Trackballers

[Blackehart]

Do any of you trackballers play mmos?
How is the learning curve? Is it more intuitive than a regular mouse?
I'm using a Roccat Tyon for the finger buttons but the mouse itself is a tad on the large size.
I saw some trackballs with a nice number of buttons and was wondering if mmo-ing was something you could do with a trackball.

Thanks in advance for any input you can provide.


-Blacke

[Blackehart]

Anyone? ><'

[berserkfan]

I have not gamed for a long time and was never very good at it. But back when I was gaming 10 years ago, I used trackballs exclusively on Warcraft 2, 3, C&C, Generals, etc (ie all RTS) and never felt that my use of a trackball was a problem. Emphasis on Never.

Contrary to what lots of people say, I actually think I would have not enjoyed gaming so much if I was using a mouse. I don't like having to pick up a mouse and move it around. I like having a pointing device that is always in the same place, which I can choose to control with just one finger if I wish to.

[oneproduct]

I haven't used it with MMOs, but it probably wouldn't be that bad since MMOs are somewhat slower pace and require less precision than RTS and FPS games. Unlike berserkfan, I found that playing RTS games with a trackball was quite terrible. I did manage to play TF2 fairly successfully on a trackball but that's mostly because it has a lot of generously explosive weapons so precision is less of a thing. Scout or rocketjumping soldiers would probably be quite difficult still. Playing battlefield with a trackball didn't work so well except when I was in a helicopter in which case I would actually move my hand from my mouse to the trackball because I found it was better for the helicopter. That's because when you're the gunner in a helicopter and the pilot is spinning in circles you have to keep lifting your mouse to keep up, so a trackball was quite good in that regard by being able to just keep spinning.

[bowji]

I remember some preferred trackballs for Wow. Heck, I had a friend who played wow with a laptop touchpad. If you are use to using a mouse for mmos, the learning curve should be vast to use a trackball. From my experiece, just moving my fingers to move the mouse was limiting. Using a big mouse pad felt better, more surface area made me more accurate. But who knows whats out there nowadays.

[dante]

I certainly understand the mental desire for trackballs ... if you want a modern one for gaming you really have only one option: CST L-Trac; so no stress on comparing several dozen models.

AND you obviously don't have to worry about a mouse pad.

For people who tend to over analyze every detail this is a BONUS.

[berserkfan]

I haven't used it with MMOs, but it probably wouldn't be that bad since MMOs are somewhat slower pace and require less precision than RTS and FPS games. Unlike berserkfan, I found that playing RTS games with a trackball was quite terrible. I did manage to play TF2 fairly successfully on a trackball but that's mostly because it has a lot of generously explosive weapons so precision is less of a thing. Scout or rocketjumping soldiers would probably be quite difficult still. Playing battlefield with a trackball didn't work so well except when I was in a helicopter in which case I would actually move my hand from my mouse to the trackball because I found it was better for the helicopter. That's because when you're the gunner in a helicopter and the pilot is spinning in circles you have to keep lifting your mouse to keep up, so a trackball was quite good in that regard by being able to just keep spinning.

Are you the type of player who micros a lot?

I was never good at micro in RTS. A Razer mouse using friend tried to wean me off trackballs saying that was the problem, but I didn't find it any better so I went back to trackballs. So my RTS playing involves more stuff like group fights and bigger strategy and economic management, and occasionally I could find an opponent who literally ran rings around me because his micro was much better.

[richo]

Can't speak too much to MMOs, but I used to play some FPS with my coworkers quite regularly (l4d2 fridays were great).

I used to play with my m570 (thumb ball). It wasn't the worst thing, but I was definitely better if I could get my hands on a mouse for it. Cleaning the ball did help a huge amount though.

[nomaded]

I don't play too many games, but I've been playing Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-sequel with a trackball (Logitech Trackman Cordless) that's controlled by my fingers. I have the LMB and RMB mapped to thumb controlled buttons. In the past, I've played Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, and City of Heroes with the same trackball.

I'm not sure if I could play the same games with a thumb-controlled trackball.

[Sturmfrau]

Used a trackball playing those strategy games where you build stuff and attack, not really sure which genre are those (referring to warcraft, battle realms, c&c generals, red alert, starcraft). Aside from those, I haven't tried. I recon it's not possible to play MOBA or FPS on it but I may be wrong. MMORPGs I think is doable if say you set your movement to wasd then camera pans with qe. But doing that would I think restrict your movement, specially if you're going to be playing a fast-paced MMORPG like Tera.

[pro_LAPSE]

I had a friend that used trackballs quite often. He made it to double AK in CSGo. I couldnt believe it.