Poll: What difficulty level do you play on (first playthrough)?

[Eiseman]

I figure "Normal" translates loosely as "How the developer intended" so that's where I start. Hard/Insane modes are saved for when I have a working knowledge of the game to build on

My thoughts exactly. Normal mode gets you familiar with the game and its mechanics, while the harder difficulties have you applying the skills you picked up along the way.

 

[stompy]

Generally Intermediate. That is, on the Xbox 360. If it's on the computer, I generally play Easy.

 

[mark_n_b]

Because I like unlocking achievements and generally don't have the time or energy to replay games (when I finish them at all) I always start on the hardest difficulty level, because that always opens up an achievement. I am thinking Steam and Xbox 360 here, but I do it as a general rule anyway to keep the skill level up.

There's never a unique player reward for completing the game on easy mode.

 

[onethought99]

I like to go the hard difficulty first to see how I fair, mind you sometimes that goes pretty badly

 

[insectoid]

I'll start on normal/medium (generally the default). If it's Guitar Hero I'll probably start on easy and work my way up, just to get extra monies-worth from it.

 

[Flour]

I start on the default, which is often normal.(unless it's a source game, where I only recently found out the default is easy...)
But if it's an RTS, a game type where I only play skirmishes against the computer, two or three highest difficulty PC players with health turned down to 95%, and if possible, steamroller AI to make me defend against waves of fairly weak enemies.

 

[TheColdHeart]

I usually play it through on the default difficulty first time, then go play the other difficulties afterwards.

 

[goodman528]

Hard first, because most of the time I've just about the time to play through a game once, and only once. After a couple of years of multiplayer gaming in highschool, I need to have it on Hard to have some challenge.

I regret putting it on Hard sometimes though, like a few moments in COD4.

 

[Sgt. Dante]

i'll be honest, on the first playthorugh it only feels right to play on 'Normal' it's the way the game was meant to be played. yeah if you like it and want a more challanging experience then you replay on hard or harder. but i like to get the experience as it was meant to be had, and normal seems to be that benchmark.

 

[Caliostro]

I figure "Normal" translates loosely as "How the developer intended" so that's where I start.

Basically my view.

I figure a game should always have 3 difficulty modes: Normal, which is how it's meant to be played, which should be hard enough to be challenging without becoming massively frustrating to casual gamers; Easy, which should be built for people who are inept at that specific kind of game, sort of a "handicap version"; and Hard, which is for people who really want a big challenge and thus SHOULD, in fact, be frustrating and difficult.

If normal mode is so easy that veteran gamers don't feel challenged in the least, then the developers are doing it wrong, If it's so hard newcomers feel helpless they developers are still doing it wrong.

 

[Aeviv]

Depends on the game, but normally easy. If im enjoying myself, ill play to the end, then go back and do it again harder. If im not due to ease, ill stop and crack up the difficulty

 

[Downside]

I always play on normal first as easy is always to easy and i never feel i'm playing the game right when i can just plow through everything and not worry about death (or crashing in racing game). Normal gives me the chance to learn the controls and basic gameplay without having to worry about getting constantly owned on the first level.

Hard mode then comes once the games been completed and is worth another go.

 

[Sephitar13]

Run through the game on Easy then crank it up to the max the second time around.

 

[Syphonz]

I play on normal just to get the fundamentals for 20-30 minutes, then start a new game on hard....if there is one. I hate it when games that don't have the choice of difficulty, or when some games just take normal mode and add an extra objective on a boss..I'm looking at you shadow of the colossus! As much as I'd give that game a 9.6/10..the hard mode is just a disappointment

 

[aniki21]

Since I'm a bit of an achievement junkie, I tend to go through on Medium, since that's where the points really kick off in most games.

I'm not a masochist though, so I don't think I've ever played a game on the hardest difficulty the first time through.

 

[Syphonz]

I find acheivements are more well deserved if you do the ones you can do at any time on hard.

 

[Conqueror Kenny]

I start on normal if it's an FPS of genre I am used to, though if it's an RTS or something of the sort I will put on easy to start with.

 

[Hawgh]

depends on whether I'm mainly motivated by the game's story or it's gameplay.
Easy if it's the story, normal if it's the gameplay.

 

[klc0100]

the default setting