Easy Mode Hate Explained

[XX Y XY]

Here's my reasoning as to why including easy modes in game franchises known for their difficulty pisses people off. People like to brag! Yep, that's pretty much it. I see topic after topic about Dark Souls 2 getting an easy mode and Fire Emblem getting a casual mode and some gamers freaking out and others that can't see the big deal. The deal is that when a gamer beats a brutally hard game, they get to revel in the bragging rights which that accomplishment entails. When a game has no easy mode option, there is no doubt to the accomplishment's validity. However, when a gamer brags about beating a game with an easy or casual mode, even if they didn't use it, just the fact that the option is there is enough to invalidate the win in the minds of anyone they would want to brag to.

An example: When I was a kid, I actually beat Battletoads on the NES. You can bet I bragged my ass off. Now imagine that Battletoads has an easy mode option that slowed down all the vehicle session and chase sequences to manageable speeds, reduced damage taken from enemies, reduced enemies HP, etc. Were that the case, everyone I bragged to just would have assumed that I used the easy mode to beat it just like they would have had to. That's just how peoples' minds work, fair or not.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

And? As if bragging is worth excluding others? As if bragging is worth dealing with pointlessly frustrating game design? I'm sorry, but that reason sucks.

 

[KRAKENDIE]

An example: Battletoads.

Welp, this thread lost credibility fast.

Also, flawed logic. Aside from the disdain for an easy/normal mode in games where the difficult plays an integral part coming from a completely different place, easy mode would make it easier to brag. Without easy mode, beating it at all, no matter how grueling it was for you, is an accomplishment you can brag about. With an easy mode implemented, not only can you still brag because you beat it on hard mode, but now there are entire echelons of people below you who could do no such thing, and forum topics entitled 'Post ITT if you beat [title] on hard mode and how many times?' Then come chiming in the more casual players who couldn't hack it crying 'elitist', and you have Episode 1 of the Soul Wars: A New Mode. (Spoiler alert: The casuals' fathers weren't killed by the elitists, the elitists are the casuals' fathers). But obviously the casuals will beat the elitists because good always trumps evil(even when it has more experience and is more skilled).

 

[XX Y XY]

And? As if bragging is worth excluding others? As if bragging is worth dealing with pointlessly frustrating game design? I'm sorry, but that reason sucks.

I never said it was worth excluding others over nor did I try to justify the reasoning. I'm simply stating the logic behind the mentality. Financially, companies are finding that it's not worth excluding less skilled and patient gamers and that's why they're putting in these easy modes. I'm not personally taking either side in the debate. Just explaining why people are against these changes. Whether the reason sucks or not it's still a valid point of view. And that's all it is, a point of view. Less assuming, more reading.

 

[XX Y XY]

An example: Battletoads.

Welp, this thread lost credibility fast.

Also, flawed logic. Aside from the disdain for an easy/normal mode in games where the difficult plays an integral part coming from a completely different place, easy mode would make it easier to brag. Without easy mode, beating it at all, no matter how grueling it was for you, is an accomplishment you can brag about. With an easy mode implemented, not only can you still brag because you beat it on hard mode, but now there are entire echelons of people below you who could do no such thing, and forum topics entitled 'Post ITT if you beat [title] on hard mode and how many times?' Then come chiming in the more casual players who couldn't hack it crying 'elitist', and you have Episode 1 of the Soul Wars: A New Mode. (Spoiler alert: The casuals' fathers weren't killed by the elitists, the elitists are the casuals' fathers). But obviously the casuals will beat the elitists because good always trumps evil(even when it has more experience and is more skilled).

While I see what you're getting at, you're making the wrong argument. You're arguing why it's easier to brag about a game with an easy mode. My statement was about the reasoning behind the hatred for easy mode. They're 2 completely different ideas. And even on the point you were making, I have to disagree. The thought that, "I beat a game that very few other people can beat." is more appealing to a elitist gamer than, "I beat a game on hard mode that most other people have to beat on normal or easy." And I'm baffled as to why Battletoads is a bad example. It's an unreasonably hard game with no difficulty setting that very few people could ever beat. Even if it is a lot more of a matter of patience and memorization than skill, it's still a perfect example of the type of game I'm talking about. Also what is the difference between the echelons of people that beat a game on easy mode and people that try to beat a hard game but are unable to complete it? They're essentially filling the same role, people for elitists to gloat over.

 

[sanquin]

My personal opinion is that the OP doesn't know what he's talking about... Which should be obvious. Yes some people use it to brag, but that's a minority.

When a game is specifically designed without a difficulty setting, no matter if you can still play the more difficult 'standard' setting, it detracts from the game. It's as simple as that. Changing a core part of a game, like the difficult setting, changes the mindset you have when you play the game. It changes the 'feeling' of the game too. It's hard to explain for me as I suck at arguing, but to say that people not wanting an easy mode in such games just so they can brag is just...stupid.

 

[sextus the crazy]

No one brags about beating a game on easy mode unless they're terrible at videogames. All that having an easy mode makes you do is have to qualify your achievements with "on hard/veteran difficulty mode". That's it. Not worth excluding others and making the game worse over.

 

[Qitz]

So have we gone from stupid sexism threads to "OMFG EASY MODE NOOBZ!" posts?

Seriously? If you guys don't like easy mode. Guess what? DON'T PLAY IT

No one cares about what difficulty you beat any game on. Get over yourself, you're not that important (All these "yours" by the way are generic yours not directed at the OP or anyone in this thread.)