What is so great about the keyboard as a gaming tool?

[vazzaroth]

I am a huge proponent of PC gaming, but I will be the first to admit that the Consoles do some genres better, PC does others better. If it's a 3rd person adventure game, I want it on my PS3. Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, God of War... I would never want to play them on my PC. I could get along with my gamepad, but I'd prefer the PS3. Any FPS, though, and It's PC all the way. In an FPS, the ability to press two separate keys to strafe adds a layer of control that a single analog can't bring, and the mouse control if an obvious benefit.
And when it comes to a strategy game, the mouse offers so much more freedom to utilize UI elements than a controller. With a controller, you can only go left, up, right, or down, or map something to the limited scheme (Which is a convoluted process after a certain amount of options), so games with many options and screens don't work as well. There are multiple non-genre bonuses to a keyboard. You can multitask much easier and use all 5 fingers instead of wasting 2-3 holding something (Such as holding a talk button, Strafing, Firing, and jumping which I do in TF2 regularly), since theres many options you generally have the options to customize it how you like

Alot of the reason I love PC gaming, though, has very little to actually do with hardware, it's about expectations. I can't tell you how many times I've raged at the console standard of 30 useless seconds between matches online where you do NOTHING. Local hosting MP is a pale shadow of the Dedicated server experience. Open mics as a standard and, even worse, usually located in the busiest room in the house instead of a den or personal room is an atrocity.

Anyway, the short version is: Fighting games suck with a keyboard, anyone who says otherwise is provably wrong.

Edit: I really think the hand ache thing is just a case of using muscles you aren't as used to. Like I said, Keyboards really engage all 5 fingers, Gamepads use your thumb and about 2 fingers. My left pinky is now an iron warrior of great Ctrl pushing power, but it wasn't always that way. And since it's more of a work out I do have uncomfortable hands at times, I go out and play my PS3 to give them a rest.

DOUBLE EDIT!: I wanted to point out that I played Final Fantasy 11 for a very, very short while, and the default control scheme was a keyboard only, no mouse layout. Arrow keys to move... Numpad to control the camera... It was one of the worst experiences of my life. So, I can attest that keyboard alone is a horrible, horrible control method.

 

[Shadrouge]

So basically, I've been coming across FPS people who mostly play FPS games who think that what's good for First Person Shooters are good for everybody?

I'm not surprised. I also guess I wouldn't know this about the first person shooter genre as it's among my least favourite genres is all of video gaming. I have just never enjoyed first person perspective in video games. And as such I tend not to play them and would have no idea what works for these games. Though I also wouldn't claim that the controller is superior for them as I wouldn't know. Though I'm surprised it doesn't make people's hands ache.

First up, I'm quite pleased to see this hasn't become a wars thread. Bravo everyone.

But yes, this might be your problem. Gaming isn't really a single topic anymore, as various genres of game can have different fundamental needs.

As everyone has already said, it's usually the combination of Keyboard + Mouse these people advocate. How I find it:

Better with Controller:
- Fighting Games
- Racing Games
- Third Person Shooters (Depending on the game's design)
- Traditional Japanese RPGs (I would argue, due to the menu-based fighting system. Though you could easily optimize one for a KB+M)

Better with Keyboard + Mouse:
- First Person Shooters (Shadowrun made this painfully clear. =\ )
- Real Time Strategy (Fairly uncontested. Halo Wars was the only game that really tried to work on a controller, and it lost a lot of flexibility to do so.)
- MMORPGs (Depends on the game design, but most MMORPGS require you to button map upwards of 30 skills that you have to activate often, let alone movement and aiming.)
- Western RPGs (or anything involving First Person really. It's just more precise.)

Some games are developed specificially with one or the other in mind.

Most people who say a mouse isn't as precise as people claim it is just haven't gotten used to it yet. Once you're adept at both though, you'll notice the difference.

The analog stick is an interesting trade-off. Technically it's better for directional movement, because you can move at all degrees, where-as with keyboard you couple WASD with the mouse almost unconciously. It also allows you to moderate speed well FOR MOVEMENT. You can move exactly how fast, from standstill to full speed, you want, with an analog stick.

However, this is the opposite for aiming. With an analog stick you can aim from no-movement to max-movement, sure. But because you'll be using "max-movement" most of the time, such as turning corners, they have to slow that down considerably. A mouse gives you perfect control over speed and direction of movement, like an analog stick does for walking. A PC gamer can literally turn around 30 times in the time it takes for most console games to let you turn halfway around.

