Poll: Will you drop the difficulty if you're having trouble?

[deathzero021]

i can get pretty stubborn with this but it really depends on the type of game. Most of the time, if i am getting completely overwhelmed by the difficulty i will lower it by one setting. if it is challenging but i can still make progress then i will usually stick with it. i do prefer a good challenge but if the difficulty of the game is more frustrating in it's design than it is fun, than i will usually play on Normal.

Only some games can manage a well designed Hard mode and allow the challenge to be a fun experience and not a frustrating one.

 

[bigfatcarp93]

Yes, but I usually wait until it gets pretty damn hard. Although most games I just start on easy anyway so I can have a nice, relaxing, storytelling experience.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

Spec Ops asked me this late in the game, and I'd dies a bit in one partiular area and it asked me if I wanted to drop the difficulty. I said NEVER!

However I do like when a game acknowledges when you do well, like inFAMOUS. I was playing through for a second time and afer I did well on the first mission the game bumped me up to a higher difficulty. Sort of a 'Fuck Yeah' moment.

 

[Arakasi]

I generally won't drop below normal unless I really want to finish the game and I really can't get past one area regardless of what tactics and walkthroughs I use. It is a rare occurance.

I also don't like changing difficulty mid-run. I prefer to have difficulty tied to the save file.

 

[BartyMae]

I'm not completely sure. I enjoy having a challenge, and not being able to deal immediately with that challenge does not necessarily equate with having a bad time. If I was REALLY having a hard time, (i.e. I don't think I can beat it and I've tried a myriad of ways of attempting to deal with it), and I didn't have problems up until then, (and I have no choice but to deal with the problem), I'm more likely to cheat than anything else, honestly. A little memory editing here and there...and we're back on track!

It sounds like you'd be in the "No; the game will not best me!"

I updated my OP with more in-depth analysis of each poll option a few days ago and this sounds like you:

No; the game will not best me!
You play for the challenge. You don't like giving up and dropping the difficulty feels like giving up. If you drop the difficulty, you're giving up the challenge and so what's the point?

(AKA The challenge makes it fun or at the very least, not unfun as you stated)

However, it's obviously your vote so I won't force you to vote for this (or any option really).

Here's the problem: the spirit of that option is all wrong. It's nothing to do with giving up, or ruining the point, or whatever...that implies that I don't really want to play it for anything besides the challenge, which I pretty much just directly contradicted with what I said about cheating. It's more to do with difficulty not necessarily equating to a bad time, and perhaps even being fun. The game is probably still fun without extreme difficulty...but perhaps not as much.

 

[Roxor]

I used to be in the "Always play on Easy" camp, only moving up if I could finish on Easy a few times.

In more recent years, however, I moved to "play on the default", usually forgetting that an option to change the difficulty exists (assuming the game has one at all).

 

[Reptiloid]

I do pretty much always play for the sake of the experience and not the challenge alone, so for most games I tend to go with normal difficulty, and will only crank it up to hard if it's a notoriously easy game or if it's a game I've played before.

I'll absolutely refuse to turn down the difficulty mid-game though, I feel like that would cheapen the experience. Once I've started on a certain difficulty mode, I'm seeing it through to the end! It's not a huge deal if I get stuck on a certain section, I'm pretty patient with stuff like that and don't give up easily.

 

[The Hero Killer]

I normally try to not play a game on a harder mode unless I know I will be able to beat it, for example if its a sequel to a game I've already beaten on a high difficulty. That being said no matter what I wont play a game on a mode below "normal". I see easy/casual mode for people who have no extensive knowledge or experience of videogames or their mechanics. My friends even went as far as to dub easy mode "girlfriend mode" a mode only your girlfriend who wants to be included or your parents would play on.

 

[Joccaren]

Nope. I play on normal first play of all games, no problems with difficulty at all. Its not challenging. Some games I'll play higher, just 'cause I felt like it, but I won't back down from that harder difficulty as there isn't any point to it. Rather than swapping down and having the game be a cakewalk, I'll just learn to play the game. Most of the time that's the only reason a harder difficulty is hard - 'cause on Normal or Easy you don't have to know how to play the game, and once you learn how to it becomes easy.
There are some few exceptions to this, namely ones with utter BS AI on the higher difficulty levels that honestly just cheat, and I'll know about them beforehand and not bother because f*** that.

