MMO / RTS Mouse

[Mr. Analog]

It's a slashvertisment yes, but interesting nonetheless a mouse designed for MMO / RTS players:

Razer "Krait" Mouse

[Cova]

Coincidentally, I just finished reading that review - and IMHO the entire article is just a PR for the mouse (not just the 'slashvertizement' for the article).  Considering that this new mouse is virtually identical to their older "designed for FPS gaming" razor mouse, except having a little faster framerate on the optical sensor, I find it hard to believe there is anything special about this mouse that makes it good for MMO's or RTS's.

[Mr. Analog]

1600 DPI from 1000 seems like a significant jump to me. I would think that a higher dpi would be a good thing for RTS or MMOs that involve a lot of precise point n' clicking.

The "1200 actions per minute" sounds a bit suspect (like the article says) but if it's true it would mean you would get more accurate clicks in intense RTS action.

[Shayne]

Not that I want to offend the almighty MrA again! However the Logitech MX518 seems like the superior product still.  Its roughly the same price, same dpi, more buttons, on the fly adjustments to sensitivites, and simply looks cooler.

[Mr. Analog]

I agree, I like Logitech better. The low profile feel of these mice is nice though.

I wish they'd put more buttons on, like you say.

Incedentally, I can't read your inflection when I see your raw statements, there's a big difference if I say

You're a doo-doo head

vs

You're a doo-doo head

Also the statement you made in that other thread seemed to be directly aimed at me (since it was out of context and was never explained). I would have locked the thread because we were getting into a nVidia vs ATi flame war that was unnecessary anyway.

[Cova]

That whole "actions per minute" thing is the clue that the entire article is heavily based around a PR written by Razor - only their PR department would come up with a new meaningless acronym that serves no purpose except marketing, and that measures some new aspect of performance that no-ones ever been concerned with before.

As for the DPI increase - it may be significant compared to their old mouse, but its still not up to the level of the logitech mice with lazer optical systems (MX1000, G5, G7, maybe a few more), and MMO's and RTS's are less sensitive to DPI than FPS's.  Extreme sensitivy helps me snipe distant targets and play twitch-games with reasonable accuracy - I can be a few pixels off when selecting units, and hitting the auto-attack button.

I still stand by my conclusion that the only part of that mouse designed for MMO's, is the marketing part, designed to take advantage of the fact that MMO's are big in the media right now.

[Mr. Analog]

I still stand by my conclusion that the only part of that mouse designed for MMO's, is the marketing part, designed to take advantage of the fact that MMO's are big in the media right now.

LOL, true dat!

APM, it seems, is mostly a slang term coined by MMO players but has been adopted by nVidia as well.

[Cova]

Try to imagine you were sniffing the PS2/USB/Wireless connection to your mouse - every time your mouse sends information to the computer would be an action - which could include LeftClick, RightClick, MoveLeft, etc.  And keep in mind, that while moving your mouse around (at least for recent Logitech mice) the mouse is updating its position data (sending an 'action') once every 1/500th of a second (or 500 hz, or 30000 times per minute) - and on top of swinging the mouse around frantically trying to get your opponent under your cursor, you're also likely spamming one or both buttons spraying machinegun rounds and rockets all over the room.

Only "1200 actions per minute" would seem rather limiting to me - that would only be 20hz

[Mr. Analog]

As best as I can find, according to Wikipedia:

Actions per minute is the number of actions completed within a minute of a gameplay in real time strategy game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actions_per_minute

An action ... (ed) is defined as selecting a unit or building, giving an order to a unit or building, or designating a target for an order (for example, ordering a marine to attack, and then selecting a supply depot would be three separate actions, while selecting a marine and right-clicking on a supply depot would be two actions).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gameplay_of_StarCraft#Measuring_mastery

Less to do with moving the mouse or simply clicking, more to do with game related stuff. But again, as you say it's not a real qualifier so it doesn't really matter then eh?

[Cova]

Less to do with moving the mouse or simply clicking, more to do with game related stuff. But again, as you say it's not a real qualifier so it doesn't really matter then eh?

So then, actions per minute is a measurement of mouse bandwidth but that only measures a fraction of the actions that actually use up mouse bandwidth.

[Darren Dirt]

Well you know that "Jeremy" will totally buy this mouse (lawl!)

[Mr. Analog]

Jeremy the Bear?

[Darren Dirt]

Jeremy the Bear?

Jeremy whose friends often celebrates cyberhomicides with the jubilation: "BOOM! Head shot!"