In games like CoD, this means it's dangerous to check your back on a Console, because then you aren't checking your front. On a PC though you can get a glimpse of every direction in under a second and keep going, giving you more versatility, and making it harder to catch other people in moments where they literally can't look at you. That's why PC FPS gamers prefer the mouse,and feel limited by the analog stick.

Games that have a lot of repetetive key-use MAY cause stress, but this is rarer than you'd think for PC gamers. Super Meat Boy is a good example. Otherwise; the pain you feel is probably just unfamiliarity, or maybe bad hand positioning. For most PC gamers this is a non-issue. A bit like how I have PC gamer friends who can't use a controller because it hurts their thumbs, whilst you might not even realise that could be an issue.

 

[octafish]

I have a controller for soccer games (Double-shock style I hate the X-Box controller). I have a wheel for racers, because controllers suck for them. I have a Joystick for flight because controllers suck for flight. I haven't played a fighting game since One Must Fall. I have mouse and keyboard for everything else. My mouse has seven buttons and the mouse wheel, and my keyboard, well it is a gaming keyboard so I have all the usual keys plus five macro keys with three bindings on each of them. And a windows key lockout (Brilliant!). When a game is properly optimised for PC you can really let loose with a keyboard.

snip Games that have a lot of repetetive key-use MAY cause stress, but this is rarer than you'd think for PC gamers. Super Meat Boy is a good example. Otherwise; the pain you feel is probably just unfamiliarity, or maybe bad hand positioning. For most PC gamers this is a non-issue. A bit like how I have PC gamer friends who can't use a controller because it hurts their thumbs, whilst you might not even realise that could be an issue.

Oh, that is me, controllers hurt my thumbs and hands in general, my m+k never does, the X-Box controller is the most painfull of all.

 

[Tentickles]

Buttons! Excessive number of buttons!
I can have 1234567890 - +
Add Crtl and Ive got 12 more buttons!
Then there are the buttons around AWSD that I can add functions too. QEZXCRFVBGT, all within finger distance.
Plus my keyboard comes with 18 extra macro buttons to my left with 3 settings so I can have THAT many more buttons.
BUTTONS!!
(That's 89 separate buttons. I counted for you.)

 

[instantbenz]

op's post was tl so i dr'ed

In response to the question though, there are tonnes of buttons on it to bind to whatever the flux u want AND if you have a computer it is the main interface and thus everyone has it anyway. This contrasts greatly with consoles as you have to purchase controllers (sans the single one you get for purchasing the machine)

tl;dr: plenty of buttons and cheap as hell

 

[Jubbert]

Watch a gameplay video of someone playing Halo.

Then watch a gameplay video of someone playing Half-Life.

For added hilarity, find a video of someone playing Halo without auto-aim.

 

[Truehare]

I can relate to you OP, only in opposite: I don't get why some people prefer the controller to a keyboard for playing FPSs.

Now, I'm not trolling (man, I hate that word!), it's just my opinion. I really can't see how a controller would feel better than a mouse for aiming, unless of course you use some kind of auto-aiming system. And I, for one, hate auto-aiming.

One thing I'll give you, though: WASD controls are extremely uncomfortable. ESDF is the way to go. Anyone who tries moving the standard FPS controls one row to the right will never come back to the old WASD scheme again. The keyboard is actually designed to make your fingers feel more comfortable in that position (if you take typing classes, you'll know that the starting position for the hands on the keyboard is with you left index finger on the "e" key. That's also why it has that little "bump" on it).

But I'm not a fanatic. I agree that some kinds of games feel better with a controller. It's just that, personally, I'm so used to the keyboard that I even like to use it on fighting games, but I know that's just me.

 

[Valagetti]

The mouse is INCREDIBLY more precise than a gamepad, and is much quicker, and genres like FPSs where precision and speed is everything, it's clear why someone who say M+K is superior to a gamepad. The keyboard also has a metric buttload more buttons than a gamepad, and some games like strategy games and MMOs can utilize a huge number of them. When I play MMOs, I use pretty well the entire left side of my keyboard for my abilities, and the entire right side for bringing up windows and menus and such.

There are, of course, genres that do work better with gamepads, but as you pointed out, this is one reason why PC wins: you can easily use a gamepad on PC, but it takes much more work to make M+K work on consoles (in most cases).

