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Does anyone actually like the L3/R3 analog clicks? Who do we have to "thank" for this?

LS/RS clickies?

  • Yea

  • Nay

  • LS-only

  • RS-only

  • Meh...?

Results are only viewable after voting.
SixelAlexiS

SixelAlexiS

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,723
Italy
I refuse to use L3 to sprint, feels terrible and ruin the stick.
Gladly on PS4/PS5 you can swap buttons so I put the sprint on R3 since you can easily use it in rest position.
Sadly on PS5 there is no quick way to enable/disable the button swap it like with PS4 and quick menu... what a shitty OS, makes almost everything worse then PS4... but well, that's another topic.
 
Lashley

Lashley

<<Tag Here>>
Member
Oct 25, 2017
59,936
I hate it when I need to hold L3 to run or whatever, but it isn't really a big deal to me
 
nampad

nampad

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,238
I like it, it's another button that's easily reachable. Sure, the click is not as satisfying as a real button but for the functions it serves most of the time (run toggle, shoulder switch toggle etc.) it is well enough.

Not having it would be way worse. And I know this because Apple was so stupid to not include them in their mFI layout when they first updated their controller support. I still can't believe they thought it would be smart to move away from industry standards for gaming.
 
Terraforce

Terraforce

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
18,917
It's not like using a normal button. A vast majority of games either don't use them, or require them for very minor uses. I don't see how it's a problem at all.
 
shoptroll

shoptroll

Member
May 29, 2018
3,680
I hate these button inputs with a passion. It feels awkward and it's rarely a critical function in the games I've played. If I had to choose to get rid of thumbstick buttons or motion controls, I'd easily pick the buttons.

Grifter said:
It's Sony, isn't it?
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I'm pretty sure this became "a thing" during the PS2 era? I don't remember if the DS1 had clickable thumbsticks but I seem to recall something on the PS2 made use of them.
 
Svejk

Svejk

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
699
Clicking L3 in to go from running to dashing feels as natural as pressing a button for jumping.
 
Kneefoil

Kneefoil

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,447
Don't like holding them, but the actual clicking of them can feel/sound satisfying. It varies from controller to controller, though.
 
buttzilla

buttzilla

Member
Sep 9, 2020
1,387
bushmonkey said:
When Ape Escape first came out on PS1, I have to admit that it took e a few days to understand what the game was asking when it said 'click L3'. I had no idea what L3 was, I didn't realise you could click down the analog sticks and that it would register as a button.
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Duxxy3 said:
First title that comes to mind is Ape Escape.
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After some google-fu this is what I'm finding too, Ape Escape as the first PS1 game to use L3 to make the character crawl.
 
Trieu

Trieu

Member
Feb 22, 2019
1,774
It is the worst. I only "don't mind" it when some non combat relevant stuff is on it.

The worst is sprinting or holding it down for sprinting. I would prefer pedals on the back
 
ManNR

ManNR

Member
Feb 13, 2019
2,962
I do not like them. The issues outweigh the benefits. You lose precision of movement when clicking the stick, the stick button adds to the failure-rate of the stick itself, a new gamer has to be told the button exists in the first place.

Back paddles deserve to be standardized.
 
OP
OP
Grifter

Grifter

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,571
Strings said:
Yeah, I've always found them really useful and natural? Iunno, it's one of the things people bring up here that I never get, though I'm really comfortable playing with a claw grip too.
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Claw grip makes perfect sense! On old paddle controllers. If you're clawing at the nub stick + trigger, rip.
 
Lube Man

Lube Man

Alt-Account
Banned
Jan 18, 2021
1,247
Its all fun and games until you're playing a shooter, you see an enemy, you move your right stick to aim and you accidentally press R3. Cue the melee and the grunting "UGH!" to lock you in an animation while the enemy turns around and shoots you.

ABSOLUTELY HATE IT. Take bumpers over stick clicks any day.

ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT when me and opponent cross a door, and I accidentally get a panic melee kill that I never intended, with the enemy screaming "HOWWWWW!?". Wish I knew how, buddy. Wish I knew how...
 
antitrop

antitrop

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,585
I've only disliked it in Call of Duty, where the quickness that you run out of stamina forces you to click that stick in way more than I would ever want to.
 
leder

leder

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,111
I hate it. GameCube clicking triggers were a much better nonsense button addition for that gen, but didn't catch on.
 
