Every time someone brings up a controller vs mouse and keyboard, most of if not all comments will push towards the OP to “switch to mouse and keyboard” because “it’s better!”
In my eyes, the person is already accustomed to controller, they’re used to the sensitivity, and if not it’s a quick change.
If they’re going to get used to mouse and keyboard they need to:
-
find a reasonable mouse
-
find a reasonable mousepad for their situation
-
find out if they’re a wrist aimer or an arm aimer
-
make sure their windows mouse sensitivity is set to 6/11 for some reason otherwise everything else will be messed up
-
find their “optimal sensitivity” many of which tutorials are (subjectively) hard to find (the good ones)
I’m both a controller and mouse and keyboard user but I find it easier to aim with a controller. It feels natural.
I mean its objectively incorrect, but having a personal preference is fine.
Games normally give a lot of auto aim these days, so if you want an easier time it makes sense you would prefer a controller.
That is truly an unpopular opinion. It’s also wrong so that’s probably why. /s
This sub is so weird. When someone posts an actual unpopular opinion it’s clearly getting downvoted because this has a vote score of just 5 with over 60 comments. What are we looking for here?
deleted by creator
When people say mouse and keyboard is “better” than controller, they just mean that the skill ceiling you can reach on M&K is higher than on controller, which is true. At the end of the day, just use what you prefer. I can’t imagine playing CS2 with a controller, and I don’t think Far Cry would be nearly as much fun on mouse and keyboard, there’s different cases for both. But you absolutely won’t be able to stack up to people playing M&K in most competitive shooters, and that’s what people mean when they say M&K is better.
If you mean for casual play, then use whatever you want.
If you mean for competitive play, then until you specify the game, this post is pointless. Lots of competitive Apex Legends and Halo players use controllers, but you would never in a million years catch a professional Counter-Strike or Quake player using a controller.
No sun assist on those yet
I’m both a controller and mouse and keyboard user but I find it easier to aim with a controller. It feels natural.
This is fine. You can have a preference. The rest of your post, however, is objectively incorrect, or at best misleading.
For example, in order for me, a keyboard and mouse user, to get used to a controller, I would need to:
- Find a reasonable controller
- Find out how I can best grip the controller for my use case
- Make sure the game’s controller sensitivity is set correctly for my use case
See how that’s basically the same arguments you are making against using a K&M?
Also, there have been FPS competitions where people with controllers go absolutely demolished by K&M players. When it comes to competitive FPS gaming, K&M has large advantages over controllers. Even some single-player console FPS games have enabled auto-aim by default, and left the setting disabled by default on PC for K&M players, because using a controller is more difficult than a K&M for FPS.
Okay but you don’t need to be competitive to have fun. The basics for controller is if you’re on PlayStation, get a dual sense. Xbox, Xbox controller. Switch, pro controller. Going through the sensitivities for controller is a hell of a lot simpler than going through sensitivities for keyboard and mouse.
The barrier of entry is far lower for controller than it is for keyboard and mouse. If you can’t figure out you need a basic controller for your console, especially considering most times consoles come with controllers anyway, I don’t know what to tell you.
You can’t tell me it’s “objectively wrong” then list inconsistencies like that.
The title of your post begins as “Controllers are good for FPS games, especially on PC”.
Now it’s about having fun and a lower barrier of entry, not competitiveness.
It’s fine you prefer controller, but you’re moving the goalposts here. The title and body of your initial post isn’t about having fun, it’s about what is “good for fps games.” K&M is, I’m sorry to tell you, objectively better in that sense.
Side note, as for your “lower barrier of entry” for a controller part, you also specified from the beginning, “especially on PC”. If you’re playing on PC specifically, you already have a K&M. A controller is not a lower barrier of entry on that platform, it’s an additional purchase vs. something everyone on that platform would already own.
You’re using a list of inconsistencies to deny why you are “objectively wrong”.
For single player games, sure. For multiplayer games, you will get absolutely wiped by KB+M players and that will not be fun for you.
Also, if I’m using non standard controls (which for a PC FPS, would include controllers) and I’m getting smoked by people with standard controls no matter how much I get used to them, then my controls are bad.
Going through the sensitivities for controller is a hell of a lot simpler than going through sensitivities for keyboard and mouse.
Crank it to max, then dial it back until your shots start to land
Changing a sensitivity on a mouse is easier than on a controller and generally allows a more fine tuned setting.
The process of even changing sensitivity is easier, menu navigation on a mouse is simpler, then once at the sensitivity option, I can just type in a number or quickly drag a bar instead of waiting for a number to climb higher or lower. Hell, if the game has a console, I can usually just open that and type in any number I want on the fly.
