Mechanical keyboard for WWII gladiator. SteelSeries Gamer's Pack for World of Warcraft. Cons of the SteelSeries WoW kit

Introduction. In today's review of the "Testing" section, you will be presented with a game set for players of the famous trilogy. Within one review, three components will be presented to your attention:
- mouse SteelSeries World of WarCraft MMO Gaming Mouse
- rug SteelSeries QcK Lich King Exclusive
- keyboard SteelSeries zBoard Warth of the Lich King Exclusive.

Any of the components of the set are available for sale separately. We will test the entire set at once, because it was supplied to us for testing in this tandem.

I would like to immediately dwell on the cost of the presented products. The mouse under discussion in the central electronic market of our country is offered for 100 dollars. A gaming mat for Wow fans will cost $20. The gaming keyboard is valued by sellers at $115. Summarizing all these figures, we can once again be convinced that fandom has never been and will never be a cheap activity. After today's review, some of our users will be able to decide for themselves what is really necessary for them, and what can wait until "better times."

Game history WarCraft has been going on since 1994, when users were first able to play this strategy. Personally, I came across this game only in 1997. This was the first version of the Warcraft game, which even then made many users remember the Blizzard logo. Then users gained access to the second version of the game, WarCraft II. This game turned out to be ten times larger than the first version and due to the lack of a CD drive, it was distributed between users in blocks of 12 floppy disks.

Today's popular online game World of Warcraft officially became available to domestic users in the summer of 2008, while US users have been honing their skills since the fall of 2004. Today the game has about fifteen million users around the world, so SteelSeries has made its bets in the right direction and there is no need to think about the lack of demand for the game set.

SteelSeries World of WarCraft MMO Gaming Mouse.
What we liked most about this set was game Mouse SteelSeries World of WarCraft MMO Gaming Mouse, so this is where we want to start reviewing this gaming set.

The gaming mouse comes in a decent sized box. The mechanism of opening and closing is somewhat reminiscent of a box. On the box, wherever possible, there are many references to the game for whose players the product was created - World of Warcraft.

Logos are located in the upper corners of the box SteelSeries And Blizzard, which emphasizes the joint work of the two giants on the product in question. The box contained a mouse and instructions in several languages. Unfortunately, we did not find a disk with drivers and copied the drivers from the manufacturer’s official website.

On the front wall of the box there is a huge cutout into which a man's hand can easily fit. Through it you can see the SteelSeries World of WarCraft MMO Gaming Mouse covered with plastic packaging.

On the back of the box, the manufacturer carefully lists all the key advantages of the product. Among which we also want to highlight:
- maximum resolution 3200 DPI
- support for updating the frequency of the USB port up to 1 GHz
- presence of programmable control buttons

The mouse is huge in size and hardly fits in the palm of a city dweller. It is more suitable for men of strong build, in whose palm the mouse fits without any problems. However, this is just our opinion. The use of the mouse in office applications by girls at work did not cause any problems. On the contrary, the mouse left behind only positive emotions for the fair sex.

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The mouse is made entirely of plastic, although when viewed through the box it may appear that the top is made of silver metal. The mouse also has rubberized areas. The scroll wheel is rubberized, which makes working with it very convenient. Unfortunately, the wheel only rotates in one plane. Next to the scroll wheel are four programmable buttons. The sides have standard main control buttons without the ability to program their functions. The side stands of the mouse are covered with soft touch rubber, which ensures reliable fixation of the hand while playing.

The mouse has different backlighting, which can be changed through software that we copied from the manufacturer's official website.

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On the left side wall of the mouse there are additional control buttons that can be programmed. First of all, this is a four-position joystick. Above the joystick are two additional buttons, which, after installing the software, are programmed to move forward and backward.

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On the opposite wall there is a two-position button, the functions of which are programmed using available software.

The mouse cord was of particular interest on our part. It has a soft braid, is of sufficient length, is very mobile, flexible, and therefore has a thickening to protect it from breakage.

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As has already been noted many times, many mouse functions are not available without installing additional software. For the convenience of our visitors, we have placed a link to it at the end of our article.

