General Discussion

I'm considering asking my fiancee to get into MMO's but I realized she is left-handed. For us righties, the controls are pretty convenient: WASD, 0-1 for primary hotbar, almost everything is at our (left) fingertips. But looking at my keyboard here, that wouldn't be the case for lefties.

Any suggestions for keymaps, etc. that I should pre-configure for her?

Originally posted by Talyn

I'm considering asking my fiancee to get into MMO's but I realized she is left-handed. For us righties, the controls are pretty convenient: WASD, 0-1 for primary hotbar, almost everything is at our (left) fingertips. But looking at my keyboard here, that wouldn't be the case for lefties.

Any suggestions for keymaps, etc. that I should pre-configure for her?

Go with the standard controls, my brother is a leftie and has had no trouble adjusting.

What does one being left-handed have to do with not being able to use WASD+mouse controls?

(I only ask because I myself am and have never had a problem with any controls because they are universal to most games)

I'm thinking that perhaps start with getting a lefty mouse on the left side of the keyboard, then instead of using WASD use the P L : and " keys and taking it from there.  Now Assuming that the game does not support the - and = buttons as part of the main hot bar then you'd have to move it further left.  Perhaps the I J K L for movement or something like that.

You could always just ask your buddy to take a few minutes and play around with different positions and see what's comfortable for him.  To be honest this is the first time I've actually thought about it so this may not actually be of much help.

EDIT:

Also when I type I'm equally proficient with both hands.  If he's been using a computer for quite some time in perhaps the standard configuration then he might not need any adaptive key binds.  Besides, don't most people remap their controls anyways.  I've seen people who don't use WASD but rather some other keys right in the middle of the keyboard so that they can map all their skills and abilities to the surrounding keys in a sort of arc around their movement keys on all sides.  I personally think having the caps lock button near my WASD is a waste of space that could be put to better use but then I have to worry about chatting and activating capital letters.

Buy her one of those FPS-oriented game-pads. They're designed to be usable for both lefties and righties, and (with a little custom keybindings) are surprisingly awesome for controlling MMO's.

I've been using a Zboard (http://www.ideazon.com/us/products/fanggamepad.asp) for quite a while, and it's been great for the MMO's I've been playing (primarily WoW and LOTRO.)

Click to run :P

Torrential

I'm left handed and have been using a right handed keyboard and mouse my whole life.

Unless she's used to using a left handed mouse, I would suggest sticking with the usual WASD set-up.

And if she is used to the left handed mouse, I've actually seen left handed keyboards too. I've only ever seen one and it was at school, so I have no idea where you would be able to find one, or if it's even worth it.

For about 40 bucks you can get her a FANG keypad. I'm a lefty and it has made a world of difference for me playing.

Prior to using the FANG, I'd recofigure the keymapping to use the number pad for movement with other controls using the /*-+ around the number pad.

Originally posted by DemonZealot

What does one being left-handed have to do with not being able to use WASD+mouse controls?

(I only ask because I myself am and have never had a problem with any controls because they are universal to most games)

I'm a little confused myself. I'm left-handed, and I've never had issues playing any game with any kind of setup.

For me, it was a matter of comfort. As a lefty, using the WASD means either you have the keyboard off center to the right or you bring your arm across your torso since you are mousing with your left hand.

Also, since your pointer, index and ring finger are on the WASD keys, your thumb only has access to the ctrl, shift and caps key. Tabbing between targets is a pain in the butt. A righty has his pinkey available to use the ctrl, shift, caps and tab with the thumb rested on the space bar. A lefty doesn't