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Mouse plus d-pad: the contenders!
Feral
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PROBLEM SPACE: MMOs, FPSes
PREMISE THE FIRST - WASD is inefficient. A whole hand devoted to movement? Bah. And what if you want to use the macro keys on a Logitech G11 and move at the same time? You can't. Terrible!
PREMISE THE SECOND - When using a mouse, your right thumb is doing what exactly? Nothing! It's just laying there, like a pot-smoking hippie. A leech!
IDEA - Why can't I use my right thumb to strafe around? Hey, why doesn't somebody put a d-pad or a thumbstick there? Then I can use my left hand for choosing weapons or executing macros or :winky:!
It seems I am not the first to have this idea! There are three products I have found with suitable configurations from which to choose:
SAITEK CYBORG MOUSE
Pros: Least expensive of the bunch. Solid brand with good support. Adjustable.
Cons: Some reviews say that the d-pad kinda sucks and is too low to really be useful. Looks like it's about to transform into Frenzy and rape me with its robot penis.
SANDIO O2
Pros: Won't freak my girlfriend out when she comes over to use the computer. I hear it has three d-pads, in case I grow two more thumbs.
Cons: I read a review today that says that the diagonals don't work, it'll cut out if you try to press more than two cardinal directions at once on the same d-pad. Kinda expensive.
STEELSERIES MMO MOUSE
Pros: Built like a tank.
Cons: Most expensive of the bunch. I'd feel like a tool while using it. Look at it. It's a mouse made for tools. A tool mouse, if you will. Only tools use that mouse. I'll have to put that mouse in a drawer when I'm not using it if I ever want to get laid again.
So, denizens of Games and Technology: Moe's Stupid Technology Tavern. Have ye used one of these mice? Have ye used a similar mouse not on my list? How do ye like them?
Yes, I know about the Buffalo mouse with the d-pad instead of a scroll wheel. It's only like the first seventeen results on Google for "mouse plus d-pad" so no, it's not going to be funny if you post a picture of it.
PREMISE THE FIRST - WASD is inefficient. A whole hand devoted to movement? Bah. And what if you want to use the macro keys on a Logitech G11 and move at the same time? You can't. Terrible!
PREMISE THE SECOND - When using a mouse, your right thumb is doing what exactly? Nothing! It's just laying there, like a pot-smoking hippie. A leech!
IDEA - Why can't I use my right thumb to strafe around? Hey, why doesn't somebody put a d-pad or a thumbstick there? Then I can use my left hand for choosing weapons or executing macros or :winky:!
It seems I am not the first to have this idea! There are three products I have found with suitable configurations from which to choose:
SAITEK CYBORG MOUSE
Pros: Least expensive of the bunch. Solid brand with good support. Adjustable.
Cons: Some reviews say that the d-pad kinda sucks and is too low to really be useful. Looks like it's about to transform into Frenzy and rape me with its robot penis.
SANDIO O2
Pros: Won't freak my girlfriend out when she comes over to use the computer. I hear it has three d-pads, in case I grow two more thumbs.
Cons: I read a review today that says that the diagonals don't work, it'll cut out if you try to press more than two cardinal directions at once on the same d-pad. Kinda expensive.
STEELSERIES MMO MOUSE
Pros: Built like a tank.
Cons: Most expensive of the bunch. I'd feel like a tool while using it. Look at it. It's a mouse made for tools. A tool mouse, if you will. Only tools use that mouse. I'll have to put that mouse in a drawer when I'm not using it if I ever want to get laid again.
So, denizens of Games and Technology: Moe's Stupid Technology Tavern. Have ye used one of these mice? Have ye used a similar mouse not on my list? How do ye like them?
Yes, I know about the Buffalo mouse with the d-pad instead of a scroll wheel. It's only like the first seventeen results on Google for "mouse plus d-pad" so no, it's not going to be funny if you post a picture of it.
every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Feral on
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(Does it say you can program what color the LEDs on the Warcraft mouse are? I may have to go with that one just for kicks.)
