Poll: would you lower the difficulty?

[Chester Rabbit]

I've only done it once, and quite recently too in Oblivion.
I just want to finally beat this ocean of bland and not have to grind my way through this uninteresting world.

Interesting...I just walked away...strange that you felt a need to "beat" this game, I felt nothing.

I'm not averse to turning down the difficulty, I just can't temember an occasion I've needed to do it. I have walked away from games with absurd difficulty spikes though. I guess I'm more liable to just walk away unless the game is particularly compelling.

Well I have been jonesing for an Elder Scrolls fix since I lost possession of Skyrim and figured Oblivion would fill that hole. Though now that I have started it I now realise there is no chance. The world is a lot blander than I remember and even more lifeless and stiff than Skyrim.
I would also like to add that I have owned this game since 06 and have never gotten past the first oblivion gate, so I figured it was time I finally get through this game.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

It actually depends on what I'm trying to get out of the game more then the actual difficulty. I find this to be particularly true with Bethesda games, the difficulty progression is just a chore and not a challenge, so I keep it at normal so the combat and leveling inefficiencies don't hamper my adventuring.

I kind of wish Darks Souls (lesser extent Demons Souls) started with a New Game plus option rather then playing once then getting it (I know the multiplayer disparity would be awful). After beating the game once, I felt like changing my character from scratch, but I hated playing through the game at the same difficulty since it became more a grind then a challenge (since the challenge is in not knowing).

I find most FPSs, especially recent ones, have such a low difficulty level even at the highest setting that it neither hampers the initial experience, but doesn't offer much in the way of replayability. In general, unless the MP is competent, FPSs are rentals only.

RTSs are always at the highest difficulty since the challenge is 80% of the game (which is why I prefer MP in this case), the rest is "OMG ARMIES AND EXPLOSIONS AT MY FINGERTIPS"... nearly 2 and 1/2 decades of RTSing and that 20% is still my biggest drive to play them :/

Beyond that, if a game is just grinding my patience away, I will drop the difficulty just to get by... if a game makes me do that however, I usually have OTHER issues with the game and rarely finish them.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I am a gaming masochist. Games are to be played on infuriatingly hard difficulty settings. If you are not pressing the quick save key every 45 seconds, you are not gaming!

Bah! Real gamers don't quicksave. They delete their savefile if they die.

No.

Real gamers have set up a system so the moment they die in game, the homemade C4 within their computer/console goes off, destroying them and anyone else within the building.

the taliban must be garbage at video games then

*bad joke*

 

[fireaura08]

I've only lowered the difficulty once, and that was for Bayonetta's first boss.

 

[StormShaun]

I do it sometimes, but not a whole load. If the level/boss/whatever is really hard or really cheap I tend to turn it down and I either complete the level or whatever or it makes no changed and I go back to the other difficulty and stick to that.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

There is fun in frustration, but only so much of frustration in fun, to make both a point and a linguistic joke. Overcoming frustration can be fun, but if the frustration drags on too long, there is no fun involved.

Though, I'm also of the opinion that cheat codes need to return to games, because I like being an unstoppable god with superpowers. Overcoming challenges isn't usually my schtick, platforming games notwithstanding (we all have our favorite cruxes), so turning on infinite magic, health, ammo, etc. and storming through enemies, experiencing the story, and having the efforts of the collective masses ping off my impenetrable skin is more fun that overcoming some minor challenges. Lacking cheats, I'm okay with easier difficulty settings, not needing to prove myself capable of such feats as beating God of War 3 on Chaos difficulty.

 

[skywolfblue]

I will absolutely lower the difficulty if I'm having trouble.

Usually my 3rd death to the same thing is about my turning point. That is the line where most things go from being "challenging fun" to being "needlessly masochistic".

 

[Screamarie]

Most games I stick to normal difficulty. I rarely go hard, simply because I'm not in it for a frustrating challenge, just to go through the story and get to know the characters.

But for games like Mass Effect, essentially shooter games, I bring it down to easy because I don't play shooter games hardly ever, I just never get enough practice in to get good at it.

But if I'm having a particularly difficult time, I'll bring the difficulty down until I can get to an area where I can continue at normal difficulty.

 

[Sperium 3000]

Recently, I realised I've preferred harder, more difficult games. This wasn't true a couple years ago, when I would set it to easy if I so much as died twice in three minutes. Nowadays, I truly play for the challenge of it.

 

[StBishop]

I lost my entire post... It was a couple of paragraphs long.

I fucking hate safari.

TL;DR - Safari lost my post edition: No, I think it's for people who're bad at games. It makes me feel like I'm cheating and in my mind if I cheat it's worse than giving up or losing. So no, I will leave a game for a while and come back to it if I get stuck on bosses.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I will never go below the difficulty the game is meant to be played at (Normal, generally). For this reason I actually had a hiatus from Ninja Gaiden Sigma for a few months before picking it up again and beating the boss, because I would not accept going to Dog level. In fact, it pissed me off that they kept asking every time I died.

As for other people, well, I don't particularly care, but any sensible person can see you don't get bragging rights for doing it on easy when you're talking to someone who did it on hard. And Competitive modes can't really be any less or more difficult unless the player imposes restrictions on themselves, so I don't care there either because there isn't really that mechanic.

 

[Jason Corner]

i experienced this recently whilst playing The Witcher 2. i couldn't complete a certain part, so i turned down the difficulty. After i had completed it i felt i had some how cheated, so went back and did it again on normal :S

 

[Dahdutcher]

Also with Dragon Age.

I was pretty new to the game, and I could not defeat those bounty hunters before Orzammar when you first come there. (Frostback Mountain I believe)
Turned it to casual, and then back to normal.

But I usually try to never lower the difficulty- I mean, I already play at normal

 

[Harkonnen64]

I'm burned out on games so I stick the games to very easy and blast through them in a day.

But you can only get glasses for Fox McCloud if you are an expert!

 

[miketehmage]

I really try hard to avoid turning it down but if I'm absolutely tearing my hair out, I will.

 

[Odbarc]

Depends;
Is the game cheating and wrecking me with no possible chance to succeed that corrupts my save spot to be unplayable?
Or am I getting close or doing something wrong that's trying to teach me a new method I haven't tested yet?

Usually when I set a difficulty, I have very much the intention of keeping it there.

 

[Ando85]

I made a thread awhile back about if you liked adjustable difficulties at any point in a game or a set in stone difficulty you pick at the beginning. Many said that they see no disadvantage to adjustable difficulties.

I think I prefer the set in stone type so I am not tempted to lower it. I just have a sort of anal satisfaction (that does sound a bit wrong lol) in beating a game at a certain difficulty. If I lowered it to easy for one tricky part I wound feel as though I didn't complete the game at the difficulty I wanted.

the thing is with that completionist mindset you can just ignore the option to make it easier surely?

Im much the same with certain titles i will beat myself into beating the game xD

Well, I ignore it for the most part. I have however caved in and lowered it due to frustration, but regretted it later.

To me it is kind of like say you want to stop eating unhealthy food. It is a lot easier to resist it if you don't buy it and it isn't available in the house.