The tragedy is that not only is relative mouse FA off much easier than joystick, but aiming rails with a mouse is also vastly, vastly easier....almost criminally so. I recently switched to mouse and throttle because I realized that to be even
viable in PvP one has to reliably be able to shut down SCBs and that means rails. I love multicannons, I must have at least 15 grade 5 engineered multis of all types and sizes. But when I PvP with them, I simply run out of ammo because of overwhelming shield strength. And I am not trigger happy; I also refuse to synthesize. At first, I thought I would lose immersion as well when giving up the joystick; however, my awareness is so concentrated on the position and attitude of my target, that type of control doesn't matter any more. In addition, because my hands are very small, the mouse is much easier to manipulate. So I am of the opinion that control setup is a means and not an end. YMMV
So many cool weapons.....so many lovely ships..... that are horribly imbalanced. I love, love flying against humans, but because of the current mechanics, in order to PvP we are all forced to use FDLs and plasma and rails. Please, FDev, reconsider balancing the combat game mechanics.