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[ivanzypher]

I think some players might benefit from this small suggestion which makes available the wasd keys for hotkeys by rebinding map move to a modifier:

Option 1 (my preferred way): rebind wasd to alt+w, alt+a, alt+s, alt+d. You curl your thumb under your palm and hold alt to move the map. For me, it's very comfortable (I have quite small hands but I think it would work for larger hands too).
Option 2: Alternatively, you can bind them to ctrl, and hold ctrl with the front of your palm just under the base of your little finger, leaving your fingertips in wasd position.
Option 3 (perhaps the best ergonomically): And I have a third suggestion, use AutoHotKey to swap space bar and ctrl/alt, use space bar+wasd to move the map, and use ctrl/alt to pause instead. With AutoHotKey scripts you might even be able to pick up if the game is running and auto swap / unswap them.

What this does, obviously, is releases wasd to use for hotkeys. I particularly like this because your index finger is already on d for designate. It releases a for announcements, w for walls and workshops and burrows, d for doors, s for squads (or smooth, since smooth isn't in designate anymore), and so on.

I think this leaves the power users in quite a good place after Toady gives us a few extra hotkeys for works orders and zones and workshops (I miss going qababababab in the carpenter shop), and perhaps makes the icons able to be labelled dynamically, that would be super awesome. I am much more comfortable now I've found I can use this method to map-move. I quite like right-clicking to exit a menu over hitting escape, too.