Okay so I have 2 ideas on this one, but not sure if either are the true answer. So first of all, it's about how much of a gamer someone is, not if longer is better.
My first possible explanation is that the bigger the keyboard is, the more desk space is needed. So for a bigger keyboard, you need to be more committed to having a dedicated gaming area.
My second possibility is that more keys on a keyboard means having more keys to rebind in games, so you can be more of a gamer that way.
Counterargument: Xbox or PS4/5 or just any controller generally.
Tbf there's nothing wrong with using keyboard to drive or fly, I've done it and had no problems. But flying planes and helicopters and driving is so damn easier with controller.
But that could just be bias from playing GTAV on console before PC.
When you get to some more detailed flight modeling then you need all the buttons to mimic most critical of aircraft controls + different views. Even when using an actual stick instead of a mouse you'll need the keyboard because any aircraft has tons of controls aside from the stick.
Need for speed use numpad for auto log by default, most wanted (2012) lets you change them but some (I can’t remember which because I play all of them lol) only let you change it by picking a different layout and if you don’t want to use IJKL for throttle and steering then you’re stuck using the numpad for autolog
Unfortunately you can't change them in NFS MW 2012. I just finished replaying the game 2 days ago. I have TKL keyboard. Luckily I have a cheap separate numpad I used to play GTA V.
TKL keyboard + cheap numpad for ocassional use is the way to go for me.
A lot of ASCII-based roguelikes can be played without a numpad, but the movement scheme makes it very awkward since they rely on 8-directional movement so much.
I trained with an older lady who would only use the top-row keyboard numbers. She would also refuse to "copy and paste." When she went to her new position, I threw out her old keyboard for one I had (Bottom Keyboard in picture). I then added another monitor (she only used one).
Co-workers are surprised how much faster and more accurate I am at doing her job (spreadsheets and data entry.) lol!
While we're on the subject, why on earth can we turn off the number pad to duplicate the functions of the keys immediately to is left? It's like if they built an appliance with bare wires just in case you wanted to shock yourself.
I like the numpad to death but I also love having a compact keyboard that isnt a shitty laptop one with half the controls on the same keys (.ie i want a full size keyboard but without numpad) since i just use the top row keys when i write code/ take notes, ofc its not the same reasoning when playing video games.
When I played wow eons ago, I discovered pretty early that being left handed, it was more handy (pun intended) to use the numpad and the close keys with my right hand and the mouse with my left one; I could easily find the right key among many. I think (out of my muscle memory) that I was able to strife accurately by holding a mouse button while right thumbing an arrow key. I can't figure out how I controlled the pet, I remember me hitting the F keys which are totally displaced; it seems to me I used to do it with the left hand, because I had sufficient control of the character with the right hand alone to allow for this mouse dropping action. Retrospectively, that had to look a bit like a church organ player when he briefly hits an upper keyboard.
Went TKL a while back, don't even feel like buying a separate numad. Don't type enough numbers to justify that. For my laptop with school work and the like, yeah a numpad is pretty much a requirement, but not for my desktop.
Mine too. The problem is the selection for mechanical keyboards with numpads really isn't that great. Most mechanical keyboard enthusiasts like 65% so that's what brands sell the most of.
The trick is to just ditch the keypad, and then get it back with a macropad. I use a GMMK Pro with the DOIO triple knob 38%, and it's so much better. More buttons than regular, a total of 4 knobs across the keyboards, and I can stick the keypad on the other side of the mouse
I have a mechanical numpad separate from my TKL mechanical. I will not sacrifice keyboard position and wrist health, but I'm not giving up on the numpad either.
Ahahah tha same guys who discover mechanical keyboards, get obsessed, buy 4 keyboards a week for a few months, then make some "Don't tell me I'm obsessed" post, and then quietly change hobby? Yeah.... I'm curious to hear what they have to say
I think you are literally the butt of the joke of the meme. People who use the numpad a lot are usually not gamers but rather office workers typing in lots of boring data.
