Stupid and Unnecessary Features of 'Gaming' Keyboards

[StaCT13]

Hello all, I've been looking at rubber dome gaming keyboards recently (not to buy, I was curious as to why they cost as much as $200) and I wanted to share with the community and to-be owners of such boards why I think they're fundamentally broken and overpriced. As follows are the advertised features and why they make no sense. (taken mostly from G19)

Backlighting:
Okay, sure it's cool, but really, why is this needed? For gaming, you really shouldn't be looking at the keys; it should all be muscle memory. If you don't remember where the W key is while playing, honestly you should go back to CoD on the XBox. Such backlighting usually leads to less durable keycaps, and drives the cost of the unit straight up. Also, many truly hardcore gamers might call this feature annoying. Which leads to the next feature...

LCD Screens:
Seriously, words CANNOT describe the stupidity of this. It's a KEYBOARD. You're suppossed to be looking at the screen. That giant 20+ inch thing in front of you. You know, the one you're already looking at. Paying $100 extra for a 3" screen really defies logic to me. If you really need extra real estate, buy a cheapo 12" monitor.

Out-of-the-way Macro Buttons:
I'm sorry, but reaching above those F keys just invalidates the purpose of dedicated macro buttons.

Advertising 'WOW! Multi Key Input!' on 5 or lower KR:
No. Just no. I die a little inside every time I see someone at Best Buy exclaiming this as though it was good.

USB Hubs (especially unpowered):
Now, I know many people use these, but do you really not have enough USB ports on your PC? I have 12 on mine, with at most 4 being used. Most of the time, anyways, those hubs on keyboards are just out-of-the way, and I need to physically pick up the board to plug a flashdrive in. And, for the love of god, please make them at least powered. I don't like plugging in something only to be told it doesn't work.


Conclusion:
Basically, what I'm saying here is that so called 'gaming' keyboards are too often over-hyped, over-priced, and over-featured. It's a keyboard. That's its main purpose. How about marketing 'strong tactile feedback for comfort' (and mean it, unlike EVERY SINGLE $20 RD)? It's like cars with built-in social networking. It adds to the price, and really does not belong. The worst part is, the money put into developing such unneeded features takes away from the money that COULD be put into actually making the car (or keyboard) BETTER. And that all comes down to the evil genius that is marketing and big business.
I don't really know how to go any further than that. I just wish there was some way to make the public aware of such issues, or to actually influence marketing teams to focus instead on quality rather than quantity.
And because I suck at both retaining my original purpose in writing and concluding my thoughts, I end with this: ALL HAIL QUALITY!

[ITzNybble]

Do you oppose Wall Street?


Anyways, I agree with you, but its only the consumers fault for purchasing this "crappy" boards. Take Football for example... The players make more than Doctors and all they do is carry a ball and get concussions! The only reason they make so much is because of how crazy the fans are and the amount of money they will spend on products. That is just my .02 cents. Thanks

[shrap]

I don't game, but I've gotten really spoiled with the backlighting on my MBP. I don't consider it a useless feature.

[pitashen]

Wow.

Serioualy.

There are better things to do in life (or geek life) than making a big deal out of things that you won't even buy.

For example: be a mech keyboard preacher at a local Best Buy store. Save them from suffering, OP, SAVE THEM!

[cmh]

I agree.  I've never been attracted to these so called 'gaming' keyboards.  I don't blame these companies since I'm sure these features are attractive to the general population that is looking into building gaming rigs, even though most of the time these features go unused.  I've had so much trouble with the quality of products that these companies create many of times, because their main goal is generally to market and mass produce at the cheapest costs.  They then add these extra features as the main selling point.  I see a lot of these gamers at tournaments with the Razer keyboards and they rip the key caps off the macro section because they don't even use them.  I have too many friends who look at my Filco and hate that it looks so plain and have no clue about quality.  Instead they want keyboards with disco lights and lasers shooting out of them or they won't be satisfied with their purchase.
 
I did buy a Ducky Shine last week & I own two majestouch 2 keyboards with blank keycaps on both,  so I can gladly say I don't need to look down at my keyboard while typing.  I do like how the keyboard looks with the rest of my setup, and a lot of people have been commenting on how it looks.  What made me want to buy it though was that it had a very clean standard look that Filco, Leopold, and Ducky keyboards generally have, but with LEDs.

