Mouse/Keyboard vs. Controller: Your Thoughts

[Krausus]

Controller for everything but crafting, I tried playing this game with keyboard/mouse and even though I can play just fine with other MMOs this game just feels very poorly made for keyboard/mouse

[Enfarious]

...
the most obvious way to demonstrate this is with archer/bard on moogle. to do optimal dps you keep every WS on cooldown while light shotting absolutely as much as humanly possible. both gamepad and keyboard/mouse can keep everything on cooldown... except for light shot. only k/m can effectively do this. the difference between a player using k/m hitting their dps ceiling and a player using gamepad hitting their dps ceiling tends to be a difference of about 25-50 light shots... or more. which is why a gamepad user will likely cap out at around 70-75 dps where a keyboard/mouse user can cap out between 80-90.

50+ light shots makes a hell of a difference, and there is simply no logically objective way to dispute the fact that every time a keyboard/mouse user wants to use light shot in between WSs it takes him 1 button press, then 1 button press to do his next WS... and the gamepad user has to do quite a number more.

these are precious seconds when, added up over the course of a battle, cost you precious dps time.

Selecting skills with a controller is much much slower that pressing a number key, when I am fighting something difficult (especially solo) I will always use keys with the action bar because its much faster and reliable.

What with lag also it can effect where you scroll to on the action bar when using both controller and arrow keys and sometimes can end up pressing the wrong action.

Like someone said above if you are feeling lazy use controller (which I do at times) but if you want to be accurate and on the ball keyboard and mouse is probably better.

That being said targeting with a mouse is horrendous still, hopefully in 2.0 it will be much better.

I can hit a macro for lightshotting as fast as I can press the 1 key. I've never on any job failed to keep EVERY skill on cooldown, and had time to spare to think about if I should move, which I should do next, pause to chat. If you can't use a controller effectively, don't, but don't assume that noone can and then try to justify it with arguments that are at best opinions that you've formed based on your own experiences.
Maybe it's years of playing with controllers, but I know that I'm more effective when using a controller, I never would have gone through the headache of getting my PS3 controller working w/ and w/o bluetooth if this weren't the case.
I will not say that everyone can be as fast or faster with a kbd or controller, and there are certainly some games where a kbd/mouse is more effecient, I have a G-13 for a reason too, but even that doesn't compare to a controller in this or FFXI.
Effective use of macros while moving through all 3 action bars while moving and adjusting my camera to get a better look at where I am and what else might be coming. I've never been able to accomplish that many things at once w/ a kbd.

Lag and animation locks stop dead your speed w/ a kbd anyway, you still can't just roll your finger along the keys you'll get that annoying ass "buzz" of you being unable to execute another action yet. With or w/o the /actionqueue on I have that happen more than I care to think about.

[fusional]

I can hit a macro for lightshotting as fast as I can press the 1 key

no, you can't. because it still takes more button presses, even if only one more. furthermore, there is known macro lag thanks to our wonderful client-server relationship. if we were to have a light shot quick draw contest where all i have to do is hit 1 over and over and you have to keep hitting a macro, over an indefinite timeline i will *most assuredly* get in more light shots than you.

your preference is your preference, but be objective.

[Krausus]

no, you can't. because it still takes more button presses, even if only one more. furthermore, there is known macro lag thanks to our wonderful client-server relationship. if we were to have a light shot quick draw contest where all i have to do is hit 1 over and over and you have to keep hitting a macro, over an indefinite timeline i will *most assuredly* get in more light shots than you.

your preference is your preference, but be objective.

what does it matter I can use light shot non-macro with a controller just as fast as you can with keyboard because it doesnt matter if I have to move back and forth or up and down and you dont if stuff is on cooldown while you are moving anyways.

[Denmo]

Awesome. Thread is moving into "I can do more Light shots than you" mode.

[Enfarious]

no, you can't. because it still takes more button presses, even if only one more. furthermore, there is known macro lag thanks to our wonderful client-server relationship. if we were to have a light shot quick draw contest where all i have to do is hit 1 over and over and you have to keep hitting a macro, over an indefinite timeline i will *most assuredly* get in more light shots than you.

your preference is your preference, but be objective.

Objectivity ... wish we all were.
I do indeed have to press 2 buttons, and have 1 finger on each at all times, my macro for lightshot has 10 lines of
/ac
/wait
if I do something to break it w/e I restart it
holding down a trigger at the same time as pressing "X" does not take me longer than pressing the "1" key.
You seem to be attempting to make it sound like the 2 buttons on the controller require some ghastly repositioning of my hands, I can mash "X" on the action bar faster than the recast for lightshot, I can also go from lightshot to another skill in less than the recast, yes and back. Your not going to tell me there's no recast on lightshot now are you.

Your arguments are w/o merit.

[Arcell]

Objectivity ... wish we all were.
I do indeed have to press 2 buttons, and have 1 finger on each at all times, my macro for lightshot has 10 lines of
/ac
/wait
if I do something to break it w/e I restart it
holding down a trigger at the same time as pressing "X" does not take me longer than pressing the "1" key.
You seem to be attempting to make it sound like the 2 buttons on the controller require some ghastly repositioning of my hands, I can mash "X" on the action bar faster than the recast for lightshot, I can also go from lightshot to another skill in less than the recast, yes and back. Your not going to tell me there's no recast on lightshot now are you.

Your arguments are w/o merit.

I tried telling them this but because you have to hit 2 buttons, they're going to say you're wrong. Completely disregarding the fact that you can hold one of those buttons down for as long as you need to, as well as press it simultaneously with the confirm button to hit your macro.

Actually if we're talking about macros, it is the same number of button presses. You have to press some keybind to bring the macro bar up, by default it's Ctrl and Alt. Hitting Ctrl + 1 is the same as me hitting LT + A.

If we're talking about a light shot contest, we can both sit on the same bar and hit the same skill all day for the same delay. Only takes one button press if we're talking about the same skill. Also the recast timer on it does bring up a good point. You can get a good amount done and return to 1 for Light Shot before it's up. Not to mention the fact that other classes don't have this problem because they just auto-attack anyway.

[Donimo]

The default Keyboard/Mouse is pretty awful and is really only usable once you've re-bound (binded?) the keys around WASD. When I did this, the game became much more enjoyable as I didn't have to fight the user interface to do what I wanted to do.

Previously in FFXI, I exclusively used the keyboard control, so I have a secondary remap that matches that setup. I also have my Xbox controller ready for use if I'm feeling really lazy.

It's all about options!

[Mairuzu]

I'm lazy as hell so I use my controller while I lay on my bed. I have game set up on the tv and everything.

[Impulse]

As someone who started XI at PS2 launch, I stuck with a controller throughout XI on all platforms. Started XIV off this way in beta as well, until I took a break around this time last year. By the time I came back, my controller finally broke after years of use.

From there I started using KB/mouse and found it a hell of a lot easier than a controller.
Being able to just click on targets or the party list is just so much easier than cycling through with the D-pad (even with filters). Being able to adjust keybinds freely (for the most part) is a plus and a huge improvement since launch.
I've tried going back to using a controller but outside of playing on the TV from my couch, it feels strange.