What is so great about the keyboard as a gaming tool?
- Thread starter LilithSlave
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Really, the argument comes not from the keyboard, but from the mouse. For me, I tend to be far more accurate in FPS games with a mouse than a controller, but that's a personal preference.
Controllers are a very handy gaming tool, and get flamed fairly often, but it does its job for pretty much every game (save for RTS and Strategy games.) This usually stems from control simplicity within the game's design itself, where the saying is that "if you can't map all the actions to a controller, there are too many actions."
The PC vs console debate goes far deeper than controls, however. Issues like the ability to mod games, changing hardware specifications, software-bloat, porting, company policies, and so on are usually what gets the flame-wars going, not controllers vs. keyboards.
Controllers are a very handy gaming tool, and get flamed fairly often, but it does its job for pretty much every game (save for RTS and Strategy games.) This usually stems from control simplicity within the game's design itself, where the saying is that "if you can't map all the actions to a controller, there are too many actions."
The PC vs console debate goes far deeper than controls, however. Issues like the ability to mod games, changing hardware specifications, software-bloat, porting, company policies, and so on are usually what gets the flame-wars going, not controllers vs. keyboards.
Keyboard has sooo many more buttons in accessible places.
With a console controller, you have only 4 other buttons on the shoulder you can actually press while using the thumb sticks. If you want to use the face buttons you have to completely let go of an analogue stick, which I find really awkward, especially because you lose the ability to aim at the same time...
With a keyboard you can easily have a dozen buttons for mapping different abilities and weapons all in easy reach.
With a console controller, you have only 4 other buttons on the shoulder you can actually press while using the thumb sticks. If you want to use the face buttons you have to completely let go of an analogue stick, which I find really awkward, especially because you lose the ability to aim at the same time...
With a keyboard you can easily have a dozen buttons for mapping different abilities and weapons all in easy reach.
Ah...you got me.LilithSlave said:
About the laptop thing, I was just being funny/difficult/silly. I'm a serious gamer though, so getting the most bang for my buck is important to me and thus I dont use laptops for anything but office stuff.
Fighting games...definately gamepads. I forgot about them since I play them so seldom. I've actually played a lot of Mortal Kombat 3 with a keyboard. It wasnt as bad as playing an fps with a gamepad...but not far from it either...
For gaming in general I prefer PCs. The control scheme is just one of the reasons. Others include:
-A LOT of extra peripherals, a bigger range to choose from than on consoles
-Modding. I've had so much fun with Starcraft/Warcraft RPG maps, Dota, Counter Strike, Action Half life etc...these things would never have been made in the console environment.
-Communication. Sometimes you communicate with people that dont have mics. A keyboard is necessary then.
-The sheer amount of stuff you can use a PC for.
-The fact that a PC evolves a lot faster than a console because it is not closed down.
I own a Sega Master system, a PS1, PS2, Xbox360 (RRoDed...) and a PS3. I've had a ton of fun on each of them, but nowhere NEAR the amount of fun I've had on my PC.
Consoles are good for certain stuff, but in most cases they can be replaced by a PC. If you need a gamepad on PC...connect one. If you need a mouse/keyboard on consoles...they are not as easily available. And if you can get them...the games you play are not designed to take advantage of their controls anyway (chest high walls anyone?).
FPSes on Consoles and PCs are different in more ways than their control scheme. Because of the limitations of gamepads...the games have to be adjusted. Problems that could easily be overcome with a PC (like amount of customizable buttons or precision) have to be accounted for on consoles. With stuff like auto-aim or a weapon wheel. I remember some PC games in the olden days had auto aim too. But I never used it. I tried it...but then there would be a time when I wanted to shoot the exploding barrel NEXT TO the enemy, not the enemy itself. I raged, and turned it off. Its a stupid feature for a flawed control scheme.
A mouse+keyboard will not always be the best choice (fighting games, 3rd person stuff)...but there is no arguing that for FPS games in particular, a mouse+keyboard simply IS better. Some people might be more used to gamepads, or like them more...but that doesnt change the fact that mouse+keyboard IS better. Any foray into console vs PC gaming have proved this, and any gamer worth his salt should be able to tell just from the feel of it. You dont use a gamepad to navigate windows do you? No. A mouse is MUCH more effective browsing menus and clicking small hard to reach buttons. Its more precise.
