Yet ESDF is objectively better because it frees up Q, A, Z, and W to easily be used for other keybinds. The number of people I've seen stretch their pinky down to Left-CTRL for crouch boggles my mind. With ESDF, crouch is A! Yes, this is a very tiny hill on which to die on, but it's my hill!
How WASD became the standard PC control scheme (2016)
11–20 of 83 posts
Re: How WASD became the standard PC control scheme (2016)
#12I do want to say that for some reason, I remember IJKM and ESDX for controls though. That was a rather uncomfortable control layout (which is why I remember it).
Re: How WASD became the standard PC control scheme (2016)
#13Yet ESDF is objectively better because it frees up Q, A, Z, and W to easily be used for other keybinds. The number of people I've seen stretch their pinky down to Left-CTRL for crouch boggles my mind. With ESDF, crouch is A! Yes, this is a very tiny hill on which to die on, but it's my hill!
Re: How WASD became the standard PC control scheme (2016)
#14Yet ESDF is objectively better because it frees up Q, A, Z, and W to easily be used for other keybinds. The number of people I've seen stretch their pinky down to Left-CTRL for crouch boggles my mind. With ESDF, crouch is A! Yes, this is a very tiny hill on which to die on, but it's my hill!
Re: How WASD became the standard PC control scheme (2016)
#15Of course I use the mouse for precision turning and aiming. But if I'm just navigating through a map without interacting with anything, turn keys let me do that one-handed, while the other hand reaches for a snack or drink!
Unfortunately I'm permanently stuck with the Q/E habit even though it's no longer useful... doomed (so to speak) forever to waste time rebinding my keys every time I start a new game.
(To streamline things I've made a rule: Whatever is bound to E I move to mouse 4, and Q to mouse 5, then I rebind Q/E to strafe. Luckily no games have defaults set to mouse 4 or 5 since not everyone has 5-button mice. Still, I get really pissed when a game decides to have five different independently-configured control schemes for different contexts, like "on foot" vs "in a vehicle", and I have to go through all of them...)
Re: How WASD became the standard PC control scheme (2016)
#16Yet ESDF is objectively better because it frees up Q, A, Z, and W to easily be used for other keybinds. The number of people I've seen stretch their pinky down to Left-CTRL for crouch boggles my mind. With ESDF, crouch is A! Yes, this is a very tiny hill on which to die on, but it's my hill!
Subjectively better.
If I were to switch to ESDF, I would have only one key to the right of my index finger in each row, as opposed to two. (I have a split keyboard.) You could argue that I would have two keys to the left of my pinky finger, but I find that reach more difficult.
I would also have a harder time orienting my fingers without looking, because I would no longer have the differently-shaped keys under my pinky to let me know I was in the right place. (The indentation that indicates home position on my F key is subtle, and easy to miss when I'm focused on the action in a game.)
Re: How WASD became the standard PC control scheme (2016)
#17Yet ESDF is objectively better because it frees up Q, A, Z, and W to easily be used for other keybinds. The number of people I've seen stretch their pinky down to Left-CTRL for crouch boggles my mind. With ESDF, crouch is A! Yes, this is a very tiny hill on which to die on, but it's my hill!
ESDF is also more natural to touch-typers as it’s basically the same as the left hand “home position” of ASDF. And it’s easy to locate without looking, since the F key usually has a raised marker on most keyboards.
Re: How WASD became the standard PC control scheme (2016)
#18Re: How WASD became the standard PC control scheme (2016)
#19Re: How WASD became the standard PC control scheme (2016)
#20Yet ESDF is objectively better because it frees up Q, A, Z, and W to easily be used for other keybinds. The number of people I've seen stretch their pinky down to Left-CTRL for crouch boggles my mind. With ESDF, crouch is A! Yes, this is a very tiny hill on which to die on, but it's my hill!