MMORPG Monitors – Big is Good!

It looks so much better in real life

I imagine it has been about a year ago since I posted about the Dell 24″ LCD we purchased. That old post would have talked about how great Guild Wars looked and how I wished the monitor was mine. Because you see I had bought the monitor for for my wife. Now a year later my wife has somehow managed to get her old PC on that Dell 24″ and her “new” PC has worked it’s way up to the living room and found this Samsung 40″ LCD.

The Samsung 40″ LCD (A series 6 TV using the new 120Hz refresh rate) was of course purchased to be our new living room TV after a recent home remodel. We wanted something that was 1080p yet not so large that it cramped our options when it came to the living room layout.

Well all I can say about that plan is.. FAIL. As a keyboard, mouse, headset, etc hardly leave room for classic living room options. In place of my plan we have this giant TV / computer combo crowding into a space I had imagined would have been used for a small breakfast table.

Enough of this whining and I will deal with my wife later. But for now what I wanted to talk about was how Amazing this Samsung LCD is for computer games.

The set is, as I mentioned before is a 1080p 120Hz model, and the computer is running at a resolution of 1920×1080. The picture above is the best I could do with my little Cannon digital camera. Any blur you see is from the motion of the characters on the screen and my cameras / my inability to find a setting that would work well to capture a clear image of the set. So that blur was not on set, it’s just a camera thing.

So of course with the great looking environment Guild Wars has, as do many MMOPRG games, this big monitor just makes it all look better. Thought MMORPG games are not noted for their high frame rate requirements, and for the most part do not require the latest and greatest video card, at no time did I see anything other than a smooth and great picture while playing Guild Wars.

Even when my wife switched over to Call of Duty 4 the display looked great, again no lag or hint of any reason why this Samsung TV could not easily replace any traditional computer LCD that I have ever used.

A quick FYI about the PC we are using. It’s an Intel Core 2 Duo running at 2.4GHz and it’s using an Nvidia 8800GTS with 760mb.

And the set itslef is a : Samsung LN40A650 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color

Click here to see a full size photo of the Samsung 40 Inch and Guild Wars on my Andy Wendt Flickr page.

For something to be desirable it has but to be slightly out of reach.

And so it is this and every Christmas season that those things that are hard to find become for many of us an obsession. And without fail there is always that one thing that your mom, your 6 year old, or even your wife wants each Christmas that you just can’t find anywhere.

Of course from Black Friday on we are reminded of the people who stood in line for 2 days to purchase “their obsession”. We are bombarded with TV commercials, radio ads, print ads, and gossip about how great these practically unattainable things are. This of course only builds on our desire to possess these items and drives us deeper into our obsession.

This year I have learned the hard way that this problem is even worse when that one thing that is slightly out of reach is something you want, I mean NEED, for yourself, and that one thing is a new shiny 8800GT Video Card for your PC.

In this case I am bombarded with ads for video cards I don’t want to buy because I must have the 8800GT with its 112 shaders, 512mb of RAM, and single slot design. If it only had “a compass in the stock and a thing which tells time” we could remake A Christmas Story by replacing the official Red Ryder BB-Gun with an official  EVGA 8800GT KO purchased for not a penny over the suggested manufacturers retail price.

In the case of technology however there is always that voice in the back of my mind that tells me a new and better model is around the corner. This voice helps counter that little demon on my shoulder, most likely put there and being paid hourly by my credit card company, who says buy now at any cost. Though in this case the next new video card technology and it’s release date is a closely guarded secret, one must keep the faith that it is just around the corner and that prices will continue to fall.

Despite my fears of the declining value of the dollar that’s what I am telling myself, to hold tight, and by writing this article I have kept myself off the web, and for at least 30 minutes have kept my obsession under control.

However if you have any thoughts on which 8800GT or better video card you would recommend for an avid online gamer who is eager to see Call of Duty 4 and Crysis look it’s best before the first snowfall please leave me a comment.

*UPDATE – I have been running the new EVGA 8800GT now for about a week and could not be more pleased. Well with a computer part that is. But Call of Duty 4 is 100% nicer and more enjoyable. I would highly recommend this card to anyone in need of a video upgrade.

For more news on Video Cards and PC Games vist our Tech-Army Technical Forum.

DX10 – Not tonight I have a headache.

A recent review of DX10 in MaximumPC has really busted the bubble of Microsoft’s heavily hyped technology for the serious PC gaming community.
 
The review runs the newest Direct X driver through its paces using the best video cards on the market and the latest DX10 games.
 
The results are less than spectacular. To read more about the DX10 Letdown visit the Computer Service Now Blog.

P.S. Be sure to read the full story before you buy a 24″ LCD or a $600 Video Card.

