The results of this poll will be used to enhance the planned “keyboard switches guide” on the Etterna wiki. If you select “Other” in any question, please comment your answer as a response to this thread.
Question 1. Which switch type is the best for playing Etterna?
Clicky
Tactile
Linear
Other
0voters
Question 2. Which producer’s switches do you think are the best for playing Etterna?
Cherry
Gateron
Kailh
Outemu
Other
0voters
Question 3. What is the best actuation force of switches for playing Etterna? (Multiple choice)
Heavier
80gf (e.g. Kailh Green)
70gf (e.g. Cherry White)
65gf (e.g. Cherry Clear)
60gf (e.g. Cherry Black)
55gf (e.g. Gateron Blue)
50gf (e.g. Kailh Box Brown)
45gf (e.g. Cherry Brown)
40gf (e.g. Kailh Silver)
35gf (e.g. Gateron Clear)
Lighter
0voters
There are too many keyboard models and producers to make a poll with them so please comment the ones you recommend for playing Etterna in responses to this thread.
additional side note: topre switches suck for etterna. so do holy pandas, because mine actually stopped working after a while. huge shame because they feel nice and satisfying to play on
I fell for the Holy Panda hype as well. People said they were supposed to feel like the Alps SKCM brown, but it doesn’t have that hold and stability the Alps offered. Now it’s collecting dust while I wait for my Zealios to arrive.
I have a few things to say:
I realize there’s only so much scope you can include in a 5 choice poll, but splitting the options between different switch manufacturers makes it seem that the products are internally consistent when different switches sold by the same manu vary greatly. For example, normal Outemu switches(red, blue, brown) versus the relatively new Sky variant. Vice versa, the same clone model of switch from different manufacturers can be basically the same thing. Think Cherry reds vs Kailh reds. Along with this, quite a lot of aftermarket switches haven’t really been extensively tested among this community, so it’s hard to tell which ones actually will fare better or worse than others. That’s not even factoring in frankenswitches or other mods.
Might want to also include keycap profile in this though I expect it to be heavily dominated by OEM profile users. Just a thought to add more specificity.
Also, you should probably sort the switch weightings by bottomout force, not actuation, as that is a better reflection of the force that would be used to press the switch during play, and is less affected by the actual force curves of the springs involved(slow curve vs. progressive).
A Magicforce with Gaterons(likely browns) is probably the best default recommendation you guys can make. It’s really cheap, widely available, integrates well with aftermarket parts, has the two switch options likely to appeal to most players (reds, browns). Other cheap options on the market like the Motospeed CK61 with Kailh BOX Whites might also be good, but aren’t as heavily used, so not much is known about things like their failure rate, polling, etc.
Are Gateron and Outemu switches something commonly seen outside of the United States? I’ve never even heard of those brands before. xD Also, I’m incredibly surprised people play with much lighter actuation force of switches than I was expecting. MXCherry Blues are my current go-to from what I’ve been able to obtain. Tempted to check out these other brands I don’t know about. Will give me a reason to buy new switches for the switches that are fucked on my current keyboard lol Or at least see how easy/hard it would be to take apart a HyperX keyboard and replace switches.
though I expect it to be heavily dominated by OEM profile users. Just a thought to add more specificity.