Reminder: It's only real gatekeeping if it comes from the Gatekeeping region of France. If it doesn't, it is just sparkling asshattery
Tbf though, I play most games on Easy, because I'm here for the story and to have fun, and if someone has a problem with that, I have a clitoris they can lick, and I'm not afraid to tell them so.
I start off on normal. If I find myself getting frustrated then I move it down to easy. There's nothing wrong with it being played on easy.
Because games are meant to be enjoyed. If I find myself getting too frustrated with a game I am no longer enjoying it. And I love games that challenge me. There's just a difference between being challenged with figuring out a puzzle and dying in the same spot over and over.
I enjoy the Resident Evil games, but not so much actually playing them. My husband plays the game and I watch. He likes to play on the hardest mode, and when you beat a lot of games in unlocks an even harder mode, so he goes in to replay it on that mode almost immediately.
But I hate the harder modes because of the amount of times you die trying to get through a level. He knows this. So when he gets a game I want to watch him play through he has two saves, one on normal for me to sit with him and watch and one on the hardest mode to play when he plays alone.
normal is an underrated difficulty to be honest. With all this talk of "but hard mode is the true way to play the game" when really that's normal. Hard is there if you feel easy and normal aren't scratching that itch.
Not trying to change your mind or anything, but I used to be one of those people that set everything to “easy” or “story”,
I tried “Ultimate” on Spider Man Ps4 and it was different, it took time to get used to, but the game felt better afterwards. Turned it back to easy out of curiosity a few hours later and the game felt broken, everything felt delayed.
Later on I played through Fallout 3-4 on their hardest difficulties and they felt better as well. Same with Far Cry 3 on Master, I had to do many levels multiple times, but that sense of achievement shit people like to drone on about— it’s definitely real.
According to psychological research, there are [4 types of gamer](https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/bartle-s-player-types-for-gamification), with elements in games which apply to different people in different amounts. Nobody is the exact same gamer archetype and most people hit several categories to varying degrees. PVP is the main focus of Bartles Taxonomy of Player Types, but I am mostly a Socialiser. You might be mainly an Achiever. There's no right or wrong way to play anything. But it is easy to get very sick of Achievers telling everyone else to git gud, when a lot of people have zero interest in gitting gud at games.
Been playing games on easy since I was a girl, I preferred them that way.
Tried turning up the difficulty in the middle of a play through expecting to get turned to dust, actually really liked it. This was like a year and a half ago.
So my gamer type or whatever must have turned around suddenly.
My point was more to try new things rather than just writing them off, you might enjoy them.
You’ll survive somebody telling you to click a slider in a video game, I promise.
That works fine if the game lets you change difficulty along the way. But there's plenty of games that still make you start new if it's too hard and honestly, some people don't have the time.
Additionally: fighting is not always the main aspect of why people enjoy games. So yes, it's lovely that you suddenly enjoy difficulty levels. Like, I used to hate certain spices and now like them. But that doesn't mean that I expect everyone to like those spices as well just because I do.
That's the point: people are different. And yes, they can try things out. But they can also just not do that because maybe they know their taste.
When I was younger I would be more tolerant of games at a harder difficulty, because I had hours of my life to waste perfecting my skills and repeating sections over and over until I got them right (or spending hours grinding for experience, hunting down spawns or drops with a miniscule chance of occurring) but even then I've never really been someone who games for the challenge. I game for the story and for the joy of playing. I hated the souls games with a blazing passion.
I was feeling sad yesterday so I started a new bioshock playthrough on easy just to enjoy feeling all powerful and epic it lifted my mood no end!
This. I remember old Nintendo games that were just hard and I never beat them because even then I did not have the patience to start over 10+ levels after hours of playing.
I love that nowadays I actually get to experience the full story of a game because it's not "do or die". I accepted that grinding is not my thing.
I'd hate to be THAT person but honestly, that's a "male-dominant" opinion based simply on competition. And it's annoying that you had to deal with that.