People play games with dance pads, or with their feet, or with Guitar Hero instruments, and they have fun doing it, but that doesn’t mean it’s efficient, or optimal, or that those control schemes are “good” for the games they’re using. If your argument is “Controllers are adequate for FPS games”, sure - I don’t think anyone is refuting that point, but that’s not the argument you made - you stated that controllers are good for FPS games, which is a pretty subjective word, but clearly you posted in the right place, because as you can see from all of the replies here, it’s a very unpopular opinion.
Clearly people can play FPS games with controllers. It is an option a lot of people use. However, it’s just the case that an equally skilled player on a controller will lose to a similarly skilled player on M+K. There’ve been numerous attempts at scientific tests to prove this. Here’s one such example. There’s an anecdote that years ago, Microsoft was considering offering cross-platform multiplayer between PC and Xbox, but scrapped the idea when it was discovered that very skilled Halo players using a controller were losing to objectively less skilled players using mouse + keyboard.
What inconsistency did I list?
Show me a professional competitive gamer who plays with a controller. I’ll wait.
There are lots of Apex Legends and Halo players who do, but there are zero Counter Strike and Quake players who do.
Without specifying which FPS game, OP’s post is kinda pointless.
I could argue that at the time counter strike came out, pc and consoles were very separate and practically no one was using a game pad on pc.
Serviceable isn’t the same as good.
They certainly work. Sure. But a mouse is still objectively superior in terms of speed and precision.
“The control scheme that needs aim assist for fps games is good”
???
Dang! You nailed the unpopular part!
And you managed to explain your stance in a great way, so kudos!
I will say that your reasoning goes both ways though. And it misses a key component.
Once you’re used to m&k play, you’ve got the same muscle memory built up that controller players get on their preferred interface. So, in that regard, neither is inherently better. What you practice most is going to be what ends up working best for an individual, even if there is a definitive superior choice in some quantifiable criteria (this doesn’t just apply to gaming. Look at how much better the design of dvorak layout is vs qwerty, and then look at how few people are willing to retrain to use it).
I will say that the list of things you gave as drawbacks to m&k play aren’t necessarily drawbacks. You listed a great set of things that mean m&k play is highly adaptable. You tweak the controls to what you want, but you have the ability to use what comes out if the box. Controllers don’t have nearly the same degree of customization. Thus, if a controller doesn’t match your needs, you’re fucked if that’s all you can use (which is why some folks can’t play on consoles.
You closed with the statement “… I find it easier to aim with… It feels natural.” That’s a very subjective statement. You’re talking about feeling and your personal take on what is easy/natural.
Which isn’t disagreeing! You’re still dead right that controllers of any given type are a good choice to have for players. Why fix what ain’t broken, if that’s what works for you, just because it’s a different platform? I’m just pointing out some difficulties in the presentation of your opinion.
On a personal note, I wish like hell it was easier to use k&m on consoles. My arthritis makes controllers awkward and inhibit what, how long, and how well I can play. It doesn’t help that I have to get used to whatever console it is when I switch between them. Going from a sony layout to a Nintendo one makes for a good bit of sub-optimal play that’s also below the sub-optimal play I already have from my hands not working right, until I readjust. I don’t play competitively at all, even on a casual level, but FPS games are rarely fun until I’ve done that adjustment, and that time cuts into how long I can play total because it just hurts.
But I’m damn glad PCs allow for controllers for those that prefer them :)
I’ve had this discussion a few times. It has always ended with me asking “do you have aim assist on?”.
Had a console player join our Tarkov discord. Dude spent a week setting up his controller. Still got his add handed to him continuously until he switched to keyboard and mouse.
Using a controller without aim assist will never make you competitive against keyboard and mouse. Sorry, not sorry.
I mean, I’ve only done the top 2. Idk if I’m wrist or arm aimer, I don’t even know what the 6/11 thing is referring to, aside from making sure mouse acceleration is off I’m all default settings. Default dpi that came with the mouse, could change it, didn’t see a point.
Eh, you can’t get precision shooting with a controller in a fast-paced fight.
I don’t think anybody actually hates on you for using a controller on a computer. Whatever input you like is fine. Have the best experience you want.
The only issue is in competitive games, where everyone has to have the same playing field, nobody with an unfair advantage. Then a controller without aim assistance, put you at a severe disadvantage. Which is why people for cross-play games recommend the keyboard and mouse to be more competitive.
Deluded
