Difficulty Settings.

[Resident Fascist]

So let me ask a strange question. I'm sure everyone's played a game with a difficulty setting. There are hundreds. The question is, what difficulty do you play at usually? I'm aware it depends on the game, but do you levitate towards a certain difficulty? For me, I usually start with a few runs of the game on normal, and then go straight to the highest difficulty. The feeling of having your ass kicked in the highest difficulty is actually, kind of enjoyable for me. I've always been feeling games have been getting easier, and while losing isn't the best feeling ever, it's worth it when you actually beat it.

 

 In most games, I like the hardest difficulty because I feel it draws out a lot more of the game's mechanics and challenges your understanding of them much more. Therefore I feel it relies on your skill more. That or I'm a masochist. I know people whom are the exact opposite, who always pick the easiest setting just for the sake of "If it's too difficult, I won't enjoy it.", which is totally fine.

 

 Anyway, discuss.

[Hunter.]

i usually go through once on normal or hard, then go through the rest with the hardest settings possible. makes the game a lot better and easier to understand that way.

[Northern Sage]

I don't play games with difficulty settings that much. But yes, first playthrough usually gravitates towards normal. IWBTG is a special case, which if I recall, I tried *normal* then went to easy. Still haven't beaten it, though.

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Depends on the game really. 

I usually play on normal because I'm terrible at harder difficulties and I don't play on easy because of [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc8GNaED3Ok]This Video[/url]

But when it's games that supposedly have you as a super-powerful-god-Gary Stu, I pick easy because it's just better that way. 

[~British Soul~]

I usually play through a game on normal difficulty once and then move onto harder difficulties. Say I were to start on a harder difficulty without knowing the games mechanics, I'd find it really difficult, that way I wouldn't blame myself if I went through on the lower difficulty.

[Catterjune]

Lately I tend to have less time then I used to so I always go for the easiest settings. I don't wanna spend hours and hours grinding to finish the story.

[Althemia]

Start on Hard, then go upwards from there. Hard mode for the most part is just me testing the waters on a game.

[Kyng's Old Account]

I personally steer, like many here, towards Normal in general. I'm a casual Gamer, so I don't tend to raise the bar: I'm content with my standard.

[L0SS]

I've been playing RPGs recently (Fallout, Skyrim, Bioshock), so I tend to go for easy; as I don't want to have to grind through the game in order to get the narrative points. In games like that, difficulty doesn't tend to alter the mechanics that much, so it isn't a big issue. On more linear games, I go harder.

[The Warden]

I typically go with easy, then step up once I'm comfortable with the game.

 

Though, as a side subject, what do you guys feel about fake difficulty? Frankly, it tends to drive me up a wall that the games may have to resort to literal cheating just because they couldn't beat the player otherwise, such as bosses in RPGs with 'That one attack'.

[L0SS]

Though, as a side subject, what do you guys feel about fake difficulty? Frankly, it tends to drive me up a wall that the games may have to resort to literal cheating just because they couldn't beat the player otherwise, such as bosses in RPGs with 'That one attack'.

This is why I never play RPG's on anything other than easy, unless it directly enhances the experience.

 

So for instance, I played New Vegas on hardcore mode because it brought about a fresh gameplay element; but I kept it on easy as the only change on harder settings is more powerful NPCs with better weapons and more rage.

[Makο]

I typically hit Normal without ever giving it a second thought. When I think about it, though, I prefer to go hard.

[Tentacruel]

I honestly don't like games with difficulty settings, especially a ton of them.  I feel like the developers should be able to figure out what the proper difficulty is.

 

Anyway, I usually play on Normal or Hard. 

[Agro]

Unless I REALLY get into a game and play it through a few times, I only play on Normal. There are a lot of games I have to get through and I don't want it to be too hard every time.

 

But like I said, if I play a game enough and really like it, I'll put it on hard. Probably because the normal mode isn't challenging at a certain point.

[Nicο]

Usually always easy or normal, because I'm bad at everything, or sometimes just don't want it to take too long. Sometimes I do hard, and it's kind of interesting for a few minutes, but I very rarely don't suck at it.

[D.A._Sakuyamon]

I just go for the easiest settings & then once I beat the game I move on to the next difficulty & so forth & so on till I can play decently at the higher difficulties & godly at the lower ones.