Easy Mode Hate Explained

XX Y XY

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Here's my reasoning as to why including easy modes in game franchises known for their difficulty pisses people off. People like to brag! Yep, that's pretty much it. I see topic after topic about Dark Souls 2 getting an easy mode and Fire Emblem getting a casual mode and some gamers freaking out and others that can't see the big deal. The deal is that when a gamer beats a brutally hard game, they get to revel in the bragging rights which that accomplishment entails. When a game has no easy mode option, there is no doubt to the accomplishment's validity. However, when a gamer brags about beating a game with an easy or casual mode, even if they didn't use it, just the fact that the option is there is enough to invalidate the win in the minds of anyone they would want to brag to.

An example: When I was a kid, I actually beat Battletoads on the NES. You can bet I bragged my ass off. Now imagine that Battletoads has an easy mode option that slowed down all the vehicle session and chase sequences to manageable speeds, reduced damage taken from enemies, reduced enemies HP, etc. Were that the case, everyone I bragged to just would have assumed that I used the easy mode to beat it just like they would have had to. That's just how peoples' minds work, fair or not.
 

Smolderin

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So your chocking it all down to bragging rights? I think there is a bit more to it than that. People just want challenges, and many people like myself don't want the temptation of an easy mode option there, because we could so easily fall into that trap, robbing us of the sense of enjoyment and fulfillment when we finally beat and complete a hard game. Sure, I like to brag, but more so than that, I like to feel accomplished.

EDIT: So everyone here is getting the wrong idea that somehow I believe that the industry should cater to my needs just because of my particular nuances. Stop reading so much into it, to think that way is arrogant and this is just my opinion. It's not even the full opinion, and I will say it right there that there is more to his entire debacle than just mere "temptation" as I described. But nope, you choice few people had to jump all over my words....and before you think of replying, or quoting me.....I lost interest in having a discussion with you people hours ago. Now excuse me, I got a new 3DS today and it's calling my name.
 

DioWallachia

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XX Y XY said:
Hello my friend! stay a while and listen:


Unlike what some people say, gamers want to actually feel like the thing they were expecting when they buy it. When one plays Fallout 3, we expect to see a world fighting for survival of even the most basic things (like non-poluted water supplies) And if an "easy mode" makes things like food, medicine and everything else to be more abundant so the player doesnt suck......that would make the setting quite weak, isnt it? there is no shortage of everything, so why NPCs act like it is the end of the world or something? you can find everything you need at the drop of a hat.

Sometimes, "easy mode" goes agaisnt the theme of the work of art in question. What if the message is "earn you happy ending" or "happyness comes from enderstanding the high and lows of life" or "hardwork actually paids off"? it would be thematically revolting or even hypocritical to have an easy mode for the people who dont want to understand this concept.

EDIT: The only way that the fallout example makes sense in a in-universe perspective is if the change of difficult ALSO makes the NPC act differently. Start in "Easy" and now everyone of the NPC acknowledges the fact that they FINALLY got the supplies they need to start over. Go in "Hard" and everyone will be on the berge of dying and needing that extra help of you to venture and make the trade of goods possible for their survival.

All the game needs to do is recognize the difference and act acordingly, but that would be more expensive than ever.

EDIT2: Oh, i almost forgot. Its more easy to relate to the protagonist / player avatar when both the player and the avatar EARN that happy ending together aganist all odds.
 

DioWallachia

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Smolderin said:
So your chocking it all down to bragging rights? I think there is a bit more to it than that. People just want challenges, and many people like myself don't want the temptation of an easy mode option there, because we could so easily fall into that trap, robbing us of the sense of enjoyment and fulfillment when we finally beat and complete a hard game. Sure, I like to brag, but more so than that, I like to feel accomplished.
Movie Bro dissagrees on the "accomplishment" thing:


I, in the other hand, accept the hardness of a game if it what the author intended all along.
 

