Razer Nostromo

Yesterday, I nabbed a Razer Nostromo from Best Buy.  The reason for getting it was to put a smaller footprint on my desk.  I want to game without my keyboard.

I figured it would work well with FPS's, because I suck at them anyway and it can't get much worse.  The problem is, I want to use it for WoW too.  And the reason that's a problem is because I've been using ASDW (and Q and E) on my left hand for moving, and then my number pad for casting spells (only for DPS and Tanking, for heals I'm a clicker because I use VuhDo).

So here's my deal.  If the point was to get rid of the keyboard I'd need two Nostromo's, a righty and a lefty.  Because I move with my left hand, the only way for me to use abilities/cast spells is by using my right hand on the num pad.

I tried binding all of my spells and abilities to the Nostromo and using the little thumb joystick on it for movement but that was g-damn impossible.  I move around in an odd way in WoW.  I will quite often hold down Q and W at the same time to streif at an angle, while still moving forward, but then click D at random to turn myself in a wide arching circle.  If you hold all three down at the same time, you'll make a very wide circle, much wider than just holding down W and A or W and D.

So because I move around oddly like this, the thumb joystick does NOT work for me.  It only has the W and A or W and D corner functions and I cannot remap it to something else.  And, again, the whole point of getting it was to avoid needing my keyboard.  So using the number pad as my movement is out of the question.  Not only does that defeat the purpose of getting the gaming bad, but it also completely switches around what I'm doing right now: moving in the left hand, casting with the right, to moving with the right hand and casting with the left.

I'm going to keep trying very hard to find a configuration that works with WoW.  And I'll use it from the start with games like ToR and Diablo III.  I actually think it'll be SUPER useful for Diablo III because you always use your mouse to move around in that game, as well as to attack with your left and right-click abilities.  But now there are some hot-key abilites that I can see myself binding to my Nostromo.

I also tested this last night with Deus Ex and it works great.  I love it for FPS's, so whoever says they don't work well with FPS's is full of shit.

Now I have a problem.  I want to get rid of my Logitech G15 keyboard for a couple reasons:
1.) It's a beast.
2.) I have no use for the 18 keys on the left side.
3.) I also have no use for the little display screen on it.
4.) It's old and starting to act up.  The number pad is dying.  The back lighting is dying.  It flickers on and off every once in a while and the number pad doesn't always register when I type something on it.

I was looking at the Razer Black Widow Ultimate keyboard while at Best Buy.  There was an opening to try out a few keys, specifically the arrow keys to the left of the number pad.  When I tried them, there was a loud audible click for every keystroke.  I don't think I've ever owned a mechanical keyboard before that makes that sound or has that sort of feel to the keystroke.  It's interesting, and I think I like it.

But, Razer is also releasing a line of products for ToR when ToR comes out.  Specifically, the keyboard looks fucking amazing:

Star Wars: The Old Republic Keyboard

The little display screen and kick ass buttons on the right side there?  Yeah, that replaces the Number Pad.  WHICH IS WHAT I ALREADY DO TO PLAY WOW ANYWAY.  I have a feeling a lot of gamers play that way, and I was completely unaware of it.

So I might just wait for that keyboard to come out with the release of the game.  I'm guaranteed a CE of the game because I pre-ordered so long ago, so I might just wait for Dec. 20th.  Hell, I might just wait for Christmas and ask for the keyboard as a Christmas gift.  Because god knows my Grandma will be all like "WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS?!" again this year.

So I'm super stoked about this keyboard.  Which might make the point of the Nostromo moot.  But I definitely enjoyed the Nostromo for Deus Ex.  I might get back in to L4D2 and Counterstrike since a new one of those is coming out too.

I just don't play a lot of FPS's.  Maybe I'll figure a way out on how to use it with the keyboard and just be okay using it that way with MMO's.

It's a nice product, fights the hand nicely.  My only two complains is that the thumb joystick is clumsy to use, and then the key right below the joystick is hard to reach if you've got normalish sized hands.  I use it as my space bar, and when I go to reach for it, I commonly run in to the joystick on my way down.

Well see how it fairs tonight with more Deus Ex.

Edit:  I might have a way to combo the Nostromo with a Razer Naga Epic.  Bind all my spells to the mouse's 14 keys, and then use the Nostromo for movement and whatever other keybinds I might need (various Oh-Shit buttons).  Now, that setup I can see working very well.  And it just so happens that I still have a $140 refund card sitting out at Newegg ... ha!