Left handed gamers: is your layout different?

[Magix]

I was watching the latest Cooptional podcast (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovkMP6ikWDE around 10min) and TB brought up the point that non rebindable keys suck for left handed people in case they are not comfortable with the default WASD setup.

This blew my mind, since I'm left handed and I've never felt like I need to move away from playing like everybody else does, that is, left hand on the keyboard/WASD and right hand on the mouse.

So I ask any other left handed players around - do you actually feel the need to change your layout because of the fact that you're left handed? Or is this just some misconception that right handed people have?
Whether it be wanting your right hand on different buttons or using the mouse with your right hand.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

I don't play any differently being left handed. I prefer wasd to arrow keys for movement, unless I can bind the num pad for stuff then I use the arrow with my left hand.

The left hand moves you, on practically every controller ever. I had an NES controller that had a joystick on the right side and the a and b buttons reversed on the left side...and I hated it. I only had it because my 2nd controller got chewed by a dog. I only needed to use it to get the real ending of Bubble Bobble. I had to control both characters at the same time on the last boss, using the reversed mutant controller. I didn't really have much 2p action till SNES era.

 

[Sixcess]

I'm left handed and invariably rebind keys. My usual set up is to use the arrow keys (right hand) for movement, and my left hand for the mouse. Out of all the games I've played the only one I use WASD on is Star Trek Online, and even then it's only for the ship combat, as I have my weapons/skills bound to the number pad keys.

 

[Hazy992]

I've always used a keyboard and mouse like a right handed person, I've never even thought about doing it the other way. In fact, using the mouse with my left hand and direction with my right just feels unnatural. WASD just makes more sense to me.

I imagine it would be the same with a controller. I've never not used a controller with buttons on the right and direction on the left so switching would just feel weird.

 

[gargantual]

I was watching the latest Cooptional podcast (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovkMP6ikWDE around 10min) and TB brought up the point that non rebindable keys suck for left handed people in case they are not comfortable with the default WASD setup.

This blew my mind, since I'm left handed and I've never felt like I need to move away from playing like everybody else does, that is, left hand on the keyboard/WASD and right hand on the mouse.

So I ask any other left handed players around - do you actually feel the need to change your layout because of the fact that you're left handed? Or is this just some misconception that right handed people have?
Whether it be wanting your right hand on different buttons or using the mouse with your right hand.

For PC WASD serves me fine as a lefty. I've gotten so used to mousing with my right hand since I was in elementary school. Not ambidexterous but there is 'that contrast'

for thumbstick controllers in shooters. I'll remap only two settings. Right trigger to aim, left trigger to fire. Gotta have that twitch response. Especially when I need to fire in-game 9mms at their fastest rate.

Another example during electro-shock torture scene in Metal Gear Solid, I often had to brace the controller on the table and use my left middle finger just to withstand it.

 

[Phasmal]

I'm left-handed and I use the computer like a right-handed person.
WASD is fine for me.

I'm the only lefty in my family so when I was younger and we only had one computer I had to use it the right-handed way, and I just got used to it. I don't think I even could use a mouse with my left hand now, it would feel so weird!
I don't remap console buttons either. I guess I game right-handed.

Which is funny because I'm not ambidextrous AT ALL.
I can't even write my name with my right hand and I suck at using right-handed can openers.

 

[Magix]

I mean that's pretty much it. Most of the time left handedness just means it originally feels more natural for you to start writing with your left hand/grab stuff with your left hand, so that's how you do it. But that doesn't mean you can't do it with your right hand - you get used to whatever you start using, and I doubt there will be any long term downside to doing it with the 'wrong' hand (though I haven't really researched that).

So grabbing a fork or a pen, yeah, left handed, but when something like a mouse or a drum kit or a guitar is already set up to be used in one setup, as a left handed person I wouldn't have a problem with that. It's really just whatever is the most convenient at first, and most computers are already set up for a right handed person, so they'll get used to that.

I don't remember ever feeling "you know, I really wish this mouse was on the other side."

 

[shrekfan246]

Like everyone else said, I grew up using 'right-handed' control schemes for my PC and console games, so the 'standard' control scheme feels perfectly fine to me in most instances.

I have an uncle who does use a left-handed mouse, however, so I wouldn't say it's outside the realm of possibility that some people just aren't or can't get used to it. It feels natural to me because I've been doing it for over twenty years; It won't necessarily feel the same for everyone else.