Smolderin

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DioWallachia said:
Smolderin said:
So your chocking it all down to bragging rights? I think there is a bit more to it than that. People just want challenges, and many people like myself don't want the temptation of an easy mode option there, because we could so easily fall into that trap, robbing us of the sense of enjoyment and fulfillment when we finally beat and complete a hard game. Sure, I like to brag, but more so than that, I like to feel accomplished.
Movie Bro dissagrees on the "accomplishment" thing:


I, in the other hand, accept the hardness of a game if it what the author intended all along.
...Um...who is Movie Bro and why should I care on what he thinks? Oh well...someone disagrees with me, *gasp! shock and horror*
 

DioWallachia

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Smolderin said:
...Um...who is Movie Bro and why should I care on what he thinks? Oh well...someone disagrees with me, *gasp! shock and horror*
Dont say it out loud or you may break his heart :D

At worst.......he may put you as a strawmen on his show! yeah i know, that is going too low. Even Christian Chandler would feel horrified with the special effects and the storyline.

But anyway, i am sure that author intent is what counts here, so what do the writers or developers of, say, Dark Souls, think about the Easy Mode?
 

Tom_green_day

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I think personally, how fun a game it is does not depend on the difficulty. For example, in the first Mass Effect i was on the second easiest mode and doing alright, but it just wasn't fun. I was going to stop playing but then lowered the difficulty and it was both fun and slightly challenging at the same time. Also, I'm not too sure if bragging rights has a huge role. Maybe if only like 100 people in the world can complete a game, but if not I don't talk about games just to say I finished them, only to discuss them.
 
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DioWallachia said:
Movie Bro dissagrees on the "accomplishment" thing:


I, in the other hand, accept the hardness of a game if it what the author intended all along.
I don't think he's disagreeing exactly. He's just pointing out that not everyone wants the challenge and easy mode is there for people like that, something I wholeheartedly agree with as I really have no interest in the challenge of completing a game, or at least want a game that can cater to my level of skill. If you don't like easy mode, don't use it.
 

DioWallachia

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Zykon TheLich said:
DioWallachia said:
Movie Bro dissagrees on the "accomplishment" thing:


I, in the other hand, accept the hardness of a game if it what the author intended all along.
I don't think he's disagreeing exactly. He's just pointing out that not everyone wants the challenge and easy mode is there for people like that, something I wholeheartedly agree with as I really have no interest in the challenge of completing a game, or at least want a game that can cater to my level of skill. If you don't like easy mode, don't use it.
That brings another topic to the discussion: The idea that people dont want the easy mode because of the temptation of spoiling the experience. And for THAT reason, they dont want the rest to suffer the same temptation of being lured by an easy challenge.

Alternatively, they dont trust the rest of humanity because they believe that other people are just weak willed and will always take the easy route to ANY problem.
 
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DioWallachia said:
That brings another topic to the discussion: The idea that people dont want the easy mode because of the temptation of spoiling the experience. And for THAT reason, they dont want the rest to suffer the same temptation of being lured by an easy challenge.

Alternatively, they dont trust the rest of humanity because they believe that other people are just weak willed and will always take the easy route to ANY problem.
I have to say, if you can't resist the "temptation" to use easy mode and use that as an excuse as to why others who want it shouldn't have it...well, I actually have no words, just a groan or perhaps a sigh of disgust and contempt. Same for the second reason.

But seriously, I don't think anyone that stupid exists.
 

DioWallachia

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Zykon TheLich said:
DioWallachia said:
That brings another topic to the discussion: The idea that people dont want the easy mode because of the temptation of spoiling the experience. And for THAT reason, they dont want the rest to suffer the same temptation of being lured by an easy challenge.

Alternatively, they dont trust the rest of humanity because they believe that other people are just weak willed and will always take the easy route to ANY problem.
I have to say, if you can't resist the "temptation" to use easy mode and use that as an excuse as to why others who want it shouldn't have it...well, I actually have no words, just a groan or perhaps a sigh of disgust and contempt. Same for the second reason.

But seriously, I don't think anyone that stupid exists.
I remember people back in the day that used something mystical and strange called......Cheat Codes, that allowed you to be in "God Mode" and never die. The people who used those thought the game was too easy (no shit) and blamed THE GAME instead of themselves.

Most likely under the excuse that "the game was baddly designed and impossible to win. Its not really my fault and blah blah blah"
 

Soxafloppin

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I beat Star wars: The Force Unleashed on the hardest difficulty. Look at my huge Wang.

The fact that the game has multiple difficulties does not take away from that, where is your God now OP?
 

Redd the Sock

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You aren't wrong, but you fail to question if that's a bad thing.

