Poll: Difficulty and Cheating.

[Khazoth]

So, I have observed over my gaming career a lot of hostility towords gamers who play easy mode, or cheat. People tend to say that it ruins the game, but I don't see it that way.


So, do you use cheats? What difficulty do you play on?


I usually cheat after i've beaten the game, or if i'm running out of time on a rental and want to see the conclusion of the story before I have to take it back. As for difficulty I play on easy, challenge doesn't really matter to me, i'm more in the game for the fun, the experience, the story.

 

[Gitsnik]

I turn on cheats when I don't want to re-play puzzles (i.e. late at night when I just want to run into a room and chainsaw monsters to death). Never on the first run through though.

Usually I play on the hardest setting available. I don't play so much online, so it's just for me and just for the challenge. I enjoy knowing I've beaten an AI - especially when they have been artificially enhanced (i.e. multiple epic units in an RTS or supreme headshot accuracy in a FPS) - because I "out thought" the programming. The way the AI works in the FEAR series is enjoyable for this reason, because it is not scripted beyond some very basic notions.

The challenge for me also satisfies my sensibilities as a programmer, because I tend to think like the programmers who built the game, giving me the chance to "pit my skills" as it were, against professional developers.

 

[Kif]

I just leave it on the default difficulty setting... though I have to say I'm quite liking the new standard in games of being able to ramp up difficulty or lower it in the middle of playing depending on how unchallenged or how many times you're being killed.

But I don't use cheats unless I've already completed it or the cheats are really funny as some games have quite funny cheats.

 

[D_987]

I play or the regular or "normal" difficulty to begin with, and then if I enjoy the game enough I will replay it on the highest difficulty. I play games for the experience.

 

[GodsOneMistake]

I never use cheats and always play on Normal to begin with (except for COD4 i started that on Hardened and went straight to Veteran woot)

 

[konkwastaken]

it depends, on FPS its always Expert cos i love the challenge of that, RTS i do my best but i don't see the fun in owning everything every time without even having to think about it.

Also, dont use cheats, again i don't find using them fun.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I like some challenge in games and will try to play at the difficulty level that is right for me if that is easy or hard. People who cheat or play below their skill level are like people who read the lyrics to songs while they are playing. Yeah, some lyrics are well written but you are fundamentally missing the point.

 

[ConstantJoe]

I only use cheats after I've beaten the game. Games like Saints Row and GTA have lasting appeal when you finish them if you can use your FLYING CAR TO KNOCK OVER OLD GRANNIES AND SET THEM ON FIRE!!!

 

[ward.]

I pay other people to finish the game for me, so I can show off my l337 gamer skills through save files.

You'd have to ask them if they cheat or not.

 

[Lukeydoodly]

I play games to decimate noobs and make myself feel as if I have accomplished something.

Seriously.

 

[sms_117b]

First play through for most games is on medium, if it kicks my arse in the first couple of levels (or has added about 100,000 new things like Empire: Total War) I drop it down to easy to get used to it. Hack and slash games I normally start on hard.

Cheat on games, rarely, not on the first play through because I think it spoils the game. I used to cheat all the time, after I started buying my own games after months of saving and completing them in a few days with cheats, I soon stopped so I had to play longer before completing it. Just so there was less time between me finishing it and the purchase of the next game.

 

[Harlemura]

I'll use cheats if I'm finding a game stupidly difficult, have already finished it or just feel like being able to jump 500 feet into the air.
I usually start games on easy. In this day and age, there always seems to be trophies or achievements or whatever to reward you for finishing a certain difficulty. Might as well make sure I can do the easiest first.

 

[Chipperz]

I play games to decimate noobs and make myself feel as if I have accomplished something.

Seriously.

I play games to follow people like this about and piss them off. It's fun.

On single player games, I usually play to see the storyline and make up new and exciting ways to hack people apart - I don't give a damn about challenge, so I usually put it down to the easiest setting. That said, I'm playing through Fallout 3 on the hardest setting, because it makes everything seem far more "real".

 

[SomeLameStuff]

I usually start on easy mode to get a feel for the game, then amp up the difficulty after each playthrough.

I only use cheats after my second playthrough. it sort of makes the game funnier. like when i turned infinite ammo on in COD 4 and fired my tube randomly upwards, essentially creating an arty barrage. irritating when allied NPCs get in the way, but the result when they dont? Priceless.

 

[D.C.]

I usually start on easy because i feel that you get a chance to understand the story first. Then i go up each difficulty for the challange. (This usually means i play the campaign through about 4 times)

If there isnt a story/i dont care for the story/easy is too easy then i'll start on normal/hard.

As for cheats theyr fine for messing about having fun but i dont like to undermine the challange.

 

[CheeseSandwichCake]

there IS no cow level.

 

[King Tink]

I tend to try it 1st time through on easy to get the story and know whats going on then increase the difficulty so i can still play it through without getting bored. I only really cheat if i'm stuck....or i want results and i want them quickly

 

[Aunel]

I never want to play through a game twice, because some parts are just way more fun than others, that is why I absolutly hate the Gears of war difficulty, that you first have to play through the hard, before you can go insane, and cheats are fun in Sandbox games, SR2 is just way more fun with cheats.

 

[richard misiak]

for the PS2 I always used cheats, but since I got my 360 I've only used cheats for one awful game to add some quick fun (transformers)

 

[Lukeydoodly]

I play games to decimate noobs and make myself feel as if I have accomplished something.

Seriously.

I play games to follow people like this about and piss them off. It's fun.

On single player games, I usually play to see the storyline and make up new and exciting ways to hack people apart - I don't give a damn about challenge, so I usually put it down to the easiest setting. That said, I'm playing through Fallout 3 on the hardest setting, because it makes everything seem far more "real".

So it's YOU who uses the stealth pack and sledgehammer!