In the environment Windows 7 32 bit The software product installed without any complaints. It takes several tens of minutes to study it. In any case, we recommend saving your favorite settings to profiles - this will make your life easier in the future.

The software product allows you to assign actions to programmable buttons, save profiles for them, change the colors, intensity, rhythm of the mouse backlight, and assign a button to change the resolution of the laser sensor.

Programmable buttons have the ability to assign not only commands from the World of Warcraft game, but also any other commands at the user’s discretion by directly listing keyboard shortcuts or selecting office functions. It is this circumstance that significantly expands the scope of use of the mouse among users.

Mouse pad SteelSeries QcK Lich King Exclusive.
The mat, included with the set or available for separate purchase, is high quality and left us with only positive emotions. I would like to note right away that it does not in any way change the consumer qualities of the mouse itself, which works great both on a glossy table and on plain paper.

Our rug arrived to us already unpacked, so we cannot say anything about its original packaging. The mat is quite flexible and, most likely, made of plastic and rubber, the combination of which allowed it to acquire the necessary consumer qualities. On the top wall there are World of Warcraft symbols and an image of the game hero, whom gamers always recognize at first sight.

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The mat is quite large and measures 270 mm wide and 300 mm long, which is quite enough even for intensive play.

Gaming keyboard SteelSeries zBoard Warth of the Lich King Exclusive.
We don't know how much gamers will like the keyboard. We didn’t like it, because we couldn’t fully reveal its potential, due to the inconvenience of working on it for us.

The keyboard comes in a large box, which is not so easy to see with a camera lens at close range. The front side of the box features images of a World of Warcraft hero, and the back side lists the advantages of the keyboard, which costs about $115. It is especially emphasized that Blizzard has approved this product for the game.

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We haven’t forgotten about domestic users. All information on the back of the box is translated into Russian and is easy to understand.
The box contained a keyboard with a regular panel, an additional panel, instructions, and drivers.

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The standard keyboard layout does not arouse any interest. On the contrary, she is miserable. The keys are standard and look like those on a regular Chinese keyboard, the travel of the keys is quite large, and the distance between them does not in any way indicate that the manufacturer focused on this particular layout.
Therefore, of particular interest on our part is the additional gaming keyboard panel, which is designed for playing World of Warcraft. The game panel also differs radically from the main layout only in the additional number pad.

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An additional digital block of replacements for various game commands, the number of which exceeds thirty. The panel features an image of a World of Warcraft hero. It should be noted that, like on the box, all the inscriptions on the keyboard are in Russian, which makes the device more user-friendly.
There are keys for controlling the emotions of the user's character, which are highlighted in a separate category of the emotions panel.

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On the main part of the keyboard, next to the usual buttons, there are captions for actions in the game in Russian.

The keyboard boasts its strong technical side in the form of a USB hub with two additional USB ports, which is especially important when connecting the set to a laptop, which is always limited in the number of available USB ports.

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The keyboard comes with software that allows you to program additional actions for both the main and additional keyboard layouts. To start programming, just select a key and double-click on it.
The keyboard driver automatically changes the keyboard profile depending on the installed layout - no additional user intervention is required.

Conclusion.
Gaming mouse left us with only positive emotions. For a long time we did not want to part with it and return it to our suppliers. The mouse is quite large, lies comfortably and is fixed in the hand. It did not cause any complaints on our part, although it was used mostly for playing online shooters.

The quality of the materials used gives the feeling of working with an expensive and high-quality mouse of the highest price range. The software available on the manufacturer's website is designed at an intuitive level and did not cause us any complaints.
The gaming mat also passed testing without any complaints. Mouse SteelSeries World of WarCraft The MMO Gaming Mouse with the SteelSeries QcK Lich King Exclusive mat received an honorary gold medal from our portal and is recommended for purchase to our visitors.

