Wait.. when was the last time WASD was not common controls? I honestly can't remember the last time a game had the arrow keys as default. So whats so hard about using wasd? The placement is the same as the arrow except it's on a more logical point of the keyboard. Access to other keys on the board is much more logical and just easier all around.

Maybe he's a war hero, and lost his left hand in Iraq, and you're just hurting his feelings? ;p

Just about every game I've played in the last couple of years, except the old games, don't use WASD, they usually use the mouse alone or occasionally the mouse and arrow keys. WASD is not remotely intuitive for me. It's too high a placement on the keyboard, which makes me wrist hurt after just 15 minutes of gameplay.

I don't mind as much it if you can reset the configuration to more reasonable keys but on some games it's not possible. Take the LEGO Harry Potter for instance. You have a choice of changing configuration but can't change to the arrow keys, so you're still stuck with letter keys. I've always hated this way of gameplay. It's clunky and, when you're in the middle of a battle, it's far too easy to hit the wrong keys. If LEGO HP wasn't such an amazing game, I would have dumped it after the first few minutes.

I tend to ditch games quickly that insist on that configuration as it's not a remotely comfortable game configuration for me. Especially in a game that's 30 hours or more.

When it's possible to maneover by just using a mouse, with occasional arrows, I'm amazed designers of newer games still use WASD.
SHE :)

Oh, sorry madam, I'm still not used to seeing a woman on gaming forums ;-)

it says Yeah I'm a girl under her name

It is possible to change the key bindings in Legend of Grimrock and therefore use the arrow keys. It is also possible to activate movement buttons on the screen to move with the mouse (like a touchscreen keyboard).

Worst game?It's difficult XD
I'm plenty of ugly games from several bundle XD

I know this seems silly but you sure you don't need a better keyboard? If you're getting strain on your wrist from typing/gaming you could probably do with a softer, lower style keyboard with a wrist support.

I play drums and have had a good few reoccuring injuries that can make typing on a normal keyboard hurt my wrists. a nice bit of support (and usually abit extra cash lol) can make a difference.

Just call everyone in the third person plural. If it works for me, it can work for them.

Hm, I can relate to having different preferences and wishing for more customization, but does the sole use of WASD really degrade a game to one of the worst you own? Personally, I'd find it really annoying to play a dungeon crawler with mouse only and having to click every time I want to turn around by 90 degree, or to hectically click on the screen for each step in order to run away from an overpowering opponent ... In these games the use of the keyboard has the advantage that you can fight and move at the same time; with mouse only, you'd have to constantly switch between the fight buttons and the movement buttons.

Just because you have hardly played any games using WASD doesn't mean it's not common. Most shooters and 3D adventures use them nowadays, and you're missing out on some really great games (like Bloodlines, for example!) if the use of WASD is enough to put you off. Then again, tastes differ. :)

Personally I prefer arrows because they are over there by themselves and easier for your fingers to find, whenever I try WASD I find that I've accidentally drifted to ESDF or something!
And no I've never be a touch typist or guitar player, I can see the advantage for people who do have the fine spacial awareness though
I think it sucks when games don't let you re-configure controls though, whether they are arrow or WASD based and it's just shocking that some games still don't have the option in this day and age - there's just no excuse and its usually a symptom of a rushed and botched port!

Sherlock Holmes would probably conclude that most probably you are a girl of small build and your hands are small with short and slender fingers. That would fit perfectly to symptoms you've just described. The question is... would Sherlock be right? ;)

If I read everything that I written under everybody's name, It would mean I have too much free time. Well, I already do :P

I actually used to prefer the arrow keys, too, but you get used to everything and now it's the other way around for me, especially with games that combine keyboard and mouse. If you have the the right hand on the mouse and the left hand on the arrow keys, it becomes difficult to reach other required keys. You might still manage to use Shift and Ctrl, maybe Alt, but Space is pretty much out of reach then, and many games use that for jumping, for example. Anyway, in Grimrock the arrow keys would work fine, I guess, but I understood that Bloodygoodgames would prefer to do everything with the mouse alone?

THAT :)

I always end up bashing away at the wrong keys plus slamming my wrist against the wrist rest while I'm at it (and the person who invented wide wrist rests should be shot :)

Oh and I'm a "touch typist" (my parents insisted I do a 2 year Private Secretarial degree before I went to university - best thing I ever did!) and I still get the wrong keys in the heat of battle.
I KNOW I need a better keyboard :)

I'm currently using a laptop I bought in Spain a few months ago. All the new laptops now seem to come with really wide wrist rests and I freakin HATE wrist rests. So....by the time I reach WASD, my wrist and half of my arm, it seems like, is already resting on the wrist rest which HURTS.

Need to buy another plug in keyboard but my desk is already so jammed full of stuff I don't know where I'd put it. And then I couldn't play games lying in bed with my laptop on my knees :)