Guild Wars Support – BOT Response

This is a copy of the response I received the other day when I complained to NCsoft about all the BOTS running around in Guild Wars. To follow this from the beginning please read from the bottom up.

Subject
BOTS by the 1000’s
Discussion Thread
Response (GM Dynamite)
Hello,Thank you for contacting the Guild Wars Support Team. We appreciate your report of the bots in Guild Wars and assure you that we take each report seriously. The Guild Wars Support Team is very aware of the bot situation in game and we take action against them everyday. However, as we take the ultimate course of action against an account that is guilty of using third-party programs to automate gameplay (we close them permanently), it sometimes takes time to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the account is indeed breaking the rules. Although it may seem at times like we are not doing anything about it, we are actually at work 24 hours a day observing, investigating, and closing as many of these accounts as we can find. We do apologize and invite you to join one of the many discussions that are ongoing on any of the fansite forums regarding this for the development team to read (http://www.guildwars.com/community/fansites/). Please contact us if you have any further questions. Regards, The Guild Wars Support Team ********************************************** Please visit the Guild Wars Support Center at http://www.plaync.com/us/support/prod_48.html
Customer (Andrew Wendt)
The auto response mentions nothing about my question.If you don’t mind can you tell me anyting of your plans to stop all the BOTS. BOT – “Robot” or a type of computer program that do automated tasks. Such as farming. They are in my opinion making this great game look very bad. Thanks, andy
Response (Erick)
Hello,Thanks for getting in touch with the Guild Wars Support Team regarding a potential rules violation. Please note that we are unable to investigate violations based on information from external sources, or by researching IRC handles, external forum names, or other account names that are outside of the Guild Wars service. However, if you have witnessed this type of violation within the Guild Wars game, please let us know the following details: - What was the date and time (including time zone) of the incident(s)? - What is the name of the character(s) you are reporting? - What is the name of the character you were playing at time of incident(s)? - Did you have any screenshots of the incident? (If so, please ensure they are under 2 megabytes and in JPEG/.jpg or GIF/.gif format and attach them to this message.) - Do you recall any additional details since you sent us your initial message? Your information will aid us greatly in researching this issue, and we thank you for your assistance. Please note, however, that we are unable to reimburse you for any items or gold lost as the result of a transaction with another player. Also, all information related to the discovery and disciplining of an account will only be discussed between the violator and customer support. If we do find that a rule or rules were broken, you will not hear of any rulings related to the incident and the account(s) involved. We appreciate your support of Guild Wars and your interest in keeping the game world pleasant for all players. Regards, The Guild Wars Support Team
Customer (Andrew Wendt)
I love this game (have all 3 GW games) but seeing all the BOTS running out of town faster than I can count them makes me sick.Why should I buy any more of your games if you can’t or won’t stop this? andy
Auto-Response
Andrew,The Answers below were automatically selected and shown to you by RightNow SmartAssistant when you submitted your question. This is simply a log for your records of what you were presented with. Title: Security FAQ – Guild Wars Link: http://help.plaync.com/cgi-bin/plaync.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_faqid=3057&p_created=1127153593 Title: Missing Pre-Order, “Game of the Year,” and Prerelease Items Link: http://help.plaync.com/cgi-bin/plaync.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_faqid=2492&p_created=1118074010 Title: Is Guild Wars an MMORPG? Link: http://help.plaync.com/cgi-bin/plaync.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_faqid=1121&p_created=1098968409 Title: Will I remain competitive without buying expansion packs? Link: http://help.plaync.com/cgi-bin/plaync.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_faqid=1118&p_created=1098968076 Title: Inactive Guild Wars Characters Link: http://help.plaync.com/cgi-bin/plaync.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_faqid=1852&p_created=1112099502
Question Reference #070*****
Product Level 1:  Guild Wars Category Level 1:  Game Play Date Created:  08/04/2007 10:35 PM Last Updated:  08/06/2007 02:40 PM Status:  Waiting Department:  Bug Report PlayNC Account:  none Game Account:  none Operating System:  Windows XP Professional Character Name:  *******

Dell 24″ (2407FPW) LCD Great For Guild Wars

My wife and I have been big Guild Wars fans for over a year now. We spend at least a few hours every week improving our characters, helping friends, farming for drops or skills, and in general have always enjoyed the game. However last night once we hooked up a new Dell 24″ LCD to my wife’s computer I can see the game could be a lot more entertaining. The 24″ wide screen display running at 1920 x 1200 is absolutely stunning in the game. No more worries about using valuable screen space for hero skill bars, or other dialog boxes. With this monitor sitting next to me i could hardly keep my eyes on my own 19″ screen. If any of you have been thinking about an upgrade I can highly recommend the Dell 2407FPW. For an in-depth review of 24″ LCD displays see this PcWorld page which currently has the Dell in first place.