Poll: What difficulty level do you usually play on?

[Scrythe]

Usually the Normal/Medium settings on the first playthrough, then I make it progressively harder.

I never ever touch easy.

 

[Andalusa]

I usually start on easy just to see what the game's like, and move up to medium or hard later.

 

[VicunaBlue]

I start on normal, If dying really becomes a piss-off factor, I'll switch to easy.

 

[742]

well it depends on the game. anything made before 2000? hard mode is going to slaughter me and normal is going to be difficult, sometimes i play easy, sometimes medium. survival/horror games though, those are a different story; i tend to go for the highest difficulty i think i can manage.

bioshock i played on the hardest difficult available and tried to get the never-dying achievement. COD4 i tried on normal, but it just wasnt very fun so i went for easy.

 

[Lordkeppington]

Normal useualy and if i'm any good i do hard or if i fail its all the way down to easy

 

[Izerous]

I do all of them but easy. I'll skip to normal or 1 step higher and work my way up from there.

 

[Marowit]

I usually go for medium. I use to only play on hard, but now I play games more for the story. So, constantly dying and such really kills immersion - basically I like to play moderately difficult games, but not ones that leave me repeatedly loading saves...hence medium.

 

[HentMas]

i always finish my games on easy and then go up from there to other difficulties (it enhances the replay value of my games, and seing that i have finished almost all of them in all difficulties i really need that), only exception was COD4 because after the "training" i chose to go with the difficulty i got (dont remember if it was medium or higher) and i enjoyed the game the same.

 

[ShotgunSmoke]

Medium, sometimes hard.

 

[vamp rocks]

i play on the hardest difficulty that is avaliable from the start... just to achievement whore...

unless there is no acheivements for playing on hard...

then go thru again on easy *or new hard difficulty* and try to get all the achievements

 

[lacktheknack]

Usually easy, followed by a hard replay.

 

[Bigeyez]

I always play on whatever the default difficulty is my first time through. Just so i can beat the game without frustrations or whatever. If I liked the game enough then I'll ramp up the difficulty my next play through of it.

Edit: My only exceptions to this is when the hardest difficulty isn't so much "hard" as it it just annoying. (Looking at you Mass Effect) When I noticed that I will usually just beat it once on the hardest setting for points then go back to whatever setting I can actually enjor the game on.

 

[Chaos Bringer]

I usually play the easier difficulty setting to beat the game and then try for the achievements on the harder difficulty settings. I find I don't enjoy the game if I'm stressed trying over and over to beat the game on the hardest difficulty.

 

[Danimal3K]

I'm a medium/normal player for the most part. Only a truly satisfying game deserves the honor of being played at higher difficulties.

Also, I am a fan of the adaptive difficulty in modern games like L4D. Some might call it a cheat, but it largely works as intended. AI Director strikes me as a pompous euphemism for "adaptive difficulty", though.
But it's Valve. They made Portal. They can do no wrong.

Also, screw you, Capcom, for your "You suck at this game, wanna play on easy?" option in Devil May Cry. Excuse me for sucking, but if I wanted to play on retarded, I would've selected retarded from the menu.

On that note, the "Dante Must Die" difficulty setting is probably the most clever name for such a thing I have seen in a game. Appropriate, too.

 

[Mythos1092]

I generally play it on normal my first time, then I try hard, then if it seems like it would be fun I play through on easy (with cheats if the game has them).

 

[John Smyth]

I start on hard because I don't want to get a muted experience on the first play through. If it's unplayable on hard I might change but generally not. The only game I've had the patience to play on all the difficulties was Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem because it made you play through all of them to "win"

 

[Audun54]

I usually play the hardest difficulty because the challenge is one of the reasons I play games, also once I beat a game on the hardest difficulty I find that it reflects on my ability in the multiplayer aspect

 

[cavsfan69]

I play on medium, except for guitar hero. I play expert.

 

[the Tadman]

I usually go with Medium.
If i know the game is easy then the hardest available.
If the game is insanely hard then by all means, easy.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

Medium, then Hard if I went through it ok.