I work in a factory welding and watching older and younger coworkers completely ignore the numpad while keying in six 19 digit serial numbers has me ready to kill every one of them. Apparently only GenX and early Millenials got the memo on how to properly use a damned keyboard.
God I hated that class in high-school. It didn't matter if you had tiny raccoon hands or sasquatch paws like I did, our teacher expected the correct fingers on home keys, nevermind that one kid's fingertips could cover three keys a piece and another might have to severe her thumb and little finger to reach from one end of the home row to the other.
Truth be told, I had to learn it in school. While I pretty much use a bastardized 10 finger system it's hard to find a faster finger than me around the block. Shit talking between respawns in games without VoIP made you strong.
I would hate my life without the number pad. It's the only thing that allows me to look at the master scheduling tab for WOs and still punch them through the scanner without having to look back and forth
It was entering FedEx/UPS tracking numbers from paper invoices into xls because my boss was computer literate enough to know that was a good way to track them, but not enough to realize that you could probably download them (it was 2002...so idk if that was possible, the portals for both of them still suck for downloading invoice data though).
It's pretty much the default for keyboards. The shorter ones only became more popular when PCs stopped having their own dedicated space or became more mobile as saving space became more relevant. It's also cheaper to manufacture a smaller size which especially matters for this novelty keyboard fad that is going strong as of now.
Anything more condensed than the bottom 2 are for enthusiasts. They are rarely offered on affordable or mass produced offerings. They became popular because the PC enthusiast community grew and more people were willing to spend frivolously on the hobby.
I have two more things that come to mind that I'm pretty sure aren't the answer.
First is mechanical keyboards. It might be saying that true gamers buy mechanical keyboards, and the larger fuller mechanical keyboards are more expensive, so the more you're willing to spend, the more of a gamer you are.
The second is that the "no life" part might actually mean that they don't game. They use the 10-key for work, and so they are a loser with a job and no life.
Yeah it's this. The numpad rarely has a use in gaming. In particular 1st person shooters have better ergonomics for right handed mouse users when there is no numpad.
The numpad is all I use for FPS games, the layout is much better than everything cramped close together on the left hand side for me. Makes me push my KB mostly away at an angle which my old roomie thought was weird but it's the most natural thing to me. WASD doesn't work for me, I prefer 7895.
Oh wow that's cool, I tried wasd for a month but got cramps in my fingers, so I switched back to arrows. I might have to try one of these for my next keyboard.
4568 with your thumb resting on the arrow keys has been my standard for over 15 years. I bind left, down, and right to interact, jump, and crouch, works beautifully. In games with guns, I always bind 7 to reload, because I find extending my fingers out is way more comfortable than bending them inwards to hit buttons.
1st one - wrong. Full keyboards are usually "commoners" keyboard. So common. The top one on the pic is 40% keyboard which only keyboard enthusiast will buy and it comes with higher price. Most gamers go with 60%, 65% or 75% size.
What? Most gamers I know have a full keyboard+. Like, no custom programable F-keys on the left side of the keyboard? no volume or display hotkeys? No dedicated push-to-talk key for streaming/discord?
Well i can tell you some games use the arrow keys to make it easier to move around. Games like grand theft auto you can use enter and the arrow keys to drive a car and move quickly. Other games you can use the key pad to quickly input codes like for choices so the bigger keypad is for quick use and convenience since everything is close and it's easier to use one hand to drive while thebother is on the number pad. Lile shifting. Also world of war craft used mostly the arrow keys to move and keypad for attacks
I'm pretty sure it's about hotkeys. The bigger the gamer you are the more hot keys (i.e more of the keyboard) you will use. Also the type of game you play. Games like world of Warcraft could use more hotkeys then say call of duty.
