do have Factorio and other similar games.

[Hugh Manatee]

Origineel geplaatst door Starbucaneer:

The saying "walk a mile in another mans shoes" springs to mind. I agree that there is not enough awareness. It is a fault of the Human condition that we are unaware of most things until it impacts us personally. I have always had a peripheral awareness of RSI having spent most of my career in an office environment. Wrist pain prompted me to take steps to try and mitigate it and that is when I discovered Trackballs. I have to say that changing to this type of controller helped but eventually the pain was transferred elsewhere. However I will not give up using my PC which affords me hours of entertainment. I also have begun to suffer pain in various joints as a result of sports activities pursued with vigour when I was younger. Even walking is painful. People around me do not understand how much pain I will have to endure simply from sitting on their "comfy" sofa. I invested in an orthopaedic armchair at home. The same problems arise with beds etc.
I digress.
When I saw your post I felt that you made very good points. I wanted to support your views. Many of us just suffer in silence.
No I do not know any famous people lol, I do have an MP in my extended family but, sadly and predictably, that person has no interest in anything but their own "pet" issues and career advancement.
I have not tried Satisfactory. Good to know there is a mod should I ever buy that game. I do have Factorio and other similar games.

Your support is appreciated. Since writing is my forte, it's always good to see my words have translated effectively. If you notice, in my OP, I open by clearly stating it's not a complaint or demand. Experience has taught me to insert that caveat in order to prevent unwarranted assumptions. So many snowflakes around, it can turn into a blizzard before you know it. Clearly, it works. No snowflakes in this thread. lol

You're correct, the trackball makes a huge difference, but it doesn't eliminate your problems entirely. It does reduce them, which can't be ignored, or undervalued. It's unfortunate that you must endure pain to the degree you described. No, people don't understand. While I am no stranger to pain, I can't and won't pretend I can fully empathise. That said, if your pain has felt bearable today, then it's proof of the power of positive Karma.

Satisfactory is a brilliant game. It's the same old grinding for resources game, yet it stands out and feels unique. There was a major update recently and they added a lot of new stuff. Adding the mod I mentioned (Smart!) transformed the game for me. If you get the game, you will need the, Satisfactory Mod Manager. It's a program you run when you play the game that incorporates the mods. You can download the mods directly from the manager, making it very easy to use. There are quite a few choices of mods. One of my favourites has all the different plants and rocks. So, I have a lot of indoor gardens in my factories.

Peace.

EDIT: typo.