[slueth]

Iono, i want more bling for my buck.  Why else would I go and buy all these fancy plastic keycaps.  Lol, I can touch type just fine but I wanna do it in style. Mkay braw, gimme an iKeyboard, i don't care if it types like crap, and you tell me I am holding the keyboard wrong, as long as i can find the nearest restaurant, lets me play angry birds, and is white.

[Wogrim]

Backlighting is so you can immerse yourself a bit more by playing in the dark, and because it looks cool.  Sure people know where 'W' is, but how many people can quickly and accurately find (with their left hand) stuff on the right side of the keyboard without looking down?

[stevster]

I don't understand those 'gamers' who use PCs for 'games'.

When I go to a webshop that sell PCs usually they have three categories: for work, for home, and for gaming. And the most expensive ones are for gaming? Who spend that money for 'games'?

[Bry]

I'm glad all those kids waste their parents' money on shiny ****. It just helps make me feel superior.

*rolleyes*

[demik]

Never understood backlighting for srs gamers.


If you have to look down at your keys while gaming, I don't want you in my squad because you're going to get killed.

I don't understand those 'gamers' who use PCs for 'games'.

When I go to a webshop that sell PCs usually they have three categories: for work, for home, and for gaming. And the most expensive ones are for gaming? Who spend that money for 'games'?

I don't understand your rant.

[slueth]

I don't understand those 'gamers' who use PCs for 'games'.

When I go to a webshop that sell PCs usually they have three categories: for work, for home, and for gaming. And the most expensive ones are for gaming? Who spend that money for 'games'?

Games are one of the big reasons that graphic cards even improve at all; to run the newer games, enthusiast have to fork over the big bucks for gfx cards and cpus, maybe an ssd.  With the way console games are right now, only a few games require you to go to the latest and greatest.

Some prefer pcs for games because of better gfx, the peripherals, and the connectivity(ez patches, more robust software to manage games,servers), can tab out and check your email, etc.

[Quarzac]

I like my backlighting for the looks. It matches well with my case and power supply and fans and such. Do I use it to see keys? Rarely. Have the keycaps worn down on me in the last couple months? Not in the slightest. I haven't had the slightest bit of trouble with my gaming keyboard, even though I did not buy it because I game, but because it was a cheap introductory mechanical. The macro keys are not useful for games, but I find them fantastic for writing essays. Bind them to bold, underline, italicize, and copy/paste, and you save some time.

[Oqsy]

Can we rant about the painfully jagged gaming mice in this thread?  Sharp edges on a mouse are as welcome as 3-day crotch stubble. No thanks.

[alaricljs]

Hey... looks like some update fixed the animated GIF jigglies.

(Attachment Link) 31428[/ATTACH]

Quoting doesn't work so well tho.

Can we rant about the painfully jagged gaming mice in this thread?  Sharp edges on a mouse are as welcome as 3-day crotch stubble. No thanks.

Wot?  Is it mold flash or are they making Hellraiser styled mice these days?

[Nighted]

It's all about demand. If it's there, they will make it.

You could make the same argument about having several types of keyboards with various switches...

[dorkvader]

The USB port is useful if your mouse only has a 6 inch cable.

(Looking at YOU, apple)

The screen is sometimes nice, if you want to monitor temperatures during a game, though I'd rather get a dedicated USB monitor (or similar) for that.

[Quarzac]

I have been surprised at the lack of "ZOMG My Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Keys Are Blobs" threads.  They must have perfected that lasering.

Yeah, after I saw the Lycosas, I was a bit worried, but I haven't had the slightest bit of trouble.

[Pretendo]

On the subject of useless keyboard features, I never understood why scroll lock gets an LED.  Almost nothing uses it.  You'd be better off tying it to the insert key "insert lock" or possibly making it blink in the event of a nuclear fallout.

...The macro keys are not useful for games, but I find them fantastic for writing essays. Bind them to bold, underline, italicize, and copy/paste, and you save some time.

That is a thought, but don't the "ctrl + ..." and "shift + ..." combos work just as well?

[alaricljs]

Animated GIF jigglies are still there. Some kind of Vbulletin buffering issue - that one is interlaced.
(Attachment Link) 31435[/ATTACH]

If that was supposed to jiggle, it don't... maybe it's because I switched to Chrome?