We didn't like the keyboard. Yes, for gamers in World of Warcraft it may not be replaceable, but in other respects, it is a Chinese keyboard with a bunch of functions. The gaming panel is not convenient, it is attached haphazardly, the keys move to the sides when pressed. This keyboard with its additional layout will be relevant for beginner players who cannot learn the location of the game buttons on a standard keyboard. In other respects, it is much inferior to keyboards in this price range from the same Logitech and BTC. We cannot recommend it for purchase for our users. The keyboard does not receive any medal from our portal.

Fans of the famous World of Warcraft trilogy received from SteelSeries a new gaming set consisting of a keyboard (SteelSeries zBoard Warth of the Lich King Exclusive), a mouse (SteelSeries World of WarCraft MMO Gaming Mouse) and a mouse pad (SteelSeries QcK Frost Wyrm Exclusive). This article is dedicated to reviewing this set.

If desired, you can purchase any product from the set separately. To become the owner of these gadgets, fans of the game will have to shell out a lot of money. The average cost of a SteelSeries World of WarCraft MMO Gaming Mouse on the electronic markets of our country is 100 USD. The keyboard will cost $115, and the gaming mat will cost $20. It is easy to calculate that the total cost of the set is about 235 USD. This article will describe all the components of the World of Warcraft set, so that each user can choose the most necessary device or the entire set (if finances allow).

The Warcraft strategy is already almost 17 years old (the first part was released back in 1994) and it has always been one of Blizzard’s most successful products. In those distant times, very few residents of our country were happy owners of a PC, so most domestic gamers began their acquaintance with the strategy from the second version. Warcraft 2 was an order of magnitude larger than its predecessor and was distributed on 12 floppy disks (there was no CD drive).

In the fall of 2004, an online version of the Warcraft game was released. At first, it was available only to American users, and only 4 years later (in 2008) domestic gamers had the opportunity to fight with each other. Now the Warcraft strategy is one of the most popular in the world and has more than 15 million players, which means that the World of Warcraft gaming set from SteelSeries is simply doomed to success.
Let's start our review with the most expensive part of the set - the gaming keyboard with the long name SteelSeries zBoard Warth of the Lich King Exclusive.

Unfortunately, we were not pleased with it. Perhaps the whole point is that we were not able to fully explore the capabilities of the keyboard, since playing and working on it turned out to be not very comfortable. The packaging, of course, is impressive with the huge size of the box and a vivid image of one of the game's heroes. The manufacturer already on the packaging (on the back of the box) emphasizes that this product was made with the blessing of Blizzard. In addition, numerous advantages of the keyboard are listed. Moreover, what’s nice is that all the comments on the box are translated into the “language of native aspens.” The keyboard comes with instructions, drivers and an additional panel.

At first glance at the SteelSeries zBoard Warth of the Lich King Exclusive, disappointment sets in - it is no different from the usual “China”. The same standard layout, regular keys with a fairly large travel and a standard distance between them. Everything is very ordinary, and therefore let’s turn our attention to the gaming panel, specially tailored for Warcraft. The number pad on it was replaced with a set of keys designed to call about 30 game commands. And again, we note that the inscriptions on the keyboard have been translated into Russian, which is good news (the same applies to the main part of the keyboard). The game panel is decorated with the image of one of the Warcraft heroes. I liked that the panel has a separate set of keys responsible for the character’s facial expressions and emotions.

Many people have encountered the problem of a limited number of USB ports on a laptop. The creators of the keyboard took this point into account and equipped it with a hub for 2 USB ports. It is possible to write your own macros, both for the keys of the main part of the keyboard and for the additional game panel. To do this, you should use the software that comes with the kit. The programming process is very simple: “doubleclick” or press a key, and then you just need to read the prompts. The profile changes automatically depending on the layout (there is a special driver for this).

Perhaps most of all, I liked the SteelSeries World of WarCraft MMO Gaming Mouse. The design of the box is very solid: it is large in size and opens like a box. The inscriptions on the box eloquently indicate that the device is intended for fans of the game Warcraft. The Blizzard and SteelSeries logos indicate that this gaming mouse is a collaboration between the companies. Having opened the box, we did not find a disk with drivers, but they can be freely downloaded on the company’s official website. Instructions are available in multiple languages.

