Playing an MMO with a controller

[AkashiXI]

This is the same type of debate that fighting games get when it's controller vs. fight stick. It's simply a preference, as you can play both ways optimally depending on your style. There are some advantages over others (healing is significantly easier on kb with mouse macros vs. a controller cycling through the party list), but the game was designed around ease of access on both accounts. I always tell new players to enjoy whichever comes more natural to them.

Personally, I'm a controller user. I have been since FFXI, and I love the immersion I get from playing with one.

[Gilraen]

I find playing on a keyboard to be incredibly tedious, especially if I want to chat and I chat alot. Always having to hit some chat-activator before I can use the keyboard to talk. And the targeting is even more so. Camera control isn't too hard, I use a trackball so no need to worry about running off the table. I've played alot of MMOs and have only really enjoyed the control schemes of those that allowed for controllers.

[karateorangutang]

I find the controller to be great for tanking. Camera usage is just so easy.

It is kinda hard to drop the controller and type then pick it back up mid fight though. So explaining things on the fly becomes difficult. Other than that I target faster on the controller.

[Maero]

I have played just fine on PS3 and now PS4
It really is not that bad, i do also use a keyboard alongside the controller

[Evangela]

I think FFXIV has a very good controller scheme but it will never be as good as mouse & keyboard.

this game needs at least 3 action bars to play your job to its full potential.

targeting with a controller is no match to mouse & keyboard as well.

[Felis]

I switch to controller for certain types of activity, such as long stretches of gathering or when I make certain jumps for the exploration journal. But generally I have trouble with precise targeting using a controller. The auto-switch target function is pretty scatterbrained in this game (targeting a passive enemy out of range when there are two enemies smacking me in the face) and ground targeting attacks and pet movement just aren't quick enough for me.

There are some options for this situation

- cancel your current target. The next enemy that hit you is your new target
- Use L1 + Dpad up/down to switch between the enemies in your enemy list
- Switch to a target filter that target only enemies that are aggro on you.

[Vurtney]

The keyboard-mouse mode need a lot of keybinds customization. For example, my left hand covers 48 key-binds without having to move its position

I've been using the same keybind setup over a decade now. I have around 35 on my left hand which i can manage.

The basic keybind layout doesn't really work on any mmo. It needs to be tailored to work for each player and this is what many players don't do.

I cringe everytime i see someone use number keys for actions that need fast reaction times.

To each his own i guess.

[Rufalus]

I've been using controller so long now that I could never stop doing it this way, but targetting can be a big problem. When you have 72-players in PvP, it takes like 10 minutes to toggle over to the target I want to attack. Targetting difficulty can cause problems.

[Ayrie]

I played for a long time on KB+Mouse until Titan Hard was clobbering faces for a very long time, with a little support from Twintania. Once I crossed those two I realized quick movement and reaction was something that this game absolutely required and that's when I tried a controller. Once I made the swap it was so hard to swap back, as movement on the keyboard and mouse just seemed clunky and difficult (try auto-facing when using a skill on the KB vs controller, especially as a bard or tank on the move).

Only downfall I've noticed is immediately available actions. With ctrl+alt and 1 thru = on the keyboard you have almost 40 abilities on demand. That's a lot of bumping r1 to swap tabs right quick. I did go out and get a razer tartarus to help extend my access to keys and that has been a dream. When I want to dps as a healer now I can easily use the keys on the tartarus to click on cleric stance and sling my spells, then bump cleric stance off and go back to the controller for my heals and movement.

It has seriously increased my a game.

Edit: also, having a single vertical bar to track things like cooldowns and a macro with them all on it (no wait) has been great for me, too. Especially as a bard with 6 dps cooldowns or whatever. I hit the button 6 times to fire them all, or hit it once if I know one is off cooldown and ready to fire (looking at you, internal release). Pretty nifty. Macros definitely help the controller, too. Mashing Straight Shot + Bloodletter + Misery's End into one button helps me get the most out of the crossbar while not sacrificing critical abilities on demand.

[Arkenne]

For a few MMO I've played with Keyboard/mouse, its not too hard... but personally the character movement always felt so restricting.
Controller makes it much more free.
Altho I have to admit that most of the time keeping track of your cooldowns can be an issue since you will always have at most 16 buttons on view on the screen with the sole crosshotbar, so keyboard wins on that, as well as moving through menus, but I like the fact that I can hide EVERYTHING thanks to that too...

If you get used enough to the controller you can even play with the whole HUD hidden for a while and admire all the cool skill's light effects in a way you cant while staring at skills cooling down.
Since I play on PC with an Xbox controller, I think I can enjoy both features in a sense.

I would love that the camera spinning could be increased a 10 times fold tho...