Why does PC hate lefties?!

[BrightCandle]

I didn't ever consider the key binds before and that really sucks. Mind you I tend to rebind my keys to esdf if possible these days which is usually no end of fun! Its not quite as big a remapping exercise however because I only have to remap a few commonly uses keys to an obvious left hand part on the keyboard whereas you have to redo everything.

 

However I am a little envious as well. One of the things I notice is that the keypad gets in the way of where I might ideally have my mouse pad and mouse movement. Because of the keypad I end up having the mouse a bit too wide for me and I end up loosing a bit of horizontal range because of it. With the mouse on the left hand side you don't have inches of usually dead space between you and the pad, which should end up being more comfortable and more competitive. I have thought many times about getting a keypad less keyboard but I still play too many games which use it, and I hate rebinding as much as you do.

 

I used to rebind every game, now I just rebind the ones I intend to play for more than a period of time. If I am still playing it at the 10 hour point or I am playing it competitively I'll switch the bindings, otherwise I just live with the defaults. To an extent I feel your pain, all these wasd users out there are ruining my perfectly good esdf setup!

[Hidden Orange]

Thread's probably dead, but with my stupid, destructive desk of doom, I ended developing tendinitis in my right wrist. It was a combination of being stupid and letting my right hand droop over the end of the desk and that this desk has a small keyboard tray that well, I can only put a keyboard there and nothing else along with the desk being taller than what I would be supposed to be using. So, for the past year or so, I've been using my mouse with my left hand and that's okay for non-gaming purposes, but for gaming and the fact that many games out there have "locked" keybinds, it would seem like hell to deal with. Gamepads are okay since it's not a dominant hand thing; you just press stuff and it works. Mice require fine-tuned movements as much as it requires sloppy movements. Keyboards can work in any way, but for whatever reason, coding or otherwise, developers have locked some of the bindings. 

 

Hopefully, I can find a proper desk that can do more than barely fit regular-sized paper. Seriously, I hate this desk. I've resorted to using my monitor's box to do art projects and even that's small and awkward to use, but less than this POS desk. Also, because of my stupidity and this damned desk, I have to learn to use my left hand - the opposite for left-handers who have to learn to use their right-hand because most people are right-handed - for pretty much everything in order to alleviate stress on my wrist. That being said, for me, it's not that difficult for some odd reason. Others find using and learning to use their non-dominant hand difficult. I just started out clumsily drawing and moving my mouse, but not, it's like a slower, less fine-tuned dominant hand. Even then, if I had to use a bow, rifle, or aim with stuff, I'd probably would use my left hand - I'm left-eyed dominant. Basically, I'm as messed-up as a mutt. I'm obviously not left-handed, I'm not completely right-handed, and I'm not ambidextrous; I have cross dominance apparently.

[Camul]

Devs are too lazy to create a lefty option for games. Seriously, how much more time would it actually take?

[TheProfosist]

Cause you can just change the controls? Try saving tge config fike for the controls. You could always get a programmable keyboard that you could actually change what the keys do. The only one that comes to mind is roccat ryos mk pro at the moment. Also I have a lefty friend who at a youger age choose to mouse with his right hand, it just takes some work if you really want to do it. You do get advabtage of writing and pointing at the same time.

[techswede]

Thread's probably dead, but with my stupid, destructive desk of doom, I ended developing tendinitis in my right wrist. It was a combination of being stupid and letting my right hand droop over the end of the desk and that this desk has a small keyboard tray that well, I can only put a keyboard there and nothing else along with the desk being taller than what I would be supposed to be using. So, for the past year or so, I've been using my mouse with my left hand and that's okay for non-gaming purposes, but for gaming and the fact that many games out there have "locked" keybinds, it would seem like hell to deal with. Gamepads are okay since it's not a dominant hand thing; you just press stuff and it works. Mice require fine-tuned movements as much as it requires sloppy movements. Keyboards can work in any way, but for whatever reason, coding or otherwise, developers have locked some of the bindings. 

 

Hopefully, I can find a proper desk that can do more than barely fit regular-sized paper. Seriously, I hate this desk. I've resorted to using my monitor's box to do art projects and even that's small and awkward to use, but less than this POS desk. Also, because of my stupidity and this damned desk, I have to learn to use my left hand - the opposite for left-handers who have to learn to use their right-hand because most people are right-handed - for pretty much everything in order to alleviate stress on my wrist. That being said, for me, it's not that difficult for some odd reason. Others find using and learning to use their non-dominant hand difficult. I just started out clumsily drawing and moving my mouse, but not, it's like a slower, less fine-tuned dominant hand. Even then, if I had to use a bow, rifle, or aim with stuff, I'd probably would use my left hand - I'm left-eyed dominant. Basically, I'm as messed-up as a mutt. I'm obviously not left-handed, I'm not completely right-handed, and I'm not ambidextrous; I have cross dominance apparently.

