Mouse Problem Or "Me" Problem?

Off-Topic Games, Gaming and Hardware
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I really hope some folks my age (70) will respond, but as always, all responses are welcome and appreciated.

I currently use a wired “normal” mouse, and I suspect in a younger person’s hands it would work just fine, but in mine, using it is really a problem.

First , using the “action” buttons on my bottom bar: As I’m fighting, my cursor is apt to slide off the particular button I am using, and unless I look down at it and rigidly hold it there, it will slide off and no action takes place or the wrong action happens.

Do my hands shake? No, not normally, but while playing, they may shake a little simply because of the anticpation of the “sliding off the mark” problem.

The other cursor problem I have is in “target” areas on the mini-map, where one chooses the particular quest one wants to pursue. Yes, I also have poor eye sight, but unless I really take my time and “place” the cursor right on the “mark”, I am apt to miss it. This doesn’t only happen in choosing quests, but anywhere I have to make a choice which requires the placing of the cursor and clicking.

Okay, those are the problems. Here is what I’ve done to find solutions:

  1. Currently trying an “easier sliding” mouse pad, so I can “get to” my target area quicker.

  2. Forget about the “action” up top (between “me” and the enemy NPC’s) and concentrate on moving and holding in place the cursor along the action bar.

  3. I just ordered a “vertical/ergonomic” wireless mouse to see if I can solve my difficulties that way.

But perhaps maybe one of you, who may have had a similar problems, have found solutions which have not occurred to me?

I really like my screen at 1176x664. It is aesthetically pleasing and allows me to see my land and seascapes just the way I want. It’s just the “close-up” stuff I am finding difficult.

My monitor size is 30" diagonal and I am currently playing with a GTX1660 Super graphics card, which was recommended here and is one of the best technical investments I have made since coming online in 1990.

Thanks as always for taking the time to read and hopefully offering your advice which I always find valuable!

Bill

2

The game will be a lot more playable if you use the keyboard to activate abilities on your actions bars.

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I notice this happening to me after lifting weights or doing strenuous activity, or after writing a long time.

I’m only 40, but I do have mild arthritis and carpal tunnel in my right hand.

I will “overclick” or “overmove” my mouse sometimes and i think this sounds somewhat like what you’re describing. I recommend using the keyboard shortcuts as well.

I generally program local keys to my left hand side, such as R, T, Y, F, and G to commonly used abilities. This seems to work a lot better than clicking.

I also assign short cooldowns to my F keys which helps as well.

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Other than also suggesting you use keybinds for abilities perhaps a mouse with an adjustable DPI could help.
DPI (dots per inch) is essentially the sensitivity of the mouse to your movements, a lot of ‘gaming’ mice will have quick adjustment buttons to change DPI on thy fly. If you use a lower setting then and small movements will hardly move the cursor. The flip side to this is you need to make large movements to move the mouse around the screen.

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Also just thought perhaps your mousepad is a problem. If you’re not using a proper mouse pad the mice can start moving on their own die to a poor surface. My mouse will sometimes start tracking the cursor in a direction without me touching it. Never happens when I have the mouse on a good pad

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Thanks folks - I really appreciate the replies. I wanted to mention a couple of things which I forgot earlier and which may help you to help me better.

  1. The mouse I am now using is a “PicTek” T16 wired gaming mouse with adjustable DPI. Only thing is, I don’t have a manual or cd to show me how this is done.

  2. “I will “overclick” or “overmove” my mouse sometimes and i think this sounds somewhat like what you’re describing…”

This is exactly how I meant to describe what is going on, Salestria, thank you!

  1. I have heard of “key-binding” , everyone, but I am memory-challenged and depending on how many keys are involved, there may be a “lag” on my part in choosing the correct key (s). Also, does key-binding mean the entire game is now key-dependent and no mouse interaction is required?

In conclusion, when I originally bought this mouse, I had no idea about adjustable DPI. I thought it was “plug and play” and that was fine with me.

I hope this tells a little more of the “story”, and how frustrating “overclicking” and “overmoving” the mouse/cursor is.

If vision plays a role in this, I do have cataracts and was scheduled for surgery, but the VA stopped scheduled elective surgeries when Covid-19 began.

Thanks once again for your patience and kindness!

Bill

PS: Cadmeister, the mousepad is fine. Just wish I had y’all here looking over my shoulder as I play. I bet we could solve this problem in three minutes!

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I looked up your mouse and it indeed as on the fly DPI adjustment. The 2 buttons behind the scroll wheel are for DPI up and down, there are factory preset values of 1200/2400/3500/5500/7200 for this. So try that and see if it helps, just remember that slowing down your cursor movement will obviously slow your gameplay.
I also found this short video review of your mouse which goes over all the buttons and shows the software and how to adjust the DPI presets and RGB, if that’s something you would like to do.

I only brought up the mouse pad as a possibility as I found my dad was complaining about his mouse doing strange things and a pad fixed it for him.

Hope this helps in some way.

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Instead of fiddling with your mouse, or mousepad, you should look at your UI.

You’re a clicker. Which is fine, you’re 70, you just want to run around and explore. Instead of clicking spells on the bottom bar, set them up on the side of your screen, which is an option under the settings.

Then look into simply making the buttons bigger. I’m pretty sure the default UI has a scaling setting to do this. That way you can cast your abilties while still seeing most of the action without looking down. I think this also makes the Quest objectives text larger, not sure.

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Hi again, Shrew and Cadmeister. I don’t mean to ignore any of you, it’s just that these days, answering hits me a bit later than it usually does. I do get to it eventually, though, so please excuse the “lag” (so to speak). Cad, I did take a look at the cursor movement, and it does help some, so thank you!

Also, Shrew — all my available spaces were taken up and I couldn’t figure out how to do the action bars on the side instead of the bottom. Still working on it, though.

I finally found a good way to describe what’s going on with the cursor. It’s akin to steering a car - whereby one must make constant minute adjustments in order to keep it moving straight. (lol).

One place I REALLY notice this happening, is with “Nola”, that fickle turtle lady who can never decide if she wants to save the turtles or the crabs. When I’m saving turtles, the cursor really travels, and if I’m not careful it will move all the way OFF the action bar. Gotta watch it all the time.

Thanks again for caring enough to help make the game much more enjoyable! I hope ALL of you are staying safe and healthy!

Bill

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Settings…Interface options…Action bars…Show Right Action bar (check box
on both show right action bar 1, and 2).

Instead of trying to click the mouse on abilities. I would try to get
yourself use to clicking keyboard buttons to use abilities.
I have all abilities on the number key pad.
When I play, those are the only keys on the keyboard I use.
That way, you dont have to worry about the mouse not being on
the ability.