Graphics, Looks vs Performance, who are you?

When I play a single player game I have more time to take in the fidelity and aesthetic of the game, not that it matters aslong as the story/gameplay is good. Multiplayer on the other hand I have no intrest in how the game looks I'm to busy moving about and focusing on other players and objectives so my vision blanks out any of the graphical fidelity or aesthetics.

So I play with low everything on every multiplayer game.

I'm running between 70 and 140 fps on ultra, at this point I prefer looks.

playing infantry and trying to actually do well i inevitably end up turning graphics to low and removing the shadows

in the air i find playing on ultra isn't so much of a hit to how competitive i can be, so i keep the lovely glowing things around most days

All about the immersion for me.

I started on an old machine so everything was on very low, still loved the gameplay though and was totally addicted. Finally saved up for a decent rig and now I have everything set to ultra with physx on high.

For me the game looks stunning and my fps never drops down to unplayable levels and although I noticed straight away that it put me at a slight disadvantage when the explosions are going off around you and smoke is covering everything, I honestly don't care as I find myself totally immersed in the game and I definitely wouldn't give up that feeling for a few extra kills here and there.

Butterflies on Amerish... Hell yeah!

I played with crap graphics for a few months in the beginning. Once I got a better rig to run with both better performance AND better graphics I kind of saw no reason to turn back. Game looks awesome and I get good FPS, even better now.

That, and I never subscribed to the mentality of crippling your visual enjoyment for the sake of an "edge" in a competitive shooter or other game. If you have to kill the gorgeous looks this game can provide just to see the enemy better and so on, your using your settings as a crutch. I play as competitively as I can and with max settings, I can only blame my own skill on my success, not "ha ha, I killed my settings so now I can see you more easily."

As high as I can go without getting stutters and unacceptable fps (below 25fps in most games). I understand the mentality of turning off shadows, fog, flora, etc to gain a competitive edge. And I can't stand it.

I generally go for performance. I'll add effects that would help me when playing, such as ultra shadows.

Hmmm...begs the question...would anyone play in wire frame mode at 500+ fps?