Controller Compatibility

I searched around for topics related to this, and I haven't found any open discussions about it, so I apologize if I'm harping on something already well discussed.

I was actually just watching the "Alpha One Early Preview" from a few days ago, and something was said to the effect of wanting to hear feedback early so features can be implemented without rush near the end of the project. Well that comment encouraged me to come here and genuinely request consideration for controller compatibility.

A lot of folks who play MMOs on PC often don't understand the want to play with a controller, and often times it gets ignored because those people don't understand a controller's place in that environment. However, there are so many games these days with keyboard/mouse & controller options built in that it's exclusive to not have them both available. Giving your players options is just never a bad thing. Having AoC be playable with controller would open you up to including that many more players who prefer controller play, and there are plenty of games to look to for mapping and customization inspiration. FFXIV, by the way, is an amazing example.

Anywho, is there already a discussion about this I should be joining? is there anyone else here who would like to see AoC compatible to play with controller? Any thoughts or concerns in adding this as a feature to the game? What are some games you've seen implement and integrate controllers well, and why do you like how they went about it?

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

unknownsystemerror

While there are a few outliers, most mmos that have released in the last 5 years have controller options. Your personal preference whims will not change the fact that controller support for Ashes is coming and that people will use it. It isn't hard for them to do. Just like many other things in Ashes that there will be options for, if you choose not to use them, then don't.

RexEasily

Wandering Mist wrote: »

I always found it strange wanting to play an mmorpg with a controller. Surely there aren't enough buttons on a controller for all the skills in an mmorpg. Plus how are you supposed to type in the chat?

actually i play ffxiv at times with a controller and it works very well. typing is a challenge but aside from that ffxiv has WAY WAY more options to use on screen the it looks like ashes will and a controller works with that game.

H8edHero

I have only been on the forums a few times and nearly every time is to check on this feature. I would love to see controller support as would countless others. This day and age I dont really see a good argument for any game to not support both. This development team is already proving the traditional MMO limitations or stigmas are gone. One of my favorite MMOs that supports both has an entirely different UI that becomes present when a gamepad is detected and they put it together at the end of development. Not only was it at the end of the development but some features of it are actually better than the KB and Mouse UI.

All we can do is hope that somewhere in the launch budget this can be done, and it is looked upon as a feature necessary for player attraction and growth. IMO nothing I have seen thus far of the UI or combat says its too complicated for gampad.

Yuyukoyay

I've mapped up to like 80 buttons to a ps3 controller before. It's not really a matter of the buttons, but how the targeting works. It will still require a keyboard no matter what either way.

Kreed

In some MMO's I have used a controller strictly for movement and jump or strafing in one hand and the mouse for aiming and power selection in the other. However some games are designed in such a way it cant be used well together. Work around are required, unfortunately some people need a controller because they cant work the Keyboard easily due to some injury or medical condition. For the most part, for myself I use the Keyboard and mouse for free aim action but if it is tabbed targeting I can still see the game pad as an option for movement.

Many years ago I came across a player who was an excellent Pvp Mage in WoW, he was a quadriplegic who had re worked a game pad to sit under his chin along with a series of tubes he would blow into to trigger his powers.

Xez

Please please PLEASE do NOT make controller support just an AFTER THOUGHT.

and please do not tell me controller support isn't worth implementing just because it's not a thing the majority of people care about, or that it somehow has anything to do with only relating to console support. It has absolutely nothing to do with console support, and it is SUCH a trivially easy thing to implement. The fact that it can be argued it's inferior is also COMPLETELY irrelevant from the question of whether or not implementation is worth considering.

The #1 reason I insist on using a controller to play an MMO is that it is MORE COMFORTABLE, and with an MMO where you want to be playing for incredibly long periods of time the comfort factor is absolutely THE most important thing. If a game isn't comfortable to play, you won't want to play it for long periods of time.

#2 is just how natural and fluid and effortless the dual analog stick combination feels to control a character and the camera running around in a 3d environment with a 3rd person perspective. Most especially with controlling the camera, it feels sooooo much less clunky than using whatever mouse or keyboard button implementation.

I and I know MANY OTHER PEOPLE come from a background of playing Final Fantasy XI (and 14) and I absolutely REFUSE to play any MMO that won't support a controller. I don't want to feel like I'm at a job hunching over a keyboard and mouse all day, I want to be able to kick back and relax and just play the game.

And yes I still always used a keyboard for typing when I need to, and yes THEORETICALLY you can kick back and relax just as easily with a mouse and keyboard, but controllers are literally DESIGNED to be the most comfortable, intuitive, and least effort things to interact with games and a computer. Hunching over a traditional keyboard and mouse setup requires the exertion of your entire body to an extent, while a controller is designed to be used only exertion of your hands and fingers.

Other reasons controller support is an absolute no brainer in an MMO I would say:

90+% of the time is spent in town and/or traversing from point A to point B and you aren't actually fighting or doing something where the "objective inferiority" of using a controller matters AT ALL. All that matters in that 90+% of your time is how COMFORTABLE it is to use and play the game.

And the MMO battle mechanics never warrant split-second pin-point accuracy reactions, the thing where mouse/keyboard is obviously far superior at (FPS games), but this is NOT an FPS game, and I can't imagine any type of mechanic in an MMO like this's battle system that should be significantly inferior to pull off than with a keyboard/mouse.

