Do we need "easy mode" any more?
- Thread starter k-ossuburb
- Start date
I feel that easy mode gives you no real reward or satisfaction in completing the game. In light of this opinion, however, I do not think it should be taken out. Not everyone is good at playing games, not even on normal, so it's kind of good to have easy mode to fall back on in the off chance your not as good as you thought you were. That's just my opinion though.
You sort of answered your question right there. The fastest way to shrink the audience of your game, and thus shrink your total net sales, is to make it inhospitable to newcomers or those unfamiliar with games. Or perhaps the game simply has a very unique an intricate play style which is unfamiliar to everyone. Different people learn at different rates, and starting out on easy mode is a good way to make yourself familiar with how a game works before jumping into the frustrations of normal play.k-ossuburb said:
Every day new gamers are being born. Every gamer has a first game, and knowledge of how games work isn't transmitted by genetic memory. Everybody who plays games today had to learn from some game or another, and so will every gamer in the future. Which means there will always be a demand for easy games and easy modes.
I play easy mode first, generally speaking, if only to get a good idea of how the game plays throughout it, and for the sake of enjoying the story and whatnot. If I really like a game, I replay it on the harder difficulties, like I did for DMC3 and whatnot. Other than that, I don't enjoy challenge for the sake of challenge. Especially not when the game's mechanics aren't really built for it.
I've always felt the holy grail of difficulty is a dynamic system with a challenge setting.
The game should adjust behind the scene to keep it at a certain difficulty relative to your skill. You chose this, from easy to virtually impossible. This is very hard to do, especially without the player noticing.
The game should adjust behind the scene to keep it at a certain difficulty relative to your skill. You chose this, from easy to virtually impossible. This is very hard to do, especially without the player noticing.
I would be quite upset if there was no such thing as easy mode any more. Certain games that I'm not used to require me to start on easy mode, to get used to controls, enemies, etc.
To give an example, I recently played my first Metal Gear game ever, Metal Gear Solid 2 (I watched a let's play of the first one, so I wasn't entirely lost plot-wise). I started on Normal because I was trying to act tough. Unfortunately, the Metal Gear Solid games' controls are so different from any other games that I had to stop that playthrough and switch to easy because I was getting my ass handed to me due to my lack of knowledge of just about everything.
So no, I don't think the easy difficulty should be removed. Because you can never know when somebody new will start up the game and get destroyed due to lack of knowledge.
That being said, I have no problem with games that lack difficulty levels at all. Usually those games are designed in such a way as to be easy to pick up but difficult to master. That's fine.
To give an example, I recently played my first Metal Gear game ever, Metal Gear Solid 2 (I watched a let's play of the first one, so I wasn't entirely lost plot-wise). I started on Normal because I was trying to act tough. Unfortunately, the Metal Gear Solid games' controls are so different from any other games that I had to stop that playthrough and switch to easy because I was getting my ass handed to me due to my lack of knowledge of just about everything.
So no, I don't think the easy difficulty should be removed. Because you can never know when somebody new will start up the game and get destroyed due to lack of knowledge.
That being said, I have no problem with games that lack difficulty levels at all. Usually those games are designed in such a way as to be easy to pick up but difficult to master. That's fine.
"I suppose it's good for first-time gamers who are new to the medium and need things to go at a more manageable pace to help people get used to things and feel like they're achieving something which will push them to maybe try out the harder modes later on when they feel comfortable."
You answered your own question. First time i tried a PC game i sucked at it, i tried playing CS 1.5 with arrow keys, so basically this mode is for newbies or people who just want to breeze through the game with minimum effort without sitting behind cover for 5 minutes or searching every corner of the map for health potions.
You answered your own question. First time i tried a PC game i sucked at it, i tried playing CS 1.5 with arrow keys, so basically this mode is for newbies or people who just want to breeze through the game with minimum effort without sitting behind cover for 5 minutes or searching every corner of the map for health potions.
Yes. It's worth noting that not all gamers are as skilled as you or I. To newcomers, even normal can be intimidating.
This, but I'm not quite this cool. I tend to play games on the second hardest difficulty, unless there are only three, in which case I play on hard. The "nightmare" settings are always just a hair into frustrating territory, though I do play them if I go for a second playthrough.SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
As for easy, yes, there needs to be easy and there also needs to be a level below easy titled "for retards," because there are people out there that genuinely stink at games.
I think even EgoRaptor would agree that such games are not exactly a normal occurrence. As such, it's kind of ridiculous to say that this negates the need for easy mode for newbs.k-ossuburb said:
But mostly, I'm just wondering what's so bad about a completely optional mode aimed at groups who are not you?
You need an easy mode for people that have fun by feeling like a god and plowing through enemies without a challenge and to see the story. It's also needed for people that are new to games that still look down at their controller to see where the buttons are.
I think there needs to be a new difficulty beyond hard or very hard. I haven't bought any console games in a while besides KoA because even on the hardest difficulty, I usually beat them in less than 12 hours.
I have no problem with people playing on the easiest difficulty. But I remember back when I used to play on easy and use cheat codes, it pretty much ruined the experience for me.
I think there needs to be a new difficulty beyond hard or very hard. I haven't bought any console games in a while besides KoA because even on the hardest difficulty, I usually beat them in less than 12 hours.
I have no problem with people playing on the easiest difficulty. But I remember back when I used to play on easy and use cheat codes, it pretty much ruined the experience for me.
Of course easy mode serves a purpose. Plenty of gamers aren't interested in the challenge. Try not thinking only of yourself for once.