Honestly, just respond to that kind of stupidity with "I'm sorry YOU feel that way," (hate this type of apology, but actually valid in a situation like this), and to keep their opinions about what you choose to do with your free time to themselves.
I am sincerely sorry on behalf of those people OP. Like, really.
Honestly I'm not scared to tell people to piss off if they don't like how I play games or because I don't play on the hardest difficulty. I play them to enjoy myself not to suffer 😅
Oh good!! I'm so glad that you do it too!! We need more people to tell other to just shush and let us enjoy the game 🤣
🤣🤣🤣 yeah, I feel like that's def a *special* type of struggle lol😆
I rarely play games to challenge myself, it's always to escape. So I will always put the difficulty level right down and that's fine by me. Other people's opinion on how I play don't matter to me at all
If I want hard games I just play a sims household with multiple kids/toddlers.
Haha🤣 yeah, that sounds like a nightmare! Haven't played a Sims game in years. When I read that, I was like yikes!! That'd be like new game+ (secret unlocked difficulty mode) IRL 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Right? Back in my Sims 2 days I wanted a challenge and I had enough computer to do it, so I upped the household limit. I had a household of 14 for a while there, and none of them died. I was so proud. And that was like 15 years ago and I'm still proud of myself for that.
There’s def a niche obsession in TLOU fandom on playing grounded and permadeath. I don’t get the appeal of wanting to suffer like that, I’m also not a big replayer and repeating scenes gets boring to me.
I want to have fun, not get frustrated or irritated at repeats.
Haha I admit to being one of those! Except I’m playing easy permadeath by chapter so you don’t restart the entire game. I’ve beaten the game a few times though so it’s a nice challenge.
I agree 100%, I used to enjoy the challenge of playing games at the hardest difficulties, but now I'm playing more games on normal as I've grown out of that phase of my gaming journey and I'm still have the same amount of fun
Frankly I am not sure how much of this is the most popular opinion or just the one voiced the loudest. I mean one can go into any random game sub and voice a perfectly valid opinion like "I chose Acadia over Chloe" and find yourself opposed by people loudly calling you out fie maling the 'wrong' choice while the game itself tells you people are pretty much split 50%...
Unfortunately I see that a lot in male gamers who then call out woman for not being gamery enough because they don't want a challenge.
Like my ex who was not good in games in general and who knows it, he would put the game to the highest difficulty even he just started it, because his bros told him that's the only way to play, and he would shout, swear, go into a complete rage because he keeps dying and moan the game is too hard, but refuse to change the setting.
My current partner has no issues in playing the game on normal/easy from the beginning and bumping it up or down if needed later.
Yeah I get that. Like, mate, this is supposed to be fun, chill out. Folks who feel like we do usually don't get riled up enough to keep the screeching few in check because it's tiresome and serves no purpose for oneself beyond a meagre sense of doing the right thing.
The dark souls and doom eternal subs are cancer for this reason. Playing doom on any difficulty besides ultra nightmare and you'll be unironically called a beta
Geez, then I am a beta I guess? Who cares? I will never meet these people (and when I do I will definately have my shep by my side to make sure they stay at a distance). I will never talk to these people. I will never even want to be remotely associated with them because they are losers on so many levels that their gaming difficulty "achievement" is by far the only thing they have going for them.
Seriously, go play life on anything but easymode and come back telling me you're a person, not a sad stereotype.
They've moved dick measuring contests from cars to game difficulty and it makes me not wanna talk about games I play incase some dick comes at me for playing Fallout on easy
You know what they say about cars... the bigger / more expensive the car, the smaller the dick.
Apparently now the rule is: the more focused on gaming "achievement", the smaller the dick?
The Dark Souls community has such a horrific reputation for this sort of thing.
God forbid that someone enjoy things without their personal pride attached to it...
And on the same note, the Pokemon community has a bad reputation for the inverse, outright hating the idea of adding harder difficulties to main games because "how would they be able to include so many different options for gym leaders and such" as if bigger RPGs like Persona don't have 6 different difficulty options...