You are not buying a “pig in a poke” or, more precisely, a “pig in a box”. The mouse is packaged in such a way that the product is completely visible thanks to the round window and transparent plastic cover. The main advantages of the mouse are indicated directly on the packaging. Among them: programmable buttons, updating the operating frequency of the USB port to 1 GHz, sensor resolution up to 3200 DPI. The mouse looks harmonious in the hands of a large man - it is quite large. However, the lovely ladies had no problems using the manipulator.

The design of SteelSeries World of WarCraft MMO Gaming Mouse is very original and even brutal. At first glance, it is made of metal, however, this is not so - the mouse is completely plastic, with the necessary number of rubberized inserts (for example, the scroll wheel is rubberized, which is very convenient). The only drawback of the scroll wheel is that it rotates in one plane. The main buttons are not programmable, but there are 4 programmable keys on either side of the scroll wheel.
The mouse fits comfortably in your hand thanks to its ergonomic shape and rubberized side surfaces (soft touch material). The mouse backlight can be changed programmatically by choosing a color to suit your taste. The manipulator cord is soft, but at the same time quite flexible and durable. We liked it.

Let's return to programmable buttons. The SteelSeries World of WarCraft MMO Gaming Mouse has another additional set of programmable keys located on the left side panel. It consists of a four-way joystick and two buttons above it (by default they are for forward and backward movement). Another two-position additional key is located on the right side panel of the manipulator. Naturally, all keys can be programmed only after installing special software.
As noted above, you can download the software on the official SteelSeries website. It installs and functions without problems if one of the older versions of Windows is installed on your PC. The software is easy to learn - even a schoolchild can handle it. Programmatically, you can assign actions to additional keys, not necessarily from the WarCraft game, but by listing any set of buttons or functions. In addition, it is possible to “play” with the backlight (you can change the color, intensity) and assign a key to change the sensor resolution. A little advice: save the necessary settings in your profile, and you will not have any problems with the mouse at all.

And finally, the most budget-friendly part of the set is a mouse pad called SteelSeries QcK Frost Wyrm Exclusive (also available in Lich King color, like the keyboard). Its quality gave us only positive emotions. However, it cannot be said that it in any way improves the performance of the mouse, which functions perfectly on any surface. The material used to make the SteelSeries QcK Frost Wyrm Exclusive is a combination of rubber and plastic, which gives the mat flexibility. Its dimensions are slightly larger than standard ones and are 30x27 cm, which is very convenient for playing. And, of course, the rug is decorated with the image of one of the game’s heroes.

Let's summarize. Perhaps what impressed us most about the World of Warcraft set was the mouse. In addition to a sensitive, adjustable sensor, it is equipped with a sufficient set of programmable keys. At the same time, the process of programming them is not difficult thanks to high-quality software. In addition, the mouse looks expensive and fits perfectly in the hand. Her design was liked by both men and ladies who are not involved in the game. There were also no complaints about the play mat. However, to be fair, it should be noted that it is not absolutely necessary for a gamer, because... The mouse works great without it. The SteelSeries zBoard Warth of the Lich King Exclusive keyboard was a bit of a disappointment. Beginner players who have not yet mastered the game may find this set of signed keys useful, but for devices in its price range the keyboard looks clearly poor. The additional panel is poorly attached, the keys move at random. There is a strong association with cheap Chinese products.

“Your binds are no good, but I fixed everything.”

It seems to me that there are 10 million houses and apartments in the world where WoW is played, and in each of them I could be killed for the phrase above. Every player I spoke with defended their key assignments to the bitter end, going so far as to become abusive and aggressive in many cases. This means that these players sat at their keyboard for a very long time and thought about what to assign to what, otherwise where does such pride in binds come from?

The point is that they didn’t sit for a damn thing. Many of them tied up abilities for themselves about 6-7 years ago, when they were just making a character, adding all new spells to the panel in the order they were received. Somewhere around this time, they chose a different class for themselves, made new binds and left abilities similar to those of the old class in the same places. That is, the binds that they have were not the fruit of much thought, trial and error. These are not even binds, but a temporary arrangement of buttons on the panel, and this “temporariness” lasted for 6-7 years. But we’re not like that, right?