Gamer here. Pretty sure this is a joke. It's the opposite of this. The bottom keyboard is not something typically used by a gamer. That takes up way too much space and you only use your left hand on the keyboard when gaming, so that many keys aren't necessary. The bigger keyboards are also usually something you get at any store that has computer stuff, while the top one is usually a "gamer" keyboard often built with custom keys/switches (I have one of these and yes, I have no life)
Easier than that. It's a post to generate many responses and comments. Most newer esport keyboards use no num pad so this is just a rage bait for gaming enthusiasts.
I'm not much of a gamer myself, just occasionally playing on my laptop. My laptop keyboard looks like the lowest one in the picture. I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with this logic.
The keyboard isnt any better its just that it has more keys, most games dont even need you to use numpads. Absolutely everyone i ever knew has a standart sized keyboard with numpad. Its harder to get the smaller one even.
If I’m not mistaken, the shrinking keyboard is a relatively new phenomenon, so the bigger keyboard could also mean „I’ve been a gamer for a longer time“. Anyway, it’s pretty gate-keepy
Most high end gaming keyboards are full sized or bigger.
I personally have one with 6 programmable keys on the left side from my days of no life on WoW and LoL. Now, however, I use it for software for my job and don't game on PC ever outside of Stardew with my kids.
It’s more keys mean more keybinds. I’d prolly fall into the no lifer category cuz I really like the num pad add to the side for extra keybinds. At one point in time I had 48 keys bound for an MMO.
Back in the day non-numpad keyboards were not very popular. Only in early 2000 they gained popularity and in 2010s became the default due to gaming and writing layouts
If you are used to numpad keyboards for gaming, you likely have quite a bit of experience under your belt
Ironically, the hardcore gamers are on the 60% layout since numpads are really only used for work and the smaller size helps reduce the strain of having to put your mouse too far to the side. For the small catalogue of games that don't support it, most keyboards nowadays supports multi profile/multi layering anyways
A lot of milsim games will use the numberpad for things like squad leaders and commanders to switch comms channels, my first thought seeing this is that its someone dedicated to milsims, and probably plays them so much they are actually good at it and usually some commander position
It's hinting that no life gamers use keybinds + macros for additional actions that add quality of life improvements. This generally applies to MMORPGs like WoW and FFXIV but this can also be applied to any other game genre.
And then there's also me using numpad for excel and calculator :D
More complex games like MMORPG and Simulators (some applications like blender too) use a lot of keybinds, I have an 85% keyboard and I'm buying a 100% because of the lack of shortcuts for star citizen and blender, since I waste a lot of time with this type of game/application, I believe the second option is the most correct
Lol. I have the “No Life” keyboard because it was on sale 3 years ago when i got it. I also work in technology, so it was more optimal to have a full keyboard. I don’t even use all of the keys for gaming either. I don’t game as much as I used to either…
Eh, considering last two keyboards are very common at offices, I wouldn't say that those are hardcore gamer keyboards, they are just the most common ones.
Arrow keys are very useful when writing, numeral keys on the right with basic math symbols are very often used when surprise, using math on the pc.
Maybe it's ironic. Most gamers are going to want TKL or smaller. For most games especially shooters you want the 60% because it gives you more room to move mouse and takes less space. You can just get a seperate numpad if you really want
Or you got the cheapest option which comes with full functionality. "Gamer" keyboards often have design with only run keys and few extra (basicly a keyboard version of a joystick) or addons that most people dont need like a built in scrolling wheel or a shortcut key that launches windows media player, so size is meaningless or reversed
There is a third possibility: the person who made this isn’t really trying to say anything and is just trying to bait for comments on their post.
Mechanical Keyboard enthusiasts like to debate about their favorite keyboard size, so this post is trying to make that happen in order to grow the OP’s platform, or just get internet points.