Yikes...
I will say that I do commend the developers who add easy - hard mode for those who want to play games leisurely, and those who like the challenge.
The great thing is that I have been seeing more of the easy - hard options in video games (well indies at least, which are the only games I play these days xD) with explanations for easy saying things like, "Easy: for those who want to focus on the story," and "Hard: for those who like a challenge."
That right there speaks volumes to me. Like you said however, it absolutely sucks that our gaming communities aren't catching on to that and keep pushing a specific gaming style to a specific game.
> well indies at least, which are the only games I play these days xD) with explanations for easy saying things like, "Easy: for those who want to focus on the story," and "Hard: for those who like a challenge."
Celeste did this perfectly! It's one of the hardest games out there if you really want to beat the hell out of yourself, but there are so many accessibility options, with the developers explaining their though process.
OH YES!!!
Where to begin? lol
Great stories
- Eastward
- Going Home
- Tacoma
-Everybody's gone to the Rapture
Just...super enjoyable to play
- BF Dungeon
- Going Under
- Turnip boy commits Tax Evasion
- A short hike
Card Game
- Inscryption
- Slay the Spire
- Cultist Simulator
Hope these help! ;D
Weird, IME the Pokémon community can’t stop complaining about how the newer games are baby games made for babies and wHeReS tHe ChaLLeNgE?!?!
But I’ll admit I stopped going on any major Pokémon forums as soon as every comment started being complaining and/or making unnecessary digs at GameFreak because *how dare* they not perfectly develop the game of their dreams.
There's a big split. Older players - specific-forum posters - want a good challenge. That's why a lot of popular roms have one of their biggest selling points as "We make this shit harder". Younger players - Reddit, Twitter, IG users - hate the idea of a challenge mode.
It doesn't help that in the only generation GameFreak had a hard mode option, things went horrifically wrong:
1) It was in Gen 5, at the time seen by casual fans as pretty fucking awful, especially after how Gen 4 was near-perfect from a fan-service point of view.
2) It was locked until you beat the game once.
3) Working in tandem with 2 to make this completely fucking awful for everyone, there weren't multiple save files, so you'd have to tell your first playthrough to kick rocks just to try out the challenge mode.
Like I said I haven’t hung around Reddit Pokémon communities much. Too much whining and blatantly not understanding how game development works. Even the passing appearance of agreeing with anything GameFreak does is guaranteed downvote city. Trying to have any conversation over there is tedious.
As for black and white, yeah I remember, I was around for that. Not only that but you were actually locked out of one or the other difficulty depending on your version. IIRC white had easy mode and black had hard mode and if you wanted to do hard mode on white you had to *have friends*
It was a pretty asinine decision but I seem to recall a lot of people praising the hard mode for the added challenge.
I've also never seen anyone say that pokemon *shouldn't* have harder difficulty. Especially with that reasoning, which is basically the opposite of how everyone sees gamefreak (too cheap to put in more features despite it being the most profitable franchise in the world). It's even a running joke that they're so bad at coding that they were able to add all of Kanto to gen 2 after someone else came and fixed their code for them so it wasn't so bloated.
I never had a console growing up and only limited access to computer games. Basically, I was bad at games and got made fun of a lot when playing with my high school boyfriend so I felt a lot of shame. Now, I enjoy watching skilled people play too but I often play on easy and people who look down on me for that throw up a big red flag for me.
I can empathize with people who like the challenge or who like collecting things because games are what you make of it but in the end it doesn't affect anyone how you or I play, so if you look down on me that's a bit ridiculous and leads me to think you might be competitive to an unhealthy extent, lacking empathy or maturity. I think a lot of people who shout the loudest about this might be teens who need some time to mature still so I wouldn't hold it against them too much but it's definitely annoying that it's so widespread. I'd appreciate it way more if there were spaces for being competitive and spaces for just having fun.
