# PC gamers: which fingers do you use with WASD? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 4, 2007, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644 "2007-01-04T04:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/21 "2007-01-04T12:15:12Z")
Ah, also meant to mention [Snow Down the Shirt](http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Snow_Down_the_Shirt) was handy for mugging the opposing team’s present carrier. (Also useful if you can put that on the opponent before going _BOOM_ if a team member is helping mug them.) Fun, fun, fun! ---
**Author:** ![metonymic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@metonymic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metonymic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/22 "2007-01-04T17:03:44Z")
I use index, middle, ring for WASD as well. It’s much easier, for me. I recently learned that one of my friends uses WAXD (three middle fingers and thumb) for movement – I’d never seen that before. anyone else do that? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/23 "2007-01-04T17:09:50Z")
[QUOTE=Surbey] Nope John, we are a dieing breed though. I use the arrow keys because I used to play DOOM that way and I never switched. It isn’t limiting your keys though. I have quick access to my crouch (ctrl), my jump (shift), my walk (enter), and all kinds of keys on the keypad and the 6 keys above the arrows. I also use my mouse with the 6 buttons on it :D. [/QUOTE] In my case I tried WASD a few times, and kept hitting the wrong keys. You see, my fingers are kind of short and stubby, and the arrow keys give me more room to “manuever” them, so to speak (more room for error). And yes there’s enough other keys nearby that unless the game requires you to have 2 dozen different instant actions I can get along just fine. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/24 "2007-01-04T17:16:04Z")
[QUOTE=SenorBeef] Are any of you arrow key people any good at the games? I mean, if you played online for death matches, would you get slaughtered? Just wondering. [/QUOTE] I seem to get along just fine and can manuever, strafe, dodge etc. in a more than adequate fashion. I will admit that a few of the lesser-used commands (this is for UT99 the one I play the most) get a little awkward to use sometimes in the heat of battle, but other than that I can beat up on Godlike bots pretty well. I am sure that the online guys would own me, but 80% of the reason I still play UT99 is because of the hilarious voice packs I have made for myself and various humorous skins and models I’ve DLed-it’s less than a FPS and more of a game with live action cartoon violence for me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/25 "2007-01-04T18:02:00Z")
I’m an arrow user, and although I haven’t played in years, people used to leave the server on UT99 when I entered. At one time, I was feared. 🙂 So I suppose you could say I can do pretty well at the games with arrows. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/26 "2007-01-04T18:08:50Z")
E: Forward, using the middle finger. D: Backwards S: turn left (or strafe if there’s no turning) F: turn right (or strafe if there’s no turning) A: Strafe left (or torso twist left in MW4) G: Strafe right (or torso twist right) I need my index finger on the F key, or I can’t tell where the hell my hand is on the keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/27 "2007-01-04T18:22:24Z")
Index/middle/pinky here. Probably because when I started playing WoW I was using the arrow keys and those were the easiest ones to use. It also allows easier access to tab, `, and Ctrl, which I use a lot. I should probably move Teamspeak back to ` though, as I tend to send static while trying on new clothes. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/28 "2007-01-04T19:20:20Z")
Pinky on ctrl, ring A, middle S, index D, thumb on space. Left mouse button for forward, right mouse button for fire, middle mouse button for alt-fire. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/29 "2007-01-04T19:32:56Z")
Index/middle/pinky here, but I use ESDF- I like having more keys available for my pinky. Other than that, I do love my mouse- it’s got four buttons and two wheels, all of which I use in shooters. I haven’t gotten a new mouse in years (it’s not even optical. It’s the stupid cat hair collecting ball kind that you have to clean every so often.) because I can’t find one with the same wonderful buttons. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/30 "2007-01-04T20:28:01Z")
[QUOTE=Surbey] Nope John, we are a dieing breed though. I use the arrow keys because I used to play DOOM that way and I never switched. It isn’t limiting your keys though. I have quick access to my crouch (ctrl), my jump (shift), my walk (enter), and all kinds of keys on the keypad and the 6 keys above the arrows. I also use my mouse with the 6 buttons on it :D. [/QUOTE] Same here. I don’t really play many FPSes these days and the ones I do are more likely to be older ones without mouselooking. If you don’t have one hand on the mouse, it makes as much sense to use the arrow keys with the right hand and any switching or the like (and let’s face it, with games like Doom the only switching is weapons on the number row) with the left. ---