If the answer to the question above was “yes, really,” then there is something for you to read, because if you have spent a lot of time on your binds, you are probably open to other useful ideas. If you are one of those who click on abilities, then get out of my guide, my eyes wouldn’t see you, have fun in your LFR.

Who are you to tell me what to do?

I am Tumblebeer, a robber from the Method guild. This means that my binds are intended more for melee players. I also studied at medical school, with a particular interest in anatomy and ergonomics. Many of my ideas are based on simple common sense, and some involve the sciences that I was interested in.

Accessories

I understand that gaming is just a hobby for you. You don't really want to spend a lot of money on a good keyboard and mouse. I mean, you don't hold them in your hands for 4-5 hours a day, do you? Or... If you still decide to buy good accessories for your computer, then consider the following things:

Keyboards– they come in different shapes and colors, just like people. Get a small keyboard for small hands and, accordingly, get a large one if you have sausage fingers. As for the buttons, they need to be fairly easy to press, otherwise you risk overstraining your extensor muscles, which will result in wrist and finger pain. This will be especially felt when printing large and long texts. I also love the various switches and macro buttons. Your choice.

Mice– just take a comfortable mouse to start with. This is the most important part. Some people prefer to hold the mouse with the palm of their hand, others with just their fingertips. Razers speak well about these techniques. Read at your leisure. DPI and similar things don't mean anything in MMOs, so don't even consider these mouse specs. As for the side buttons, you need them. If you don't have them, then buy yourself a new mouse as soon as possible. The side buttons should be pressed very easily, this is important. If you follow my guide, you will use these buttons often. Also, if the buttons on the mouse are pressed quietly, then this is even better. Night gatherings will not bring much noise. The same goes for keyboards.

Movement or why we do this

As I said before, this guide was written more for melee players. This means that you will have to constantly move, and all your abilities are used in movement. That is, you need to have your entire arsenal of abilities at your fingertips even when you are moving, without depriving yourself of maneuverability.

I often see fellow raiders from my guild stopping to cast something, or moving very strangely and even a little idiotically because their binds prevent them from running normally. I'm willing to bet money that they don't even notice. Muscle memory does everything, and thoughts don’t even get involved in this matter. In general, this is still not good, it shouldn’t be like that. At the same time, all binds should be at hand, especially for abilities that are outside the GCD. Later we will look at the “best”, “good”, “pretty good” and “sucks but will do” binds.

But let's think about the movement buttons first. I'm sure many of you use WASD. I want you to switch to ESDF, with S and F for strafing, not turning. You will feel discomfort after switching to ESDF. Moreover, you will hate this bind. It took me six months to get used to it. This button arrangement has two inconvenient points. First of all, this is the angle between the palm and the elbow, but this can be solved by moving the keyboard a little to the left. And it also moves your fingers a little away from the modifier buttons, but this can also be solved, I will talk about this a little later. But the benefits of such a transition are simply enormous. You get a lot more buttons available, which brings us to the next part of the guide.

Maximizing binds

If you're still reading, you've probably decided that you'll switch to ESDF. This allows you to bind A, W and Z. It is perfectly. We'll move on. Next you will need to rename some buttons. I will advise you on the necessary programs - these are Sharpkeys or Keytweak. I need you to remap CapsLock to ScrollLock (do you even know what that is for?), and, accordingly, Scroll Lock to CapsLock if you suddenly need it. You can also reassign a namlock to a Windows button and vice versa. This way we get two new buttons for bindings, hurray.

You must understand that to press the bind you do not need to change the position of your hand even a little. This condition is not always achievable, but should definitely be met for your rotation abilities and saves. The problem with ESDF is that you are now a long way from the modifiers. And this is where the magic begins (although this is just for me, I still think that magnets are also magical). You now have a mouse with additional buttons, right? You definitely have two additional buttons. Choose one of the ones that is the hardest to get (but still relatively easy) and reassign it to Alt using the software for your mechanical rodent. In one simple move, you've just doubled the number of "good" and "not bad" binds (Don't rush it! I'll say more about this later.). Speaking of coordination of movements... Yes, I do not rule out that at first it will be a little difficult to synchronize the movements of both hands to press one ability, but you will get used to it, I assure you.

