What difficulty do you start with?

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

I do RPGs on hard and RTSs on normal. I recently stepped up to playing RPGs on hard because Skyrim was too easy even if you had it on Master. So I've played Torchlight 1 on hard and am currently on Torchlight 2.

 

[Professor Idle]

Used to go for the highest difficulty at the start of every game. Boy, that had mixed results, so now it's normal difficulty, but if I'm replaying a game, it will be on the hardest difficulty available, no question.

 

[blazearmoru]

For most solo player games, easy. For most multiplayer (co-op) games, the most challenging option. For me, I am more usually interested in the mechanics and story of the solo player game than the challenge. For Co-op games, I value the exploration and strategic planning, struggling with friends. I don't feel any reward for being amazing in a single player rpg type game after hours of struggling, and in fact I feel pretty sad about it... but on the other hand, for co-op I'm usually lost in the moment in a difficult situation. Because of the momentum, the frustration often doesn't turn into boredom for co-op games, like single player games of constant endless hours at a time, retries.

This question reminded me of when Left4Dead first game out. I grabbed my 3 closest friends, and made sure no one even TRIED the game before we all get started at the same time. It was the long weekend. We started off with the highest difficulty level, without any knowledge of how to do anything and struggled through. It was amazing. Probably because it had horror element in it and we weren't overrun with the knowledge of what's going to happen before it did, and had to strategize for the unknown while splitting resources and backing each other up.

 

[sh1v3rs]

I always start the game in Normal difficulty. Once I've completed the game and I feel I want to do a rerun, I restart on Hard or Hardest difficulty (depends on how difficult Normal mode was)

 

[w9496]

Normal unless I'm very familiar with the gameplay style. For FPS and TPS games, I'll play on hard the first time around, and proceed with the next difficulty level if there is one.

 

[Misterian]

It usually depends on how much I like the gameplay.

With the Bethesda sandboxes (with the slight exception of Oblivion) I usually actually go for the hardest difficulty because I like the gameplay and how the Bethesda Fallouts and Skyrim do alot to make me feel like a badass.

with the Dragon Age games, I go with the Casual difficulty, because I'm mostly in it for the role-play experience, but partly because in Dragon Age Origins, with the non-mage classes I play as, my Grey Warden seems more interested in running around like an idiot then attacking one bad guy even when it's the only bad guy in the room.

With Mass Effect, the first I keep on Casual, while the other 2 I play on Normal or Harder, because combat to me in those later games is more balanced, intense, and overall enjoyable.

 

[Generic4me]

Usually normal unless I know something about the inherent difficulty or easiness of the game beforehand.

I'd like to start playing games on hard mode more often, but it seems that a lot of hard modes aren't really hard so much as they are cheap.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Hardest.

I find a lot of games have their best balance on the hardest settings, or have the most interesting objectives. Like how you can't kill anyone in Thief, or ammo and upgrades are so limited in System Shock 2 that they become much more valuable. I especially like how some modern games increase damage for everyone instead of making enemies tougher when you ramp up the difficulty, like in Metro 2033 (which is WAY better on the hardest difficulties) and how they change the interface, removing crosshairs and such in FPSs so that shooting from the hip is actually a thing.

 

[Domogo]

I almost always play on medium or normal because I feel as though that is how the game was initially designed so any opinions I make on it should come from what the developers deem 'normal' or standard.

If I really like a game or if the difficulty is bullshit (in either direction) I will change it though

 

[samnoxid]

Almost always the hardest setting, the only exception usually being RTS games as i find they tend to be harder then every other genre... Or maybe i just suck at RTS' D:

 

[kommando367]

Normal on hack and slash and FPS games, hard on 3rd person shooters. Lately, Third person shooters have been getting way too easy to play on normal.

 

[felbot]

hardest, unless its a rts game which means ill suck at it, hard, seriously I am worthless at rts games.

 

[unindexedsearchengine]

for many years I started out with the easiest saying that when i'm done with the story, i'll replay on higher difficulty, however this never happened, so for about half a year now i start out on highest/second highest difficulty. Difficulty levels that need to be unlocked really rub me up in all the wrong ways, since they are usually(!) implemented in games i have no intention of playing twice.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

I start on the second easiest for the first year that it's out then escalate up per every consecutive year that its out.
I never touch the very easiest or the very hardest and when I reach the top, the next year I start at the bottom again.

 

[LK9988]

I always choose Normal/Medium setting. If then I'm having trouble playing parts of the game, I will tone done the setting to easy. Unless a game is based around its difficulty, like Super Meat Boy or Dark Souls, I do not consider difficulty to be an important aspect of the game, therefore I go with the most default setting.

 

[Kaimax]

It depends on the benefits (trophies/unlockables/secrets) of actually finishing the game on hard. If it's worth the "challenge" than I usually jump straight to hard. But if there's no major benefits to playing hard besides the challenge then I won't bother playing hard, and just play it on the easiest difficulty.

 

[Coffeejack]

I usually start on Normal and move up to Hard for second playthroughs, or if Normal is a doddle. On rare occasions, I start on Easy because the option is there and it doesn't makes sense to move down in difficulty. I'm usually splitting my attention between the game and something like a radio show when I do Easy mode.

Killing Floor is one of my favourite games. The difficulty system is set up so that new players must start on Beginner and move on to normal, hard and beyond when they can line up shots accurately with no crosshair, conserve ammunition and cover their team-mates effectively. If your level is too low, your chosen perk won't sufficiently augment your weapons' damage against the hordes of enemies you face, so you are encouraged to hone your skills alongside people of similar ability for a while. It's a system I really like.

 

[Hubbl3]

It's depending on the Game.
Witcher 2 I played on Dark Mode (I may be trying Insane :> )
Starcraft 2 on brutal
CoD on normal or easy
Dragon Age Origins on Normal
Civ 5 I started with chieftain and worked my way up to Deity
Batman AC and AA on Hard
Crysis on Realistic
etc.


Yeah.

 

[kyuzo3567]

Depends on how long I have to play. If i`m really busy and still want to game then I`ll put it on the lowest setting so I can get alot done while playing (I mean for games like Mass Effect or Dragon Age where they`re really long to do everything and have great story)

Games that are supposed to be hard I tend to crank up as much as I can... ive lost many controllers to Ninja Gaiden Black that way... damn them for nerfing the Flying Swallow for bosses

 

[jdogtwodolla]

I'm a story guy so easy. If the mechanics were enjoyable enough I'll go strait to the hardest difficulty available and try it out.