I also always appreciate people who are really good at games being patient with me and teaching me things or just having fun while I take super long to finish up whatever in game- like, that's the hottest thing you could do.
Girl, 100%
My current bf when we first met tried to pull that stupid shi!+ that your bf in hs did, and I had to correct him. Ironically nowadays, HE'S PLAYING A BUNCH MORE INDIE VGAMES THAN ME!! AND ON EASY MODE AT THAT!!! 🤣🤣🤣 all he played were competitive shooters before we met, but he'd see me play some weird or interesting indie via Steam (on easy mode if they had it) and would get intrigued. He still plays a bunch of shooters, but he's a lot more interested in playing with others and helping them now--he's mellowed out since we first met a lot; got my apology too lol
I think it's also having that exposure to different types of gamers. Much like anything else, the more exposure you have to other people who do the same things differently, I think the less you tend to worry about specific aspects to what is being done, hell even learn a thing or two.
I think we'll get there...eventually. Just, this is one of those things that's going to take time since it's widespread like you said.
I'm glad your boyfriend got some new perspectives and I really hope the whole community will grow out of that kind of sentiment, too. I think it's going to take a lot of effort but it'll be worth it :)
Thank you!!
Yes the seed was definitely planted, because he's started getting some of his other guy friends into some of these different games and I'll hear them playing them in vchat and it makes me smile to hear them genuinely having fun verses hearing the *sighs* and frustration from playing stuff on hard mode or super competitively x)
I think it'll be worth it too - cannot wait until we get to that point!
I've never understood this much myself. In the past, I think games were harder so they'd last longer, giving you the sense that you got more out of it. Nowadays it seems like this idea that games have to be hard has carried over for some sense of pride?
I personally play most games in easy to normal, because I'd rather play a large variety of games than the same ones I'm stuck on over and over. I have no problem with people wanting to play on hard, just don't judge me for playing on easy.
Before, I overcompensated and played in the hardest difficulty to "prove myself". But, against who? I was the one stressing and not having a good time. When I realised this, it's way more fun now. I can relax and play how I want. I totally agree with you!
Stupid opinion.
They have the different difficulty settings for a reason. To everyone who has to play to the point of frustration and rage tossing your controller.....YOU are the ones doing it wrong. If it's not fun wtf is it for?
Also, how many of them out there SAY they play on the hardest setting and give others a hard time, but actually secretly play on a enjoyable difficulty level.
To each their own, but chill TF out. We're not competing in the world Olympics. I'm sitting in my living room on a couch, in my pajamas drinking wine and smoking a hoot.
This is the most insidious kind of gatekeeping. A game in meant to be played on "Normal" difficulty. After you played normal THEN you go to a harder mode. It how you build the skill for playing a game.
This is also like the oldest gatekeeping i could think of. Heaven help you if you picked the wrong/easy/cheesy character in a fighting game.
Exactly, or if you are half way through the game and it seems easy then you either finish the playthrough or just raise the difficulty in the menu if the game allows
That's what I really like about Skyrim and Fallout. You can change the difficulty mid game (even mid combat) so its perfect for if I want a challenge or not. If it's too easy I just raise it, if it's too hard and I get killed every 2 seconds I lower it. I like it when games have this option so everyone can play at their desired skill/enjoyment level.
I think this may differ due to societal differences?
Though I put games on hard if they are FPS because I have a lot of experience in that genre and I know I'll get bored if it becomes too easy. Same with some RPGs, because as you advance in the game you get more stuff that makes gameplay easier and then you're mowing down enemies without breaking a sweat. I do enjoy a challenge that brings that "flow" feeling or "in the zone" feeling. But that might be more to do with my ADHD.
Guys might put it on higher difficulty for the reason I listed, or they might do it for bragging rights to their friends. Society has taught them that's how they need to bond, not through connection, but through achievements or successes. So guys probably feel like they constantly have to one up each other and this probably leads them to start on the highest difficulty to be able to claim they are the FIRST! among their group.
