I've been considering purchasing a gaming mouse. Forgive my ignorance but do these break any terms of service? Assuming not, does anyone have any recommendations for one that works well?
No and I would get the razor or logitech mmo mouse with the 12 buttons on the thumb side. I use the logitech one and i use the buttons there for the entire hotbar 1
http://www.ianker.com/product/98ANDS2368-BA Inexpensive and kick . No need to buy overpriced (and inferior too) mice from Logitech etc. if you want to save a buck.
Main thing you want to think about when shopping for a mouse is whether you use a claw or palm grip, as different mice are better for one or the other. Then of course size is important. I use a claw grip and love my Corsair Vengeance M65. It has more buttons than I need for Everquest, but its handy in other games. The software that comes with it also allows custom key assignment / repeated keypresses like an autofire option, etc. Buttons 6 and 7 for the thumb of the mouse hand, are bound to a keypress, like button 7 is the same as pressing the '0' key. So I'll assign a hotbar command to that for quick access. I set up button 6 as the push to talk key for vent as another example. You can imagine a scenario where the left hand might alt+tab to a second account, so while doing that, your right hand can press a mouse button configured to a key press that activates a 5 line spell macro on the hotbar. Stuff like that to speed things up, make life easier is quite nice.
Also with the Palm vs Claw grip, keep in mind some mice are right handed vs left handed vs ambidextrous
They make mice that can go on the left side of the keyboard? [serious] I actually haven't seen versions of the "MMO" mice for lefties. I have seen the 5-7 button mice in left/ambi setups, though. I've liked the Logitech and Steel Serious mice I've had recently. The Logitech G400 mouse was the first mouse I had that didn't die from the buttons going bad, one of the wires inside the cable broke.
A precision gaming mouse is overkill for EverQuest. You're better off firing stuff from the keyboard/multibind/macros. I've used hundreds of input devices over the years. It really comes down to how good the software is. You might be surprised how well a 15 year old ball mouse with the default windows driver stands up to $100 8000dpi devices by Logitech, Kensington or Razer.
Uh, yeah.... No. I've used 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, 3, and 1 year old mice. I'd never want to deal with a ball mouse again. Or a mouse without a scroll wheel. Or a mouse without at least one thumb button. DPI is a personal thing, and can be changed by any decent mouse or driver. But the LED/laser gaming mice I've used over the past 15 years are tons better than the roller mice I used before that. And the point of those MMO mice is that you can bind things to that pile of keys on the mouse, in addition to the binds on your keyboard.
I was referring to your average user not being able to properly utilize higher levels of DPI/polling rate. Whoa now, let's leave the stone age in the past. I think this one really comes down to preference. Even after putting my time in with the Naga and Naga epic, I get lost after about 7 buttons. Some swear by it, some prefer programmable gaming controllers like the G13 or Nostromo, or using programmable keys on a gaming keyboard like the Widow.
After I bought a gaming mouse for MMO's, I will never go back. You can get by using just your keyboard for sure, but it's always nice having those 15 extra buttons on a mouse. It lets me cast my spells, rotate through targets, and several other things in quick sequence (slightly faster than just using the keyboard, and feels more natural to me). A gaming mouse would be more useful for a game like WoW, or faster MMO's out there (Wildstar). It's very handy for EQ, but not required (though I would advise it if you can master utilizing all the keys (and making more specific hotkeys to bind to them)).
http://www.hardwareasylum.com/reviews/input_device/tt_level10_m Is what I use...It has side buttons for weaponshield (or whatever your class needs to pop fast) and you get used to it pretty quick. Love it!
I went with Razor Naga 2014 recently and I'm never going back. It took awhile to get used to, initially I thought it would've been impossible. But I stuck with it, and now I can't seem to live without it. The key to using these fancy gaming mouse is to buy into the system. If you don't utilize those extra keys accessible to you, then they'll seem like more trouble than they're worth. So when/if you do get a gaming mouse, do give it a fair shot, and give it plenty of time before you give up on it. It's like going from an old classic nintendo controller to new controllers today with buttons everywhere. I'll say one thing I really love about the Naga (this feature is on other gaming mouse as well), is the ability to tilt-click the mouse wheel left & right. This is one of the best clicks available on a mouse. Since I play FPS games like BF4, and fast combat games like WoW & GW2, being able to tilt the mouse wheel left & right for quick abilities is just awesome. I can tilt the mouse wheel while still having my thumb ready to click something I need. It's wonderful For EQ it's likely not necessary since it's still very much a stand & cast game. But it never hurts to learn something new sooner than later, because you never know what you'll play next (especially since we know EQN's combat is going to be very much like GW2's action combat). What's really good about the extra 12 mouse buttons isn't just the extra binds, but it frees your left fingers to control your characters via WASD. You'll notice while trying to move, strafe, turn, dodge, if you have to press 1-6 often, it hinders your movement. The thumb keys on the gaming mouse allows you to move flawlessly with the left hand while using abilities & spells on the fly with your right hand. Not as important in games like EQ1, but fairly important in most newer generation games, even more so in games with PvP.
I prefer the TT eSports Volos MMO mouse over the Naga 2014 (have both & my Dad is currently using the Naga) but they are both similar. I just like the feel, response & comfort of the Volos over the Naga. The Naga also constantly has that cursor fade on/off because it has a Cloud driver & calls home constantly. The Razer software sucks big time.
This seems to be a common theme for 'gaming' mouse/kb software. The current software for Microsoft, Logitech, and Steelseries gaming peripherals is all bloated, slow crap. MS intellitype went from a nice Windows native ui to a full screen mess that looks like it's made for mobile. The Steelseries software makes the mouse perform like crap by dropping or lagging input. The Logitech software actually worked well enough to keep open, but it had way too much graphical flash tacked on. Basically, just install the drivers (if needed) and skip the support software.
The defining choice will be decided by your gameplay style. First , are you comfortable with a non keyboard interface with multiple button inputs. If you just want a good smooth moving cursor with easy control i would reccomend a trackball vs a mouse. They are much easier on the hands/wrist for long session playing. Much easier for small children to master as well as the base stays put while you control the ball . They need less desk top room too. I have looked at the various 'gaming' mice and keyboards over the years, decided they were not for me. Can you recall what all 12 buttons on the mouse actually do? Now if someone would come out with an ergenomic gaming keyboard i might be willing to trade in my microsoft naturals.
I actually haven't had any issues with the SteelSeries keyboard software or TT (Thermaltake) eSport software for the Volos but I had nothing but problems with the Razer on my system & my Dad's system both running Windows 7 64 bit Pro updated as recently as last month. The Razer software is just terrible for whatever reason.
I have not used a Razer in awhile, but all my friends that use it say the mouse is good (though it's not as durable as other companies, according to them), but the software is cringeworthy.
Yeah I love the look & feel of it & it matches my Dad's system perfectly as his case is piano black with green LED fans & green LED tubes & the mouse is black with green lighting. It just has that horrendous software that causes cursor lag & makes it fade in & out constantly.
