That's actually a really good tip. I've been suffering a lot of hand strain lately, and the last thing I need is a twitchy game. I'm starting to wonder if I'm developing carpal tunnel syndrome. :(

Honestly, I don't find CO to require much more button mashing than other MMO's.

I've heard that in earlier betas you had to keep activating your energy building power, but now it's a toggle unless you turn it off. In fact, there is a gameplay setting that lets you make it even less clicky by setting it to never toggle off -- even when you change targets.

The only time you really have to mash the keys is if you're held. That's still a far sight better than DDO where you are constantly clicking the mouse to attack.

I'm a sadly un-athletic 33 y/o gamer and the only finger trauma I had was in the wrist from playing the dang thing too much. In fact I seem to be surviving pretty well *ghasp* *horror* clicking my powers and mouse turning with forward mapped to my thumb button.

I do not find Champions problematic in that area - controls are a bit different from other MMOs and combat is fast. But with the energy builder being a toggle it works quite well I think without too much mashing.

And I am in mid-40s, so I am also in the not that young crowd.

Actually CO is much better than most MMOG's for hand strain.

I am 36 and a full time programmer. I've been dealing with RSI issues for over a decade. A Belkin n52t has saved me in the past, but this time its the X-Box controller. This is one of the few MMOG's that can be played with a controller like that. Its putting much less strain on my hands mainly because I have my hands in a position that is different from my normal mouse/keyboard.

I agree with Aganazer; I switched to a 360 controller early on, and haven't looked back since. It's the first time I've used a controller for an MMO, and it plays nicely to CO's system. You won't leave the keyboard and mouse entirely, since there's still a lot of non-implemented tasks they haven't coded yet or are bugged for the controller, but easily 75% of my play is on the controller, and most of it is combat.

Either way, I can't recommend enough to switch to a controller; the only thing it doesn't do quite as well is with the free camera, which I can whip around with a mouse more easily for screenshots and such. Other than that, it's a hand/forearm saver.