I Will trade you My P's for your E's

Quick Keys and control Groups are common these days. Most games have input layouts that are sure to have your in game character or minions dancing as if they where under mind control. The original Starcraft was not the first game to have them, but it may be one of the few games that demanded you learn them unless you wanted to get steam rolled by Zerglings.

However not all the Quick keys where in reach of the left hand's natural ASDF resting spot. The race that had the most bizarre layout was the Protoss who had the P key as the quick key for the Workers and Pylon but the A key for the  Assimilator. Players had to learn to adopt special keyboard hand positions that where sure to make any typing teacher cringe.

It was this lay out that made me play Terran and Zerg more then Protoss when I first started out. But then as time went by I began to get the urge to play as Protoss and I too learned to break the many rules my keyboard teacher taught me.

Ever  since Warcraft III, I think Blizzard understood that many people these days don't like to change their natural left hand position. So When I first tried Protoss in beta, I was frustrated to find that I was hitting the P key over and over and thinking why the hell was my Nexus not building any probes. Then I looked at my display and found that they had changed it from "P" to "E".  Then I read the key for the Pylon, which strangely was also E, but then anything was better then going back to "P" again.

Of  course the Protoss are not the only ones to get a change. Many of the units and buildings are now built with the left hand near the natural typing position, but I think Protoss players will be the most happy. But as far as pro gamers go, I think a few of them may be a bit apprehensive about the new lay out as it puts a damper on their keyboard skills by making it so people don't have to learn quirky hand positions. But then maybe that will mean more awesome replays in the future. Who can say.