Author Topic: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction  (Read 2255 times)

Caplin

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Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« on: 17 February 2019, 16:52:50 »
Hi ALl,

I wanted to write a note to introduce myself, as a newbie to the Battletech universe.

I'm totally blind, and have been since birth. I've been vaguely aware of BT but never really looked into it until recently, when I realized it featured a turn-based tactical game, which is a genre I've had some strong interest in for some time.

I'm also intrigued by the AGainst the Bot system, as solo campaigns have been a long-standing interest of mine. I guess you could consider it a poor man's computer game :)

I'm trying to work on making Megamek accessible, since I probably won't get the chance to play the real tabletop game anytime soon. I wonder if anyone else has come to the setting primarily through digital products?

Hope for some fun in this universe, and to have some good discussion.
Thanks much :)

DOC_Agren

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #1 on: 19 February 2019, 18:37:42 »
I hope you enjoy your Battletech experience
"For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed:And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!"

mbear

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #2 on: 20 February 2019, 08:09:54 »
Welcome Caplin!

I think a lot of people who came to the game from electronic sources arrived via MechAssault or MechWarrior, which are first person shooter versions of the game.

And you've probably already seen it (sorry, force of habit) aware of it, but there's an entire subforum devoted to MegaMek games. In case you weren't aware, it's Megamek Games under the "Other BattleTech Games » MechWarrior and BattleTech Computer | Console Games" section.

Hope that helps!

Be the Loremaster:

Battletech transport rules take a very feline approach to moving troops in a combat zone: If they fits, they ships.

You bought the box set and are ready to expand your BT experience. Now what? (Thanks Sartis!)

Matti

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #3 on: 20 February 2019, 10:28:27 »
I'm totally blind, and have been since birth.
So how did you manage to navigate over here and type that? How do you read our responses? I can type keyboard with my eyes closed, but everything else... I don't know.
You know what they say, don't you? About how us MechWarriors are the modern knights errant, how warfare has become civilized now that we have to abide by conventions and rules of war. Don't believe it.

Colt Ward

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #4 on: 20 February 2019, 10:43:17 »
Voice to type systems- works for the deaf answering the phones as well.

Welcome, MegaMek is a great fun resource and with how advanced the product is it lets you do about anything in BT that is available.  I tend to play from the war-game perspective when I get the chance and so MM lets me really pull out the stops in that regard-  large maps for maneuver, advanced sensor options, combined arms which includes aero & arty, and I can build a variety of maps.

Definitely go to the linked MegaMek forums, the developers frequent it and you can find some interesting ideas for ways to adjust your game play.
Colt Ward
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abou

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #5 on: 20 February 2019, 10:44:22 »
So how did you manage to navigate over here and type that? How do you read our responses? I can type keyboard with my eyes closed, but everything else... I don't know.
They make several programs that will allow the blind to navigate websites and can read text to you.

Welcome, Caplin. Good luck on your journey. I am sure it can be done. There is a blind fighting game player named Sightless Kombat who became pretty good at the 2013 Killer Instinct. I don't know how active he is still, but it can certainly be done.

Caplin

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #6 on: 20 February 2019, 12:57:18 »
Thanks for the warm welcome, all. FOr the record "see," isn't a dirty word. :)

I do use a screen reading program,or one of several depending on which computer I'm using on any particular day. Sadly, Mechwarrior and the latest HBS Battletech game are probably not very accessible for my purposes. I do think that Megamek is very promising, and will definitely drop by the forum at some point soon.

FOr a change of topic, I wonder how disability is handled/compensated for/dismissed in the BT universe? Are their any canonical examples of disabled characters? I'm not really expecting any, since SF isn't great in that regard, but perhaps physical disaiblities from exploding mechs are more common than I expect :)

Looking forward to exploring this. :)

NeonKnight

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #7 on: 20 February 2019, 13:08:51 »
Welcome to the Game

Years ago I had the pleasure of Playing Living Greyhawk (Dungeons and Dragons) with a player who was totally blind. He navigated the game just as well as anyone else, though obviously his turn consisted of asking questions such as:

Where am I facing? How far to the orc? I attack the Orc. He would then roll a standar D20, and as I was sitting next to him, I would tell him his die result, and he would then roll damage etc.

