When you think of the strengths of Star Wars: The Old Republic as a game, does “accessibility” every come to mind? According to one former lead developer of the MMO, it should.
Damion Schubert recently took to Twitter to share why he emphasized making the MMO as accessible as possible to people with disabilities. He said that this effort was spurred by observations during his Meridian 59 days how MMORPGs allowed disabled people to be treated normally.
In sharing a story about a kid with MS, Schubert said, “You see, something unique happened to him in Meridian 59. He was treated just like everyone else. And compared to his time at school, this was a revelationary experience. He slayed dragons. He ran a guild. He met a girl. In this virtual world, there was no prejudgment of him based on what the disease had done to his body. Instead, in this tiny, pixelated reality, he was being judged purely on the content of his character.”
He concludes by charging devs to prioritize accessibility: “Yes, you can’t do everything for everyone, but the work you do may be EVERYTHING to someone.”
