Something has been bothering me for quite a long time and I figured this would be a good place to ask some of you how you feel about this.

Why are the WASD keys the default method for controlling movement in (predominantly) first person oriented games?

Don't get me wrong, I understand the concept fully that it is most efficient to have your movement keys on your left hand thus freeing up your right hand to control the mouse (well, at least for righties... I have no idea what you southpaws do).

Here's my whole argument though. On EVERY SINGLE first person oriented game, I end up changing the movement keys to ESDF. If you look at your keyboard, just imagine each key is as normal on a WASD setup...except each key is mapped to the key on its right. i.e. E is used to move foward, S is used to strafe left, etc...

There are two main benefits to this over the WASD method that I can immediately point to:

1. Your index finger rests on the F key which most keyboards provide a small 'nub' as a physical indicator that your fingers are in the correct position. This provides an easy reference for accurate hand re-placement in the case of beverage consumption without having to glance down at your keyboard thus giving your competition ample time to commence ass-rapage. Now, perhaps you WASD'ers also keep your index finger on your F key and instead of using your middle finger for moving forward...you instead use your ring finger on the W key. This boggles my mind because, at least for me, that feels infinitely more uncomfortable than using your middle finger for moving forward (which tends to be the button that is pressed most often).

2. Again, assuming your left hand in proper typing position with pointer finger on F and middle finger on D... this gives you more real estate for key bindings of the typical letter keys around your left hand that you would if your hand is shifted over one key to use the WASD setup. When I place my left hand on a WASD setup, my pinky finger is resting on the Caps Lock key. There is no button immediately to the left of the Caps Lock key (or upper/lower left) thus removing three potential keys from keybinding.

WASD just seems so wrong. If that's what you've used for gaming... give ESDF a shot and let me know what you think. I think it's more comfortable, easier to execute quick re-placement thanks to the 'nub', and provides more keybinding real estate.