There's going to be an age gap when discussing this. I didn't really feel it until I turned 31, my joints and muscles just felt off and I didn't know what it was. Now, I know exactly what it is, rapid and excessive key/mouse clicks and key holding definitely take their toll. Years ago I always thought, "wtf why would a starcraft pro retire? They're getting paid to game!" But I get it, sure I can still play DotA or D3 or SC2 for most of the day, but not without a little pain.
Actually DotA really hurts my wrist these days, I was playing it for like 5+ hours per day before the international, I started getting carpal tunnel so I straight up stopped gaming for a while and even switched my mouse over to the other side of my keyboard at work so as to not exacerbate it into full blown AIDS! (jk full blown carpal tunnel). Since then I've been a lot more careful and pay more attention to how my fingers/wrist feel while gaming.
A game like WS which has you spend all your time circle strafing is not gonna happen for me anymore, I just don't want to do it. I don't mind more strategic and timed action combat though. Slower paced like Dark Souls is good. Super fast like Devil May Cry, not so much.
I think what the OP is after is something more along the lines of No Mouse, or MMORPGs that could be played with a controller. I don't think there's much that exists right now that fits that bill. I don't think not using the mouse at all and only using the keyboard is ever going to be a popular option again, but games may move more towards using a game controller, or some other hybrid controller that does the same job.
To the contrary, a large fraction of MMORPGs are mostly playable with a gamepad. The main things that make it so that you can't play a game with a gamepad are:
1) It's hard-coded in that you have to constantly use a mouse to do stuff. (I'm fine with needing to occasionally use a mouse.)
2) The game requires a lot of keys and either doesn't allow you to change which keys do what or makes it so that you cannot assign combinations of keys to do anything.
In some games, a gamepad may well be a modest disadvantage, but I'm willing to live with that.
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In slower paced games, you're not going to aggressively use anything, whether a mouse or otherwise. I played Hearthstone for a while, for example, and that's a pure mouse game. But the game is so slow paced that it's not an injury risk. The same is true of Wizard 101.
the moment some company manages to 100% copy/paste Dark Souls combat into an mmorpg that will be the action combat game i play until it dies. Not a single mmorpg out now has a real action combat mechanic, many of them tried and all of them gimped it at some point. No real action.
IMO ESO has a nice pace but the combat itself is gimped with a pseudo tab target (and mob tagging) that lets your attacks clip through enemies that arent targetted and only hit the targetted one. Also combat in Tera could have been better if they didnt gimp it with slow combo transitions and awful animation locks (and no actual combo chains, instead a one button spam that makes combos feel chopped and slapped one over the other). WildStar has the most painful combat system i have tried, i think mny carpat tunnel got worse by playing a week of WS at launch.
I dont play action games unless they can be properly played with gamepad. Mouse works better on strategy games, tab target games, and obviously shooters for accuracy.
I think what the OP is after is something more along the lines of No Mouse, or MMORPGs that could be played with a controller. I don't think there's much that exists right now that fits that bill. I don't think not using the mouse at all and only using the keyboard is ever going to be a popular option again, but games may move more towards using a game controller, or some other hybrid controller that does the same job.
To the contrary, a large fraction of MMORPGs are mostly playable with a gamepad. The main things that make it so that you can't play a game with a gamepad are:
1) It's hard-coded in that you have to constantly use a mouse to do stuff. (I'm fine with needing to occasionally use a mouse.)
2) The game requires a lot of keys and either doesn't allow you to change which keys do what or makes it so that you cannot assign combinations of keys to do anything.
In some games, a gamepad may well be a modest disadvantage, but I'm willing to live with that.
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In slower paced games, you're not going to aggressively use anything, whether a mouse or otherwise. I played Hearthstone for a while, for example, and that's a pure mouse game. But the game is so slow paced that it's not an injury risk. The same is true of Wizard 101.
There is a difference between games that you can work out a solution to get past the keyboard/mouse combo, and games that are built from scratch to not require getting past the keyboard/mouse combo, where they are built for a controller, or built to not need a mouse. I mean, with enough time, a 3D printer and a micro controller you could cobble together a solution for nearly any game.