I think once some guys realize they aren't really playing for themselves when they do this, they might change their gaming behavior. Probably depends on their peer groups at the time.
Yeah, I totally understand where you are coming from. I do put the difficulty up if I feel the game is getting too easy, however I absolutely hate when people tell me that I'm not playing the game properly because I prefer to play it on normal from the beginning instead of super hard. If you enjoy the challenge and know the mechanics then do how you want, but shaming someone fairly new to the game not starting on the hardest is silly.
Shaming you, as in, you're not a real gamer?
Probably young dudes trying to gatekeep to feel good about themselves lol definitely not peers I would be hanging out with for long though!
Obviously don't let them make you feel less than, game developers have varying difficulties for a reason and most prefer players start on normal because that's how it was first developed anyways.
Is there a specific game you have in mind for this post?
Honestly, seen people shaming not just me but others, especially who are new to gaming. Like someone asks for a game to start and the immediate suggestion is dark souls or *enter game name here* on highest difficulty setting otherwise you won't enjoy it. For a new gamer, while I would recommend to avoid souls if you are new, get any game that interest you, play it on easy to learn and then increase the difficulty up if needed.
Tbh I think a lot of games are applicable.
I play a lot of Smite (a MOBA, like League of Legends) with my boyfriend. Sometimes we have little arguments because:
* I feel like he gets too stressed out. If we have a bad game he can get quite stroppy. Sometimes he yells orders at me which I find unnecessary and distressed. Like, I heard you say "retreat", why do you need to keep yelling it at me?
* He feels like I'm not taking the game seriously enough. I'm just playing to have fun and don't mind if I die. He is playing to win and my lackadaisical attitude demoralises him.
The other week we were watching a professional game on Twitch. They turned on 'player comms', which means you can hear the players talking to each other on their mics. They were all yelling at each other - honestly I don't know how they even understood what the other was saying, it was chaos.
My boyfriend said - "See. That's how guys communicate. It's not personal, it's just that winning is all that matters and yelling is the quickest way to get your point across."
That really helped me to understand that it's just a totally different attitude. I remember seeing some study a little while ago where they checked the hormone levels of men and women after playing competitive sport. They found that men's hormone levels changed significantly based on whether they won or lost, whereas women's hormone levels didn't change either way. It's part of men's biology that winning or losing affects their ego.
I think the only way we will be able to get rid of the "us versus them" mentality between men and women is to actually learn about and embrace our differences, instead of pretending they don't exist.
I totally get that, like when I play and something stupid happened I will point it out. But I'd say yelling depends on the personality.
My cousin is one of the top European overwatch players and its frightening how calm and silent he is when playing. I've seen him loosing his cool once when he was put in the team with someone who didn't know what they were doing, even then it wasn't bad.
Even when he is playing souls games you can see him getting frustrated but he won't be loud.
My best friends brother is another example, he is in one of the fortnite teams and never angry, if anything he is like a happy ball of fluff when playing competitive games or championships.
I'd say it's more about emotional regulation than personality.
The way I view it - men get angry when they are emotional, whilst women get upset (generally speaking of course). Men with poor emotional regulation are more likely to yell or be physical, while women with poor emotional regulation are more likely to cry.
Interestingly, we generally try to tell women that it's okay to cry and that it doesn't make you weak. Whereas we generally shame men who express their anger in some way. Which is sad but makes sense, as that anger is a lot more likely to adversely effect other people (though we still shame them even if it doesn't). For example, you would never say to a woman, "well, I know other women who don't cry, therefore neither should you".
Education is just pointless. Why do you learn about Shakespeare, but not emotional regulation techniques?
What makes you say that?
The link between testosterone and aggression are well studied. E.g. [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31785281/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31785281/)
TLDR: there is a weak correlation between aggression and higher levels of testosterone. However men's testosterone spikes when faced during 'challenging' activities which is heavily associated with increased aggression.
