Duke 3d was the first time I used it, except I used the number pad instead of WASD.

When I played Duke there was no mouse so I actually had to relearn it with WASD later on. I think I started using it during my introduction into modern day space shooters ie Freespace and Freespace 2. I never could have functioned I those games without it.

I did that at one point too, I won't criticize... much! :P

I believe Blackie Lawless invented WASD.

No, wait...that was WASP.

Citation needed.

This is not my experience. I can blindly find wasd very quickly by putting my pinky on the bottom leftmost key (ctrl) and moving my other fingers up until they all hit normal sized keys. I also find I can hit tab, caps, shift, and ctrl without disturbing my other 4 fingers by bringing my arm+elbow out slightly. More keys can be reached if I lift my ring finger.

I am unsure of the ergonomic benefits of having all fingers on the same row if you have to use multiple fingers on the same hand at the same time.

Well, this is a starting point anyway:

"Several alternatives to QWERTY have been developed over the years, claimed by their designers and users to be more efficient, intuitive and ergonomic. Nevertheless, none has seen widespread adoption, partly due to the sheer dominance of available keyboards and training. Although some studies have suggested that some of these may allow for faster typing speeds, many other studies have failed to do so, and many of the studies claiming improved typing speeds were severely methodologically flawed or deliberately biased, such as the studies administered by Dvorak himself before and after World War II. Economists Stan Liebowitz and Stephen E Margolis have noted that rigorous studies are inconclusive as to whether they actually offer any real benefits."

Liebowitz, Stan; Margolis, Stephen E. (1990), "The Fable of the Keys", Journal of Law and Economics 33 (1): 1–26, doi:10.1086/467198

Yeah, original System Shock had similar system as Ultima Underworld, ie. you moved a cursor on the screen with mouse. You didn't move your view with the mouse, even though technically you did aim with it on the screen.

The real mouseaim to System Shock was introduced with the System Shock Portable remake, and yeah it does make the game more playable. It has to be often switched off in order to do other stuff with the mouse in the game, but there is a hotkey to keep enabling and disabling it ingame whenever you want.

Is it the same as pressing tab to switch between pointer and freelook in System Shock 2? I think that worked out very well.

+1!
I'm not a WASP fan but that is one hell of a reference to pull out of thin air! I'll bet most of the folks round these parts have never heard that name. Color me VERY impressed!

Funnily enough, I was first introduced to the notion of ESDF controls, courtesy of the local Quake deities. When I adopted mouselook myself, I opted for WASD and thought it as my own invention, only later did I see it applied by default in newer games and realised I'd been scooped :P

Ironically, I think ESDF might actually be superior, as it allows for better use of the pinky and easily defaults to homerow typing. WASD, however, has a clear advantage on most laptops - it avoids the touchpad ;)

I meant everywhere actually, but I was trying to sound like a "good ol boy". There are a lot of self confessed hard rock fans who would have troble placing Blackie. As far as where I live!? Yeah! it's all polka and country up here. I wouldn't be surprised if someone up here had trouble placing John Lennon.

What?! There's people who don't know the Rolling Stones?!

You silly person. Everyone knows John Lennon was the guy playing that wizard kid who plays soccer on a broom. Here, look