Arachnophobia in RPGs

[JWRosser]

Not an RPG, but I'll tell you what game spiders do work in - Limbo.
If anyone has played it (which you should) you'll know what I am talking about. They nailed it's movements down to a pinch; it creeps and crawls just like a real spider lurking. Also the sound it makes is...disturbing - it purrs. Lastly, the amount of detail (though this goes for the entire game of Limbo) is fantastic; bare in mind this this is a black and white 2D sidescroller - you can see the little hairs on the spider's head, for example.



Captcha: mmunts monitoring.
Look busy!

 

[dancinginfernal]

When I played Might and Magic: Dark Messiah I nearly shat myself when fighting the spiders.

Their hairy...grotesque little legs and mouths...EUGHHHH.

 

[Neverhoodian]

I guess Skyrim might pose a problem then:

Spoiler

I'm not an arachnophobe, but it can be a bit unsettling sometimes. I think some degree of uneasiness around spiders and other creepy crawlies is a natural born instinct, bred in us to minimize contact with the life-threatening poisonous varieties. Some folks have a stronger aversion than others, however.

It could be just one more instance where designers are borrowing ideas from Tolkien. Shelob came pretty darn close to ending Frodo's quest prematurely, after all.

 

[Doclector]

I'm damn terrified of spiders, but oddly, I think scorpions are awesome.

In games they used to actually stop me from playing them (I took a year long break from resident evil DS after reaching the guardhouse) but these days, their appearance in game either cues humming of the starship troopers theme buffing my bravery, or a panicky beserker rage.

Their appearance in real life still makes me run for the hills.

 

[Cheesus333]

Dragon Age II did the same with spiders, and while the normal level enemies don't give me much trouble, I had to call in a friend to kill the boss level queens, again- grotesques.

LOL NOT GONNA PLAY THAT NOW.

If you can't guess, by the way, I too share your affliction. And it - wait for it - bugs me to no end!



Kidding, don't kill me[footnote]After that pun, I should really do it myself[/footnote]. But yeah, it really gets in the way of gameplay if I can't see the screen cause my hand is glued to my face to prevent me jumping six feet in the air when dirty big spiders abseil down my screen. What would be good is if they had a sort of centaur-like spider, as in a person but with massive spider legs coming out of their pelvis where human legs would normally be.

Disgusting and macabre? Check. Disturbing? Check. Not gonna make me freak the fuck out because it's vaguely anthropomorphic? Check!

 

[AnAngryMoose]

I guess Skyrim might pose a problem then:

Spoiler

I'm not an arachnophobe, but it can be a bit unsettling sometimes. I think some degree of uneasiness around spiders and other creepy crawlies is a natural born instinct, bred in us to minimize contact with the life-threatening poisonous varieties. Some folks have a stronger aversion than others, however.

It could be just one more instance where designers are borrowing ideas from Tolkien. Shelob came pretty darn close to ending Frodo's quest prematurely, after all.

All my hype for Skyrim, dashed with a single screenshot... ;-;

When I first played Dragon Age: Origins I almost shat myself in the Mage Origin Story when the spiders came from the ceiling in the store-room. They were so detailed, but not as bad as the ones in Skyrim. If someone doesn't mod Skyrim to change spiders to something else, then I will!

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

I'm an arachiniphobe too I feel your pain. The poison headcrabs in half life 2 really got to me for some reason.

 

[pezwitch]

It could be just one more instance where designers are borrowing ideas from Tolkien. Shelob came pretty darn close to ending Frodo's quest prematurely, after all.

I also blame Tolkien for the popularity of spiders in RPGs.

The spiders themselves bother me but mostly I can get past it, but what I find worse is the games where people/animals are cocooned in spider webs. I have to cut them open to save them, even when I know I'll probably end up killing whatever comes out of the cocoon. Just the thought of being covered in spider silk like that makes my skin crawl.

 

[Dalek Caan]

I am an arachnophobe, I am afraid of spiders and scorpions. Arachnophobia is an irrational fear, meaning that even a picture of an arachnid is enough to create a fear response in the brain which can cause high anxiety or even panic attacks depending on the strength of the response in the subject. Arachnids and RPG's have a long history together, but I'm wondering why now more than ever there seems to be a lack of creativity in the process of designing enemies for RPG's? Instead of actually coming up with something new, they take something scary, give it steroids and a boss the size of a building.

Oblivion's resident arachnid was a half-woman, half-spider that was scary at first and entertaining because it was just incredible enough for me to play though without any trouble. Fallout 3's Giant Radscorpions however, were grotesques. The game designers took many aspects of real scorpions and made them even more frightening. Dragon Age II did the same with spiders, and while the normal level enemies don't give me much trouble, I had to call in a friend to kill the boss level queens, again- grotesques. I am wondering if anyone else has had the same problem and if it is implausible to actually expect game developers to care.

