Zinba has 1 chronicle

1. Trouble With a Capital T
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Oct 19 2007

   Hi everyone. thanks for the warm welcome to this great community . I don't really have a game review due to my school situation (I will explain later), but it effects my gaming.
   
   
   
   Here’s my story:
   
   Just one year ago I was living in Seal Beach, California. I had my own self-build gamin desktop and was having a great time playing WoW. I had a level 60 shadow priest and more than 50 other alts on various servers.
   
   
   
   But then came the day when my dad was thinking of moving to Switzerland because he was offered the ultimate science position in G24 Innovations. He wanted my agreement before we moved though, because he understood how big of a change it would be for me (but really I have been travelling the world since I was born). I agreed of course (always the adventurer) also because he promised to get me a laptop (Ideal for a travelling person).
   
   
   
   When we arrived in Switzerland, I started looking for gaming notebooks right away (although I was a n00b at shopping at the time). I found a Dell XPS for $800 with a 3.40GHz processor, 1.5gig of ram, and a decent 128mb vid card on eBay. It looked like a great deal at the time. So I finally convinced my dad to get it for me (took 3 months), and at the same time we were going to move to Wales.
   
   
   
   I spent my summer in TX visiting my mom and little brother (I gave my computer to them when I moved) and levelled my priest to 70. I flew back to Wales near the end of the summer and tried to play WoW on my laptop. It turned out that its power supply was burned out and I had to pay $200 for a replacement! By the time I got that in the mail, it was time for the next school year to start.
   
   
   
   With my dad in a full time position in a growing company as the Director of Science and Research, he was a very busy man. We both agreed for me to go to Christ College, a boarding school “with an internet connection in my boarding house”… yeah right. Right when it’s too late, I find out that because my house used to be a hospital, the walls were too thick for the internet connection to get to my room (I had to go to the common room). In addition, all sites that had to do with games are blocked. And I can’t play WoW or other online games .
   
   
   
   I will get a solution soon though, as I will be getting a flat near by with my own internet. The only problem now is this strange illness my laptop has. There are no viruses, all hardware checks out fine, but the computer performs very poorly. I’m going to have it checked soon.
   
   
   
   In the meantime, I am looking for a job… I want to be a freelance game-tester. This is mainly so that I can buy an Alienware Area 51 m9750 gaming notebook and get a degree in game design at UAT. I’m hoping to start getting assignments from major gaming companies by Christmas … Wish me luck!

   
   

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Zinba has 5 comment s on this chronicle.

1. cableguy
   Posted On Oct 23 2007

   I really hate to burst your bubble dude, but there's really no such thing as a "freelance" game tester. All game testing done in alpha and beta is done by testers in-house.
   
   
   
   You would probably be the luckiest person in the world if someone was willing to *give* you a copy of their unfinished game to take *home* and play without *any* supervision.
   
   
   
   Video game companies are pretty serious about IPO's and even licensed games.
   
   
   
   On top of this, game testers spend anywhere from 8-12 hours testing games everyday, and it's not as fun as it may sound. You're not actually playing through the game as much as doing repetitve tasks over and over, in the hopes of breaking a game mechanic so you can get up from your chair and fill a report. Trust me, it sucks.

2. codeh4x0r
   Posted On Oct 22 2007

   Cantenna... hilarious! Never heard them called that, but since I don't think they have an official name, let them be known as such!
   
   
   
   I thought I'd moved around a lot with 13 moves in the past 7 years. Nothing like moving to Wales, though! Crimeny! Seriously, though, try what HAX suggested - Cantenna.

3. Andy
   Posted On Oct 19 2007

   Holy Super Smart guy........ your dad that is! haha!! Sounds like you've seen so much already. I'm actually kinda jealous Thanks for the great background. You'll have to keep us updated on the job situation. I'm sure that in no time you'll be writing chronicles about games we've yet to even hear about
   
   
   
   Nicely Done!!!

4. BEN
   Posted On Oct 19 2007

   Hey there, what a story!
   
   
   
   Thanks for the update and I think you'll have alot of gamers feeling bad for your situation...especially if you start leveling down in WoW, haha.
   
   
   
   Keep me updated on how things are going and let's see you get some of your gaming friends to sign up. Also, if you need us to add a new location so we can get you listed correctly, let me know
   
   
   
   Good luck with the laptop...
   
   
   
   BEN
   
   
   
   PS-What kind of R&D does your dad do? Sounds pretty interesting!

5. HAX9000
   Posted On Oct 19 2007

   Sounds like one heck of an adventure! Hey wi-fi signal crappy? Buy a signal booster for your room. Or make an cantenna! Pringles and coffee cans work best.