I see no use for the numlock key, I'd rather just have the numpad on the whole time. Are there actually cases where it is useful or people who for some reason prefer their numpad turned off?
I can be useful. If NumLock is turned off you can use 2, 4, 6, and 8 as arrow keys for example. Although with most modern programs you can easily rebind keys so it's more a thing of the past, like the "Pause" button.
I have never seen pause used that way for modern games. Most of them just use Escape instead, with pause being left for lower-system things like the REISUB sequence.
Don't know what to tell you, for me it often works. Maybe give it a try? Esc usually brings you to the menu, which implies pausing, but it's separate from pause key.