Cherry Blues/Greens and FPS gaming: Is it practical?

[Senthura]

This is probably a really stupid question, but I'm asking it, so feel free to slap me upside the head. Anyway, does anyone actually do this? I know some "gaming keyboard" companies use Blues, but what about Greens? That's what I'm wondering is actually possible. I volunteer as a pioneer if nobody else has tried this. I think I took a keyboard to the knee because I'm an idiot lately.

[CPTBadAss]

Why isn't it possible? As long as the keyboard works, I can play the video game right? I played hours of Borderlands 2 on my board with MX greens without much issue. Couldn't get that much game time with MX Greens and Diablo 3 though, too much mashing and it hurt my fingers.

And I played two years video games with just MX Blues. Starcraft 2, CS, etc

[paulen]

it is very personal IMO, some of my friends like to game with blues some of them black, but myself topre;)

[rowdy]

Literally about 2 minutes ago I was playing Minecraft with QFR with MX greens.

No problems at all (apart from that creeper).

Edit: Sorry, technically QFS, although they are basically the same thing.

[sakai4eva]

Depends on what games, and personal preference.

I can play Dota 2 fine on blues, although I personally prefer very much to play it on my realforce (all 104 buttons of it). Same for generic FPSes.

[Kiwi_321]

100% personal preference. Some will say FPS is better with blacks because they can feel their movements more. Similarly, some will say Browns are best for SC2 because it's tactile and quick. Ultimately it's preference though - it's hard for anyone to argue one way or another without generalising

[EpicSNES]

I come from using mx Reds/Browns. At one point I bought a keyboard with mx Blue's but the switches release point is actually higher than the actuation point which made it hard for me to double-tap. Another thing was I found it near impossible to adjust to mx Blue's while playing CS:GO, I couldn't strafe correctly.. bleh it just wasn't for me. I think if I had started out with an mx Blue keyboard from the beginning I wouldn't have a problem.

[xandr]

I have 262 hours on Borderlands 2 according to Steam, and the majority of that was with Blues.

I've also played WoW, CoD:MW2, L4D2, CS:GO and Minecraft with Blues.

Having said that, my next 60% will have Ergo-Clears and I'm modding my Razer Orbweaver to Reds. Mostly out of curiosity and so my guild mates won't yell at me when I'm saying something during a raid and they can't hear me over the click-clack-click.

Blues are fine for gaming. It's all a matter of preference.

[Lain1911]

Personal opinion for sure.

[dantan]

it is very personal IMO, some of my friends like to game with blues some of them black, but myself topre;)

Isn't Topre heavier than greens? I tried them once and really coudln't spam keypresses. All my friends could not. The guy with the Topre didn't use it to spam anything. He didn't use it at all. Bought it and couldn't sell without taking a big hit so he didn't want to sell.

[paulen]

it is very personal IMO, some of my friends like to game with blues some of them black, but myself topre;)

Isn't Topre heavier than greens? I tried them once and really coudln't spam keypresses. All my friends could not. The guy with the Topre didn't use it to spam anything. He didn't use it at all. Bought it and couldn't sell without taking a big hit so he didn't want to sell.

Depends, there are 30g 45g 55g or ergonomically distributed, mine was all key 45g. Its lighter then green, I would say something like browns, and heavier then reds. For me, I have no problem at all playing League of Legends and TF2.

[paulen]

BTW ergonomically distributed feels really awkward playing games, mainly because WASD has slightly different weight.

[sakai4eva]

BTW ergonomically distributed feels really awkward playing games, mainly because WASD has slightly different weight.

But it's magic for playing MOBAs if you have weak fingers

[divito]

When mechanical boards were becoming more prominent in the gaming scene, a complaint of blues (and thus greens) persisted around the issue of double-tapping. While on a personal level, I can understand the point due to the way the mechanism works, it doesn't hold up for anyone with a familiarity of their switch. It's a relatively small adjustment and presents no problems for games.

[EpicSNES]

it is very personal IMO, some of my friends like to game with blues some of them black, but myself topre;)

Isn't Topre heavier than greens? I tried them once and really coudln't spam keypresses. All my friends could not. The guy with the Topre didn't use it to spam anything. He didn't use it at all. Bought it and couldn't sell without taking a big hit so he didn't want to sell.

