The Problem With NotN This Year
I think this is important information to read and to understand. We disabled people are far too often overlooked and unable to keep up due to the actions of others and I NEED you to know it happens. I need you to learn how to recognise it when you see it. Because god I need you to be a generation (or several) that think of us when you do things. Please. Please.
Iāve pasted what Iāve written in a couple of threads on site because Iām still recovering from a long term illness so rewriting it on top of what else I want to say is beyond me. I just need you to see from another point of view. Weāre so invisible so often and itās difficult and painful every time it happens. I need you to learn to recognise when youāre pushing us out.
As a quick side note - I do think the staff have done incredibly well with the items this year, theyāre amazing, the apparel is absolutely spot on perfection and the familiars are gorgeous. I also want to mention that thanks to a couple of very sweet generous people who have seen the trouble Iām having, I have had some gifts of Swipp materials and chests themselves, which were truly wonderful and sweet and Iām deeply touched that people have helped me that way.
I also want to mention that that sort of help is NOT why any of this is being written. Iām not looking for handouts, I just need you to see me, and people like me. I just need to not be sidelined in yet another place I love.
Hereās the stuff Iāve said elsewhereā¦
From the announcement thread:
Iām disabled, and like many others in my position I am unable to use the coliseum. People with connection/speed issues also have this problem. Because of this we can collect many, many less chests than most people. So we very much need to be able to utilise the other ways of getting them.
So to make the Swipp components for chests drop only from coli monsters instead of coming from the chests we do manage to get is a HUGE blow. Every 4 hours (that I can get to him, and that Iām not brewing recipe components) I can get 2 chests from Baldwin. Every morning I can get maybe a couple from gathering. Thatās it. Thatās all I can get.
Iām extremely disappointed by this. I know they try so hard every year to fix the issues from the previous years, I know itās still all fairly new to them, and I understand the reasoning behind this, but the fact that they didnāt take into account people who cannot use the coliseum is bitterly disappointing because we are now very very at a disadvantage for this festival when we already were anyway.
I hope they read this, I hope they consider it and take it on board for next year. Iāve had a terrible few months and am spending Christmas alone due to being too ill to travel, I was so looking forward to this notn to give me a positive in my life this year. The items in it are fabulous and Iām far from disappointed in those, but my ability to get most of them has been heavily lowered and that I AM disappointed by.
So I guess thatās my say. Sorry to be so negative when everyoneās so happy. I really try not to do this. Even when I donāt like a new gene, I let it be because I know tastes differ and Iāll like the next one. But Iām just so saddened by this.
And from a reply I constructed in a thread of my own, after people very kindly advised me on how to use the AH to my advantage:
One thing I do want to mention though is that though, yes, I can (and very much plan to) do those things - it shouldnāt be my only option. I still feel forced out of the festival, Iām still sad that I canāt do the fun stuff other people are doing.
Itās not that I feel like the FR staff are deliberately doing anything against me. Itās that they didnāt even consider people like me. That weāre once again invisible and not worth taking into account. It happens too much and it hurts.
I wanted to make the point that though there are ways I can get around it, thatās still an issue to me and I still feel hurt by it. I come here to get away from a world that doesnāt care about people like me. Itās so sad to feel it happen here too.
Thank you all so, so much for your help though! Youāve definitely stopped this festival from being a complete letdown for me and Iām deeply thankful for it.
Thank you for reading what Iāve had to say here. Donāt think Iām not grateful for the generosity shown me, or for the hard work the staff have put into the festival. I truly am and just as much as there has been sadness for me this last couple of days, there have been smiles too. I just need you to see this, to know this is happening, to understand the point of view of those of us stuck at the edge of the school playground asking why we canāt play with you.
A final note: if you think Iām being dramatic over what is, in the end, just a game, please consider this. I know itās just a game. But itās also constant. Everywhere we go, everything we do, this happens to us. Itās constant. Itās wearing. Itās always.
āOh, well itās not really set up for someone like you, is it?ā
āI donāt see why you want special treatment all the time?ā (Equal consideration, not special treatment, but god forbid a scary cripple opens their mouth instead of being good and quiet in the corner like theyāre supposed to.)
āWhy didnāt you just stay at home if the world is such a problem for you?ā
āIām sorry, we donāt have disabled access here.ā
āYou canāt come in here, your wheelchair is a fire hazard.ā
āI thought it WAS wheelchair accessible. Oh well, weāre here now, canāt you make the best of it?/donāt make a fuss and ruin the day for everyone else.ā
āI didnāt think youād want to come, with there being stairs.ā
āI didnāt think about you.ā
āI didnāt consider that.ā
āYou canāt come in here, sorry.ā