[hemflit]

Backlighting is a style. It may be flashy (hah!) but it's a style, and some people like it. Also, not everyone plays the same types of games, some people need to occasionally hit a key that's not right under their fingers.

LCD screens are useful for out-of-game system **** like temperature as Dorkvader said. A bunch of gamers run seriously overclocked machines. And some people like to get email/chat pop-ups on those screens while they're doing something non-frantic, like sitting in a game-matching lobby. Yeah, an extra $100 may be a little much, but plenty of people would say the same about stuff some keyboard enthusiasts drops a hundred on.

Macro buttons out of the way, I dunno, I guess they're still a bit useful for WoW-type games? Sure, that could be done smarter.

USB hubs, you know how loud some of those gaming boxes get? Some people just like to hide them away somewhere in a corner or cabinet, so without a hub on their desk they'd have to crawl through the dust bunnies every time they're plugging in a flash drive. Even if the box is close by, those USB ports are often so far in the back, you just have to poke your fingers there in the back, sight unseen, and feel around for the right hole through a jungle of stiff things sticking out of others, eww I can't believe you made me type that out.

[alaricljs]

I like having a USB hub in my KB.  I use it for my trackball and USB headset, sometimes my Bamboo.  I also have a powered hub glued to the underside of my desk off to one side for flash drives, the scanner, USB HDDs and other random needs.

I find that the hub in the KB leads to less hassle when I want to shift my position, only 1 cable to worry about and it's easy to keep that from tangling with anything else on my desk.

[HWI]

I'm with the OP on this for the most part, though I must admit that I agree with whoever said that backlighting does have some bling factor. If there was a backlit tenkeyless with MX Brown or MX Red switches that wasn't absurdly over priced I would probably buy it.

The number 1 thing I agree with in the OP is the LCD screen on the keyboard. I owned a first gen G15 when they first came out cause I thought it was a cool idea...wow, it was so useless. They can barely display anything and for the amount it drives the cost up you could buy a proper LCD screen that can display anything you want.

[alaricljs]

I'm talking about the thumbnail jiggling.

As am I... I've not seen the full-view jiggle ever.

[rich0d]

I agree with everything on the list.  I'm still going to buy a backlit tenkeyless someday.  

They DO have a certain bling factor.
(Attachment Link) 31388[/ATTACH]

Nice balls, Rip.

[Clickey]

Backlighting is not just so that you can see the keys in the dark and for looks.

It creates ambient light, which is very important for preserving eye function. Although you should never play in the dark for this reason, sometimes it is unavoidable (when the gf/wife is asleep in the same room).

When you stop to take a drink, or go to the bathroom, it provides you the easiest transition back to perfect hand placement.

If you are constantly changing your controls on a game with enormous numbers of key commands, you do need to look at the keyboard to remember where you put things sometimes.

I did not think backlighting was important, until I owned a backlit board, and I am thinking of using it over all others, because I miss these advantages.

Basicly backlighting cost the manufacturer almost nothing to add a keyboard, and it adds a lot to it's aesthetic value, so it really makes no sense for keyboards not to offer backlighting options. Even if you have backlighting, you can easilly turn it on/off by pressing 2 keys.

Also many games (such as SC2) make good use of the F keys, so having a macro key right above them is a good place to put them. Much better than on the sides of the keyboard, where your hand would never naturally go.

[dorkvader]

USB hubs, you know how loud some of those gaming boxes get? Some people just like to hide them away somewhere in a corner or cabinet, so without a hub on their desk they'd have to crawl through the dust bunnies every time they're plugging in a flash drive. Even if the box is close by, those USB ports are often so far in the back, you just have to poke your fingers there in the back, sight unseen, and feel around for the right hole through a jungle of stiff things sticking out of others, eww I can't believe you made me type that out.

Thin client and server cabinet. I have it all planned out.

I keep my computer accessible for the sole reason of being able to easily access the USBports in the back. It's right next to my chair (And sounds like an airplane on takeoff when I turn it on) I'm considering turning it on the front, but I worry that I may eventually want to use the 2 front USB ports and not have to make do with the three in the back (It's a mac pro that I got for free)

Hmm, maybe getting a squid of USB extension cables is also a good solution.

[spolia optima]

In an ideal world all mechanical keyboards would come standard with a USB hub as well as backlighting and media controls