The trek from 80-85 is daunting enough for your average player. But, if you suffer from a disability, it can be that much more tedious. I, personally, will be grinding out those 5 levels on a PS3 controller. Mobility is difficult, mousing is difficult, and versatility is certainly a challenge (being able to quickly use less common abilities such as Thorns, Barkskin, Travel Form, etc).
So what to do? I've made a personal goal out of being in the top 10% of my guild for leveling and I hear that final ding can come as early as Friday-morning. Here are some tips for those that face the unique challenges of playing a game designed for a fully-abled player.
#1 - Loot
If you aren't an Engineer, you may be missing out on a key leveling aid: the Loot-a-rang. This item, when clicked, will automatically loot the nearest corpses for you. No need to right-click with precision.
So: for those non-Engineers (myself included), we've got to figure out if this is worth the effort. Say, for example, the average player takes 1.0 secs to loot a corpse. I would estimate I take 2.5 secs to loot that same corpse. While 1.5 secs doesn't seem like a big deal, let's say that it takes 2,000 kills to make it to 85 (this is a complete and total guess). That is 3,000 seconds extra that I will require. That is 50 minutes. Less than an hour? Doesn't seem like a big deal. But still, it's also difficult and frustrating to do all that looting.
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#2 - Macros
I cannot recommend highly enough, the use of out-of-game keyboard macros. A G15 or similar keyboard, or even a 3rd party piece of software that allows you to generate custom macros with, say, your F-keys, comes in handy!
With this keyboard, I can assign ONE single key to: cast Starfire [wait to finish casting], cast Moonfire, cast Insect Swarm, cast Hurricane, cast Starfire [wait to finish casting], etc...
Being able to program pauses and multiple casts into one macro has long been called (by some) border-line, or even outright, cheating! But, to the not-fully-abled player, it can mean the difference between an enjoyable experience in World of Warcraft, and being flat-out unable to keep up.
You can find info on the G15 keyboard here. And AutoHotkey is an excellent app for creating custom macros, as is Workspace Macro.
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#3 - PvE Server
No pretty graphic here, but a hard and simple fact: leveling on a PvE server is easier than doing the same on a PvP server. Because you aren't a vulnerable target to players of the opposing faction, you can take your time, steal a deep breath, and readjust yourself whenever you need to (provided no NPC mobs get too near).
Again, this is something that has been dismissed as 'Care Bear' to the fully-abled. But, YOU try surviving a PvP encounter with your left-hand on the mouse. Better yet - tape take off your 5-9 keys and all your modifiers (alt, ctrl, etc) and see how you fare! This is the reality to many of the underrepresented disabled's.
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God-speed to you all, come December 7th! Don't get discouraged - remember that there are thousands of us out there. We are the ones working 25% harder than everyone else, to achieve the same goals, and we are proud of our achievements!
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