Forum post of the day: Doomsprocket's Dilemma
by Amanda Dean 
Jun 30th 2008 at 3:29AM
I have this annoying habit of taking things for granted. For instance, have you ever really thought about how wonderful bone marrow is? My hands, feet, heart, and all the other parts work just the way they should. What would WoW be like if I couldn't use both hands?
Doomsprockt of Mauradin faced just such a dilemma. He (Jaime) was in a struck by a car in an accident that left him paralyzed on the left side of hisbody. Among the challenges of recovery, Doomsprocket sought to regain access to WoW, but his first solution, a frog-pad failed to do the trick. He appealed to the Mac Technical Support forums for assistance.
The resounding response was to try the Wii-mote or a programmed foot-pedal. Tslotha of Terenas suggested using the DarwiinRemote application to interface with a Mac. A Blue post from Radoslawn suggested the Fentek Industries Foottime or No Ho Hands mouse controllers. It turns out the Wiimote was just the ticket:
This is a triumph for me, seriously... every accomplishment is awesome. when the accident happened, I was loaded onto a stretcher and sedated.. when I woke up I couldn't do anything (even talking was difficult due to an emergency tracheotomy) . While it may not be the most noble human endeavor, I love video games, I feel an attachment to Mario, Samus, Link, and my WOW toons. regaining the ability to play is great and makes the game exciting again. I'm confident that, with therapy, I'll recover the use of my left fingers and return to being a PVP-terror.
I really like Doomsprocket's attitude. Good luck, we'll see ya in the battlegrounds!
Thanks for the tip, anjldust.
Filed under: How-tos, Fan stuff, Forums, Hardware, Forum Post of the Day
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
SaintStryfe Jun 30th 2008 3:48AM
I had a similar experience getting back into using technology when I was hurt wrestling, and couldn't use my arms or sit up for several months. Back in 2000, when our Adaptive Tech wasn't nearly as good. Your solution using Wiimote is excellent and I applaud that creativity.
Second, Go Mac OS X for making it possible. Woot. hehe.
And of course I think it's universal that we hope your speedy and as full as possible recovery.
SaintStryfe Jun 30th 2008 3:49AM
I had a similar experience getting back into using technology when I was hurt wrestling, and couldn't use my arms or sit up for several months. Back in 2000, when our Adaptive Tech wasn't nearly as good. Your solution using Wiimote is excellent and I applaud that creativity.
Second, Go Mac OS X for making it possible. Woot. hehe.
And of course I think it's universal that we hope your speedy and as full as possible recovery.
Fluo Jun 30th 2008 4:10AM
In the article you said, an accident that left him paralyzed on the left side of her body. Him/her.
Must have been a BAD accident
amanda dean Jun 30th 2008 4:21AM
When writing about the forums, unless given clues otherwise, I use the avatar's gender to select pronouns. In one of Doomsprocket's later posts, he linked to his personal website. That site uses masculine pronouns, so I went through with corrections. Sorry for missing one, Jaime!.
Thorn Jun 30th 2008 4:35AM
@Amanda, still one more: "She appealed..."
amanda dean Jun 30th 2008 4:43AM
make that two, thank you :)
lolatyou Jun 30th 2008 4:19AM
Using peripherals outside of a keyboard to play? Sounds illegal imo, shouldn't be able to use stuff like that. Hopefully Blizzard bans them.
Culhag Jun 30th 2008 4:25AM
kek
cransa Jun 30th 2008 4:27AM
Way to show a little hint of human decency.
Roxton Jun 30th 2008 4:34AM
First of all, it's not actually illegal, as there is now way in which using such peripherals gives the player an unfair advanage or allows them to play while afk.
Secondly, I hereby curse you with the power of a thousand incandescent suns, in the hope that you develop a hare lip, warts, gangrene, and hopefully also catch the plague. Also may the fleas of a thousand camels come to reside in your pubic hair.
Joe P Jun 30th 2008 4:39AM
I hope God bans you from life
Saithir Jun 30th 2008 4:44AM
So, you're not using your mouse to play?
Curious...
Finnicks Jun 30th 2008 5:05AM
@ Roxton
I'd choose the power of 1,000 LED suns. More power, less energy input required. That way, for the same amount of perfectly justified righteous hatred, you can get 100 times the cursing power.
anjldust Jun 30th 2008 5:12AM
Actually, if you read the thread, a blue poster says using the Wiimote sounds like a good idea.
Verses Jun 30th 2008 7:14AM
I use a midi controller and I hotkey the a-b-c-d-e-f-g keys and to switch my hotbar I just use my octave +/- buttons.
Iwanttobeasleep Jun 30th 2008 12:22PM
Shut up. We can use addons to change nearly everything about the look of the game, record information, etc etc who cares if he uses a Wiimote.
Bromnir Jun 30th 2008 2:50PM
I think you guys may have misinterpreted the satiric intent of lolatyu's original post. He was poking fun at previous reports of Blizzard banning people who used certain hardware above and beyond a normal keyboard as doing too much for the person and being too similar to botting. Obviously the Wiimote's not one of those pieces of hardware, but I'm pretty sure he was using that very fact to try to skewer the absurdity of hardware-hate in the first place.
Kopykat Jun 30th 2008 4:44AM
I personally noticed that the player is a warlock.
Only a warlock could get away with using a remote limited to 10 buttons!
grofer Jun 30th 2008 5:00AM
judging from the UI screenshot threads it's usually Rogues who appear to use the least buttons.
John Jun 30th 2008 5:45AM
too much WASD moving around trying to get to a right position for backstab. Ranged DPS is better in this case I'd think