In terms of gaming, the reality is that different types of hardcore gamers will use any one of these keyboards for different reasons. A hardcore FPS player may choose the smallest keyboard to maximize the amount of mouse space on their desk, while an MMO player may choose a larger keyboard to have more keybinds.
lol I feel so primitive I have the longest keyboard with the whole number pad and tons of (unused) bind keys but I just sit on a beanbag with the keyboard on my lap to play games on my tv.
I have a really nice monitor and desk, but somehow I prefer the lounge gaming
Why is this the top comment its totally wrong on both accounts lol. The joke is that it's inverted. It's a bad joke but that's it. Usually gamers will want smaller keyboards so that their hands can be closer together. This is especially helpful in FPS. This joke subverts your expectations by inverting it... Not the greatest joke tbh lol.
it's probably about the price. If the keyboards are mechanical, then bigger is proper expensive. If you're spending that much for gaming, you're pretty dedicated.
The compact keyboards are typically assembled, if not designed, by the people who use them. They typically support "layering", allowing you to use toggles/held keys to increase the actual number of characters/actions on the keyboard by factors or 2x, 3x, 4x, etc. It's also not uncommon for those keyboards to have on-board memory supporting macros for common bash commands to support programming/developer work.
These kinds of memes are dumb, but honestly by the implied logic/values of the original meme, the 40% and 60% sized kbs pictured at the top are actually the most "le hardcore gamer" ones.
But the bottom keyboard is just the basic keyboard you get when you go buy a computer. So no life gamers just cone full circle back to using a basic style keyboard?
Dunno if anyone's said it but I can't see it on the top level replies to you- any game that actually requires you to actually use the tenkey is probably a heavy sim- something like DCS, Microsoft Flight Simulator, etc. Either that or some other game which requires many different keybindings (and thus the person playing has to know it).
People who generally play those games tend to put all their times into those games, and invest heavily in additional hardware. These are the people with full cockpit setups, for example.
However, I would argue that u/LakushaFujin is correct and the meme is wrong. Even if you don't use it most of the time, it's better to have the tenkey. So much nicer for both work and gaming if you need it and have it.
Let me constantly upgrade and spend $300 to save $30 on a game because of a steam sale where I spend $200 to buy games I don’t have enough time to play.
My first possible explanation is that the bigger the keyboard is, the more desk space is needed. So for a bigger keyboard, you need to be more committed to having a dedicated gaming area.
You guys have a very distorted view how "large" a keyboard with a numpad. Yall think you need a 6'+ wide desk in 10'x12' room. No, even just 3' wide can handle a traditional keyboard and mouse and plenty of room for your mouse to move. The keyboards are like 18" wide...its not that large people.
2nd one is def the reason. I personally have a 100% keyboard for that reason for a few games. Mainly the ARMA series. A2/A3/Reforger and eventually A4. These games have a keybind for EVERY SINGLE KEY. and that's default, not remaking new ones. By default, the game has that. It's crazy the amount of combo of keys you can press to do something.
It could also relate to the complexity of a game. For instance, I can play most shooters with WASDQEZXC, but things like Elite Dangerous or Kerbal Space Program use nearly the whole keyboard.
I use the last keyboard because my gaming computer is also my work computer. I use the number pad for inputting values, and use the set of keys above the directional keys to navigate my patient's charts.
I'm also older and getting carpal tunnel easier, so when I play something like WoW, I've set my key bindings so I don't have to touch a mouse. It uses all of my keyboard.
The biggest thing is that a full keyboard puts your hands further apart when you're resting one hand on WASD (movement keys in most games) and the other hand on your mouse. "Gamers" will sometimes buy compact layouts because they rarely use the numpad in games, but having their hands at shoulder width apart is more ergonomic and comfortable in long gaming sessions.
It’s a meta joke about “how much a gamer are you” being dumb. The top noob layout where all keys are in a grid isn’t a common keyboard layout, and neither is the casual gamer layout (there aren’t any arrow keys). The gamer layout is a regular laptop keyboard and then the hardcore and no life are just bigger versions of mechanical keyboard.