The binds themselves

In general, the time has come for those categories that I spoke about. When I created them, I calculated the quality of the bind based on speed, accuracy, ability to use the movement buttons, and the need to change hand position.

"The best"– this category contains few buttons, which is not surprising. Basically, these are additional buttons on your mouse. These buttons are used with complete and absolute control over the movement and the entire situation. The thumb can perfectly press anything, but we don’t use it. It's a shame.

These buttons are best assigned to the modifier and rotation abilities that are used most often (for melee) and the ability to use on the run (for casters). My mouse buttons are assigned to Alt, Sinister Strike, Trample, and Combat Button (I'll explain what that means a little later). As you can tell, I have 4 of them. Another good thing is that My mouse software allows me to spam Sinister Strike and Trample when I hold down these buttons on the mouse. Blizzard allows this feature as long as there is no delay in the macro. This allows me to resist lag in combat and switch to kuvaton .com while my mouse is typing combo points for the next finisher (every good raider has a second window for this).

The "good ones" - what goes here depends on your hands. In general, the buttons that you can reach with three fingers on the ESDF will go here. For me it's A.<, Caps Lock , Space (может делать что-то большее, чем прыжок, его можно сделать модификатором), кнопка Windows , Z , Колесо мыши (вверх, вниз, влево, вправо, нажать, т.е. все, что позволяет мышь). До некоторых из этих кнопок будет гораздо легче достать, чем до других, потому сделайте выбор "лучших из "хороших”” биндов. На такие кнопки лучше всего назначать сейвы (Плащ Теней, Ваниш, ХС и подобные) и элементы ротации, которые не попали в "Лучшие” бинды.

“Good” binds are pressed quite quickly, but force you to take your hands off ESDF. For me it’s W, R, T, G, V. These buttons are best assigned to abilities that are not used very often. Most often, these buttons are best assign abilities that need to be pressed very quickly and their use can be planned in advance, for example, knocking down casts, finishers and AoE.

“It sucks, but it’ll do”– these binds will still not require you to take your hands off the ESDF, but to press them you will need to slightly change the position of your hand or reach with your finger. Buttons like 3, 4, 5, q, Tab and all the binds that require holding down the modifier are included in this category. Such buttons bind abilities that are used outside of rotation and that can be planned long before their actual use.

When you use an ability together with a modifier assigned to the mouse, the bind category DOES NOT CHANGE, and if the modifier is on the keyboard, the bind automatically falls into the “Sucks, but it’ll do” category.

A very quick comparison of the number of keys in the "Best" and "Good" categories (multiplied by the number of modifiers on your mouse) between an old WASD system with a mouse without side buttons and an ESDF system with mouse side buttons as modifiers shows a ratio of about 2-3 three binds to an abyss of binds. In short, my way is better, yes.

General knowledge about cabbinding

In this section I will tell you a couple of little things that you might want to take note of. Nothing serious, but useful enough to read.

So what do I need to bind?

My answer is simple: Everything. There's no reason not to bind some ability, be it a buff or even a damn well of rocks. If you need to use something, you can bind it faster than click it with the mouse. If you follow my example, then you will have enough binds.

Even if you think it's okay to click on something, don't do it. This makes you look like a retard, seriously.

Because You have plenty of binds, there is no point in using castsequence macros. You have enough buttons to press everything in turn.

In a recent patch, Blizzard introduced a feature that activates an ability when you press a button, rather than when you release it. Previously, I used the Snowfall Key Press addon for this. If you have not yet enabled this feature, then there is no reason not to do so.

