Keyboard Only

[Alhanelem]

I think it's more a personal preference than one being better than the other.

No, there are very technical, physical reasons why one is better than the other. It boils down to what a keyboard by itself is physically incapable of. Adding a mouse to the keyboard gives you much more sensitive control over your camera and movement. If you want to "prefer" inferior controls, that's fine, but a keyboard without a mouse is like a sandwich without bread- the fact remains there are limitations that exist which can be overcome by the mouse. Honestly, if you're going to play keyboard only, it would probably be better if you used a gamepad.

This is a very vague and nontechnical response.

There's nothing vague or nontechnical about it.

A keyboard by itself is incapable of analog movement- something critical to good control in a 3D world. A mouse specifically exists to resolve this deficiency. This is not a preference- it is a fact. A mouse in combination with the keyboard provides undeniably superior control. How much more technical can I get?

A key on a keyboard is capable of two states: Pressed and not pressed. Specifically relating to movement, you can move in 8 directions- to go between those directions, you have to press/not press other keys (at which point you're near the ghosting limit on keyboard keys, making it difficult to perform actions in certain circumstances unless you release one of the movement/camera keys for a brief moment). By contrast, a mouse does not control movement with buttons with on and off states, it continually is tracking its position relative to a surface and relaying that information to the system. Subtle movements produce subtle results and large movements produce large results- there is infinite variation, where movmeent with the keyboard is constrained. There, is that techncial enough for you?

In playing FFXI, you MUST have noticed how difficult it was to make small adjustments to the camera and movement. even pressing and releasing a key as fast as possible often could make the camera move more than you wanted it to.

Again, i'm telling you. You don't prefer keyboard only, you're simply used to it. Get used to mouse and keyboard, and you'll eventually realize how much better it is. (Note: This I consider very different from mouse + keyboard vs gamepad: That is much more a matter of preference- the gamepad is in some way capable of doing everything you can do with the keyboard, there's just a different style to it, aside from chatting)

I understand that you prefer the mouse over the keyboard, but I'm saying I would like an officially supported option.

There already is an officially supported option: Rebind the keys.