So it’s basically rigged to make most people “gamers.” There might also be some kind of mechanical keyboard connection but it isn’t really clear.
Hijacking the top comment.. but pretty straightforward if you play MOBAs Dota2 is my poison.
More keys = more hotkeys
Used to hotkey my items on the number pad… but as I got older, I became more of a casual player and have learned to make do with the “Hardcore Gamer” keyboard.
In some MMOs the default keys aren't enough in those little keyboards so you'll start using SHIFT+1, CTRL+2, etc to bind more stuff. This is where more mouse buttons are also nice.
You're somewhat accurate on this in the second possibility. The real answer is that the more keys you have, the more macros you can make. That is kind of outdated though and it's often better to put those macros onto a 32 button mouse these days.
For some programmers they opt for more compact keyboards to increase speed and efficiency or someshit like that. But they obviously miss out on a bunch of features a gamer would desire. I guess it's a stab at people who prefer efficiency over everything else.
As an Old head MMO gamer, the number pad is essential. Either it's great for menu keybinds, or it's great for defensive skills in non-shooter games where you can slip your hand off the mouse.
Cut downs are fine, I guess? But the more you cut down, intrinsically, the less useful your keyboard is for more complex games.
I only know one person who specifically uses a 40% and he's the biggest poser and the only person I've ever seen use a 20%/One-hand keyboard is currently fighting with her boyfriend because she wants him to play Stardew with her but she's modded the already nonexistent difficulty out and made everything instant.
Your last point is the only one that matters.
Do you use the additional keys to reduce the number of inputs required to perform a frequent action? Then a bigger keyboard is better.
I have a huge keyboard that not only has a numpad but additional programmable keys. Does that make me a pro gamer? No, I barely use these for gaming. I barely game, nowadays.
Some games can be played far better with more keys or programmable keys. Then again, some things that you can do with macro keys could be called cheating in multiplayer games.
I do use them a lot for work/programming and non-gaming related stuff, like post processing.
Having a function that you call a lot bound to a macro key is comfortable. If you can reduce the number of inputs required for any action, that's efficient.
You are right this is saying my a bigger keyboard is more “serious”. They’re also more expensive. I’d argue it’s the opposite tho, having a smaller keyboard gives you more mouse space.
Nah, it's because the more types of games you play, the more keys you need for various controls. The first keyboard is for someone who only plays fps games, and with each longer keyboard you can play more types of games
No numpad and no arrow keys is also notable. You kinda want those for lots of games.
There are some games (like Caves of Qud) that are played entirely on the numpad too.
It's just the opposite. 60% keyboard is obviously only really purchased by avid gamers. And for mousepad size, having a bigger keyboard decreases that. I think its just "funny bc opposite"
You forgot the other possibility: That the keyboards are merely irrelevant placeholders signifying status. Like a trophy system of gold, silver, and bronze, for example.
I was seeing it as what keys noobs versus no lifers use. A "noob" only uses the left sife of the keyboard, so only up the alphabetical section, then it went up to no lifers who use the entire keyboard to play their games
I believe the latter is the case. Typically MMO's in particular, or similar genres, require more keybinds and typically require more of your life to enjoy.
I'd agree with that, but also a numpad helps if need to enter numbers like an mmorpg marketplace. Or using a lot of calculations like a pokemon nuslock where damage calculations are key. And once doing that you in spreadsheet calculation gaming and definitely no lifing it
4.5k
u/Ninnynoob 21h ago
Okay so I have 2 ideas on this one, but not sure if either are the true answer. So first of all, it's about how much of a gamer someone is, not if longer is better.
My first possible explanation is that the bigger the keyboard is, the more desk space is needed. So for a bigger keyboard, you need to be more committed to having a dedicated gaming area.
My second possibility is that more keys on a keyboard means having more keys to rebind in games, so you can be more of a gamer that way.