If you stuck to the standard set of keys, then after reassigning the keys you will lose many functions, such as nameplates, replying to the last person who wrote a PM, etc. It is advisable to move these buttons somewhere further away so that you can use them when you need it, outside of combat. Let's say, I bound the answer to PM to the backspace, closer to the enter, so that I could answer even in battle. Just go to WoW Keybindings and see what you can reassign to what. You will find a bunch of useful things, like interaction with the target via mouseover, etc.

While you're still there, unbind Shift and ESDF, because you'll need them later. You will use these buttons quite often, and you probably don’t want old binds to make themselves known in the middle of a battle simply because you forgot to unbind a button.

Once you've assigned new buttons, learn them by heart as quickly as possible. Once you're sure you're not getting confused and forgetting where to press, hide your ability bars (I'm assuming you're using a spell bar addon like Bartender's). You know your binds, you don't need visualization. You need space on the screen to see the fire, where you can't stand.

Oh yes, before I forget. Remember what I said about the “Combat button”? In general, it happens that during a battle you will need to do something specific. The most striking example is the button on Ultraxion. Or, say, a macro on the tendon target on the Spine. Have a good A bind for these situations is amazing. It helps you adapt to changing tactics and people will love you for it.

Well that's the end

Almost. As I said before, relearning your binds is very difficult, and many people are very proud of their old binds, no matter how bad they were. You may not do this now, but before the next expansion, let's say, you have every reason to shovel your keyboard and completely redo your binds. This will be the time.

Either way, if you liked what you read, didn't understand anything, or just want to make a very appropriate joke in the comments, I think you've stumbled upon something useful. And I shift the responsibility for applying knowledge in practice to you, dear readers.

Thanks for reading.

We chose, the turn came and the holy of holies - the controllers. Today we'll talk about the keyboard.

Are you still sure that peripherals do not affect your skill in playing World of Warcraft? Then read on and you will realize that you were wrong.

Unlike previous reviews, I will not list specific keyboards, but after reading the review you will understand what you need. And you will even be able to justify your purchase, why exactly what you chose and not what the “authorities” advise.

Not everyone needs extra keys

Here's my Logitech G15, it's old and covered in dust (it looks cooler in the first picture, doesn't it?). My hand too.

Standard ASDW grip. It is convenient to reach keys 1-4 and surrounding buttons. Is it convenient for me to press G1? No, I can press G5 and G6 with my little finger, which is a weak finger.

My point is that using additional buttons as hot keys in battle is not convenient, not at all convenient, they are for sophisticated macros that are rarely pressed.

It’s easier for me to reassign macros to the surrounding buttons or, like many pros, wean myself off ASDW and move the “grip” closer to the center of the keyboard. The second option is very professional, but only one and a half players in the world use it.

Keyboard screen

NOT NEEDED!

Although no, I lied to you. It is needed in games that do not have a clock on the main screen, just so as not to get lost in time. It is needed if you use the keyboard to automate grinding (shows which macro is being executed). Otherwise, not really.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. In broom and teamspeak (the third) it shows who is in the chat and who is speaking now. It's really convenient.

And so more show-off.

The same Logitech G15 does not support ruvs, standard HP bars, mana and other information are not displayed. Logitech support looks down on Blizzard, Bliz is silent.

Mechanical keyboard or not?

Now for your health, stop being sad. I just couldn’t resist describing the extra features. Here we will go deeper into the theory, but it is important. In general, for general development because Nowadays it is almost impossible to find a mechanical keyboard.

Initially, all keyboards were mechanical, and therefore expensive.

Now almost all keyboards (expensive ones too) are membrane type. Their essence is this.

There are two layers of film with contacts, between them there is a film with holes in place of the contacts. The buttons are spring-loaded with rubber pads that press on the film to connect the contacts. Those. There is movement of the button, but the action occurs when the button is pressed “all the way”. Here is a modern keyboard disassembled (sorry for the quality of the photo, I took it with my phone at work):

Some of the rubber pimples immediately scattered to the sides; putting them back together is problematic.

In this situation, a couple of misses are enough to start hitting the buttons like hell. This happens reflexively and tires your fingers.