Is a non-arachnids mod or option really too much to ask to play my favorite games?

While not afraid of spiders I do Have a fear of heights that reflects in games. If I were to play game like Crackdown were I jump off high places then I get this uneasy feeling. Back to the whole enemy thing I think that it depends on the game itself. In Halo there is no real room to expand on enemies besides those bloody Skirmishers. In Skyrim, which will have spiders, I'm sure they will expand on the types of enemies.

 

[CZ_StRider]

The number of people who are so afraid of spiders that seeing one on a screen will cause them to have a panic attack is FAR lower than 1% of the popular, do not base your logic on the idea that 20% of men and 60% of women are anything like the OP in terms of response.

Quite a lot of those people actually enjoy killing spiders because it gives them a safe way to vent their fear.

Unless you can give some proof for this i'm going to call bull.

If game designers are still finding it difficult to compensate for colourblindness which affects 10% of the male population in a male dominated activity, finding the time to change things based on a very severe phobia response that affects a much smaller % of the population seems a little off.
It's like basing your game around people who only have one hand or who hide behind the sofa when shown the number 7 or a scottish accent.

I would suggest to anybody suffering from this to either find a modder or learn to do it yourself and to simply swap out x monster for something else.

Maybe compensating for colourblindness is complicated, but the solution for player with arachnophobia definitely isn't.

If you say that "20 % of gamers won't buy the game because of spiders" is bull, I suggest you provide proof to the fact that less than 1 % of populac gets scared by spiders on screen.

From what I know, there was a spidery level in the german RPG Drakensang and the reaction of arachnophobic players was so big that the game designers created an alternative non-spidery level. Seems like quite a big "1 %" to me.

 

[Terminal Blue]

Skyrim will almost certainly have an arachnophobe mod. Those things have been around since system shock and are incredibly easy to make provided the spiders aren't a core part of the level design.

If you say that "20 % of gamers won't buy the game because of spiders" is bull, I suggest you provide proof to the fact that less than 1 % of populac gets scared by spiders on screen.

'Get scared' is not really the point. Many people are scared of spiders, but only a very small proportion of people are severely arachnophobic to the point where they can't even look at an image on screen.

Games designers include spiders precisely because they get a fear response from a lot of people, and people like fear responses which don't push their buttons too hard. It's why we have ghost trains and horror films.

From what I know, there was a spidery level in the german RPG Drakensang and the reaction of arachnophobic players was so big that the game designers created an alternative non-spidery level. Seems like quite a big "1 %" to me.

Right.. the game shifted over 100,000 units. Even at 1%, that's at least a thousand units sold to arachnophobes. It doesn't have be a huge proportion, it just has to make enough economic sense to justify redesigning a single level, which in the grand scheme of things is probably economically viable.

 

[NLS]

Should all RPGs also start removing level 1 rats because people are afraid of mice?
They can't always cater to everyone :\

 

[Scorpianhead]

I know how you feel and i freak out. Then i start yelling at them and hitting them with my sword. Then i start laugthing at their dead and lifeless corpes, And yes they should make a arachnid free option for games. Replace them with evil blood thirsty bunny rabits or something.

 

[LCP]

Am I the only one who likes spiders? I pick the little guys up and let them chase my mouse pointer...
They I give them a thumbs up when they catch the damn mosquito that left a welt on the back of my neck. I don't get the fear, Up in Orlando I used to see pretty big ones, Harmless tho. They freak out on laser pointers.

 

[my-brainisfullof-lag]

I have terrible arachnophobia, i can't even hear or say or sometimes read the word spppp--- (you know) without cringing or covering my ears. I acidently opened one of those hidden pictures and instantly covered the screen lol but thus far i have only encountered the mechanical ones in War for Cybertron and i hope to never see them again. :|

 

[VanQ]

I bet most of you arachnophobes that make a thread about this every other week have complained about games like Dead Space not being scary enough at some point.
I wish I could have the kind of response from a game that arachnophobes always complain about. I wish a game could actually make me feel a real sense of terror and not just a sense of time if I screw up and have to reload my last save. Seriously, go buy yourself a game about spiders and enjoy a horror game nobody else can ever experience.
If life gives you lemons, make some damn lemonade.

 

[Random Encounter]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem.

I have Entomophobuia, which has made it difficult for me to play through fallout 3 due to the radroaches. I haven't made it out of the fault and it's a shame because I was really hoping to enjoy fallout 3.