JoshuaJSlone

JoshuaJSlone

Member
Dec 27, 2017
715
Indiana
They're fine if not used stupidly. Having put a combined zillion hours into Elder Scrolls / Fallout / Minecraft, why would I want to use some other button to crouch rather than just being able to toggle it with a stick click?
 
Kyle Cross

Kyle Cross

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,413
I love them, it's very natural for me and I'm glad they're there. I have all my movement abilities in Overwatch mapped to clicking in the left stick, as that's the movement stick after all. Even if paddles were added to the controller, I wouldn't stop using L3+R3. Those paddles would just be extra buttons I can map something else to now.
 
cakely

cakely

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,149
Chicago
Not a fan unless it's an additional button for something that happens very rarely in a game, and not while you're tilting the stick while you're clicking it.

L3 to sprint and R3 to duck is terrible and breaks controllers.
 
RaySpencer

RaySpencer

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,644
Can't think of any game makes you hold L3 down to sprint. I know they existed like over a decade ago, but has any game relatively recently done this?? What game?
 
Lork

Lork

Member
Oct 25, 2017
843
I see lots of people saying that stick clicking causes analog drift, but is there any actual evidence of this?

Beyond just "It subjectively feels wrong to do, and my friend's brother's teacher's uncle pressed R3 and now his stick drifts like crazy!", I mean.
 
HiLife

HiLife

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
39,622
I think it makes my controller analog drift a lot sooner than if I were playing games that didn't need it wouldn't it? It's just another action you're doing to wear it down. So no, I don't like it if it's constantly used (sprinting).

I do like clicking in the right thumb stick to zoom in on guns.
 
Doskoi Panda

Doskoi Panda

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,940
Game mechanics advanced massively in terms of complexity and in terms of what is demanded from the player over the last 20 years

Controllers on the other hand haven't changed all that much since the first Dualshock in the grand scheme of things

if you want less stick clicking, then become an advocate for new control solutions
 
Jumpman23

Jumpman23

Member
Nov 14, 2017
1,000
L3 & R3 were introduced with the PS1 Dual Shock controller. It was one of the additions along with Rumble. Few games utilized it early on but I'd consider it a console controller staple at this point.
 
Teepo671

Teepo671

Member
Nov 1, 2017
2,707
Guam
Lork said:
I see lots of people saying that stick clicking causes analog drift, but is there any actual evidence of this?

Beyond just "It subjectively feels wrong to do, and my friend's brother's teacher's uncle pressed R3 and now his stick drifts like crazy!", I mean.
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Yeah, I'm wondering about this too. Analog clicking has been around since PSX days and I've never had drifting issues with any of my controllers up until I got ahold of a Switch.
 
Alek

Alek

Games User Researcher
Verified
Oct 28, 2017
8,467
StrappingYoungLance said:
Games very rarely ask you to hold down L3 or R3 to run today, it's a press of the button and then push in the direction. Every time someone complains about this I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

But also - Sony/MS should have done away with L3/R3 and moved to back buttons/paddles instead of saving them for their overpriced controllers/accessories.
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Only one I can think of is Everspace on PS4 where you use it to boost. Completely ruins the game for me though.
 
King_Moc

King_Moc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,126
I'm not really a fan. I think Ape Escape was the first game I recall really using them? Could be wrong, it's a long time ago now.
 
Freeglader

Freeglader

Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 13, 2017
825
I love those buttons and I wished more games used them. I especially like being able to use L3 to sprint without having to take my thumbs off either stick.
 

Deleted member 8463

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
6,261
I started to think that heavy use of these buttons, e.g. in FPS games was contributing towards them drifting so I'm now pretty conscious about it. Don't mind if it's for an action that I do rarely, but for regular presses like running, I'll rebind.
 

Deleted member 91227

Feb 4, 2021
5,002
Don't like it much, even less since it seems tied to drift issues (though thankfully I haven't hit any drift issues with any controllers I've owned so far).

That said, back buttons doesn't really solve it for me either. In most games I use them I want those set to jump and melee so I can keep my thumb on the right stick more often for aiming. I tried using all 4 paddles on my Xbox Elite and I just couldn't wrap my brain around that many buttons down their and found it awkward to hold the controller without accidentally pressing them.
 
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