As an example, Witcher 2, your example. The boss at the end of the first chapter [Not the intro, once you're at that town or W/E and you get into a fight with the Kingslayer]. I got my ass handed to me by him. Every. Fucking. Time.
There were also problems with large numbers of Nekkers and such, but constantly rolling back then forward allowed me to survive them easy enough.
After losing a good 10 times and making no progress, I went online to find out how to beat him. That taught me the game's basically instant-win strategy of using Aard [Or whatever the one that knocks them back and minorly stuns them is] then wailing on them with 2-3 heavy hits. Works on any enemy. Level it and Aard becomes a wave that knocks back many enemies. The game just became trollingly easy after that.
Also, once you get one of those +50 health upgrades... Its a lot easier. It feels like your health has tripled. Get two and you are god.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

No.
I've got this twisted sense of pride that won't let me.
The exception is when the higher difficulties don't involve the enemies having better tactics or anything like that, but can headshot you through walls and take a full clip to the head, while you the player are only slightly sturdier than a twinkie.
You know, artificial bullshit difficulty.
But even then I'll grit my teeth and mentally whip myself.

 

[spartandude]

If im really struggling to the point where im not having fun i will take the difficulty down because i play games for fun and if ir ainr happening then theres no point

 

[teqrevisited]

If I've chosen to play on a specific difficulty I wont back down. Usually I'll finish a game on Normal first (Exception being Deus Ex:HR.) and then go up.

I've been trying on and off for at least a couple of years to finish Devil May Cry 1 & 3 on DMD. Every time I've died it has been because I've tried to get one more hit in or been jumping around the enemy taunting it.

I don't play strategy on anything higher than Normal, because the AI cheats more often than not. Trying to use stealth units when the CPU knows exactly where they are anyway is just annoying.

 

[jaysoon11]

No because I know if I fail 20 times when I do beat the game or section it will be worth it. But depending on the genre of game I know what level is a good challenge for me without being to hard.

 

[Skeleon]

With games like STALKER, I simply master the quicksave/quickload buttons.
With games like Binding of Isaac, I simply master the game itself.

 

[mohit9206]

i always play on the easiest difficulty available from the get go.

 

[Legion]

I play most games on either the top difficulty or the third difficulty if there are four (casual, normal, hard and expert for example). If a certain point in the game is starting to get in the way of my enjoyment then I will lower the difficulty for that section and then put it back up afterwards.

In most games this isn't needed, but in a lot of RPG's they have somewhat broken difficulty levels in regards to certain enemies, and it can be necessary unless you want to meta-game it all.

For example a Dragon Priest in the new Skyrim DLC. I had a sword and shield warrior with level 70 heavy armour (plus 4/5 of the heavy armour perks to make it 80% more effective), I had used the smithing skill to bring it up to legendary level, which is the highest, and I had around 300HP. Plus my blocking skill was around level 60 and had 3/5 of the perks to make it 60% more effective.

It could kill me in around 3 direct hits on the normal difficulty level. Yet the final boss of the DLC I had no problem with at all.

 

[Jayemsal]

The obsession with playing on the highest difficulty seems silly to me, if not a little immature. I dont have anything to prove to that video game, and quite frankly, I think anyone who thinks they do may be dealing with a bit of an insecurity issue. Its a game, nothing more.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Depends.

When I 'get' the game and like it, I find the challenge to be usually worth making an effort.

If the game sucks, I either stop playing it, sell it or try and return it. If I just feel like finishing a sucky game, the option to dumb things down could come in handy. But that's really only for shitty games, crap implementations, lame battles and other inferiour experiences.

I get quite angry when a 'good' game suddenly asks me if I want to lower the bar after, what, dying twice in a row to whatever random glitch or bug. Plain doesn't work for me.

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

No, it's impossible to make it easier when you already play on Very Easy.

There's only 24 hours in a day, and for the most part, playing games have felt like a waste of time for some time now. I don't play a lot of games anymore, only those that I just "have" to play. Making it harder would only make it feel like even more of a waste of time.

I mean, I don't sit on a chair made of nails when I want to watch a movie or when I'm reading a book.

 

[jdogtwodolla]

The last game I bumped down from hard to easy was Infamous 2. It was my second play through and I started on hard because the first time I did it on easy. I got to a mission that I found annoying and decided to bump down to just go through it. I didn't find Infamous 2 enjoyable enough to carry the difficulty through like I did with the first Infamous and Cod 4.