Poll: Easy difficulty

[babinro]

Shooters: Easy: I suck at these games, and often find normal difficulty to be way too difficult. There are some exceptions out there though. I've beaten a one or two shooters on high difficulty.

RTS: Hard: I tend to excel at C&C, Starcraft like games and often jump to hard right away. Lowering the difficulty only after failing a mission 3-4 times only to return to it later on in most cases.

Those two genres aside, almost all games I play will be on normal difficulty. If I don't care much for a game and simply want to complete it, I'll lower the difficulty to reduce the grind. I carved through Dead Space this way because I wasn't into it as much as I thought I would be for example.

I'm not one for achievements in games. But when I do go for them, I find it most rewarding to do so on the highest difficulty. I had a blast trying to get all Starcraft 2 achievements on the highest difficulty, which is a testament to the games greatness.

 

[00slash00]

the only time i play on easy is if i know im about two seconds away from ripping the game in half. the only exception was right before mgs4 came out and i was replaying all the games to make sure the story was fresh in my mind. in that case i played on easy just so i could finish all the games as quick as possible.

generally, i feel like a bad nerd and a failure as a gamer, if i play on easy. especially when i save and see the easy brand on my save file, as if it wants to constantly remind me, "hehe you suck." i always play on normal the first time through and then, if the game was enjoyable enough, i will play it again on hard. i dont usually replay games though. i always replay mgs games and, of course, i replayed demon's souls

 

[Jodah]

Depends on genre. RPGs and Action/Adventure games get the highest difficulty available. FPS usually get one below hardest. Strategy depends on the game.

 

[thepyrethatburns]

What should the answer be if you are only doing easy while renting?

When I'm renting a game, I'm trying to figure out if I like the story/gameplay/graphics/etc enough to buy the game. Therefore, I put it on easy or, if easy is so easy that it's making me bonkers, normal.

There are also a few games that have specialized circumstances/character build issues. Devil Kings Normal mode would chew you up in the first stage unless you went through easy, leveled yourself and your weapons up, then went to normal, repeat to get to hard. Painkiller has the same thing. I got all the way to Alastor on Nightmare but couldn't beat him because I couldn't get the necessary cards. So, now I'm playing it on Insomnia.

Barring rental or specialized circumstances, I usually do middle of the road or the level higher than that as my challenge level.

 

[Rhade]

Aside from the Metroid Prime series I find I'm really not good at most shooters, due in large part to lack of practice and a lack of interest in a large section of them.

That said I'm well aware that there's also a good number that are well worth playing for things like story, atmosphere, variety and all things beyond just chest-high wall pew pew battles. Some of such titles, like Bioshock, I had no trouble completing on easy because they allowed you more than just gunplay to work with. Others (like HL2 and Doom 3; yes, point an laugh now) generally started to kick my ass somewhere around the 2/3rds mark so then I'd just active god mode or some other med-kit/armor spawning code so I could just see the story though.

I'd argue it depends on genre, as some genres really don't have room or need for an easy mode but with others it's nice to have for 'it's not my usual thing' players even if some veterans might fight the option insulting to even see on a menu.

 

[Biancaneri]

It really depends on the game and why I'm playing it. I mean, most of the time I play Madden on the tailored difficulty thing, but when I'm in a mood (like, say, the PAtriots lost to the Jets in the play-offs), I'll stick it on normal difficulty and take pleasure from squishing teams with ease. Also, with RPGs, I often go through my first play-through on the easiest difficulty and skip a lot of side-quests, because I'll be more interested in following the story then playing the game. When I replay them, I'll up the difficulty and go for the side-quests I skipped so the gaming challenge makes up for the fact that I know what's going to happen.

 

[Krantos]

9/10 it's normal. This setting is generally where the devs have spent to most time on so it's usually the most balanced. Granted it's getting progressively easier, so maybe Hard is the new normal.

The only games I can think of off my head I play higher than Normal are Splinter Cell And Dragon Age.

 

[Sgt. Dante]

I usually play on normal cause I wanna play the game it is meant to be played.

Basically this.

Normal is the way the game wasz designed to be played, and then if i like it enough and fancy a challange i'll put it up to hardfor a second playthrough.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Nope, I usually play on normal. I don't even bother playing easy, I get too frustrated and I can't get into the game if everything is such a cake walk.

 

[Drentics]

I usually start on the hardest available difficulty short of insane or whatever "harder-than-hard" setting.

Finishing the game feels like more of an accomplishment, and it makes the other settings seem a lot easier.
(when going back for achievements)

Also, in CoD4, I started on veteran to prepare myself for the constant death marathon that I knew would be multiplayer.

 

[SkyeNeko]

I usually play on normal (and work my way up if the game has any replay value), but Bayonetta for example is stupidly hard to play on normal your first go. Turns out the equips you get from previous games are carried over if you play another difficulty. Usually I start out on normal though.

 

[ICantBelieveItGoesBoom]

I play easy first so I can just play it for the story, then if I feel like it go onto harder difficulties.

 

[Sovvolf]

I play it normal first for most games, then I kick it up a bit if I decide the game is worth replaying.

 

[bushwhacker2k]

Sometimes if I suspect a game may be of the cruel variant and I'm not totally sure what to expect, I go with easy. I usually opt for normal difficulty, if not, hard.

 

[JPArbiter]

it really depends on the game. I play single player COD on easy simply because I have zero interest in COD multiplayer and want to see if they have managed to put a decent plot in there (to date, not since the Canadian story of COD 3)

I played Dead Space 1 and 2 on easy the first time around (and second) so I could be orietned with the game world, and boost my stuff up so that way when I "New Game +" on the hardest difficulty I could get I would have a head start.

most of the time though I stick to normal or go right to hard

 

[valleyshrew]

Why can some people not design polls properly? There are 3 different sets of answers there and they're not mutually exclusive.


"No never" matches with "I always play on normal" or "I always play on hard"
I always play on easy is unique
"Yes somethimes" matches with "Depends on the game" and "Depends on the genre"

So your only accurate answer is "I always play on easy". If someone always plays on hard they might have selected no never and you can't accurately say what % of people play on hard because of this. There was no need to make the poll so complicated.

Sorry if I'm being harsh, just annoys me, isn't that important though. I always play on normal except for short fps games where I sometimes try hard, and long rpgs where I sometimes put it on easy.

 

[imnot]

I usually play on normal cause I wanna play the game it is meant to be played.

Unless its halo where heroic is how its meant to be played, HO THE HELL DOES THAT WORK BUNGIE!

 

[garjian]

i generally start on the second to hardest difficulty, if im not experienced with the game.
if its too hard, i try again... try again... try again... try again... throw-controller-at-wall-move-down-a-difficulty-try-again...

that doesnt often happen... i move up a difficulty when i complete it, or if its too easy...

 

[Dexiro]

I usually play on normal and then adjust the difficulty if I find it too hard or easy. Or if I'm playing a series that I'm already familiar with I'll sometimes go straight for hard.

Oh and sometimes I'll put a game on easy if I realise the game sucks and I just want to rush to the end.

 

[Lance Arrow]

I play on easy mode in all of my games.

Why? Because I value the story and the experience over the challenge, and I tend to wanna enjoy the former at a steady pace.