I certainly see nothing about BT that would be a hinderance to the sight impaired.

Again, welcome to the game!
AGENT #575, Vancouver Canada

Tai Dai Cultist

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #8 on: 20 February 2019, 13:24:00 »
FOr a change of topic, I wonder how disability is handled/compensated for/dismissed in the BT universe? Are their any canonical examples of disabled characters? I'm not really expecting any, since SF isn't great in that regard, but perhaps physical disaiblities from exploding mechs are more common than I expect :)

Looking forward to exploring this. :)

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a setting 1,000 years in the future, BattleTech's universe has more medical capabilities than the real world.  Additionally, with the game being focused on BattleMechs and the warriors who pilot them, injuries to those pilots tend to be a big deal.

The roleplaying game goes into much more detail on the personal level than the board game does.  Through the RPG we know that technology has fallen across the Inner Sphere, and in some cases simple peg-leg/hook/glass eyeball prosthetics are the remedy to serious injury.  There are various levels of bionic replacement available depending on access to "LosTech", and in the best case of all cloned body part replacements are possible.

It's fairly common for mechwarriors to suffer various disabilities from combat injuries, and correspondingly common for those characters to have various grades of bionic replacements.  But it's not a Cyberpunk game per se, so you don't usually see people replacing perfectly good body parts.  The primary exception to this of course is the elite corps Manei Dominei  that do go full cyberpunk, dismissing purely biological people as "frails".  But they're a villain-of-the-week and only really apply during one play era of the entire in-universe history of the game. Unfortunately for the disabled, following the Jihad there's kind of a widespread prejudice against people with bionic prosthetics due to their similarity to the horrific Manei Dominei.  Prior to the Jihad, bionic replacements were widely accepted/ignored (outside of the Free Worlds League, the only place they were stigmatized prior to the Jihad).

As for canonical examples of disabled characters, I can think of a few.  One off the top of my head is Subhash Indrahar, who despite being confined to a wheelchair (perhaps only in his later years, I don't believe he was disabled in his youth) he was House Kurita's spymaster and one of the most feared people in the Inner Sphere.  His wheelchair even ended up being a plot device for a memorable death.
« Last Edit: 20 February 2019, 13:31:37 by Tai Dai Cultist »

Colt Ward

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #9 on: 20 February 2019, 13:53:31 »
Well, one of the early characters- and Solaris Champions- had taken a injury that removed his arm from elbow down.  It was the Warrior trilogy, which was just re-released for the 30th anniversary of the game IIRC.  One of the other characters in that series, Aldo Lestrade, had lost limbs in a attack as well.  Another main character was the dwarf Clovis- who came before Tyrion!- overcomes the difficulties of a world built for someone another size.

If you look in the field manuals you will find notes about commanders and troops who have taken damage- some have developed phobias while others have been physically impaired.  IIRC the Warden Wolves have a Star Colonel in FMWC who was a Elemental that took so much damage/injury to his suit that he could no longer function as a Elemental and had to retrain as a Mechwarrior- its a tight fit for him in most cockpits so he prefers certain Clan mechs over others.  I actually think he would be interesting as a RP character- limited endurance in the cockpit?  Can take more damage from falls or take less number of falls?
Colt Ward
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"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

Daryk

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #10 on: 20 February 2019, 14:30:01 »
Under the RPG rules (A Time of War and its Companion), a given handicap can generally be offset by an equivalent trait point value of prosthetics (bionic eyes, ears, or limbs).  Spending more points on the prosthetics can give them super-human abilities (infrared, low light, and/or flash protected vision; high/low frequency and/or protected hearing; built-in weapons or tools, etc.).  There are also more systemic augmentations (such as joint reinforcement to offset zero-g effects).