Well, it's also what everyone else is using. You're playing against others with PS3 controllers when you play on the PS3, and playing against M&K users on the PC.Valagetti said:
And experience is a big deal. I've heard people complain about how weird using a mouse and keyboard is, but for me it's very natural, and I feel like I lose a lot of control when i have to explore a world using a thumbstick instead of a mouse. Using the mouse to compensate for the WASD movement keys is also quite important, and also why it hurts to play console ports, many of which will keep you from moving the camera at certain points making it difficult to move in the right direction using the keyboard's directional keys.
Well I play Super Meat Boy with a controller and a keyboard. And I have to say I don't think that there is that much of a difference between the 2.Baneat said:
Sure one is a bit more ergonomic and the other allows for precise control but that just preferences
Pretty much this.Baneat said:
I prefer a controller for my gaming, but games like WoW and Starcraft just couldn't survive on a console.
Have you ever tried Starcraft for N64? I have. I own it. Its fucking terrible =/
Its all about your preference really, but I get the argument that people have for consoles: "I can just use any console controller for my computer if I feel like it, so /FACE"
OP: Gaming with a keyboard makes your hands hurt? I don't think you're doing it right =|
I've been able to play WoW and Starcraft for many an hour, and all I have to do is wash my hands every once and a while because they get clammy and or sweaty.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Keyboards are shit for gaming.
Other than things like RTSs and MMORPGs where you actually need over a hundred buttons of course. But I despise those genres, in no small part because they're just rapid-fire hotkey mashing sessions. Bleh.
For everything else it all comes down to whether the disadvantages of a keyboard are worth the advantages of having a mouse. Some genres and games are so skewed in favor of one or the other that it's obvious what the right choice is and for others it comes down more to personal preference, but the basic decision remains whether you'd rather have a mouse or an analog stick. The keyboard is just something you put up with to get the mouse.
Other than things like RTSs and MMORPGs where you actually need over a hundred buttons of course. But I despise those genres, in no small part because they're just rapid-fire hotkey mashing sessions. Bleh.
For everything else it all comes down to whether the disadvantages of a keyboard are worth the advantages of having a mouse. Some genres and games are so skewed in favor of one or the other that it's obvious what the right choice is and for others it comes down more to personal preference, but the basic decision remains whether you'd rather have a mouse or an analog stick. The keyboard is just something you put up with to get the mouse.
Personally, I dislike the mouse more.
And if a game just limits me to using the WASD keys and few other buttons near those, I don't really have a problem with keyboards. (I also find the Ctrl button is utterly stupid to use)
And if a game just limits me to using the WASD keys and few other buttons near those, I don't really have a problem with keyboards. (I also find the Ctrl button is utterly stupid to use)
Assassin's Creed has been way better for me on the keyboard/mouse setting. Well as long as your mouse has thumb keys (M4 & M5)
well personally i prefer the keyboard/mouse to the controller, i have better control with keyboard/mouse. i have a finger for every key i need AND with the right computer...it's awesome.
I find that some games work much better with a mouse/keyboard and others for a controller. I own Street Fighter 4 on PC and I would never even attempt to use a keyboard. I plug in my controller for that.
What you said just proves that you have a harder time on PC on that other PC players are more accurate than you. You're right that experience plays a pivotal role but that's not what people are debating. The accuracy of aiming with a mouse is much higher than steering with a gamepad.Valagetti said:
With a game pad you hold left or right until your crosshair is where you want it to be. WIth a mouse you simply point.
A better test would be if you got a PS3 pad working with your PC and tried to play online then against Mouse users. I would be surprised if you could pick up 30 kills then. Not doubting how good you are just pointing out that the mouse is a more accurate pointing device.
I have a Razer Naga this should tell you about how many buttons my tiny hands can reach on the keyboard...
I find the keyboard more intuitive than a controller but then I can touch type at a million miles an hour.
Controllers are simply horrible for fps games....ugh.
I find the keyboard more intuitive than a controller but then I can touch type at a million miles an hour.
Controllers are simply horrible for fps games....ugh.