Well thats a complete load of BS.
I can rack up 30 kills on MW2 on PS3, then on PC its more like 10. Not to mention I have one of these. http://cyborggaming.com/prod/rat9.htm
and a alienware keypad.
Its what you grow up with counts. I've recently got back into PC, but I've always been a Playstation kid, its all about experience.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well you have more buttons, but ergonomic it is not.
And the usual emphasis is on the mouse because it allows for highly accurate and fluid control.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I imagine it's due to the level of control customization available through a keyboard. With the keyboard you can map a series of actions that would normally require several button presses to a single key, which can greatly enhance gameplay. I don't know how to do that mind, and it may be only possible with gaming keyboards, but that's still my guess.

 

[Phlakes]

How many buttons does a gamepad have? 360 has 16, including the Start button and the D pad. Now look at your keyboard.

Also, mouses are much faster. You can do a 180 degree turn with one quick motion, where on a console you have to hold to the side for a while.

But gamepads feel a lot smoother, and they're better for some genres like racing, with the analog sticks having different levels instead of just 'moving forward' or 'not moving forward'.

 

[Netrigan]

Watch a gameplay video of someone playing Halo.

Then watch a gameplay video of someone playing Half-Life.

For added hilarity, find a video of someone playing Halo without auto-aim.

Not too long ago, I was searching for championship matches of various shooters. The difference between Halo and Quake was incredibly dramatic. Shooters have gotten a whole lot slower in the last decade and I think the controller has a lot to do with it.

 

[StrixMaxima]

Play Oblivion on the PC and a console. You'll quickly see which one's better.

Play Mortal Kombat on the PC and a console. You'll quickly see which one is better.

It's all about game type. Sure, you can do it the hard way with using a non-optimal controller, but the best options are almost immediately perceptible.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Buttons. The keyboard lets you push lots of buttons very easily and push lots of combination of buttons. The gamepad is generally more limited on buttons. People like the buttons. Personally I think that if you have to use so many buttons that you need a keyboard then you're doing something wrong since that is often not very intuitive or easy to learn and that's bad game design.

 

[SammiYin]

I hate the keyboard in comparison to a controller, with the controller every button you need is within easy and memorable reach of your fingers, keyboard? You've got to memorise 30 + buttons, what they all do and where they are in a moment of panic.
It's like taking an exam for your games, which is just stupid

 

[Smooth Operator]

I can rack up 30 kills on MW2 on PS3, then on PC its more like 10. Not to mention I have one of these. http://cyborggaming.com/prod/rat9.htm
and a alienware keypad.
Its what you grow up with counts. I've recently got back into PC, but I've always been a Playstation kid, its all about experience.

Auto-aim makes everything better, on PC you actually haveto put your crosshair on the person to hit anything, and for headshots you haveto aim at the smallest body part, meanwhile consoles do the work for you so you aren't wrestling toomuch with the controller.

But both do take practice, mouse has a lower entry but higher mastery point, while analog sticks take longer to start with but haven't got far to go.

 

[Kriptonite]

You know what WASD is good for? Making your fingers ache.

I certainly agree with you there, up to a certain point. I've only played computer games with the keyboard and now, it's not an issue. Actually, I get frustrated when games don't have WASD support. I absolutely love using a keyboard and mouse combo for playing games. For some, I'll certainly say, it would be nice to have pressure sensitive input available (For slight curves in racing games or slow movement in others). However, I'm not a huge fan of the XBOX controller (as it hurts my left hand when I have to repeatedly depress the left stick) but I do enjoy the playstation controller. The gamecube controller takes first place in my heart as console controllers go however, they feel as if they were made specifically for my hands. I'm not saying I prefer console or computer gaming over the other, controller wise.[footnote]For all intents and purposes, 'controller' will mean both actual controllers as well as a keyboard and mouse combo.[/footnote] I don't. it all depends on the game. For any 2D games, platformer, (MMO)RPG, FPS, RTS, and a few others I'm sure I'm missing at the moment, I enjoy the keyboard. For racing games or games that require very specific directional input,[footnote]Such as Dead of Alive 4 as I'm starting to discover.[/footnote] a joystick is nice. As a whole, I believe that both are quite amazing control devices, they must simply be utilized correctly.

 

[tzimize]

There are a lot of Pc vs. Console wars out there on the out in the world.

Many of them on the PC side are valid. You prefer console style games? You can emulate almost anything, including the PlayStation 2, Gamecube, and Wii on a half decent computer. Prefer a controller over a keyboard, the computer has a huge array of USB controllers made for it, and there is an adapter for every console controller in existence.

