Some questions about gamma

[Asuxx]

Hey everyone,

I have started playing Black Plague recently. I am trying to set the gamma in order to have the best experience, however, I have the feeling I am doing it wrong for some reason.
In order to test the gamma/brightness, I go in a room that is supposed to be completely dark and set the gamma and the brightness of the monitor so that I can't see anything without my flashlight/flare etc...

On my macbook Pro (LED monitor), I have to set the gamma to 0.7 and turn the brightness all the way down on the monitor. I have read few things about the subject and most of people keep saying the the gamma should be set to 1.0 or 0.9... but if I do so, i am able to see a bit in he dark and so I don't really need to use the flashlight...


So my question is: should I set gamma around 0.5 and set the monitor's brightness up? Or stick with the solution above? what is the difference (and relation) between the gamma and the monitor's brightness and why should we not change the gamma first?

Thanks a lot