Depends, there are 30g 45g 55g or ergonomically distributed, mine was all key 45g. Its lighter then green, I would say something like browns, and heavier then reds. For me, I have no problem at all playing League of Legends and TF2.

Show Image

Wait, there's switches lighter than mx reds?

[docwlad]

As others have said, it's mainly personal taste. I gamed with blues for a while before I stumbled on the mechanical keyboard community, and never had a problem with it. That being said, I've been using blacks since and I do prefer them for gaming.

Now greens, on the other hand... I've never used them, but they just seem masochistic to me.

[RED-404]

Well, I can't say I have much experience with greens only a couple of hours at best.
I have a Ducky Shine 3 with blues and though I do fine with them and love the for typing I can't seem to feather the keys quite as well as blacks or at least I'm more conscious of the fact that I'm feathering the keys and for long sessions at lanpartys the tactile feel of the keys starts to wear on the knuckles.

Overall, I like blacks I only have a Steelseires 7G with blacks, but that's what I do best with I'm aware of the actuation point and my fingers at all times.
I also have a Poker 2 with reds and from time to time I find myself holding A or D on accident, a little too light for my taste or just a bad habit from the blacks.
Browns just feel broken to me...
I want to try linear greys.

Note: I play a lot of Quake Live, Warsow, Insergancy, Arma 3 & Project Reality so yeah FPS
Edit: Forgot to add also play a lot of TMUF Island with keyboard.

[pcandkbguy]

i even played spammy MMOs like rift on my blues and it was always fine for me

[Demetrium]

I played a ton of WoW on blues (my first mechanical) and it was never a problem. I definitely prefer browns and reds over blues for gaming, but I don't think blues will give you a fatigue issue or anything like that. Greens on the other hand...

[saturnotaku]

I prefer lighter, non-tactile switches for gaming, which consists mostly of FPS/action titles. For me, browns are the best of all worlds for gaming and typing. I don't like the feel and noise of blues while blacks and clears are too heavy.

However, as you can see, there are plenty of folks who are more than capable of gaming on blues and greens. I would suggest watching videos on YouTube to see if you can acclimate to the noise of greens and blues. If you can, buy a board with either of those switches, making sure to order from some place with a good return policy in case you end up not liking them.

[Oobly]

With linear switches and tactile switches with a large bump it is possible to "feather" or "hover" the switch around the activation point and this makes for quicker direction changes and reactions in games where this matters, compared to "clicky" switches which exhibit hysteresis.

So if all other factors are removed and you only take the switch design into account, linear and large bump tactile switches are physically easier to rapidly change switch states with (compared to clicky switches) if you keep a finger partially pressing the key.

But it requires that you practice and get used to this, too, and it certainly doesn't mean you will play better with those switches, especially if you have an affinity for a different switch type and are most used to that type.

So yes, it's possible and even practical to game on Blues or Greens, especially if it's the switch type you are most used to. It's not scientifically and technically the "best" switch to FPS game with due to the hysteresis and strongish springs (Greens), but it will work just fine. If you find it fatiguing or you start getting frustrated by having a slower in-game reaction time due to your switches, then perhaps you should consider changing, but if it works for you, no worries.

Most people are happy gaming on mebrane rubber domes that require almost as much release before pressing again as Blues and activate on bottom out, after all.

[Lurch]

I prefer playing FPS's with MX blues. The tactile click makes it easier to side-step for me, which is critical in games such as cs:go. I can also alternate my blues with Topre, which does not cause any issue for me at all as I enjoy the tactility. 

I don't care for linear switches at all, but hey, like some others said, it's all preference.

[False_Dmitry_II]

I game with whatever I happen to have plugged in from my rotation at the time, from buckling springs - Model M - to space invaders, etc. I don't generally have any problem with the 2KRO that comes with the territory, everything I press at once always seems to work fine.

[frosty]

it is practical if you don't game at night. the parents literally call it robots having sex. but i wouldn't give a crap lol. i played 1000+ hours on blues for cod4 and another 750 hours on tf2. blues are fine. up to your personal pref as most say

[Grim Fandango]

It is all about preference. All of these switches would work fine. People differ in their opinion of which work best. Some claim that stiff switches feel best for gaming, others go the direct opposite route and look for linear ones with as little resistance as possible.

