Poll: Easy difficulty

[Continuity]

So yeah. I'll use easy. Frustration isn't fun, and gaming is ment to be fun. And once i get some expearince, i up the diff, and go from there.

Yeah thats pretty much me, if I hit that frustration threshold I drop the difficulty. Though sometimes once I've completed on easy I'll go back and complete on normal or hard, but its definitely frustration/loss of interest that motivates me to use easy mode.
On the other hand i'm the complete opposite in simulation games, I usually bump up to 100% realism settings right from the start, after all the point of a simulation is to simulate, not be an arcade look-alike.

 

[MassiveGeek]

Combat heavy games generally go on normal, or well, games with annoying combat as well(like Mass Effect 1).

But usually I don't bother to change it unless it thoroughly fucks me over. Which rarely happens. *Wink*

 

[MarkDavis94]

I only play on Easy when its an RPG Game which requires strategy, mainly because I'm a div and I don't have strategy, and I play 360 and its often not the best system to play RPG games.

However I often play any other game on the hardest difficulty on offer.

 

[twistedmic]

I usually play on the normal or medium difficulty for my first time through the game and play on the easy setting on subsequent playthroughs. Though sometimes, rarely, I'll play on the hard setting.

 

[Evilsanta]

Hard, Why? Because Easy are for wimps and sissys! REAL MANLY MEN PLAY ON HARD!

OT: Normal or Hard depending on the genre or if I just want a challange.

 

[GodofDisaster]

I like to get the most out of my games, so I have a pattern when playing them. I Always start a game on easy mode during the first playthrough, then I move onto Normal, then hard and if it's featured I'll play the game on a level higher than hard mode.

 

[GeorgW]

In principle, I never touch easy mode. Which could be pretty annoying, but I have my damn principles!

 

[Lord_Kristof]

I play on Easy Difficulty more often than not. The reason? I can't be bothered. Seriously, I play so many different games, that I really want to get through one because it's fun and I want to get to know the plot or story behind it. I really rarely feel sorry for playing on Easy, but I did feel sorry for choosing Normal first at least a few times.

Bottom line is - I don't care if I'm 'good' at a game, I've got nothing to prove to anyone. I want to have fun. If I go through a game on Easy and I like it, I will likely play it another time on Normal, just to see if I can do it.

And, truth be told, some games are unbearably hard on Normal. Serious Sam comes to mind.

 

[Sveppi]

I've only ever once played a game on easy (Dead Space 1 because I wanted to finish it before playing DS2 so I just breezed through) and I usually play on normal or hard, normal way more often then hard though. My philosophy is that I don't want a game to frustrate me, that limits the enjoyment that I get out of it.

Edit: I'll of course ramp up the difficulty if the game is reportedly piss easy (eg. Medal of Honor)

 

[shadyh8er]

I start out on Easy just to get a feel for the game. Then I switch to Normal if I like what I see.

 

[Fearzone]

I'm a little surprised that over 50% (and closer to 70%) gave a "yeah I sometimes do" answer. I mean I'm one of those but always explained it with age and inebriation and felt outside the loop whenever I do.

If I'm totally new to a genre I might play on easy mode until I warm up to it, but if a game is fair and reasonable I'll do it the honor of playing it at least on normal. If it throws bullshit and cheap kills at me, I'll go to easy, or stop playing it altogether.

Anyway it seems like the first priority of some developers out there is challenging the l33t rather than being fun. If developers are motivated to make the largest returns per effort spent on the game, then maybe they want to take a look at polls like this one.

I guess quite a few people do hack to cheat at games, which is functionally similar to playing it on easy or very easy mode.

 

[achilleas.k]

If there's 3 difficulty levels (3 = hardest), I go for 2 or 3 depending on the style or game (e.g., hard for FPS, norm for RTS because I suck at strategy).
If there's 4 levels, always 3.
If there's 5 levels, always 4.

You get the picture.

The reason is that I like a challenge but when there's more than 3 levels, the highest tends to be near impossible, especially on first playthrough.

 

[Ophiuchus]

I usually play on the easiest difficulty. For an explanation, I defer to the man formerly known as nilcypher:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_254/7561-Playing-for-the-Story

...the exception to this is plastic guitar games but the lack of story means it's not a problem to do so.

 

[mjc0961]

Depends on the game. Most recently, I put C&C4 on easy, but only after trying to play on normal and getting my ass kicked because the game has no logical difficulty curve and no tech tree, instead relying on your level to decide what units you can use (because combining an RTS and an RPG is the best idea EVAR!!). So my choices to get past a level were to grind a lot of XP so I could beat it on normal, or grind a little XP and drop it to easy. I absolutely hate the hell out of grinding, so I picked the latter.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Whenver I play a game is usually I play it on easy so I cane experience everything I can in the game without much hassle with the combat so I don't rage much and get an enjoyable playthrough.

After the first playthrough,if I enjoyed the game and it is worth testing out "new waters" and choices (Mass Effect or Dragon Age origins playing with a female character instead of a male and going Evil rather than good),I will change the difficulty to normal and get slightly more challenge out of the game.

^ In short what Ophiuchus said.

 

[teebeeohh]

always hard
i somehow feel cheated out of gameplay time on easy but recently normal just doesn't challenge me the way it used to so i skipped to hard as my default setting. That said i hate it when games don't give you to option of changing difficulty on the fly, sometimes i bite of more than i can chew with hard and then i just don't want to restart the game and let collect dust on a shelve somewhere.

 

[Quellist]

If its a type of game i enjoy but am utterly useless at (generally RTS) then i''l try easy when my normal campaign comes to a screaming halt, otherwise i play on normal, or on hard if that give you more to do (I.E the Thief games).

 

[Et3rnalLegend64]

I always play on normal. Usually, I'm good enough to play hard by the end of the first run, certain games aside.