Will the abilities be clickable like in WoW?



  • I used to play WoW back in the day and what i loved was the ability to click the abilities on the hotbar. I have a physical disability and i cannot use a keyboard but i can use a mouse very well. I used to use the on-screen keyboard to make up for some of my inability. Anyway, i am asking whether this game will have that option. This game could be something great and i'd hate to be unable to play it because of keyboard only ability use.

    Also, what accessibility options do you have planned for Fractured in the future?


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    This is an important question! I know many of us would prefer to be able to use that setting - which may already be available in 'advanced settings' but I can't check that until the game is running again.

    Anyone know offhand whether this is an option?


  • Content Creator

    @PeachMcD

    Right now, I believe Prometheus had said that Keyboard options would be stictly keyboard, and mouse options strictly mouse. That they weren't looking to duplicate games like WoW or EverQuest in that regard, and they definitely didn't want keyboard movement options.

    I could be wrong on this...I'm sure about the keyboard movement part, as it has been brought up several times and nixed as not fitting the playstyle they want the game to represent.


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    @GamerSeuss - ofc we're not rehashing the WASD question! Please don't get me wrong!

    I understood the OP to be about the idea of clicking on the hot bar to activate a skill/talent rather than using the keyboard hotkey, which is sorta the opposite, right?

    Hotkeys are editable in 'advanced settings', I just wasn't sure whether there was a way to activate the hotbar tiles so they would be clickable. If not, I can't see why that wouldn't be an option that would create greater accessibility for folks like the OP. 🤷



  • @PeachMcD That's exactly what i mean. You can drag abilities to the hotbar so i thought you could activate them by clicking on them.


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    since your movement is click based, it would difficult to click in a direction, hover over your target, then click the ability you want. i'd actually call it impossible for abilities that dont offer an attack that's attached to the mouse.

    i keep suggesting a minimum of controller support so they can offer the game to certain types of disabilities but we kept getting a no response. the controller support would also make it easier to port to console if they so decided.


  • Content Creator

    The Devs have said that the clickable movement and targeting is essential for the feel of the game they want and thus they won't be changing that. As such, you make a great point. It would be really hard to constantly have to move your mouse pointer from your target or move directions in order to click the quick bar and activate abilities...if anything, it would be even harder for a handicapped person to do this.

    People are looking at the two systems in a vacuum, not considering one when they think about the other. Yes, if they gave you controller/keyboard movement support, you could integrate the clickable quick bar, but they have already made it clear that's a hard NO.

    The point is also good for the whole porting to consoles issue, however, as far as I know, there isn't any plans to port to console, and if they did, it wouldn't be the first time that console controls would be set to different methods than PC controls. The main thing would be keeping it fair, which means probably no cross-platform play. PC gamers and Console gamers would each have their own server and never the two shall meet.


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    @GamerSeuss

    one gold of [video] games should be inclusion. this isn't a physical sport where you need to have a great body. a controller would allow plenty of people with physical issues the ability to play the game.

    just because they said no, doesn't mean they're right.

    it's going to be much easier to port if the controller is already added. but it's the nearsighted developer that will cause the game to fail.


  • Content Creator

    I agree, inclusion is a goal, however, sometimes you have to sacrifice inclusion for a particular feel you want a game to have.

    There are a lot of games out there with strobing lights, that people with seizure disorders can't play...they just become the non-target audience. They put warning labels on, but the strobing lights is an essential part of that game's aesthetic. Such is the case with the movement scheme that the Devs of Fractured have come up with. They specifically want a particular movement and targeting feel to the game. They also don't want some things re-mappable because they don't want Bots and Macros to be able to give unfair advantages in those parts of the game.


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    @GamerSeuss

    I agree, inclusion is a goal, however, sometimes you have to sacrifice inclusion for a particular feel you want a game to have.

    fuck the feel of the game if people cant play it.


  • Content Creator

    @Jetah every person can't play every game, that's just a fact of life.

    The feel of a game is part of what sets a game apart from every other game out there. For every game out there that someone can't play for one reason or another, there are a dozen that can be played, so there is no exclusion going on.

    I'm handicapped myself. My particular handicap doesn't preclude me in this case. I am, however, practically completely blind in one eye, preventing me from playing many VR titles, and my knees can barely support me because of bone marrow density loss caused by being a renal patient, so I can't do too many physical activities anymore, even in something like the special olympics. (and I used to be quite active, mind you) but I have to face the facts that there are games I can't play, and games I can play at a disadvantage, that is just life.

    Fractured is working really really hard to be as inclusive for various playstyles as possible, while keeping true to their vision of the final product. IF they sacrifice that vision, they become just another game on a list, with nothing to make it stand out really. This means that they need to hang on to those things they consider essential to the game they are working to create. They make compromises where they feel it doesn't actually make the game what they don't intend it to be, and right now, they have said that the movement schema and targeting system is something essential to their vision of their game. As is making it as hard as possible for people to run Macros/Bots in the game, although completely preventing such is impossible.

    I'm sorry, if the game won't work for you with the schema they intend, however, that just means this may not be the game for you. Already they have set themselves a tough enough challenge trying to make solo'ists and group and PvPers and PvEers all happy in a single game on a single server. You can only ask of them so much.


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    @GamerSeuss

    if youre just going to argue with me then stop.

    they need to allow controllers. end of story, end of rant. end of discussion.

    i didnt read it.

    this is something they need to do!


  • Content Creator

    @Jetah Why? I'm not arguing, I'm having an intelligent discourse. If you refuse to read, then yes, you are ranting.

    I say again, why do they NEED to do it? Because you want it? Not good enough. They are already trying to make it pretty inclusive for different playstyles, while keeping their vision alive, once they sacrifice their own vision, however, what's the point, it's just another game after that.

