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General Discussion / Re: Xim becoming less relevant with new gen consoles.
« on: 03:32 PM - 12/01/20 »Honestly,
with new gen consoles supporting native keyboard and mouse input out of the box and it working really well, I think the majority of ppl who want to play on consoles with keyboard and mouse, will just use the native input method.
The main downside of using native input is that you lose aim assist, but this is not as big of a deal as many people think if you tweak your mouse sensitivity properly for hip + ads. On xim it is a bigger deal if you didnt have aim assist, because it basically "emulates" controller input at the end of the day, but with native input method its not as big of a deal if you dont have aim assist.
The advantage of using native input method though is that the aiming feels significantly better and more precise, and you dont have that initial slow kinda acceleration like feeling when you move your mouse using a XIM. On top of that, with native KBM input, you have no turn speed limit, and because of that alone, the general feel is way more natural and kinda free of the chains that you have when using XIM + having a turn speed limit.
Now there are some other scenarios where xim would still make sense, like if you want to use a Sony Nav + mouse to play games and such, or ppl who want to play campaign games like Tomb Raider/Uncharted etc. with keyboard + mouse, but I figure those cases will be the vast minority.
It is simply a fact that with this new gen, xim is on the lowest level of relevancy compared to the last 2 console gens. Now we have very solid implementations of native Keyboard and Mouse input in multiple games, and going into the future even more games will have that feature (more single player games too).
If you compare games like Modern Warfare 19 (+ Warzone) and Cold War running at 120fps + native keyboard and mouse input- it feels like PC literally. Compare that to Unreal Tournament 3 on PS3 back in the day, which was one of the first games to support KBM natively and it ran at 30fps- thats day and night difference. All KBM implementations on consoles before Fortnite and Modern Warfare 19 were pretty bad, but now we have proper implementations that work amazingly well.
So once again, from here on out, the XIM will get more irrelevant by the day.
And sure I know, some whiteknights will come in here arguing and pointing out all sorts of nieche examples that are not possible with native KBM implementations in the games and while those examples might be true, the playerbase that REALLY uses thoe nieche scenarios is really small. The majority of xim users were playing COD, Battlefield, Halo etc. with just a simple keyboard and mouse and nothing else. Well, now it works natively on consoles and much better than the xim could ever do, because it is limited to controller input mechanics (acceleration at different right stick positions, limited turn speed, weird XY ratio that needs to be corrected, same as the acceleration needs to be corrected, weird right stick dead zone shapes that need to be corrected etc.).
The fact of the matter is, even the biggest XIM fanboys and whiteknights will aknowledge this deep inside, that the XIM is at the most irrelevant state of its existency in year 2020 and the irrelevance will just keep growing from here on out. I know it, you know it, xim devs know it- everyone knows it. Denying this fact wouldnt change anything.
And its not even because the product itself got worse or stagnated. The reason for that is that game devs and console manufacturers did a great job of adding native KBM support to consoles and games.
I appreciate this, and enjoyed reading it, as you're a great writer.
With that said, I have had similar thoughts to you. I think the biggest hurdle that I have faced with being a long-time XIM user, moving over to native PC (I am only a CoD player, that is it, that is all), is, at times, I am at a disadvantage against controller players, with now very strong AA in CW (I am not discounting the advantages that native gives you).
It was interesting. After about 4K+ hours playing BO4 on the XIM, I eventually got my PC built and wondered how I would do on native, for the first time in my life. And well, you're right, the movement felt amazing, almost like I had AA, and simply forgot about it while playing. Needless to say, a lot of my efforts on the XIM translated over, and more times then not, outgunned my 1v1 gunfights against lvl1000's Twitch Streamer Tryhards.
That said, I noticed something. Having played the game so much, I knew when I would die and it what scenarios, and I noticed, on PC, I wasn't dying when my mind had already told me I was dead, and it was simply because, my theory is, on average, to a greater or lesser degree, native PC players don't land as many shots as console controller players. When I would get tagged many of the times on console, I knew I was dead, when I was tagged on native, I would make it out alive many of the times.
So, the question I ask myself, and I am sure that many are, is.... is playing with the xim, with all restrictions and downsides that comes along with it, WITH AA, more advantageous than playing on native without AA with the upsides it brings in mixed lobbies? There isn't an easy answer because we are all not created equal. I do know that with my BO4 experience, me, with 4K+ hours, tons of solo nukes, tons of league play, tons of 1v1's, between XBOX, PS4, and PC, most likely in the top 3 in overall kills, on native vs just console players I would be at a disadvantage.
In playing Cold War, a mix of using the XIM on PC, and Native, I can confidently say that a XIM on PC (again, despite the downsides) have an advantage over native PC players (again with all the upsides), JUST BECAUSE the AA is so strong. And I can say playing on native (I am not a veteran) in mixed lobbies, I still feel like the XIM has an advantage, and with my point in all this, is I still think the XIM has a place for people who like the junk food diet. For me, I feel using the XIM when you have an opportunity to play native, tastes so good in the moment. Its what we know, its what were used to, its what were passionate about, however, in the long run I feel with time, persistence, and practice, the pros will outweigh the cons of going native, and your aim will get better without having to deal with a xim and AA bubbles, etc etc, and not to mention having to have 2 mice, 2 kb's to navigate a PC lol
I would admit that spending too much time watching Symph, PWNstarz, NateGibson etc play CW has created bias, in that I see them losing their 1v1's against randoms, and also complaining about how strong AA is. I mean, they better than me, so what makes me think that me going native, I am not going to run into far more scenarios?
That said, the xim on PC is a junk food diet vs the clean diet, and sadly at the moment, I am liking the junk food diet, however, I can see myself dredging up the time and energy, and some point, to commit to the change (the clean diet lol).
Generally speaking, as a whole, do you feel like native has an advantage over the strong AA we are seeing these days, coupled with SBMM?
Appreciate the chat and topic.
Cheers,
SB