CPU: Intel Core i5 7600K (overclocked to 4.7Ghz!)
RAM: 16 GB DDR4 2400 HyperX Predator
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 Superclocked 2 8GB GDDR5
Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix Z270G Micro ATX
Solid State Drive: Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB
Hard Drives: 500GB Western Digital ATA 'Caviar Blue' 7200rpm
750GB Western Digital ATA 'Caviar Black' 7200rpm
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80 Plus Gold
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini C
Monitor: ACER 34" Curved 21:9 3440 x 1440 XR341CK
Speakers: Kanto YU2 with a Kanto sub6
Mouse: Logitech G903 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard: Logitech G810 Orion Spectrum RGB mechanical gaming keyboard
Headset: Razer Tiamat 2.2
Gamepad: XBox One Wireless
Yeah, this thing screams. It boots in like 15 seconds. I slip my legs out of bed and hit the power button, and it's on and ready to use before I have my pants on. If you know anything about running games on a computer you know that pushing a new triple A game title at 3440x1440 is just a little less intensive than running it on a 4K monitor, and I can do that without breaking a sweat. I just purchased Farcry 5 and run that at around 60 frames per second with the settings on maximum quality. Honestly, I could probably get better frames by taking down some of the settings but my monitor is the weak link here and maxes out at 60 frames per second.
The system is set up so that I can buy any game I want and play it at high settings to enjoy top of the line graphics and not have to compromise in quality. Most of the time I buy a game, play it for a few hours over a month, then just stop playing it. I honestly can't recall the last time I finished playing a full game. Oh sure, I finished several indie games that were fully playable in 6 hours or so, but a AA title today is for the most part between 40 and 60 hours of gameplay. And if you go for 100% complete? between 80 and 100 hours of gameplay.
The last few games I've gone through include:
- Chrono Trigger (recently released for the PC)
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of War
- Assassin's Creed Unity
- Assassin's Creed Syndicate
- Tom Clancy's The Division
- Watch Dogs
- Farcry3 Blood Dragon
- The Allen Wake Franchise
- Overwatch
That's about 3 or 4 years worth of games. There was a bit of Team Fortress 2 peppered in there, but not a lot. I did finish the first person part of Tom Clancy's The Division, but only because both my brother and my cousin were playing it a lot and they were calling me out to come play with them. We did it in Co-Op, and it's not the biggest part of the game as it's only about 20-30 hours worth of gameplay. Oh, and it took me about 8 months to get it done.
So that's been my 'normal' since I started working as a nurse. It's the bitter irony. When I have the money to get the dream gamer rig and pay for the games, I no longer have the time to commit to them.
But that changed this past couple weeks. You've seen the recent pain I've been in. I know it seems like whining. It seems like whining to me too.. but it was terrible nearly unstoppable pain. I was looking for anything that could distract me from it and in cases like that when I can take bright lights and loud sounds (i.e. when I'm not experiencing a migraine), a game is the perfect non passive experience. A passive experience like watching TV or reading lets me slip out of the moment and just focus on the pain, but when I'm stuck in a game or more specifically in the moment of a game, then the pain fades into the background. How effective is it? Well I could play the game for hours on end and when I finished the pain would come rushing back and it was like it STARTED hurting then.
So I was all ready to jump into Wildlands or Syndicate when I saw my brother playing Farcry5. I knew it was just recently released and would be a fun push/test for my system. I'm not sure exactly how much time I put into the game as I didn't time myself, but... I just finished it. For the first time in YEARS, I've purchased a game, played it, and finished it in a matter of weeks.
So why do I feel guilty?
I keep coming back to D+X. I want to be there. I miss my Sean, I miss my girls, I miss my staff. For most of the play time I couldn't have been there... the pain was stopping me from concentrating and the few times I've tried to post thorugh pain like that it was bad writing that took far longer than it should have. But I had the root canal on Wednesday and felt honestly good Wednesday night. Why did I continue to play that damned game all day Wednesday, Thursday night, Friday night, and all day Saturday?
I'd actually have to put it right up there as an addiction. There was a point last night where all of my bodily needs were talking to me. I needed a cigarette, but I was out. I needed a drink, but was out. I needed a bathroom break. I needed to get up and stretch my muscles. I was hungry. I can pause the game at any time. The missions come in small bits and pieces, so I can even pause in a lull of the game... but I didn't do that. I played from after dinner until I couldn't stand it any longer and was in danger of pissing my pants. From 6 PM until 3 AM. Nine hours straight without getting out of my seat. I'm no kid any more, and my muscles still ache from that stupidity.
So is it guilt from not being at D+X? Is it guilt at indulging past my body's limits? Is it guilt at allowing an addiction to take over my own common sense? I don't know.
I DO know that I'm itching to play more. I'm finished with the game, but there's still some extra things to do to get 100% completion. And even if I don't want to finish that off, there's Wildlands or Chrono Trigger or Syndicate. Or I could buy Assassin's Creed Origins or even fire up Team Fortress 2.
Fuck.
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