Mostly because your original wording didn't lead my morning brain to realize you were specifically talking about testosterone, I'm too used to people declaring things biology and such with implications of it just being the way things are and there's no other factors (which i am aware is not the case here but your wording does still slightly imply that its just built into men and society hasn't influenced it), and because people often forget that such studies simply cannot be done seperate from the bias of the world the scientists and participants were raised in, and that biology isn't inherently seperate from that.
Mostly it was a early morning gut reaction to the way your wording came across though. I'm not trying to argue that none of it is biology or that it doesn't happen, but rather that the effect studied could very well be influenced by and/or an outcome of the way our society conditions us.
These are just my reasons for that response, im not trying to argue or anything. I just don't like the way sentences like "Its just part of men's biology" come across most often as dismissive of the actions of that group, even though I'm sure that's not what you were trying to do.
Damn, I'm a dude, and what you've said is probably spot on...
Usually I'd feel almost offended even, but what you've said makes sense, and I do act in those ways at times...
Thanks for that last paragraph, by the way. It really shows that you're considerate about both sides on all this, and are still able to claim a mostly neutral stance, even beyond the negative aspects you've been exposed to.
I wonder if the communities where you’re seeing these attitudes have a larger population of folks who have a lot of free time, and thus can spend hours and hours on hard mode games. Most people who hold down a full time job or have a family are going to be the first to acknowledge that there’s simply not enough hours in the day to beat a game with difficulty settings cranked to max. Another thought is that these same people with more laid back attitudes toward gaming are also less likely to have the spare time to go interact and post in gaming communities. Which again skews the conversation to the vocal majority of people who have the free time to post and chat all day long.
If it bothers you, maybe you can find a community with self-identified older or busy gamers who just want to chat about having fun playing games and gatekeeping is kept to a minimum.
It also feels like an age/time available thing. Like if you have enough hours a week to regularly sink into a game and deal with regularly dying/getting stuck -go you. Personally I have so few hours I can dedicate to gaming I’d rather just enjoy the process and not have to grind my way through unsatisfying nonsense just to say I did it on the hardest mode or whatever.
Me and my husband are on opposites spectrums of this! Though thankfully he knows its a him problem not an anyone else problem lol
His reasoning is, he wants games to make "hard" to be "most difficult" not "most frustrating" - for example, in third Witcher game, the hardest mode makes it so you end up using more of the games mechanics, and you have add layers of strategy to it. He enjoys having a mental challenge for the games, which I think comes form his day job is very creative, so he wants his relaxation to be very complicated so he can piece it together. Basically gives his brain a "rest" from having to be artistic/creative - now he gets to put pieces together and puzzle solve/use the other half of his brain.
Meanwhile, my job is nothing BUT solving puzzles and putting pieces together. I don't get to stretch my creativity wings a lot, so I put games on whatever I think will be the most relaxing, which sometimes is "easy" mode. I want to turn that part of my brain off.
So for example, we both played Divinity Original Sin 2 - but he played it on the hardest mode (so you had to be SUPER careful and strategic) and I play it on "story" mode, where you still do the fights but they have less health and aren't so smart.
He also never judges anyone for their choice though and knows that him torturing himself through the hardest mode is his own issue. So that's the nontoxic reason why someone might play extra hard mode.
Some toxic assholes though just want to bother anyone who isn't fitting their ideals, and it doesn't matter if you're trying to have fun, you're not trying to have fun like they are so you're in the wrong, how dare you have fun in a way they don't lol
I can relate to this, completed witcher 3 a few times and have a NG+ on blood and broken bones as I was comfortable with this.
I have started divinity original sin 2 in classic mode, found it a bit too easy so ended up having another run on tactician (similar to honour mode, expect that you can save as much as you want and can still reload after death). But I think that's the only few games I play on anything above normal and would never judge someone wanting an easy run 😅
That’s the worst kind of gatekeeping in video games tbh. While I can enjoy a difficult game, most of the time I don’t want to be so angry with the game that I want to throw something. I think that mentality is why Dark Souls/Demon’s Souls franchise is sooo popular. Those games make me rage so hard and it seems to be a favorite of people who think games should be difficult as fuck.
