WASD vs ESDF

[Silver Patriot]

Well I have a gaming keyboard [http://illuminatedkeyboards.co.uk/images/ideazonmerc/merckeypad.jpg] which surrounds WASD with more keys and overall makes it easier to reach needed keys quicker. So this doesn't matter to me much. Though if I didn't I could see you point. Though won't it be harder to reach the 1,2 keys? Also it seems to put more pressure on effective use of your pinky which some could have trouble with. Still I have to wonder now, who picked WASD and why?

Honestly when it comes down to it this is why full button remapping is so important. Different people want to use different styles. I know in TF2 I remapped most of the controls (almost everything but WASD) to maximize close button support. (How important the button is relative to how close it is to WASD. Example E to reload instead of R)

Spoiler

http://www.pccomponentes.com/fotos/teclados/teclados_gaming/steelseries_merc_stealth_teclado_gaming.jpg

This is the reason I use WASD.

Hi-Five.

 

[viranimus]

My thoughts exactly for years, then I got this

Wow.. thats a big fat slice of awesome! I really like that.

Though, personally, If I were to go that far, I would just set up xpadder and run it off my 360 gamepad, which honestly is more comfortable to me than any keyboard/mouse configuration in about 95% of the games I play.

 

[12capital]

Back when I used to play WoW I used ESDF, although I really only used E as turning with keys is slow and generally seen as noobish. Eventually I just bound E, S, and D to powers to make it easier to get rotations in.

 

[Sephychu]

I only need two buttons for all games
Forward and Kill

You must like to play Pyro in TF2.

Damnit, I was going to say that.

I use WASD, largely out of habit, also because in my FPSes, I use CTRL and Shift a lot(STALKER, Metro, for sneaking and such).

 

[gbemery]

I like WASD because my little finger is centered over the shift key and ctrl key better. It also feels easier to hold down the shift and ctrl keys and hit the numbers 1-5 with my index finger that way as well. But it might just be because I grew up with that and that is what feels right.

I've always use wasd since I was a kid - I guess it's the same reason they don't change the ntire layout of the keyboard - we're just so used to the old way.

ah man at my work they accidentally bought some type of European keyboard that was not the normal QWERTY setup I am use to and it just baffled me. I had to make do and relearn everything while they bought a new QWERTY. There was a lot of hunting and pecking on that keyboard.

 

[SturmDolch]

Er no, sorry. I need to be able to reach the CTRL button to crouch, and the Z for prone in games that have it. If a game uses C for crouch, I never crouch and end up dieing a lot.

 

[MMMowman]

Are you guys bonkers? "it feels unnatural", "I can't get used to it", "it's uncomfortable" ... it's an inch at most! Talk about nit picking.

If you were saying arrows is or WASD I would disagree 'cos the arrows are really close to my mouse, meaning it would like playing with your elbows tied together.

Why not RDFG?Even more keys, or go bat shit crazy and go mid keyboard with YGHJ? Gives most access to most keys.

YGHJ, WTF!? Now that makes no sense. WASD is closer to the bigger keys making it easy to navigate the keyboard. If it's your life typing when then it properly doesn't matter what keys you use because you already know where they all are.

And also if your using the arrow keys you can move the keyboard away from your mouse so that your elbows aren't tried together.

 

[Denizen]

I used arrow keys back in my Doom and Hexen days. I remember even back then that I felt there were problems with that setup but I managed without making the change until half-life came out. For those using arrow keys for any game old or new, I extend much admiration.

Every once in a while when I go back to playing Doom or Hexen, I use outsource programs to run it and then if I haven't already, remap it for WASD. When i showed it to my friends who never played them, I constantly reminded them that I used arrow keys to get things done back when this was new. That fact alone is most intriguing (side note) to them. Preference is fine but playability is another thing which is why I remap to my usual style and understand how anyone would do the same.

Pure extra info:

On the TF2 note, I unmapped the call out for medic and spy button. If I see a spy and know he is a newb at it, I know there are way more paranoid people out there to call him out/kill him. If I know he's a decent spy (and therefore a threat) I kill him myself. For calling medic, I just use the voice menu and select medic. Since I developed quick reflexes for combinations in counterstrike, I can do that extremely fast.

On other FPSs, If I can't map the buttons to a similar style for the way I play them in hl, tf2, and css, I just get used to the buttons that won't change or demand a compromise. Sometimes this new layout gives it a new feel and I can appreciate it and credit it differently. If I approached every game the same way I do for tf2, css, and hl, I would most likely be speedrunning it and not giving it a chance to pace myself to the way it was designed. So in a strange way, getting used to a new layout has it's own benefits.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Makes no difference I use a G13 gameboard with my PC so all my controls are custom mapped.

<img height=250>http://gallery.techarena.in/data/500/g13-Gameboard.jpg

It rules. Not only is it better for playing games that screen can show information such as CPU usage, temperature, Twitter and news feeds, and much more.