That having been said, I can think of very few instances where allowing keys to be rebound isn't a good idea. Newer games tend to have a centralized control scheme focused around WASD, but little things like inventory or map are still often all the way on the other side of the keyboard. While that's not a problem outside of combat sections, once you're in the heat of the moment and need to find out where you're running or chug a health potion... and older games tended to map to some weird buttons like T, G, Y, or U for some functions, without using closer things like E, F, or V.

You know, I'd actually say that in many instances I still favor my left hand while playing games.

 

[Angelowl]

Hm... There have been three cases were being left-handed really matters and impedes my gaming. The first is in Skyward Sword, the controller glitches out if you use it in the left hand. Annoys the hell out of me as Link is one of the few characters that are traditionally left-handed yet the developers did not bother with testing the game for lefties.

The second is that I am just bad at button mashing. In Oracle of Seasons I have to give the game to a friend to get past a certain point. And in Project Origin I had to rebind the mouse keys to the keyboard because of those stupid quick-time events.

The third is more general. On the computer I use a right-handed mouse. The result being that I simply do not have the twitch accuracy in shooters as my right handed friends. I am usually more reliant on the keyboard, works fine in strategy games that are not micro dependent (I am looking at you Stracraft). I have issues with Total War not letting you make a control group out of one unit as the number keys are much easier for me to use than moving the mouse pointer all around, I also complain a lot about consolified games. Fable or Fallout 3 for example, where character stats, map, inventory and so on is binded to a single key, it is annoying and inefficient.

For me, free use of the keyboard matters if I am going to keep up with right handed gamers. The more keys my left hand have access to, the better I am usually.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

I used to use the arrow keys back when I started, but I got used to wasd. It's worth the effort. I can barely use a mouse with my left hand now. It's handy for using a wacom tablet.

 

[vrbtny]

I dunno, i use wasd with my right hand, and my mouse with my left. Everyone says this is weird but screw them because it works for me really well and playing dota 2 is much easier with my preferred had on the keys.

I'm right handed but hold the mouse in my left hand, yes get on my plain of existence you scrubs.

Spoiler

Plz don't take that too srsly

 

[b3nn3tt]

I've always used a keyboard and mouse like a right-handed person. I don't think it ever actually occurred to me that I could use them the other way round. But if left-handed people do use the mouse in their left hand and the keyboard with their right, then non-rebindable keys would really suck.

It's one of those things that I always assume should be standard, but is overlooked a lot more than I think. I've always imagined that rebinding keys should be a standard practice that isn't at all difficult to implement. Obviously I could be wrong about that, but if I'm not, there doesn't seem to be any good reason to not include it as an option.

 

[Me55enger]

I was paintballing once and had a conversation with one of the referees ragarding something similar to this topic.

SO there I was, hunched behind cover, trying to pick off the three guys trying to flank our position whilst talking with this guy standing in the bloody way.

"I'm left handed" I said, to paraphrase what one actually said. My left hand was gripping the trigger handle bit.

"Then aim with your left hand then, as that's your better hand." He said, to paraphrase what he actually said. It felt strange, but I could see he had a point. To what capacity this hand-change had on the game, I don't know, as I ran out of paintballs 11 seconds afterwards, but hey.

Now im games, I use the standard wsad setup. I tried it the other way round once and it felt far too strange for me to get along with. But I suspect if I put my mind to it, it would probably pay off.

 

[Ratty]

Being left-handed hasn't affected me all that much as a gamer outside of not being able to use most joysticks for the Atari.[footnote]Hooray for the Sega Genesis controller being compatible.[/footnote] When I was growing up in the 90s I didn't have access to any left handed mice. So it just feels weird to me to try and use one now, same deal with scissors. Even though my right hand is practically useless at everything else.

That said, rebindable keys are always a plus. More especially for those who are handicapped than the left handed. I remember The Legend of Grimrock developers adding in an additional control method they hadn't been planning on after a disabled gamer asked them if it would be included. Since it was easier for said gamer to control with a mouth stick that way.

 

[nvzboy]

I am left handed and use my mouse with the left hand and the regular wasd key setup for my right. I don't rebind any keys at all and sort of learned to roll with it. I used to play with the arrow keys on my right hand for a long while but found that setup got hard to use as I started playing games that required more buttons than just those for moving and reloading.