One would think that there would be a decent market for a mouse like this. I wonder why Razer hasn't come up with one. Logitech probably never would since it might cut into keyboard sales.
I briefly tried using one of the old Nostromo N52s back when I was into MMOs. I thought the d-pad would be perfect for movement, but it didn't handle diagonals well. Instead of strafing while moving forward, it would stutter forward then to the side. Like instead of pressing A and W at the same time (AW), it would do A then W (A *split second pause* W).
I have nothing else to contribute.
I've been using mice with thumb buttons since I could afford to buy my own
Seconding this, I can never go back to a thumb-button-less mouse now.
Get a thumby mouse and shift to ESDF movement, that gives you a whole pinky-row of keys for macroing.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
EDIT I must also add that the Intellimouse Explorer 1.0 has yet to be surpassed as the ultimate LH gaming mouse. Fuck you Microsoft for not continuing to produce them. I should have bought 10.
I went through 4 explorers before it become harder and more expensive to find them. The Logitech g5 is a pretty good replacement which adds on the fly sensitivity switching and a hardware indicator to let you know which setting it is on. This is amazing for fps.
As for the OP's dilemma, aside from getting a mouse with side buttons to make your thumb feel useful, have you checked out the Logitech G13 at all? That might provide you a suitable level of control, although that thumbstick looks kind of annoying.
Steam/PSN/XBL/Minecraft / LoL / - Benevicious | WoW - Duckwood - Rajhek
That was actually my first thought, was to go with a mouse with two thumb buttons and map one to forward and one to back. And I still might do that. I just figured, if I'm gonna buy a mouse, why not go all out? (it kind of feels wrong to buy a mouse, since I work in IT and mice, like power cords, fall from the sky.)
Madpanda: I already have my heart set on the G11.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
didnt tribes have esdf as the default?
Been keepin an eye out for a solid mouse that has more buttons. Saitek used to have one that had a Dpad on it long before the cyborg series, but it was super ugly, uncomfortable, and not even optical tracking (Ball Mouse!). Ever since using the MX500 series, using mice that don't have at least two thumb buttons aggrivates me, much like using single monitor systems.
Two thumb buttons is amateur hour:
Two thumb buttons and a thumb wheel. Which also clicks. And that top wheel is a four-way scroller as well. Use the überOptions add-in for the Logitech drivers, and you can set each of the scrolls/buttons/etc to whatever button/macro/etc you want, including piping them straight into AutoHotKey functions.
Got mine for CDN$40 on sale, regular MSRP is about double that, but if you're willing to wait you should be able to score something similar.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
if so, I think I might have just found my mouse.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
The thumb wheel does 2 way scrolling and can also be pushed as a button.
I wonder if I could configure it in such a way that it would only function to move between z-levels in Dwarf Fortress.
Bah.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
You can buy an analog flightstick and use the stick for rotational control (replacing a mouse) and the hat switch for strafing (replacing WASD). I know somebody who did that not because of a disability, but just because he played a lot of flight simulators back in the day and that system felt natural to him.
You just want to make sure you find a joystick with a hat switch that can go in eight directions.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Yeah, that Sandio O2 looks very intriguing, I'm curious how well it works... I'm also kind of wondering about the current support for it, as long as it works with Vista, I suppose it's fine, but there haven't been driver updates in two years according to the site.
I just bought an MX Revolution last night. I'm liking it so far.
It was an impulse purchase - Best Buy has it on sale right now for $50.
The thumb wheel doesn't really click, though. It springs back. Which is niiiiiiiice, it's the perfect thing to control forward/back motion.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
On the plus side, since the paint job is so shitty you can get rid of the tiny WoW logo real quick if you're insecure about that sort of thing.
EDIT: On the whole I'm happy with it, even if I feel I paid too much for its physical shortcomings. If you don't play WoW you will ultimately have just a D-Pad and a bunch of superfluous buttons that do nothing but potentially harm the layout/ergonomics of the mouse.