There are two ways to deal with a challenge: keep trying, or give up. Face it, we're a culture that will drive instead of walk, wouldn't dream of walking to the TV to change channels, try to get the computer to do as much automatically as possible, and can't make proper change without the computer doing the math. At work I've recently been barraged by people that want paystubs e-mailed not out of efficiency or to save paper, but because they really really don't like having to go pick up an envelope. I'm honestly very sick of it.

Elitism comes from the term elite, meaning the best. It was something to strive for. Today it's an insult because we don't like being reminded that there are people that are better than us at doing anything. I like videogames because for the most part, you can't whine your way around them. You have to meet their challenges (as neutered as they've come from the NES days) if you want to continue the story. It's served to me as a life lesson to face life's little hardships, not to complain about them. Adding an easy mode is just re-enforcing the idea that if something's hard, wait and complain until someone makes the hard go away.

I'm not 100% against the idea of easy mode, just the idea behind it that somehow a challenge is a punishment, not something to aspire to beat. I say this fully aware I'll never legitimately see the end of Zombies Ate My Neighbors. If people want it so bad, fine, but there needs to be a counterbalance for those that did the work leaving them more than the person that ran to turn the difficulty down. There was a time when unlockables were tied to beating harder difficulties and that might be a good alternative. Or then there's the Kingdom Hearts method of hiding a story bit behind playing hard mode or 100%ing the game. There's got to be some alternative beyond acting like the teacher that gives everyone a gold star regardless of grades and thinks scores shouldn't be kept in sporting events.
 

Karoshi

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DioWallachia said:
Zykon TheLich said:
DioWallachia said:
Movie Bro dissagrees on the "accomplishment" thing:


I, in the other hand, accept the hardness of a game if it what the author intended all along.
I don't think he's disagreeing exactly. He's just pointing out that not everyone wants the challenge and easy mode is there for people like that, something I wholeheartedly agree with as I really have no interest in the challenge of completing a game, or at least want a game that can cater to my level of skill. If you don't like easy mode, don't use it.
That brings another topic to the discussion: The idea that people dont want the easy mode because of the temptation of spoiling the experience. And for THAT reason, they dont want the rest to suffer the same temptation of being lured by an easy challenge.

Alternatively, they dont trust the rest of humanity because they believe that other people are just weak willed and will always take the easy route to ANY problem.
Actually, without easy mode present I take another way out - don't bother playing the game at all. Why do you people care so much about me cheating myself out of this mythical "sense of accomplishment"? If I like the game, then I will stick out on normal of hard difficulty. If I'm only here to see how the plot unfolds, then give me the damn easy mode.

I understand if someone detests the idea of easy mode, but why the hell do people care how I play my game? My enjoyment is my own and I don't need anybody dictating how to play game.

It's the same as if I wanted a Pacifist playthrough and people would get horribly insulted that I wasn't playing the game the right way.
 

Lilani

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XX Y XY said:
Here's my reasoning as to why including easy modes in game franchises known for their difficulty pisses people off. People like to brag! Yep, that's pretty much it. I see topic after topic about Dark Souls 2 getting an easy mode and Fire Emblem getting a casual mode and some gamers freaking out and others that can't see the big deal. The deal is that when a gamer beats a brutally hard game, they get to revel in the bragging rights which that accomplishment entails. When a game has no easy mode option, there is no doubt to the accomplishment's validity. However, when a gamer brags about beating a game with an easy or casual mode, even if they didn't use it, just the fact that the option is there is enough to invalidate the win in the minds of anyone they would want to brag to.

An example: When I was a kid, I actually beat Battletoads on the NES. You can bet I bragged my ass off. Now imagine that Battletoads has an easy mode option that slowed down all the vehicle session and chase sequences to manageable speeds, reduced damage taken from enemies, reduced enemies HP, etc. Were that the case, everyone I bragged to just would have assumed that I used the easy mode to beat it just like they would have had to. That's just how peoples' minds work, fair or not.
I think bitterness of old games being so "hard" is a part of it, but I wouldn't call that the only reason. Some people are concerned that the developers are wasting precious development time making an easy mode, time that could be spent...well, doing other stuff. Maybe polishing the window textures or something. Other people just use it as further fuel to hate "casual games" and "casual gamers," chalking easy modes up as another sign games are DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED (*thunder crash*) to degenerate into Angry Birds and Farmville clones.

And the ones who have the worst excuse to hate easy modes are the ones who are insulted by easy modes being offered along side the regular and hard modes. They are the ones who are so selfishly determined to play the way THEY want, that the very idea of someone else having the option to play another way makes them choleric.