Pat Payne

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #11 on: 20 February 2019, 17:51:25 »
Under the RPG rules (A Time of War and its Companion), a given handicap can generally be offset by an equivalent trait point value of prosthetics (bionic eyes, ears, or limbs).  Spending more points on the prosthetics can give them super-human abilities (infrared, low light, and/or flash protected vision; high/low frequency and/or protected hearing; built-in weapons or tools, etc.).  There are also more systemic augmentations (such as joint reinforcement to offset zero-g effects).

Of course, doing that in the FWL will get you some dirty looks, as one mister T. Marik (genuine) discovered after that dreadful incident with the explosives...

I never did understand the League's biases against prosthetics (outside of the explanation that people who underwent body modification for performance purposes were considered cheaters). It seems a little cold to look askance at someone who lost a leg or an arm and getting a functional replacement in the same way as pooh-pooing a 31st century Mark McGuire getting TSM muscle implants to hit better homers...

Tai Dai Cultist

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #12 on: 20 February 2019, 17:55:08 »
Well A) when do prejudices ever make rational sense and B) post Jihad, it's not just the FWL anymore.

RoundTop

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #13 on: 20 February 2019, 18:16:16 »
It isn't as much the replacement (due to loss), but when the replacement is more than basic.  So lose an eye? get a prosthetic one.  But if it has more than just normal vision... bad things.
No-Dachi has a counter-argument. Nothing further? Ok.
Demo team agent #772

Pat Payne

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #14 on: 20 February 2019, 18:23:15 »
Well A) when do prejudices ever make rational sense and B) post Jihad, it's not just the FWL anymore.

Good point on both counts :)

Sartris

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #15 on: 20 February 2019, 18:46:42 »
As for canonical examples of disabled characters, I can think of a few.  One off the top of my head is Subhash Indrahar, who despite being confined to a wheelchair (perhaps only in his later years, I don't believe he was disabled in his youth) he was House Kurita's spymaster and one of the most feared people in the Inner Sphere.  His wheelchair even ended up being a plot device for a memorable death.

Also Tor Miraborg who lost the use of his legs fighting to secure Rasalhague's independence the Ronin Wars

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Apocal

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #16 on: 20 February 2019, 18:47:12 »
I wonder if anyone else has come to the setting primarily through digital products?

I first learned of Battletech through playing MechWarrior 2 back in the nineties. Didn't pick up on the TT then, but then HBS Battletech got me back into the franchise and led me to Mechwarrior Online and MegaMek. I'd actually played Megamek back in 2008 or so but it didn't pull me in the way HBS Battletech did so I dropped it after a few days.

tapdancingbeavers

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #17 on: 21 February 2019, 02:55:58 »
Greetings and salutations Caplin.  :)

Matti

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #18 on: 21 February 2019, 11:09:25 »
I first learned of Battletech through playing MechWarrior 2 back in the nineties. Didn't pick up on the TT then, but then HBS Battletech got me back into the franchise and led me to Mechwarrior Online and MegaMek. I'd actually played Megamek back in 2008 or so but it didn't pull me in the way HBS Battletech did so I dropped it after a few days.
Give MegaMek another chance with human player(s). Way more units, equipment, and rules to play with than HBS BattleTech.
You know what they say, don't you? About how us MechWarriors are the modern knights errant, how warfare has become civilized now that we have to abide by conventions and rules of war. Don't believe it.

Apocal

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Re: Blind MEch Warrior's Introduction
« Reply #19 on: 22 February 2019, 16:03:32 »
Give MegaMek another chance with human player(s). Way more units, equipment, and rules to play with than HBS BattleTech.

That was a poorly constructed sentence: I play MegaMek now, after dropping it in 2008.

 

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