But there's one argument to me about PC gaming that seems inane and pushing one's luck. The claim that PC gaming is better than console gaming because the keyboard is superior in every way to the controller and complain when a game has any controller support or gamers use a controller for gaming instead of a keyboard, because "controllers are for non-true gamer plebeians".

What? I can understand many arguments in favor of PC gaming. And I myself own a nice computer with an HD 6870 in it. But the keyboard is often a terrible device for many types of gaming. I would never want to play a fighting game with a keyboard. You know what WASD is good for? Making your fingers ache. Playing games with a keyboard is uncomfortable. I know, because many years ago as a poor person without a computer controller who had to play many games on an emulator with a keyboard and a keyboard only, I had to quit after around 3 hours because my hands were absolutely throbbing with pain. There's oft the argument that "you can simply hit more buttons with a keyboard than a controller", but is that really true? That sounds silly, there's already a huge amount of buttons on controllers and if people wanted to, they could add more.

Why, why on either would a keyboard ever be a "superior gaming device"? It's a device made specifically for typing, not gaming. The amount of games that are made better for a gamepad/joystick are far greater than ones made better for a keyboard.

You can think a person is better for playing Street Fighter IV on Windows rather than a console all you like. But I would rather use an arcade joystick. And I have tried playing some with a keyboard, it is one of the greatest exercises in frustration and futility I have ever encountered.

I'm sure the points have been made, but I'll make them too. Because I like PCs.

1. The keyboard alone does not beat a pad. But all PCs use a mouse too. (Except laptops...but they're not real PCs and you know it... >.> )
2. Coupled with a mouse you have a greater precision (for fps games, or even adventure point and click games) and a BIG array of buttons.
3. An example would be a late game: Dead Island. Instead of having a stupid "weapon wheel" to choose weapons from, you can assign buttons to the different weapon slots. Because you HAVE that many buttons. A gamepad has less buttons.

The only place a gamepad shines is 3rd person action/adventures. God of War, Uncharted, the new Space Marine game...I'd never play those with keyboard/mouse. But other stuff. PC > Console

There are more reasons a PC is superior but you asked about the keyboard specifically.

I can rack up 30 kills on MW2 on PS3, then on PC its more like 10. Not to mention I have one of these. http://cyborggaming.com/prod/rat9.htm
and a alienware keypad.
Its what you grow up with counts. I've recently got back into PC, but I've always been a Playstation kid, its all about experience.

Auto-aim makes everything better, on PC you actually haveto put your crosshair on the person to hit anything, and for headshots you haveto aim at the smallest body part, meanwhile consoles do the work for you so you aren't wrestling toomuch with the controller.

But both do take practice, mouse has a lower entry but higher mastery point, while analog sticks take longer to start with but haven't got far to go.

Also: Not sure if serious...

Auto-aim makes everything better? I guess this is irony. At least I hope so. If not, I'm dumbfounded. Who the hell would want auto-aim? It would be like playing need for speed...without the driving. What would be the point? If something needs auto-aim in the first place, thats a testament to the controllers failure at its job.

 

[LilithSlave]

(Except laptops...but they're not real PCs and you know it... >.> )

This is off-topic, but another thing I've never understood that some PC gamers tend to hold and exists withing the culture, is not only a negativity toward gamepads, but also laptops. Sure, you get a lot more power for your buck by building a desktop. But no matter how tiny you build a desktop, they simply don't have the same portability as laptops. I have still never come across a mini-ITX case with inbuilt screen, keyboard, touchpad, and speakers. So laptops still have an advantage of even Mini-ITX desktops. And since it's not a good thing to be a shut-in, I'd say laptops deserve plenty of respect and plenty more respect than they get in the PC gaming community and the PC community in general. Unless that is, it is a reasonable venture to attach a screen, keyboard, touchpad, and speakers to a Micro-ATX case and be just as usable, portable, and friendly as a laptop.

Not saying you're saying that. Though hearing that sort of tone, I thought I would just mention this.

2. Coupled with a mouse you have a greater precision (for fps games, or even adventure point and click games) and a BIG array of buttons.

Those are just two genres, though. There are honestly a great deal of gamers, such as myself, who don't care a thing about these types of games.

The only place a gamepad shines is 3rd person action/adventures.

What about Fighting games?

Would you use a keyboard to play Street Fighter IV?

Guilty Gear XX? Blazblue? Tekken 3? Soul Calibur 4?

 

[5mj7R7yf4Dwr3gdZyyu9PeGNwYjlNrjzuh3iTXQG]

One of my favorite topics.