    End of comment, but looking forward to a reasoned rebuttal (and not expecting one)


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    My question is why are mouse clicking controls giving them the feel they want. Are they wanting to try to mimic UO or Diablo as much as they can? I'm in the camp that I prefer keyboard movement as well. Mainly because it is just easier and more natural for most mmo players.


  • Content Creator

    @Farlander now, see, this is a question to ask.

    Why do they prefer this schema, and all we have right now is some conjecture at best. I know, for instance, that it is easier to program macros/bots to emulate keyboard button pressing over mouse-actions, so that is a consideration. My other assumption is that they want that reality feel of having to physically aim with your mouse, in a general direction, and they may even want the misclicks that can cause you to mistakenly run at your opponent when you are merely trying to target them, but again, all conjecture.



  • @GamerSeuss If i recall, Cyberpunk 2077 at launch had moments that strongly affected those prone to seizures. The developers addressed the issue and, correct me if i'm wrong, fixed it. Most games these days have options to reduce the severity of strobe effects, so your argument about that being an essential aesthetic is kind of a moot point. But it is the accessibility regarding the control scheme that is the issue here.

    I get it that not all types of games can be played by those with various disabilities. But seeing the top-down, isometric viewpoint similar to most RTS and Diablo style games in an MMORPG with a spell bar, makes me question why having the option to activate abilities by clicking would profoundly alter this game. I played Torchlight with a mouse so i don't see why not. It's not a major change to the game the way i see it, kind of like using buttons to zoom in and out as an alternative to the scroll wheel isn't impossible since strategy games have pulled it off for two decades now. (This is an issue i raised on a Discord of a different game.) When you say you have to sacrifice inclusion for the feel of a game kind sounds like a bizarre excuse IMHO.

    I'm not trying to play "my disability is worse than yours" here, but i use an electric wheelchair all day and can only move my hands and not my arms. I don't know what your arm movement is like, but i guess it is better than mine.

    Sorry for the huge post, but i really think this must be said.


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    Y'all know I agree with @GamerSeuss at least 98% of the time. This particular thing, tho, I'm with Chiron.

    I understand the desire for a certain aesthetic/feel determining the defaults, and I understand the need to outwit exploitative botlords. But I want to go on record as prioritizing accessibility, at least in the 'settings' options.

    Our community has proven adept at identifying exploits and exploiters so far (thanks esp to the Oran-Thul - masterful exploit identifiers!). @Specter & the devs have shown themselves hella responsive when the community identifies an issue.

    Giving those with limited arm/hand function a way to play won't add so many botlords that we can't deal with them, imo. That's my 2 cents.


  • Moderator

    The point is that even if what the OP asks gets implemented, it simply wouldn't work.

    Assuming that you could click on abilities, then what? Most of them depend on where your mouse is in that moment. You would be restricted to playing with a third of the skills of this game.


  • Content Creator

    @spoletta This!

    The game is set to target around the mouse pointer, and also set to control movement/facing according to mouse clicks. No matter how hand dexterous a person is, I don't see them being able to go and click an ability, then go back to aiming. They don't want a target lock system. They want attacks to fail if they are misaimed through poor mouse control.

    Why have an ability bar, then, you might ask. This is because they limit you to having just the 8 quick actions, and the ability bar is your menu of how you've assigned them so you know 'Bandages are on 3' 'Anti-dote is on 5', etc... This hot bar is not a button bar, it's a graphic menu bar, where you set the menu to your tastes based on what skills you have unlocked and what equipment your carrying.

    This also goes to outside of combat, like when capturing horses. They want that to be a skill challenge. You load up your capture nets on a menu slot, you use your mouse to aim, and your keyboard selection to attempt the throw. Move your mouse at the wrong time, or the horse moves slightly and you miss the horse and waste a capture net. This makes it a skill based combat system in some ways, not just a button masher/click masher system.


  • TF#8 - GENERAL AMBASSADOR

    The question of ballance re: cant move and attack at same time. which would be possible or more common should movement be wads thus freeing the mouse for attacks, has been addressed by many other games which simply freeze your character in place once you hit the ability and holds you there for a period after. This could work for pbaoe or target self abilities but would still suffer from aim issues if a targeted attack. The common answer to this is 'auto aiming or aim assist' but that is distinctly -not- what the devs or many players want.
    Even if the game supported dual stick controller (one for movement, one for aim) with character freezing you still would be dealing with a movement advantage vs click to move and a aim disadvantage vs mouse targeting attacks. This becomes all advantage when playing a melee character with cone area of affect melee attacks, player based buffs/heals, self buffs, etc... making the controller melee monster the one with the clear mechanical advantage when compared to ranged archetypes. This then starts rounds of nerfing / buffing due to the imballance which only is present due to the controllers or wads movement option - meaning those who choose not to play that way -or cant due to disability- feel the nerfs/buffs are arbitrary and unjustified.

    This is a hard thing to ballance or decide on. Right or wrong the devs have chosen click to move and as alpha testers our role is to say what we do and do not like about click to move. Comparing it to other systems is not helpful. It is not the system we have to work with. If we make clear statements like 'I do not like click to move because I want to be able to move and attack at the same time' then the devs can say ' noted, however we do not want you to be able to move and attack at the same time so your response means it is functioning as intended, do you have any other issues with click to move that are not part of our intended results from having chosen click to move as the mode of movement?' presumably if we have an observation that has nothing to do with their intentions then they will look into it.

    TL:DR-
    They are serving pizza, if you would rather have pasta, go have pasta, pizza is what is served here. If you have comments on the toppings used on the pizza, they may be agreeable to changing that.


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