Do you use macro keys for non-MMO gaming?

[wrugoin]

I purchased a Corsair K70 (red switches), a little over a month ago and I'm tempted to sell it to a friend (who would buy it if I offered), in order to upgrade to the K95. It seems though, the real advantage of the upgrade would be for the 54 programmable macro keys.

My question is to the gamers here. Do you have use for the macro keys when playing non-MMO games? I kicked the MMO habit about 4 years ago and don't anticipate going back to the genre.

I enjoy single player FPS gaming (Boarderlands 2, Crysis, FarCry 3), RPG games like Skyrim, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Diablo 3, and sandbox games like Cubeworld, Terraria, Minecraft, and eventually Starbound. Anyone have examples how macro keys can be used for these "types" of games?

Finally, do any of you use the macro keys for typing shortcuts outside of gaming, such as a quick key for typing your email or long passwords?

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[sharknice]

I purchased a Corsair K70 (red switches), a little over a month ago and I'm tempted to sell it to a friend (who would buy it if I offered), in order to upgrade to the K95. It seems though, the real advantage of the upgrade would be for the 54 programmable macro keys.

My question is to the gamers here. Do you have use for the macro keys when playing non-MMO games? I kicked the MMO habit about 4 years ago and don't anticipate going back to the genre.

I enjoy single player FPS gaming (Boarderlands 2, Crysis, FarCry 3), RPG games like Skyrim, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Diablo 3, and sandbox games like Cubeworld, Terraria, Minecraft, and eventually Starbound. Anyone have examples how macro keys can be used for these "types" of games?

Finally, do any of you use the macro keys for typing shortcuts outside of gaming, such as a quick key for typing your email or long passwords?

Thanks for any and all help!

I have been using macro keyboards for a long time from the first Logitech macro keyboards to my current K95, and I don't really use the macro keys in games. I play mostly FPS and RTS games but play pretty much everything besides RPGs and MOBAs. I used them a little bit in StarCraft 1 and some other old games and I used to use them in StarCraft 2 but after customizing my hotkey layout to be more efficient I stopped using them because they were no longer needed.

I find that most games have controls designed and customizable enough that there isn't any need to use macros.

I do use them all the time for regular windows things though. I use them a lot for launching different programs, web browser, media player, calculator, etc. I also use them for other useful shortcuts that normally require multiple keystrokes such as paste-enter, home-f5 to go to the top of the page and refresh, highlight a word and look it up on wikipedia in a new tab, etc.

 

[wrugoin]

Interesting that most of your macro key use is outside of gaming. I'll have to give that some thought. I read some other sources and confirmed RTS and MMO are the two genres of games where macro keys are more commonly used.

I'd love to hear some more thoughts and uses for those macro keys if anyone has something to contribute.

Thanks again.

 

[MacLeod]

I do use them for a couple games like Crysis for example. Im a terrible typist and have big hands but stubby fingers so anything further out than the R, F and C keys is a little harder on me. So for Crysis, Ill use the macros for nanovision and the binoculars cause its easier to reach over with my pinky and hit one of the G keys on my G510 than the I key or the B key.

I dont use them for multiple keystrokes like you would in Starcraft 2 though. Just single keys.

Now when Im using my BlackWidow Ultimate (I switch keyboards every few weeks to change things up some), I use my macro keys for volume up, down and mute so I dont use them for gaming. My G510 has a volume roller and mute button so I only use the macros when Im using the G510 which is most of the time. I know its not mechanical but for some reason, I just love the shit out of this keyboard.

 

[sharknice]

Interesting that most of your macro key use is outside of gaming. I'll have to give that some thought. I read some other sources and confirmed RTS and MMO are the two genres of games where macro keys are more commonly used.

I'd love to hear some more thoughts and uses for those macro keys if anyone has something to contribute.

Thanks again.

The problem for most games is that the macro keys are off to the side so you have to take your hand off of the main keys to use them, find the macro button and push it, then move your hand back to the regular keys.

This isn't good for any fast paced game where you're constantly pressing keys. Macro keys on the mouse are much better for these types of games.

The only type of games I can think keyboard macro keys would be handy in are RPGs and MOBAs. But most of those would typically have the macro type stuff built into the game and mappable to any key you want.

That basically just leaves games where you do repetitive things without really needing to think about it or adapt your actions based on what is happening in the game. Games like that seem more like work than a game to me.

 

[MacLeod]

The problem for most games is that the macro keys are off to the side so you have to take your hand off of the main keys to use them, find the macro button and push it, then move your hand back to the regular keys.

Thats why the clusters of macros on the G510 come in handy. Its 3 rows of 6 macros (pic). For Crysis Im only using 2 macros so I make all of the middle row the nanovision and all of the lower row as the binoculars. So all I have to do is throw my pinky over there real quick and hit any of the keys to get the desired effect. Kinda sloppy I know but it works.