@ the person with the paintball story above: I play airsoft and use both "ways" of holding the gun efficiently but I noticed that actual aiming is faster and steadier with my good hand forward. Point shooting without aiming is more accurate with my good hand at the trigger. I'm sure this is different for each person. More important about being able to use both ways is that you can stick your rifle out of cover from both sides without exposing yourself too much. I meet a lot of airsofters that simply can't shoot left because it feels off to them.

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

Nope. My left hand is mostly just for writing. Aside from that, I do everything else with my right hand.

However, it's not like I had much a choice anyway. Any standard computer setup at school had the keyboard on the left, mouse on the right. That's how the school taught me how to use a computer, and I suppose that's what stuck. So even if I would have done better with a lefty setup at first, I've been taught so long to use a standard setup.

Plus I didn't become a PC gamer until I was about 14, which up until then I used controllers, where every controller I used, the left stick was movement, right stick aiming, which translates well onto the KB/M setup. (The only exception was the N64 controller, which I needed EVERY FPS to use the "Turok" setup, which was moving with the C buttons, and aiming with the stick.)

 

[Hero of Lime]

Hm... There have been three cases were being left-handed really matters and impedes my gaming. The first is in Skyward Sword, the controller glitches out if you use it in the left hand. Annoys the hell out of me as Link is one of the few characters that are traditionally left-handed yet the developers did not bother with testing the game for lefties.

Somewhat similar situation. I always play Skyward Sword with the Wii mote in my left hand, but I've rarely run into problems outside of fighting a few types of enemies. That being said, I think it was a bit ridiculous there wasn't a left handed model for Link. I don't know much about programming, but it can't be that hard to make a mirrored model of a character.

I have to ask, which part of Oracle of Seasons do you have trouble with? I can't really think of a scenario where you have to button mash a lot.

OT: This has nothing to do with PC control setup, but the only times where being left handed hurt a gaming experience was with Kid Icarus Uprising, and the Super Training in Pokemon X and Y.

Basically for Kid Icarus, if you are left handed, you need to either use the stylus with your right hand, or get the 3DS add on to get the other control stick and trigger button.

For Pokemon X and Y, it's not much of a big deal, but it can be annoying to do the super training since you can dodge projectiles with the stick, but if you use the stylus with your left hand, you can't shoot and dodge at the same time.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

Well my brother is left-handed and he never uses a southpaw layout. He's also generally better than me at games, so I don't think he encounters any difficulty.

Honestly I don't think hand-dominance plays much of a roll in pressing buttons or moving a mouse around. These are mechanically much simpler motions than what it takes to wield a pen or knife or gun.

 

[Magix]

The third is more general. On the computer I use a right-handed mouse. The result being that I simply do not have the twitch accuracy in shooters as my right handed friends. I am usually more reliant on the keyboard, works fine in strategy games that are not micro dependent (I am looking at you Stracraft).

That's an interesting statement, but can you really be sure that that's down to your choice of hand and not just inherently being a less skilled player than your friends? There's no way to really test that since there are too many factors. I can just as well tell you that I am better than some of my friends at Counter Strike and yet I'm left handed using a right handed mouse

 

[bliebblob]

Yep, heard that podcast too and had the same reaction. And no, as a lefty I don't change anything in particular. But now that I think about it, maybe that's been handicapping my gaming performance all this time and I never realized. Since my left hand is without a doubt faster and more accurate. But oh well, I'm not about to re-learn typing and mousing. It's not like I'm a pro gamer or anything anyway.

Somewhat related: I did recently hear about some people changing wasd to esdf and that does sound like a good idea. Why? because I tend to bind all sorts of funtions to q, e, r, f, 1, 2, 3, ... up to the point I run out practical keys to do so. Especially in mmo's I do this. Because honestly, how many people can actually reach 8, 9 and 0 without letting go of wasd? In particular in wow this worked great to get twitch control over my warlock's pet. So yeah, esdf would increase the number of buttons I can use for that by at least w, a, and 5 so it may be worth the practice.

Actually, now that I think about, the reason I'm so keen on mapping a bunch of stuff around wasd might be because I'm a lefty in the first place. As in: left hand a lot faster and more accurate, like mentioned before. Food for thought...