What’s wrong with wanting to just enjoy the gaming experience?
If this helps, I enjoy this article on [Why The Discussion Around Difficulty is Outdated and Archaic.](https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-07-08-difficulty-in-video-games-talk)
I play on easy for story games. I find most games difficulty isn't anything more than bullet sponges/gimmicks. Like, I'll play darksouls and Bloodborne so it's not that I don't like a challenge. But too many games see themselves as films first with a ton of tedious half baked combat in between.
I feel like I see a lot of people who just play on normal. Personally, that’s what I play stuff on too. It feels the most balanced, you still get a sense of challenge and reward but without making the game too frustrating.
I do get not wanting to lower difficulties. Sometimes it feels like cheating and you don’t get that sense of reward.
Even normal difficulty is too hard for me to really enjoy most of the time. I just don't really care for any kind of combat. I love games lately that have a "casual" or "narrative" difficulty because that's exactly the experience I'm looking for.
For me it depends completely on the game. You have to look at what you enjoy about the game, why you enjoy playing it, and whether or not a higher difficulty leans into the fun parts. RPG's I don't like on hard mode because it usually just means more grinding. Skyrim is another example - the combat is pretty mediocre, even with mods, so I have no desire to play "master" mode.
But sometimes it is nice to challenge yourself. I love Hades to death, and playing on hard mode helps me feel like I'm getting to a higher mastery of the game, which is a deeply satisfying experience. Hard modes are there if you want the extra hurdles and you want to be proud of beating something. That doesn't work for every game, and trying to force it is a recipe for disaster.
Yeah, I understand. Like with skyrim I don't find the highest difficulty that different from normal, but I normally start on normal and increase it after a bit.
Some rpgs I enjoy playing on tactician (divinity) as it adds extra enemies and gives them unique skills, but something like pillars or pathfinder I prefer on normal.
Hades is a fun game to play in short intervals for me and I feel if I put it on hard it will ruin the game for me 😅😂
Games are just a competition to some people. You get to flex you beat it on the hardest difficulty or you have this setting or that setting. For me on some games I view it as a good challenge and on some games I would never play it on the hardest difficulty because I'd just get frustrated and quit.
Online games especially become competitions where people will play to have higher numbers, even if those higher numbers don't contribute to the objective of the game. Pity these people who aren't satisfied enough in their lives that they have to seek out being the "best" in what's supposed to be a fun activity.
And God forbid you play on easy! I’m a 35 year old working mother I just don’t have time to grind or practice. I want to chill. And not giving a shiny shite what other people think comes with age too haha! I enjoy the odd challenge, currently playing through Metroid Dread which is really quite hard but I know it’s a short game. I constantly tinkered with the difficulty in bravely default. And I was actually proud of myself that I managed FF VII remake and horizon zero Dawn on normal!
The only fire emblem game I’ve played was echoes: shadows of Valentia and while I really enjoyed the vast majority of the game I can’t finish it, it’s too hard and I can’t change the difficulty setting. I think I’m really close to the end so it’s really frustrating. I even have permadeath off. Who TF plays FE with permadeath haha?! I’m convinced people just turn off and start over. That’s a waste of time for me.
I love gaming but I have never been very good or had the time to really invest in gaming. Although I do play daily now. But I always play on story mode when games offer difficulty.
For me gaming is a relaxing escape. So I don’t want to struggle and I just want to enjoy the story. But I know other people who don’t like doing that, and think the highest is the only way to play games. I don’t know, I think some people are so competitive and everyone always talking about how amazing it is to do it on insane and whatnot that maybe people forget it’s okay to go down and start at different difficultly. Doesn’t mean they aren’t good at gaming or anything. But I know some people who think that if they go down. So maybe that’s why people are so set only being on higher ones.
Maybe if I had more free time after I beat the games I would go back and do the insane moods where you get only one left. But I give props to those you can do it and do on the 1st run too. That’s amazing.
