Performance

Posted July 26th, 2008 by Sean

Words are a funny thing if you think about it. Language all around the world is so different. What does performance mean to you? To me, I guess you could say take a car for example; If I turn on the ignition of a vehicle I expect the engine to start and everything to function as normal. For others it could simply mean to do what is required to be done of them, but everyone has different expectations when it comes down to it. You might think that me, being a member of the US Air Force should work as many hours as it takes in a day to get the mission accomplished to the best of my ability. My expectations are more along the lines of sticking to what I would consider a reasonable and fair workday. More like 9 hours at the most adding at least 2 hours for commute time, to me this isn’t slacking in any way.

But, the amount of time you spend at a job versus the amount of actual work you do while you are at your job are two totally different things. I feel that if I show up to work and don’t take a break and maintain a heavy workload until the required work for the day is complete then I can go home for the day feeling satisfied I earned my paycheck for that day. Of course, being on a salary based job gives me the option to say to myself, self, you have done well today why don’t you go home, relax, recharge and come back tomorrow and give it all you have to give once again.

Burnout is another word that has been a reality in my life. Not only when it comes to work, but also when it comes to the amount of time I spend in MMO’s. For those of you who live in digital worlds on a daily or somewhat regular basis can understand what I mean. There comes a point where all the excitement of learning a new class of character to play and exploring every nook and cranny in a digital world loses it’s joy factor and all you are left with is the acquaintenances and friends you have made along the way.

Recently I decided to quit playing WoW full-time and actually went back into Middle Earth, LoTRO, I have to say I did enjoy myself while I was there, but once again, the new content added was only enough to keep me busy for a short time, so after a month of playing, I was left wanting more. So, I go back to old faithful WoW with the intent of making myself enjoy it and level up my shadow priest. Well, it lasts for about another month and yet again I am dealing with the burnout and lost excitement for a game I have played off and on for almost 4 years now.

What is next? You guessed it, Age of Conan. Funny as it sounds, right around the same time I am wondering where my adventures will go next I get a message in my inbox from funcom saying, hey adventurer why not download our game and check us out, of course that means you must buy the game first, so, I thought about it for a day and talked to a real life friend of mine about it and we both decided to get the game. Although I started last weekend, he is planning to be on this weekend, and let me tell you friends. This game is like no other MMO I have ever played, now my experiences aren’t as great as a lot of you players of EQ, Eve Online, etc…but for me this game has grabbed my attention and hasn’t let go.

One major factor for the love affair I have with Age of Conan is of course the fact that I have a nice shiny new PC capable of running the game in the highest settings available, no DX10 yet, but it just looks great. The combat system is something totally different and requires you to pay attention more closely. Characters can take off their shirts, and yes you can see womens’ breasts…But more important than that is the fact that it is so different than anything I have played in the past I am a complete noob once again and I love that feeling. Starting over from scratch in a totally new world, learning everything as I go, joining a guild of strangers and making more friends…the whole experience is just fresh and totally fun to me.

What character did I create? After looking at what was available I had in my mind to play a class similiar to a battle mage, perhaps I chose more of a tank with unholy combos, a Dark Templar, of course his name is Rekkr and I play on the Wicana server and I am a citizen of the Lotus guild. It is a bit more melee, tanking than I have been used to, but so far I really like playing him. Questing is so simple to accomplish because the game has a builtin questhelper guide telling you where to go to finish your quests. Of course I had to go to ledmirage.net and get the latest UI to install and I am happy I did that, makes the game so much easier to play and it looks good.

So, performance, it is subjective and sometimes overrated, but nonetheless my engine isn’t running on all 8 cylinders yet, but at least I keep my oil changed and I try to run premium fuel whenever I can…that is a metaphor for those of you who might be wondering what the fuck I am talking about…anyway, have a nice day and try not to get raped in the parking lot.

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