The keybinding predicament of AoC
AoC has a hybrid combat system, a combination of tab and action combat. From the most recent streams, it is evident they are giving the use of up to 16 combat abilities to be used at any time, along with weapon swapping. A good healthy amount of abilities to use.
I have noticed a trend in the majority of MMORPG's has been slapping combat abilities on R4 of the keyboard, the most popular keybindings being 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0,-,= which ashes seems to have also adopted in the recent stream shown for mage. You might think thats fine every other MMORPG does it but from a usablity stand point this is terrible.
It's too difficult to reach keys: Many of the keys in this control scheme, such as the 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, - and = keys, are located far away from WASD on the keyboard. This can make it challenging to quickly and accurately hit these keys during fast-paced gameplay. Especially with the choice to use a hybrid combat system, movement is very important.
Lack of ergonomic design: This control scheme is not designed with ergonomics in mind. Reaching for keys outside the movement area in a hybrid combat MMORPG can cause strain on the hands and wrists, leading to discomfort or even injury over time.
The current default control scheme plays a part in making the game feel clunky to play. Most players don't have the muscle memory to hit these keys whilst playing the game, making it feel very frustrating to play as you miss press the ability you meant to use. Having a designed default control scheme for the game is one of the key areas to improving combat, having a good default control scheme. I clearly have to namedrop BDO here, a game known for its action based combat which is widely praised. The devs spent time mapping out combinations of keys that can be pressed and flow together in order to attack and perform skills. I am NOT stating AoC should go down this route, I am simply stating a well thought out control scheme based around the total amount of abilities you will have access to greatly impacts the way the game plays, it can make it feel more impactful and enhance the gameplay. I can also bring up GW2 a hybrid combat system that doesnt require you to go into the keybindings to play the game on a normal mouse and keyboard which is also said to have good combat.
MMORPG games require a control scheme that is optimized for its gameplay, where being able to dodge/move out of attacks and red zones whilst also having access to all of your abilities easily is incredibly important and plays a huge role in them having smooth well thought out and refined combat. Intrepid needs to create a default control scheme to work with being able to use WASD at the same time as using all 16 abilities comfortably.
You can just rebind the keys though, whats the issue?
Having a limited number of keys means that players might need to use multiple modifiers, such as Shift or Alt, in combination with the numbered keys to access all of their skills and abilities. This can make gameplay more cumbersome and require more mental effort to execute actions quickly and accurately making it not feel great to play.
Some MMORPG games might use certain keys for specific actions, such as opening a menu or bringing up a map. If third-party software also uses those same keys for different actions, conflicts can still occur even with key rebinding making the process tiring and cumbersome.
The default control scheme we will all experience needs to be designed to not make the majority of players go into the keybinds menu and change them all.
Just buy an MMORPG mouse, whats the issue?
Not all players may be able to afford one or want to spend that much money on a peripheral. The current build has 16 combat abilities to use which is 4 more than the 12 button MMORPG mouse has so not even that has been thought about. This a minority of MMORPG players, these systems should be built for the majority to improve usabliity.
Lastly I want to say I am not suggesting the removal of how many skills you can use at a time, just that something needs to be done about the default control scheme. You can make having many skills work if you create properly thought-out keybindings for everything.
TLDR:
Intrepid needs to strive to create a default control scheme that works well for the majority of players. A normal Mouse + standard keyboard.
Lastly I want to add the vast majority of MMORPG players don't browse this forum, don't use reddit, the most they would consider dipping their toes in is a click baity youtube video about the game they play. I don't expect to garner much support from people here we're all the "elite" players who probably use MMO mice and/or customise all their keybinds to their liking. This suggestion is for having an option of a control scheme that would be for the majority player group that just plays the game with their simple keyboard and 3-5 button mouse.