In a mechanical keyboard, of which there are many types, the action occurs when the keyboard is pressed partially. It is not necessary to hammer all the way, it tires your fingers less, but it is very expensive. There are not rubber pimples, but a spring mechanism, not membranes, but a contact system (based on reed switches or another type). One of the disadvantages of the mechanics is that they are noisy.

There are pseudo-mechanical keyboards. There are the same membranes, but the keys have a spring mechanism. It feels “like a mechanical one”, but you have to press the buttons all the way.

But let's come down to earth.

Pressing the buttons should be sensitive. You must feel that you have pressed a button and you must be sure that there will be action. This is at the level of sensations, it cannot be put into words and cannot be described with a wall of text.

Headset cable management thanks to the keyboard

It’s a mystery to me why all keyboard manufacturers don’t do this! There is a great option to remove the cable, just a niche in the stand. Here's an example of the Logitech G15 keyboard.

Yes, a regular palm rest, but it has a niche for entry and exit cords:

Attachable palm rests have been around for a long time, but only a few manufacturers have thought about gamers. We thought that a hand rest is more convenient than holding your hand up. We thought that it would be convenient to fix the headset cable under this stand and it would not dangle or get under your hand.

From experience. Not all coasters are created equal. The Logitech G15 itself is quite heavy. The stand is fixed very firmly, it does not fall off or dangle even if you nervously kick the keyboard, it does not make an unpleasant squeak when you push the keyboard on the table (the plastic is thick and of high quality). Thanks to this, once you fix the cord there at the required length, it will stay there all evening.

I'm sure there are a lot of inexpensive keyboards that also consider this point. I know for sure that there are very expensive keyboards in which this detail is not thought out.

They hinted to me that there are keyboards with jacks for headphones and a microphone. This is better than just a dangling cable, but worse than a cable fixed in a stand. The connector on the keyboard exactly solves the problem of short headphone and headset cords.

Wireless keyboard

The same goes for a wireless headset. The problems are the same, only plus a barely noticeable signal delay. How many models, expensive and cheap, I have tried, everything is not the same.

Special keyboards

Those who use it say that it is incredibly convenient, you just need to get used to it. The meaning is something like this: all the keys are located near the main grip. The keys are quite enough for basic binds. There's no need for a screen, but you have to justify the $80 price. If anyone knows analogs but at a more reasonable price, write in the comments.

I consider this kind of garbage ridiculous and inconvenient, just an opportunity to get more money out of players:

Even at first glance, the additional key block cannot be used normally. Why are the keys so sparsely scattered throughout the additional keyboard? How to find them by touch? IMHO this is a mockery of the players.

Little things in choosing a keyboard for World of Warcraft

The backlit keyboard is good, even if you don't play in the dark. Another small bonus is that the keys are not erasable. The main thing is that the backlight does not irritate you at night. Avoid blue backlight, it eats away your eyes. It’s good if the backlight can be turned off.

A hardware button lock button will come in handy. I mean the WIN button, which is to blame for a number of wipes (not only in WoW).

If right next to Del, End, Page Dn there are sleep buttons or some other buttons, don’t even look in the direction of this keyboard. I wasn’t joking, there are such keyboards and people even buy them...

Remember that relearning a new keyboard is not so quick. This will easily force you to make mistakes by missing the keys. Be careful.

In any case, I do not recommend changing the keyboard while mastering new content. There is slack time between patches, that's when it's just right.

It takes at least 1-3 days to partially master a new keyboard. The slightest discrepancy in the size or location of the buttons will cause discomfort. Even too soft/hard buttons will cause trouble. Many aspects are learned at the level of reflexes and habits; they are difficult to break. At first there will be discomfort, a desire to throw out the new device and take the old one out of the closet. This must be experienced.

Additional buttons for controlling the player are still useful)

That's it, no specific models. Everyone has their own model, everyone has their own preferences.

So what do you use? What keyboard do you have? What kind of “grip”? ASDW, arrows, non-standard something, non-standard keyboard? Why did you buy this keyboard model? How long did it take you to get used to it?

Let's share our experience, flood, celebrate!