Playing an MMO with a controller

[Kosmos992k]

This game is extremely well designed to support an amazing variety of interface options. That is one of the underappreciated gold stars of ffxiv. It is extremely flexible in control schemes and they are all completely viable.

There's also a vid of a solo heal sch t13 somewhere on a controller. Even healers can be played at the top level with controller.

Ffxiv has one of the most flexible interface systems of any mmo I've heard of.

I just gotta add to this and say, you can thank their insistence on making a PS3/PS4 version of FFXIV ARR for this. The PS3 is seldom paired with a keyboard, and so a well designed and workable control scheme for the DS3 controller was a mandatory inclusion on the feature list. We hear so much about PS3 limitations, but this is one area which we should all thank the PS3 for.

SE have done a superb job with the controls in this game. The UI looks almost identical on PC/PS4/PS3/Mac, with the exception that PS3 players are practically limited to the controller based interface. While all others can choose between them, and therefore have the conventional hotbar items in their HUD also.

Also, just to add grist to the mill, without the PS3 version, I dare say players with lower end PC hardware would be in a poor way as well since the game would not be quite so hardware friendly without the PS3 version.

[Niwashi]

Controller is better for movement. Double joysticks beat anything a Keyboard/Mouse user has to work with in that regard.

Controller is marginally better for activating skills, with all of its controls being in easy reach at all times. KB/M users either have a limited section of their keyboard easily available one-handed, or else they have to forego the mouse in order to have both hands for the keyboard, but that then further limits their movement and targeting controls. (This is as compared to a standard keyboard and mouse. Specialty devices like the Razer Naga some have mentioned, a mouse that can be configured to effectively act as a controller at the same time, may be able to take care of this issue.)

Keyboard & Mouse is marginally better for targeting, since they have mouse-over options that controller players don't. (KB/M would probably be significantly better than Controller if compared to the default controller configuration, but most of the controller's awkwardness is taken care of by setting up multiple targeting filters. It still has the issue of targeting elements of a particular type in a strange seeming order, but the keyboard has that same issue, leaving the mouse as the tiebreaker.)

Keyboard and Mouse is better for things like setting waymarks or any action that gets placed at a spot on the ground rather than on your target.

All in all, I'd say it's pretty much a wash. Each has some slight advantages and some slight disadvantages, but either works well enough for even its worst feature once you're used to it.

[Wadoka]

...anyone ever try to use, say, a programmable flightstick controller + keyboard?

I am KBM, and my biggest problem with WASD movement is, in the heat of battle I sometimes just have my fingers in the wrong position, and I fail to dodge because I strafe right instead of running the way I intended, etc. Eyes off the screen to re-position, more time lost...

A joystick with keymapping/keyboard emulation, hat switch for camera or targeting, left/right torque for strafing - plus a keyboard... I'd feel right at home, like the glory days of MechWarrior II (Jade Falcon!)

[Nutz]

No idea how people could use KB+M effectively. I understand that people do, but I just don't think I'd even want to play if I couldn't use a controller. Movement is much more intuitive, there's ample room for any and all actions you might need to use and they're all always perfectly within reach and it's fairly difficult to hit the wrong one by mistake (your hand can't be in the wrong position).

That said, I use a mouse for some universal non-intensive stuff like class change and mounts. I also put long cooldown abilities on a column on the left of the screen for reference (though I activate them with a controller).

[Lilyarel]

I have a feeling I should clarify.

I have a Razor Naga MMO mouse which makes activating spells and skills incredibly easy as it frees up your left hand for movement alone and you dont need to reach across a keyboard.