For whatever reason though, on the PC, "Action" means "Lots-o-Mouse". Which makes sense. You can do a lot of stuff with a mouse using very simple movements.
That's why I'm focusing on the input devices rather than the games. I think it's a lot more likely that some sort of input device is going to provide at least a partial solution. For instance, when playing Diablo, using a Razer Orbweaver, the left hand thumb can be used for movement (if that's even possible in Diablo), the right hand is still on the mouse but the left hand can hit key buttons that have been programmed to mimic mouse clicks and skills. It won't change the fact that 90 percent of your clicks are going to be for your active skill though.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Comments
There's going to be an age gap when discussing this. I didn't really feel it until I turned 31, my joints and muscles just felt off and I didn't know what it was. Now, I know exactly what it is, rapid and excessive key/mouse clicks and key holding definitely take their toll. Years ago I always thought, "wtf why would a starcraft pro retire? They're getting paid to game!" But I get it, sure I can still play DotA or D3 or SC2 for most of the day, but not without a little pain.
Actually DotA really hurts my wrist these days, I was playing it for like 5+ hours per day before the international, I started getting carpal tunnel so I straight up stopped gaming for a while and even switched my mouse over to the other side of my keyboard at work so as to not exacerbate it into full blown AIDS! (jk full blown carpal tunnel). Since then I've been a lot more careful and pay more attention to how my fingers/wrist feel while gaming.
A game like WS which has you spend all your time circle strafing is not gonna happen for me anymore, I just don't want to do it. I don't mind more strategic and timed action combat though. Slower paced like Dark Souls is good. Super fast like Devil May Cry, not so much.
To the contrary, a large fraction of MMORPGs are mostly playable with a gamepad. The main things that make it so that you can't play a game with a gamepad are:
1) It's hard-coded in that you have to constantly use a mouse to do stuff. (I'm fine with needing to occasionally use a mouse.)
2) The game requires a lot of keys and either doesn't allow you to change which keys do what or makes it so that you cannot assign combinations of keys to do anything.
In some games, a gamepad may well be a modest disadvantage, but I'm willing to live with that.
-----
In slower paced games, you're not going to aggressively use anything, whether a mouse or otherwise. I played Hearthstone for a while, for example, and that's a pure mouse game. But the game is so slow paced that it's not an injury risk. The same is true of Wizard 101.
the moment some company manages to 100% copy/paste Dark Souls combat into an mmorpg that will be the action combat game i play until it dies. Not a single mmorpg out now has a real action combat mechanic, many of them tried and all of them gimped it at some point. No real action.
IMO ESO has a nice pace but the combat itself is gimped with a pseudo tab target (and mob tagging) that lets your attacks clip through enemies that arent targetted and only hit the targetted one. Also combat in Tera could have been better if they didnt gimp it with slow combo transitions and awful animation locks (and no actual combo chains, instead a one button spam that makes combos feel chopped and slapped one over the other). WildStar has the most painful combat system i have tried, i think mny carpat tunnel got worse by playing a week of WS at launch.
I dont play action games unless they can be properly played with gamepad. Mouse works better on strategy games, tab target games, and obviously shooters for accuracy.
Well I agree that action packed games are on the console, I wish they change the controls of the MMORPGs
like I'm playing rohan right now but I'm tired of clicking and clicking ... so yeah that's it I just wish I can feel some intense action playing it
There is a difference between games that you can work out a solution to get past the keyboard/mouse combo, and games that are built from scratch to not require getting past the keyboard/mouse combo, where they are built for a controller, or built to not need a mouse. I mean, with enough time, a 3D printer and a micro controller you could cobble together a solution for nearly any game.
For whatever reason though, on the PC, "Action" means "Lots-o-Mouse". Which makes sense. You can do a lot of stuff with a mouse using very simple movements.
That's why I'm focusing on the input devices rather than the games. I think it's a lot more likely that some sort of input device is going to provide at least a partial solution. For instance, when playing Diablo, using a Razer Orbweaver, the left hand thumb can be used for movement (if that's even possible in Diablo), the right hand is still on the mouse but the left hand can hit key buttons that have been programmed to mimic mouse clicks and skills. It won't change the fact that 90 percent of your clicks are going to be for your active skill though.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.