**Author:** ![Hogwash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@Hogwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogwash)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/31 "2007-01-04T21:01:22Z")
I’m a WASD gamer, using the three middle finger setup (pinky = crouch (ctrl), thumb = jump (space)) . I would prefer to be an ESDF gamer due to the extra keys, but I’m too set in my ways to change now. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/32 "2007-01-04T22:10:20Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > S: turn left (or strafe if there’s no turning) > F: turn right (or strafe if there’s no turning) You don’t use your mouse to turn? I was a Quake I weenie–back in the days when the arrow keys were the default config–when I learned the power of WASD. I wouldn’t say I was a Frag God afterwards, but I was pretty damned decent with WASD, while I could never frag my way out of a paper bag with the arrow keys. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/33 "2007-01-05T14:11:38Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] You don’t use your mouse to turn? [/QUOTE] Depends on the game. I’m kind of spacing on how MW4 worked… I should probably reload that and play it again (_It’s Solaris time!!!_). That game had basic turning like in all other shooters, torso twist, and side view, so it was a bit confusing at times. In some games like WOW, I use both, but, since it’s not a 1st-person shooter, it doesn’t really apply. I usually go ahead and defined them to left & right because I can turn in a circle faster with the keys than by swooping the mouse back and forth. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/34 "2007-01-05T17:27:56Z")
WASD annoy me because they’re not nicely aligned like the arrow keys are. I have an Intellimouse Explorer and use: Arrow keys: forward, backward, strafe left and right Left Mouse: Fire Middle Mouse: Secondary fire Mouse Wheel: Cycle weapons Right Mouse: Jump Large Thumb Button: Reload Small Thumb Button: Change fire mode End: Crouch Home: Prone Right Shift: Run Enter: Use Wish DirectX had some sort of standard keyboard map that you could define so I didn’t have to redefine every key for each new game I play. ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/35 "2007-01-06T00:55:02Z")
WASD feels so weird to me. I like WASZ: [ul] [li]W (middle finger) - forward[/li][li]A (ring finger) - strafe left[/li][li]S (index finger) - strafe right[/li][li]Z (thumb) - backward[/li][/ul] This frees up my pinkie for SHIFT or CTRL or the occasional TAB. My thumb also covers X (crouch) and SPACE (jump) as necessary. I also set up Q (under my ring finger) and E, R, D and F (under my index finger) for less-used functions (e.g. use item or open door). I’ve tried WASD several times, and I just can’t get into it. If I have to back up suddenly after a run, I either need to take the time to move my index finger from W to S (which is slow), or keep my thumb positioned over S (which is akward). I’m okay with not being able to strafe while I sift through my pack. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/36 "2007-01-07T04:45:25Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] What do you do in an FPS with two fire buttons, like UT? [/QUOTE] E or W (though E is usually Use) or the lower middle mouse button (it rests on the 2nd knuckle of my right middle finger) ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/37 "2007-01-07T05:08:33Z")
I have pinky on A, ring on WS, middle finger on D, and my index finger rests on the F key. Yaknow, like you’re SUPPOSED to do on a keyboard. 😛 Invariably, I have to remap the controls so that Crouch is moved from Ctrl to C, where it SHOULD be. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/38 "2007-01-07T10:04:33Z")
**DeadlyAccurate** , what do you use to jump? BTW, I used to use the right button for forward back in the Quake 1 days. I’m considering doing that in UT2004, the FPS I generally play these days. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/39 "2007-01-07T17:32:17Z")
A to jump, Z to crouch (both left pinky finger) I think I started this setup back in the Duke Nukem 3D days, but it might’ve been from Doom 2. My husband uses left-mouse for fire, right-mouse for forward, too, but he also has a [Nostromo pad](http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Components-F8GFPC100-Nostromo-Speedpad/dp/B0000DC643/sr=8-1/qid=1168191058/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-2278197-2497709?ie=UTF8&s=electronics) for his left hand. I have very small hands, though, and I can’t even get all my fingers on it. ---
**Author:** ![SiouxChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@SiouxChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiouxChief)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644/40 "2007-01-07T18:54:11Z")
I use my middle three fingers on WASD. Back in the days of DOOM & Quake I always changed the keyboard configuration to something else (don’t even remember what it was now). But, I grew tired of that, so I use WASD because it’s support by default most of the time. Like the others, I use middle finger on A&S because it feels stronger. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gamers-which-fingers-do-you-use-with-wasd/386644.md?page=3)