I have gamed on Topre, Alps, MX browns, MX blacks, MX blues, MX Reds. In my honest opinion I think they were all fine for both RTS and FPS. Though obviously you always have to allow yourself to get used to them first. In RTS and MOBA I liked the heavier switches a tad bit more to avoid accidental keypresses. But it was not a big enough issue to say that I did not like them (because the easy actuation felt really nice at the same time).

When it comes to gaming, my preference of one switch over the other is not nearly as strong as when it comes to typing.

[loki993]

I guess I never got the double tapping thing, Im not sure what you would be double tapping. Im also a primary FPS player though so I dont really need to do that, never played DOTA and Im not even close to fast in SC2. I have no issues gaming on blues, I got my Clears board and I just like that one better. as long and you don't want to hover on the keys and you do a full press and release every time your fine.

[rowdy]

I guess I never got the double tapping thing, Im not sure what you would be double tapping. Im also a primary FPS player though so I dont really need to do that, never played DOTA and Im not even close to fast in SC2. I have no issues gaming on blues, I got my Clears board and I just like that one better. as long and you don't want to hover on the keys and you do a full press and release every time your fine.

In Minecraft you double-tap W to run forwards.

[Quardah]

When mechanical boards were becoming more prominent in the gaming scene, a complaint of blues (and thus greens) persisted around the issue of double-tapping. While on a personal level, I can understand the point due to the way the mechanism works, it doesn't hold up for anyone with a familiarity of their switch. It's a relatively small adjustment and presents no problems for games.

That really depends of the game. Some games are "input sharp" and Clicky switches would be an handicap. In SSF4, using blues would utter suck when it comes to fast input registry (Think the Shoryuken with the arrow keys, you have hit forward, let it go, hit down, then rehit forward). My friend tried with green and said combos wouldn't registered properly versus linear or tactile keyboards. That is less of an issue since those games are usually played using other hardware (X360/Xone/PS3/PS4 controller or arcade sticks).

Akuma has a DOWN DOWN DOWN (Three kicks) (or 2 2 2 Three kicks with numpad notation) Combo. That is impossible to register with clicky MX at a faster speed and as "sharp" than any other devices.

Guiles Ultra Combo, Flash Explosion, is (numpad notation) 1 3 1 7 + Three kick. That would be impossible with clicky arrow keys as you will need to release and reinput three times the down arrow.

Also with Counter-Strike GO, i'd say playing with clicky switches sucks. The game is a little less "input sharp" than SSF4 but sometimes you need to be really sharp with your input in order to achieve some long jumps or other fast movement air-related operations. I tried it with MX Green and it was plain bad, the worst in MX so far.

I have about 1500 hours recorded on CS:GO and tried on Topre, BS, MX Red, MX Green, MX Black and MX Brown and looking forward to Clears soon, but i'd say i am personally more comfortable with Browns and most of my friends play on Blacks. It would of course be playable on Clicky switches but i strongly believe it's a poor choice when it comes to optimisation.

I guess I never got the double tapping thing, Im not sure what you would be double tapping. Im also a primary FPS player though so I dont really need to do that, never played DOTA and Im not even close to fast in SC2. I have no issues gaming on blues, I got my Clears board and I just like that one better. as long and you don't want to hover on the keys and you do a full press and release every time your fine.

In Minecraft you double-tap W to run forwards.

Yes but the double-tap counter is slow to run in Minecraft. Some games needs some very fast double taps, the mandatory delay of the switch contruction is simply unacceptable.

[ajx]

i agree with Quardah, it depends of game before it comes to own preference.
Some game requires fast double tap, some dont
I used brown/red/black on Battlefield 3, all good although i could notice a slight edge for linear switch which i feel little more comfortable
I tried these switches on another fps which has fast double tap, Unreal Tournament, well brown was way less efficient, i couldnt strafe properly without making a double tape issue.
I had to adapt my gamestyle, then i lost some skills.
Then it depends of game and if you play competitively, it wont bother me to play brown on some game which i dont focus at playing competitively

[Novus]

You can do it but I would say it's not optimal.

[Hitcha]

I've used both linear and tactile switches for gaming, and I can say that I honestly prefer tactile after using them for an extended period of time. It's easier for me to know when I've pressed a switch, unlike linear where I felt like I was having to guess if the switch has activated or not.