Mouse-Turning (from Mouse Thread)Follow

Rather than to derail the thread about the Razer mice, I figured it'd probably be best to continue that conversation over here, instead.

So, I'll start off by quoting Theo and Mazra from that thread:





See, the problem isn't trying to find enough keybinds (in fact, having 40+ of them would cause a sort of overload/distraction problem); the problem is me stumbling over things because I'm trying to simultaneously learn two whole new ways of doing things at the same time.

For years, I played FFXI and another MMORPG (Istaria) that played exactly like FFXI did -- both made very little use of the mouse at all, and you did everything with the arrow, tab, and enter keys.

I played those MMORPGs over a few years and I just got used to arrow key movement/turning.

Now, I've never debated, nor argued that mouse-turning isn't better; I know it is better and I've tried it.. I just can't seem to find "the trick" to get myself to learn it without causing massive distractions and loss of performance because it feels so weird.

I might try again here after I get things calmed down (I've been in a rush to get characters on 90 for the HH), but I'm not sure if I'll do any better this time or not. I really do want to learn so I can actually function in PvP (especially now that they've claimed that they improved PvP with the various changes) and get a little better at Heroics/Scenarios/LFR. I have no real plans of joining a raiding guild, but who knows someday I might do a PUG normal or something.

I'm trying.. but I just can't seem to 'get it'... not sure why. It is probably the *years* of playing FFXI and Istaria, that has arrow keys burned so deep in my muscle memory that anything else feels so weird.

Edited, Oct 18th 2012 8:13pm by Lyrailis

S, you mean, the Move Backward key?

People actually do that?

I'm a keyboard turner as I mentioned before and I don't even do that. Well. Some situations it can work, but most not usually. You take minimum 5 ticks of whatever the AoE is before you finally move out of it.

I did, however, manage to give a mouse-turner trouble in a PvP battle once. He had trouble getting behind me because I kept using a combination of Backwards+Turn and Forward+Turn in unpredictable patterns. He was probably going "WTF is this guy doing!?"

Though it kinda made it hard for me to hit him, he had trouble hitting me at the same time which is what I was trying to do; I was merely trying to buy time. Still thought it was kinda funny that I gave him that much trouble.

My point is, the S key has its place (well for me that's the down arrow as my right hand does movement).

Oh, and I forgot to reply to a part of Mazra's post: I rarely click anything unless I'm targeting a group member. In Scenarios, I've been hovering the mouse cursor near the nameplates of my group members and I'll quick click the mouse on one of them when I need to drop a heal on them. Otherwise, I click nothing during battle. I can't imagine someone clicking melee ability buttons, I just can't picture how that could possibly work. I'm not saying it is bad or good, I just can't picture it being effective, given you have to physically move the cursor between buttons, especially with classes that have shorter GCDs like Rogues and Cat Druids.

Ah, so you're a pureblood keyboard user. The problem is then using only one hand to navigate the keyboard while using your other hand exclusively for the mouse? The core of the issue is that you need to learn how to use your right (or left, if you're left-handed) hand for the mouse and not the arrow keys.



This is true. If someone told me to use the arrow keys for moving around, it would feel horrible for me as well. Muscle memory comes with repetition, though, so you just have to keep at it. Like I said, it will feel clunky and horribly inefficient for a long time, but once you've memorized (subconsciously) where the buttons are located and which buttons do what, it will become as natural as walking.

I mean, think about all the small adjustments the muscles in your legs and feet have to make while you're walking, or even standing, to prevent you from falling over. When kids first learn to walk, they look like they were never meant to do so in the first place. With enough repetition, however, they end up being able to navigate on those two limbs like it's the most natural thing in the world.

Like with walking, you just have to start with baby steps when it comes to muscle memory. When you're out doing dailies or whatever, try to force yourself to use the mouse and WASD keys for movement. You'll mess up once in a while and every fiber in your body will tell you to stop this nonsense and go back to how you used to do it, but you have to fight that urge. If you want to make it serious, go to the keybindings and unbind the arrow keys so you don't accidentally start using them when things heat up.

Once you've learned to use the mouse for movement while doing dailies, run some dungeons where you might find yourself in the heat of the battle. This is where you're most likely to slip into old habits, so I suggest training mouse-movement a lot before you do it. You might end up dying and the group might end up wiping because of you, but who cares? We're trying to modify your behavior on a subconscious level here. Petty repair bills do not concern us!

Anyway, keep at it. If it's any consolation, we all had to learn it at some point.

Edited, Oct 19th 2012 5:26pm by Mazra

I played FFXI for years as well, but I guess the difference with me when coming to WoW is I played FFXI on the ps2. Even now when I pop back in every 3-6 months, I HAVE to have a ps2-PC controller. When I came to WoW I HAD to learn how to play on the keyboard, and using the mouse with it just fell into place.

If you really want to get it down, do as Mazra said, unbind the arrow keys. Then when you hit them, you go "ugh crap nothing is happening!" and that part in your brain steps forward and goes "Duh! Grab that mouse!"