Poll: Easy Mode

[King of Asgaard]

I see Easy mode as another option for those without an extensive gaming experience, or for those people who just want to experience the story.
Case in point, when I was a young kid, I would play on Easy, but as I got older, I started bumping the difficulty up to a level I thought would be perfect.
My reflexes have never been better, and in fact, when the Devil May Cry HD Collection arrives, hopefully this week, I'll be starting on Hard mode since the last time I played I had cleared it on Easy.
captcha: how quaint

 

[Olas]

I can't imagine why anyone would have a problem with an optional mode of play. Though it seems like most modes are easy mode these days.

Whatever happened to punishingly hard mode?

 

[TheFinalFantasyWolf]

I start every game on easy because I'd like to experience the story first with no frustrating levels getting in the way and interrupting the flow. On my second go, I play normal, and the next on hard and so on.

 

[Kopikatsu]

I tend to play most games on easy. Specifically the games where the only thing that the difficulty level changes is how much health the enemies have and how much damage you take. Because that's stupid. Sorry that I don't feel like shooting a guy in the face for half an hour to kill him while he can two shot me. Not exactly my idea of fun.

But something like Hardcore mode for Dead Space 2, where they restrict your ammo, your saves, and give you awesome toys for beating it? Heck yeah I'll do it.

 

[T3hSource]

I played Mass Effect 3 on "Casual",however I did my first runs with Deus Ex:HR and Dishonored on the hardest difficulties,because those make stealth from optional to mandatory.

 

[rebelscum]

I tend to play on Normal, but I think Easy modes are incredibly important. Case in point: I was trying to get someone into gaming, and eventually she wanted to try Alan Wake. It took her about ten minutes to get the hang of using the two analogue sticks in tandem, and still died a few times on the first couple of enemies even though she was on the lowest difficulty. Eventually she got the hang of it and the difficulty was just right to allow her to make it all the way to the end without giving up.
Players like these need easy modes otherwise they'll get frustrated and stuck on their first tries of games and may lack the incentive to go on. YOU might not need it, but other people less experienced or just getting into the hobby do, and it's not fair to look down on them.

 

[Sidmen]

I don't mind the existence of easy mode, just so long whoever is playing on easy mode is CONSTANTLY REMINDED of how TOTALLY PATHETIC they are for doing do.

Oh, and easy-moders should also be barred from getting most, if not all, of the achievements/trophies for level/game completion.

I remember a great game from a few years back, Galactic Civilization II, where I was plotting an invasion of a neighboring faction and he sent me a message that boiled down to the following:

"Hi there, I know you're planning on invading me and I would take precautions to stop you, but you aren't playing on Tough difficulty. I hope your victory is fulfilling with the knowledge that I could've stopped you, but won't..."

I felt like shit afterwards and had to restart the game on Tough difficulty.

 

[Lt._nefarious]

I know several gamers who play lots of games but are also very bad at games and need an easy mode. Hell, if I'm running through a game for the alternate ending or what have you I'll just play on easy...

 

[Evil Smurf]

I think that easy mode is fun, I love playing as an unstoppable god of death.

There is so much cute in your avatar!

I play games on easy because I play for the story and I don't like dying.

 

[neoontime]

Not a "casual gamer," I just generally suck at all video games.
So yeah, easy mode is cool with me.

 

[AlbertoDeSanta]

Easy Mode deserves to be in the game as much as Hard mode. I generally play through on Easy, and if the game was good enough I'll run through on a harder difficulty. You aren't a pussy if you play on easy, and you aren't a dumbass with no life if you play on Hard. You play your way. No definitive way for gaming.

 

[TIMESWORDSMAN]

Often when I start up a game I say, "Your not a kid anymore! You don't need that easy shit! BE A MAN!"

I have switched to easy mode numerous times.

 

[The White Hunter]

It depends on whether the difficulty exists in such a way that it's a core of the experience. Something like Dark Souls, for example, wouldn't exist as complete satisfying experiences if the difficulty were removed. The same goes for fighting games. With games like that it's less about giving everyone a difficulty that they can play on and more about breaking the game into a bland lifeless experience.

If the difficulty is separate from what the cort of the game is, however, I don't see anything wrong with both easier and harder modes being included.

Damn ninja'd again.

OT: As has likely been said many times by now I do think that it's important to keep the integrity of the game in tact, I recenlty had a long and in-depth discussion wwith a few escapists about Dark Soul's and why an easy mode would be detrimental to the game and that the issue could be tackled by those requiring an easier time of the game using some kind of strategy guide, since the major difficulty in Soul's games is figuring out how to beat your enemies through trial an improvement.

But otherwise yeah do whatever, I know people that would never have beaten DMC3 if not for easy mode. I personally didn't even unlock easy mode until halfway through dante must die > >

 

[BoredAussieGamer]

There are many games I would have never got into had it not had a forgiving difficulty level, like MGS3 or Guitar Hero. Hell, it's safe to say I'd probably have never started gaming if there wasn't a gentle, orientation difficulty.

I started playing games when I was six, and in my 11 years of gaming, I very rarely played games on Hard mode. Medium difficulty provides a balence between challenge, and reward in my experience, so I generally don't go any lower or higher. Hell, it took me years of play before I manned up to play normal regularly.

But to say that easy difficulties are detrimental to gaming is like saying short, easy to read novels are detrimental to literature, or that light hearted comedies like Community somehow bring down excellent shows like Breaking Bad, or Mad Men. It's absurd, and it makes video games seem like an exclusive club of nerds with extreme levels of muscle memory.

 

[Cranky]

'Tis Alright. Don't understand all the butthurt about it. It's entertainment tailored to specific types of people.

 

[SoulSalmon]

Even if there's no mode labelled 'easy' but instead a 'normal' 'hard' and 'very hard' Then you still have an easy mode, it's just being called something else.

More options isn't a bad thing though, and you need to have something for people who are new to a genre to start with. You don't expect someone who's never played a Moba before to just leap into LoL and play ranked, you give them bots so they can figure out what they're doing and work up to the harder content.

I usually play through every game on Normal like the boring sod I am, but I always reckon it's nice to have the option. A game I absolutely love (like KH2) will usually end up getting played through again on he harder difficulties.
I'm not saying every game needs an easy mode some games are just supposed to be hard (Super Meat Boy, Dark Souls, etc), but it's nowhere near a bad thing.

 

[Flames66]

I usually play games of easy mode. This is because I am never attempting to "beat the game", I just want to enjoy it. I don't like making everything a competition, I will go through things at my own pace and find my own fun within them.

 

[Gabanuka]

Completely based on the game. I play New Vegas on easy because when I shoot them in the head I want it to one hit kill, I play Xcom on Ironman Hard because that's how the games meant to be played.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

Easy is a good thing. Sometimes you just want to chill and experiment/play for the story.

Personally, I start a game on normal and bump it up if the challenge is fun. Haven't played easymode in years.