I have never heard of gamers bragging about beating a game in easy mode. And even if the problem does exist, I doubt they get much respect from doing it anyway, so what is the deal? Why are you making up problems for an option you can just ignore if you choose?
 

Maximum Bert

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Never seen why people get so worked up over easy mode I have a friend who plays every game possible on easy mode because he likes it that way he enjoys the game more than if he were playing on normal or hard. Another friend puts every FPS game he has and a few others on the hardest difficulty straight away.

The friend who plays on easy tends to spend a lot more time on the games while the other one just wants to beat it and move on asap I personally tend to just leave it on default difficulty and then ramp it up later except on fighters where against the comp I tend to put the difficulty to easy and maybe do a hardest difficulty run if there is a trophy mainly because I like to mess about against the comp and play properly against people (who dont cheat unlike some comp bosses especially on hardest difficulty).

People can brag about their achievements but really no one cares or at least cares for long whats that you just walked across the south pole actually thats quite impressive now to get on with my life and never pay your achievement any more heed. If you bragged over a videogame achievement well then I dont think most people would care no matter how hard it was (ok you may get a small amount of acknowledgment for a second or so)

If there wasnt an easy mode some people would hate that as well it all depends on the game ofc and its design but by and large I dont see why an easy mode shouldnt be included.
 

DioWallachia

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Karoshi said:
Actually, without easy mode present I take another way out - don't bother playing the game at all. Why do you people care so much about me cheating myself out of this mythical "sense of accomplishment"? If I like the game, then I will stick out on normal of hard difficulty. If I'm only here to see how the plot unfolds, then give me the damn easy mode.

I understand if someone detests the idea of easy mode, but why the hell do people care how I play my game? My enjoyment is my own and I don't need anybody dictating how to play game.

It's the same as if I wanted a Pacifist playthrough and people would get horribly insulted that I wasn't playing the game the right way.
The only explanation i can think of why no one has started bitching about "you cant make a pacifist run" is because that playthrough was intended AND the game is designed to allow such thing in the first place. Just like the "earn your happy ending" theme, if that is the message the developer is going for, i doubt the fans will have any inmediate reason to complain because good developers know better than them (most of the time).

Now, back to the previous topic, people seem fit to dictate how you play because........well, they "know" better than you, and know that since people are always driven by first impresions and games are long as fucking shit today, these....elite (so to speak) want to chooce for you (for your own good because you are incapable of thinking properly apparently) because by the time you finish it, you may not have the strength to do it all over again. The lenght of the game AND the easy mode already spoiled and gave you a strong impression of "all" (notice the quotes) the experience, to the point of being less challenging and gratifing. I suppose its is like watching a movie in a moment when you are VERY emotional (you came angry to the theather) and as SOON something piss you off (lets say the sexism) the idea WONT leave from your head even after the movie is over. The impresion you have now of this movie (even if you could have liked it) is that it sucks for this ONE reason that gave you the wrong impression (hell, even a trailer can do this to you)

That is the best i could come up with (within reason) of why is sooooooooooo important for these people, that you play on hard mode. They see you as something that is so easily distracted by little things that they HAVE to assume direct control to ensure that their beloved non-streamlined as fuck franchise has a winning chance to win the hearth of the unwashed and yet nessesary masses.

That is the weirdest justification i have EVER written in my life o_O. And that is saying something.

EDIT: I guess it could be said that the fans are the using the "Steve's Voice" that Archengeia once spoke off when talking about how Bioware threated their fans with the Extended Cut.

EDIT2: I guess that we could compare those fans with the fans of Planescape Torment. Who tell everyone who is going to play it, that the best way to enjoy it is by placing Wisdom first to ensure that you have the best dialog (because otherwise the game will omit the best features)
 

ScrabbitRabbit

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Add an achievement for beating the game on hard and boom, bragging rights restored.
 

DioWallachia

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Here is an interesting video on the Easy Mode "controversy":


And once again, let us refer to author intent. How do you think the author will react when, after many hours of playtesting, careful desing, and making sure that the game was diffult but fair (if you pay attention), people say that it is STILL too hard? He/she/it will be scratching their heads as WHY would anyone have problems with it when everything has been laid out (both in gameplay and narrative) to ensure that only the more careful and cool headed that think before they act, can enjoy the game for what it is.