 

[DSK-]

I use Arrow Keys. Pretty much every single game I play revolves around the general keybind setup of my UT2004 ini files.

 

[Godavari]

I never considered trying ESDF. It actually seems like a fairly good idea...

You may have made a believer out of me.

 

[General Vagueness]

One question, apart from the obvious what the hell are you talking about: You say You can Reach T G and B with little effort. I have never played a PC shooter where any of those buttons were relevant, except maybe taunting in Team Fortress 2.

I think the idea is that it makes it easieer to have more keys surrounding it, with ESDF you have QAZ and TGB to hotkey, whereas with WASD you only really have RFV for hotkeys.

Yes, I don't know where he was coming from with that, obviously the biggest benefit is QAZ. My first big computer game was Doom II (even though it came out a few years before I first had a computer) so after I got tired of arrows + mouse I moved to WASD + arrows-- and I could actually do it, it worked well enough and I could've gotten really good at it, but it became evident it was more annoying than arrows + mouse because of the lack of directional control and the fact that I kept forgetting which Shift and Ctrl keys I was using so I'd have a momentary "wait, what do I press?" at least once each time I played, so I moved to WASD + mouse. I stayed with that until around seven years later, when I got Portal, and possibly from having my brain stimulated so much, I tried ESDF and once I got used to it-- it's not that hard-- and then applied it to Halo for the PC and wouldn't you know it, once I'd figured out what keys should be what, and gotten used to them, there was less awkward reaching for a key (I think I unbound Ctrl), which meant a smoother experience. So I use ESDF and won't change.

 

[Nautical Honors Society]

I used WASD because I am too lazy to remap my keys.

 

[FoolKiller]

If you can re-map to ESDF to make T, G, and B closer, couldn't you just map those to R, F, and V?

Also, all these are evil and discriminate against all the southpaws.

 

[Sjakie]

Greetings all,

I've been playing PC shooters since Quake 1 and I don't understand the allure of WASD compared to ESDF. I'm aware that WASD is the default setting for most FPS games (and it probably started with Quake), but why?

ESDF seems to be superior in all aspects. More keys are within reach. When using ESDF, your index finger can get to T, G, & B with much less stretching than WASD, and your access to the left column (tab, caps, shift,ctrl) isn't hampered at all.

Furthermore, when using ESDF, your hand is in the normal typing position. Most keyboards have a little riser on the F, so that you can place your hands correctly without having to look at the keyboard. That's really useful in gaming as well. As I'm moving my hands all of the keyboard (StarCraft for example), i can get back to my default ESDF position just by feeling.

PC games that don't allow remapping from WASD to ESDF will annoy me to no end. That was one of my biggest issues with Demigod. The camera controls were mounted to WASD and i couldn't get comfortable with my hands out of position. And i recall only one game where ESDF was the default (Tribes).

So, if you use WASD, why? Is it because that's what you've always used, and it's more convenient than having to remap every time you play a new game? Is it something special with your keyboard. Perhaps the switches makes pressing some combination of buttons non-responsive. I'd like to hear what you have to say.

You actually have a good case there, i myself was raised with WSAD in Quake 2 on some crappy MS keyboard. I would actually try ESDF if my new keyboard (logitech G15) didn't have that short left-shift key. Plus i cant reach the G-keys not that well with my pinky then.
Where were you 10 years ago?

 

[Bravo Company]

What is this 'WASD' that you speak of? My keyboard has had those letters rubbed off and their faded away now.

I've always used WASD and ESDF would just seem different, I don't have an issue with reaching across the keyboard because my hands are fairly large.

 

[Nimbus]

Pinky naturally rests on shift.

 

[Ne1butme]

Wow, a lot more responses than i expected.

I think my original intention was to find out if it bothered anyone that most people use the keyboard differently while gaming than while typing. The extra buttons argument really isn't that important.

But apparently it doesn't bother any of you.

Thanks for the info.

Cheers.

 

[tris4992]

OMG there are people who feel the same about this.

I live in the benelux so I have a azerty keyboard which means I ALWAYS have to remap anyway. First time I ever remaped I look where wasd usually is (for me thats zqsd) and I realized if I shove the whole thing to the right I have way more keys within reach of my pinky without sacrifising my index finger or thumb. Later after becoming a pc gamer and I started to play game's more serieusly I started to really apreciate the feeler on the F-key. That little bumb is godsend when gaming in the dark. Even when there's light if my hand gets knocked by something repositioning it goes ALOT faster thnx to the feeler.

I see all these benifits and I just can't understand what the big attraction to wasd is? Imo esdf is supperior in to wasd in every way.

And it is probly just me but arrow keys look horrible to me unless you have a laptop but even then :s I don't get it, why put yourself through that torture