The Ikea Galant is always the answer 

[MrTomnus]

Thread's probably dead, but with my stupid, destructive desk of doom, I ended developing tendinitis in my right wrist. It was a combination of being stupid and letting my right hand droop over the end of the desk and that this desk has a small keyboard tray that well, I can only put a keyboard there and nothing else along with the desk being taller than what I would be supposed to be using. So, for the past year or so, I've been using my mouse with my left hand and that's okay for non-gaming purposes, but for gaming and the fact that many games out there have "locked" keybinds, it would seem like hell to deal with. Gamepads are okay since it's not a dominant hand thing; you just press stuff and it works. Mice require fine-tuned movements as much as it requires sloppy movements. Keyboards can work in any way, but for whatever reason, coding or otherwise, developers have locked some of the bindings. 

 

Hopefully, I can find a proper desk that can do more than barely fit regular-sized paper. Seriously, I hate this desk. I've resorted to using my monitor's box to do art projects and even that's small and awkward to use, but less than this POS desk. Also, because of my stupidity and this damned desk, I have to learn to use my left hand - the opposite for left-handers who have to learn to use their right-hand because most people are right-handed - for pretty much everything in order to alleviate stress on my wrist. That being said, for me, it's not that difficult for some odd reason. Others find using and learning to use their non-dominant hand difficult. I just started out clumsily drawing and moving my mouse, but not, it's like a slower, less fine-tuned dominant hand. Even then, if I had to use a bow, rifle, or aim with stuff, I'd probably would use my left hand - I'm left-eyed dominant. Basically, I'm as messed-up as a mutt. I'm obviously not left-handed, I'm not completely right-handed, and I'm not ambidextrous; I have cross dominance apparently.

I'm sorry to hear about your wrist But yeah like you said a gamepad would actually be quite nice because I can plug it in if i need right hand controls, then if a friend comes over I can just unplug it and it switches to left hand on the keyboard

 

Cause you can just change the controls? Try saving tge config fike for the controls. You could always get a programmable keyboard that you could actually change what the keys do. The only one that comes to mind is roccat ryos mk pro at the moment. Also I have a lefty friend who at a youger age choose to mouse with his right hand, it just takes some work if you really want to do it. You do get advabtage of writing and pointing at the same time.

Haha I never thought about that It's fiddly but the config files might work! I suppose being able to write at the same time would be great for when there's an essay that need writing for homework

[ManOfDisguise]

If you keep using your right hand(even though the experience might be painful/not so fun) eventually you should get used to it. You just have to keep using it.

[BrightCandle]

How much is a software solution that takes games that have config files and such and applies a common and different control scheme? Most games do store this either in plain text config files or in the registry but some of them store in binary files.

 

I am however quite confident I could write software that took a common control theme. Rather than trying to understand what a game meant by the keys instead if would take a key layout and transform these keys to your chose keys, so what was wasd becomes pl;' fior example and you would then want mappings from pl;' to something else. Then I could add specific games with their particulars of how they store the keys and allow automatic application of a common key layout.

 

The challenge is maintaining it in the future with many different games coming out that require remapping of keys, there is certainly a lot of difficulty with making it available in all games and especially doing so on release day as you may not get to see the way it does things until its actually released. So its not something I think would work as a free program, it would need to be ongoing payment based ($10 a year or something like that). If there is sufficient interest I can certainly look at doing this.

[Morpheus]

Sorry I feel like I need to rant. I am so sick of being left handed sometimes, seriously. I really want to get better at using a keyboard and mouse but I can't because the PC gaming world has made it impossible for me to do so. Here is my problem:

 

I can play alright with my right hand. But I can't play COMPETITVELY with my right hand. It's just too inaccurate. I've been trying to use it for the last three months and I've seen no improvement in how I aim, in games like Borderlands and Killing Floor. I get left behind when I play with friends because 

 

Rant over.

use a controller, for most fps games it is supported

[flibberdipper]

Righties are the most popular, I guess. That's why most mice are designed for people who are righties.

[Hidden Orange]

The Ikea Galant is always the answer 

Yeah, people have said stuff about that, but I kind of want to get a desk for my monitor and HDTV, but I'm kind of worried about the weight; it'd be around 30lbs (13.6kg). I know desks and tables aren't usually flimsy, but the desk I'm using is kind of wobbly even though the monitor and PC are "holding" it down. One solution I overlooked is to get a proper desk and a table or move my HDTV to a sturdy table. The only issue is finding said desk that would be low enough and adjustable desks might seem worth it, but I do worry a lot and heavy objects my cause me to worry even more. I'm anywhere between 5' 2" to 5' 7". Seriously, nurses, doctors, a cruddy measuring tape, marked walls, and plenty more have screwed with my height that it's not funny anymore. One time, I supposedly lost height after a year from the past measurement. Really? At least my weight's consistent...