Let me first disclaim myself because as a southpaw, I am a rather rare case (that is a mere 1/10th of the population), but some of my experiences with the keyboard are universal to lefties and righties. But I, for one, love mouse and keyboard, with the exception of flight simulators, in which I like (surprise) an actual flight stick. But I have learned to loathe the standard gaming controls.

First off, gaming controls are hard on the thumbs. This may not be an issue with other players who don't get excited and button mash during the elevated tension levels of games, and interestingly, while I do this on controllers, it is easier for me to give controlled finger-tapping while my hands rest on my palms. Granted, others find the controller more comfortable, but my own habits are pretty ergonomic, more so than clutching a controller and trying to manage two joysticks and two quads of buttons all with the thumbs.

Secondly, keyboard allows you to use the full hand At least, the full non-dominant hand for key controls. The controller uses the ring-fingers and little-fingers to secure the the controller, and as above, forces most of the buttons onto the thumbs (many of which, such as the directional pad, are rather abrasive over continued use).

Let me be the first to admit, though that the WASD configuration sucks, and it is for this reason that many programmable controller pads are available to create an alternative configuration for gamers who are as input-fetishistic as myself. I use the number pad, and the Razer Tarantula Keyboard (no longer in production), which resolves problems with ghosting I've had before. (E.g. duck-jumping would lock out moving forward at the same time.)[footnote]Razer makes other keyboards nowadays, but the Tarantula also features five customizable keys to the right of the pad, and then a strip including the media keys to the right of that, all of which I will program to my own ends, which is why I specifically like this keyboard.[/footnote]

The dominant hand, incidentally, controls the mouse, which is by far a superior pointer than the little joysticks on the controller, to the point that FPS and TPS mouse-and-keyboard players don't require targeting assistance, and RTS players can easily select the units they want, and click the onscreen buttons they want.[footnote]I'm still not thrilled with the PS-Move controller, which is the only Wii-style pointer I've tried. I doubt it will become the next mouse alternative.[/footnote] I also use a trackball[footnote]I use the Kensington Optical Expert Mouse, which is the only one to feature a lateral scroll wheel and four buttons (no track-ball features all five mouse buttons, but few mice do, at that.) It also features the largest ball (about as big as a pool cueball) which improves accuracy. And (very important for me) it's ambidextrous, so it's left-hand friendly.[/footnote] (which allows hitting the buttons without affecting the pointer), and in 3D games I reverse the Y-axis so that the dominant hand (my left hand) mimics head tracking. It makes it easy to immerse myself in game environments.

Thirdly, games that use keyboard generally allow for customization. While there are some standards on controller-based games as to which buttons are jump or fire, not all games adhere to them. On the PC, though, it's considered a conspicuous omission to disallow customizing your own keybinds. Many games go as far as allowing one to customize their config files to allow for non-standard binds, such as saying specific things to the team, or spamfiring your single-shot weapons (which is an issue of ergonomics). Myself, I will go as far as using Autohotkey to retool my keyboard scheme, allowing me to build the same buildings or units with the same key chords (downarrow-numpadleft builds a barracks or whatever equivalent building, for example), so that I don't have to learn a new hotkey scheme for every race or faction I play. It also means the same button will be used to toss a grenade, or to turn on my flashlight, no matter what game I'm playing.

Now, note that some of these issues aren't particular to the controller, but to the inaccessibility of the console as a game platform. In games that don't require pointing (say, 2D platformers), the game controller itself would be a fine controller. Then the problem is lack of customizability, and the fact that much of the game and hardware development communities don't regard left-handers (or any other user with marginal preferences) as worthy of consideration. When it comes to the alleged lack of quality of console games, this tends to be the chief complaint, which may have some relation to Jim Sterling's point of the irony regarding PC gaming.

I should also point out that the same devices I use to customize my gaming experiences (and, for example, carry on complex dialog in Left4Dead using only hotkeyed options) can and are used to levels of abuse and regarded as cheating in PC competitive multiplayer. And whether I cheat depends on what is considered a game aspect rather than an interface artifact. Some may believe, for example, that semi-automatic weapons should require separate taps for firing multiple shots, ergo, a key bound to spamfire is cheating, or that part of the game is navigating through the inventory wheels or dialogue wheels, therefore, my one-key grenade tosses (or one-key medkits) are cheating as well. I would, of course, argue these are far removed from aim-bots, no-clipping or spawning additional items.

238U.