Are You Getting Your Rig

Ready for Vanguard?

by Medeor

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While I was hitting refresh on my
inbox looking for my invite into
Beta 3, I thought I would take some time to review my computer
specifications to determine if now is a good time to upgrade. My PC is
my toy, it's my window to the world, and it's a good part of my job(s).
My PC reminds me of my car...or what I really want in a car. While I
want my car to look nice, the real reason I have it is to go places,
sometimes very nice places and sometimes really fast (sounds just like
my PC). And just like a PC, the minimum specifications for a car are
pretty low. In reality, almost any car will get you down the road, but
is that the way you really want to travel?



The car analogy plays well because cars come in all shapes, sizes, and
capacities--you know, just like computers. If you find people that are
jealous of your car it probably means you spent too much money on your
car; but if you find people jealous of your gaming rig, then you have
good taste. Does your PC look good? Does it run well? And more
importantly, are people jealous of it? I could care less about your car.



I was going to make the distinction here between PCs and Macs because I
own both. But no matter which dual-booting Mac I buy, I probably won't
be able to play Vanguard on it. So we'll stick with PCs, even though
they are [insert a gratuitous Mac-slamming-PC comment here].



The mainstay of any game FAQ revolves around the minimum system
requirements. If you’re reading this story online, my guess is you’re
not reading it via a Pentium 486 25 MHz machine running Windows 3.1
(unless you are at work, and then that might be an upgrade). The
standard specifications of machines that I hear bandied about on the
forums and through my guildmates illustrates that the “standard” MMO
player doesn't mind spending a few dollars to make their experience a
worthwhile one for the money. Heck, since I started playing MMOs well
over a year ago, I stopped buying console games and other single-player
games, so I can afford to put some money into my rig. It's like my
monthly debate about my coffee habit: “If I stopped drinking
Starbuck's, I'd have $xxx more money a month to buy spinners for my
Escalade.” I'm not saying that you should stop drinking Starbuck’s; I
am saying that you should always keep your ride up to date. If that
means the kids don't all eat on the same day, that's fine--we all have
to sacrifice.



Where was I? Oh yeah, sacrifice. The minimum specifications usually
revolve around four main items: Processor Speed, RAM, Storage, and
Video Card. You can spend a lot or a little on these four items, but
your best bet is to spread the love and buy good middle of the road (or
better) for all of them. There is no shortcut. No matter which of the
four you go top-shelf with, you will always sacrifice ultimate
performance based on the other parts you scale back. Regardless though,
you will be better off if you upgrade, even if you do it in phases.



The minimum specifications for a game are created so the developers can
say it will run on those lower-end machines. You and I both know that
if you play a game on the minimum specifications type machine, you
won’t enjoy yourself. Sigil has stated that the minimum specifications
for
Vanguard will be higher than the average game. And no, folks...they
haven't been released yet. Still, I am glad to hear the specs will be
higher--very glad. I want a game that is so visually stunning and
immersive that I will want to go buy better gear to install in my rig.
I will be first in line to swipe my credit card at the PC upgrade barn.
Will you?

 

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