 

I'm sorry to hear about your wrist But yeah like you said a gamepad would actually be quite nice because I can plug it in if i need right hand controls, then if a friend comes over I can just unplug it and it switches to left hand on the keyboard

 

Haha I never thought about that It's fiddly but the config files might work! I suppose being able to write at the same time would be great for when there's an essay that need writing for homework

Eh, it's my fault for drooping my hand like that, but I will place blame on biased desks. Screw you, 6-footers, no offence that is.

 

Also, some games have locked bindings, so you might not be able to modify them through config files. Apparently, Autohotkey can override that... Maybe. Another person did mention why something like a Wii's nunchuck or half a gamepad can't be used. Personally, that might make more sense for certain games like stealth games where analog sticks make transitioning from slow, medium, and fast movement much more natural. The only issue is that it would limit you since it wouldn't have all the buttons a keyboard has.

[Giddyguy]

Not to be inconsiderate or anything but why do you need to rebind the keys? Can't you leave the AWSD setup and just use your right hand on the keyboard? You may have to readjust how you position your hand but atleast it would be easier than using your non-dominant hand for the mouse?

[Torg73]

 

I can play alright with my right hand. But I can't play COMPETITVELY with my right hand. It's just too inaccurate. I've been trying to use it for the last three months and I've seen no improvement in how I aim, in games like Borderlands and Killing Floor. I get left behind when I play with friends because I can't get any decent loot because I can't kill anybody quickly enough! Crafting in Minecraft takes twice as long. I can click items well but I can't drag them around accurately at anywhere near the speed I do it with my left hand. Hell, I find it hard to click radio buttons in Windows sometimes

 

You think you got it bad, am a south paw too but I can't use my right hand for keyboard/mouse so I end up getting a game board (logitech G13), this has 20 key's you can setup for each game plus a small joystick with 2 buttons next to it so I can use them with my thumb.  Also there's a few profiles you can load up which is set up for games.

[techswede]

Yeah, people have said stuff about that, but I kind of want to get a desk for my monitor and HDTV, but I'm kind of worried about the weight; it'd be around 30lbs (13.6kg). I know desks and tables aren't usually flimsy, but the desk I'm using is kind of wobbly even though the monitor and PC are "holding" it down. One solution I overlooked is to get a proper desk and a table or move my HDTV to a sturdy table. The only issue is finding said desk that would be low enough and adjustable desks might seem worth it, but I do worry a lot and heavy objects my cause me to worry even more. I'm anywhere between 5' 2" to 5' 7". Seriously, nurses, doctors, a cruddy measuring tape, marked walls, and plenty more have screwed with my height that it's not funny anymore. One time, I supposedly lost height after a year from the past measurement. Really? At least my weight's consistent...

Atleast you're not alone about the height thing.. i've gone from 185cm to 175cm.. and yes it's annoying 

On the galant though. It's fully adjustable heightwise (although it may droop slightly over time) And having both my fulltower + hdtv + monitor + peripherals and my arms on it works fairly well

 

[IdeaStormer]

I think its you @MrTommus, I am originally a righty and switched to lefty years ago to prevent overuse issues. For certain games I played as a lefty I can only play as a lefty (true lefty) with all the default game keys as is only the mouse buttons switched. You just need to memorize the key locations just like a righty has to, there's no getting around that. Then, every game allows customization of the key layout so either you never try to fix your limitations with your hands or ?

[KamiKatze]

A top tier mechanical keyboard would help withthis problems. YOu can create two profiles. One with a regular keyboard and one where you rebind you keys to whatever you  use on the right side. Then it should pretty much work in ot's own in any game. It will get difficult though when you need one of the keys on the right side, which you had to trade to the left. Maybe use two keyboards, one with rebinded keys, one for writing. Dunno.

[Stonep11]

Just try playing a game of CS:GO or Borderlands with your left hand and you'll know how I feel.

Rant over.

Do you think a gamepad, like an Orbweaver, might help?

[TheProfosist]

Do you think a gamepad, like an Orbweaver, might help?

but they dont have a left hand one...

[FireViper015]

There's this: http://www.amazon.com/DSI-Left-Handed-Keyboard-Black-KB-DS-8861XPU-B-V2/dp/B0009S52X8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394058278&sr=8-2&keywords=left+handed+keyboards

It is too expensive and looks like it might not be the best, but it is something at least.

[TheProfosist]

There's this: http://www.amazon.com/DSI-Left-Handed-Keyboard-Black-KB-DS-8861XPU-B-V2/dp/B0009S52X8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394058278&sr=8-2&keywords=left+handed+keyboards

It is too expensive and looks like it might not be the best, but it is something at least.

that wouldnt help much for gaming but numpad on the left if use by quite a few righties as well.

[Stonep11]

but they dont have a left hand one...

This could be a possibility

http://www.cybersnipa.com/us/gaming-keyboards/gamepad.php

or this

http://www.gamingnexus.com/FullNews/Logitech-announces-new-G13-Gamepad/Item10864.aspx

[Flight1sim]

Im a lefty and so is most of my friends...

We all adapt to the pc design because from the beginning everybody put the mouse on the right 

[Pitou]

im a lefty, learned to use my right