One thing I say to people who would laugh at the idea of people using a controller to play MMOs is: Come on, would you want to play a PLATFORMER game with keyboard and mouse??? I mean, isn't that like 99.999% of the game, just running around from place to place in the 3d environment... you know... like a PLATFORMER???

Kneczhevo

Nice Necro. 😋

Xez

Kneczhevo wrote: »

Nice Necro. 😋

Are you saying I brought this thread back to life and I shouldn't have done that?

I didn't know whether I should post here or make a new discussion, I wanted to make a new discussion, but I saw this thread already existed and seem to be the largest controller support discussion thread.

Nagash

Xez wrote: »

Kneczhevo wrote: »

Nice Necro. 😋

Are you saying I brought this thread back to life and I shouldn't have done that?

I didn't know whether I should post here or make a new discussion, I wanted to make a new discussion, but I saw this thread already existed and seem to be the largest controller support discussion thread.

Oh no necro threads are great it mean you used search

Maezriel

@Xez honestly there's a far simpler reason to support controller play to at least a basic level.

It makes it far easier to map devices such as the Xbox Adaptive Controller which can allow those who don't have fully functioning hands play the game.

Kneczhevo

@Xez

You did good, researching. Was a complement. 😁

Shimario

Iridisus wrote: »

I searched around for topics related to this, and I haven't found any open discussions about it, so I apologize if I'm harping on something already well discussed.

I was actually just watching the "Alpha One Early Preview" from a few days ago, and something was said to the effect of wanting to hear feedback early so features can be implemented without rush near the end of the project. Well that comment encouraged me to come here and genuinely request consideration for controller compatibility.

A lot of folks who play MMOs on PC often don't understand the want to play with a controller, and often times it gets ignored because those people don't understand a controller's place in that environment. However, there are so many games these days with keyboard/mouse & controller options built in that it's exclusive to not have them both available. Giving your players options is just never a bad thing. Having AoC be playable with controller would open you up to including that many more players who prefer controller play, and there are plenty of games to look to for mapping and customization inspiration. FFXIV, by the way, is an amazing example.

Anywho, is there already a discussion about this I should be joining? is there anyone else here who would like to see AoC compatible to play with controller? Any thoughts or concerns in adding this as a feature to the game? What are some games you've seen implement and integrate controllers well, and why do you like how they went about it?

Yes I would love this because I love mmos and I just recently got back into wow. However, for some reason, recently my left hand has been hurting and cramping up whenever I play on a keyboard. But when I play with a controller it's fine.

Shimario

Wandering Mist wrote: »

I always found it strange wanting to play an mmorpg with a controller. Surely there aren't enough buttons on a controller for all the skills in an mmorpg. Plus how are you supposed to type in the chat?

For some people, playing with a controller is much more comfortable than using a keyboard. I'm one of those ppl.

Atama

For a game that strives to mix in action combat it would be a good idea to try to support controller usage in a way that a player can be competitive in PvP.

Ugoogee

Too lazy to type so I'm copy pasting my comment from @Jahlon YouTube video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o49DjKelAOk&lc=UgzMANbJ17OFypULyc54AaABAg.9k6CAgz8qT89k6OQxrHLsU&ab_channel=ParadoxGamingNetwork

Having good combat, good character customization and the ability to play on a gamepad are huge for me when playing games in the 3rd person perspective. I have a preference for action combat in the games that I play (Monster Hunter, Sekiro, and fighting games to name a few). I also have very little experience or interest in the MMO genre and have played less than about 50 hours of ESO, Guild Wars 2, and Bless Unleashed combined. I didn't like ESO's combat and Bless Unleashed was very limited in character creation with their classes locked behind races while also having some janky animations/presentation. It also contains P2W elements which most can agree is bad. GW2 on mouse and keyboard was not for me. Call me picky...

Ashes caught my eye for the MMO genre because of its node system, robust character customization and their modern graphical fidelity. I'm willing to remove my bias towards gamepads to play this but so far, their combat is what concerns me the most. I've been on the side towards improving the action combat elements in Intrepid's forums (Username: Ugoogee) and may be contributing to the vocal minority, which is your recent livestream I'll be watching after commenting btw. Feel free to go through my forum posts, but to summarize my main point from there is: have the player as well as the enemies be dynamic in their movements and attack animations that complement each other. Which means don't have enemies play an attack animation while rotating in place only for it to be interrupted because the player is out of range which causes them to walk towards the player and repeat the cycle once in range again, and that goes for the players too. However, I'm willing to see Intrepid's progress on the matter.

Immediately ArcheAge 2's teaser trailer grabbed my attention for a potential MMO to play because of their action combat, visual fidelity and the ability to play on PC with a gamepad because of console releases. Their combat design is exactly what I'm looking for in a 3rd person action combat game. The Dragon lunges forward with a swiping claw attack while the player dodges and strikes back with a jumping spinning sword slash of their own. An Ogre stepping forward while doing a big overhead swing only for it to be executed by a player charging forward with a well-timed parry. That's the stuff that gets me going! I don't see that in Ashes, and now I fall into that demographic which you stated they could possibly lose because of competition in the genre that gets exacerbated over time, which I do feel kinda bad for being in because I still wish Intrepid the best for their game.

I could go on but I'm willing to know more people's thoughts. Great video and Happy Holidays!

Settite

I too would like controller support. Being that we have quite a few mmos coming out in the next few yrs on console, there will b alot of options for those who prefer a controller of some sort.

Child Item