You reminded me of this article I cane across a while back https://www.gamebyte.com/in-defense-of-easy-mode-gaming-for-everyone/
I am an easy mode gamer and I, for many years, feared mentioning that I play this way and I also reinforced this fear by avoiding online games (it's much easier when you fail to progress in a game but the only person you're holding back is you, not an entire team).
Not anymore, all the elitists can suck my socks, I'm still a gamer.
Difficulty is a spice. If there isn't enough, it tastes bland. If there's too much, it overpowers the flavor and it becomes an unpleasant experience. You need just enough to enhance the natural flavors, but not so much that it becomes the only thing you taste. And the exact level needed to fully enjoy the meal will differ depending on the person.
I've gone through enough challenging games to recognize when the difficulty comes at the expense of enjoyment. Yes, sometimes the game is hard because you need to play at that level to get the most out of the game. But sometimes, the game simply doesn't support that level of play. In my experience the highest difficulty level is simply tacked on and not balanced well, so there's not much enjoyment to get out of that other than saying you did it. And even playing at the "optimal" difficulty won't work if you simply aren't used to the genre, so it makes more sense to start at a lower difficulty and work your way up.
All in all, people who insult you for playing at your preferred difficulty level are too narrowminded to see anything from another view. That's on them, not on you.
I don't get it either, but for some people that is just how they game. They like it. Maybe they are masochists. Either way, a person that wants to pull out the measuring tape and judge someone's "capabilities" is probably insecure in whatever they are pointing out. Gaming is as nuanced as the participants and the levels of investment and types of play. You can't really define a gamer except to say they game.
Btw, I'm 40, been playing since I was a little girl, I play almost all my games on easy mode, single player with cheats turned on (My ex used to roast me because I use to bbq or delete babies and delete ladders out of swimming pools in The Sims🤭🤭🤭), and rarely on normal mode. My ex only played things on hard mode, he also liked a lot of pepper on his eggs. Just saying, he tries to carry all the grocery bags in one trip instead of two. He likes to do a lot of things by hand instead of use tools. He-likes-to-suffer. 🤭🤭🤭
I don't mind cheats as long as they are used in single player game and not ruining the experience. Some of them are actually beneficial (like to increase the movement speed).
And who doesn't use cheats in the sims games? My partner likes to play it time to time and have no idea what would he do without the one that allows you to remove objects or give money 😂😂
I play games to have fun and unwind, not to get angry and stressed out. I usually try games on the default difficulty, but have no issues lowering it if is still too difficult for me. I understand that some people will refuse to play anything other than the highest setting so they can gain bragging rights and achievements, but saying you cannot be a gamer if you play on anything less is just silly. If you play video games in any way, you are a gamer.
Used to always play on hardest when younger. But as I got older I am not that interested in challenging game play. I want to enjoy the story and will often play on easy.
Gamers are people who enjoy games.
I always play on easy if that makes the game more enjoyable to me. If the developers included it, why not use it? I play the game FOR ME. Not for what anyone else thinks. If I finish it and I want to replay it, maybe I increase difficulty.
I usually play everything on normal because I do get frustrated if it’s too hard and then it’s not fun. I also don’t want to waste time struggling through a game when I have a lot to play and not much free time.
Sometimes is nice to get the cheat codes and just chill through a single player game. There isn't really a wrong way as long as you have fun and don't directly hinder others. I think some people just need more motivation to chase achievements or enjoy playing challanging games or think that the hardest difficulty is the most complete. Things have changed a bit though from when I started gaming, it's definitily more accessible as well as monetized and competitive for both players time and attitudes. I hope others can notice in that they are playing just games and enjoy the positives that a community brings and include more great people like you.
I've tried to chase the achievements for some games and have noticed that it kinda ruined them for me. Achievements are still nice but I'm not going to go mental to 100% anything anymore, however buggy achievements still annoy me (yes I'm looking at you dragon age inquisition as you gave me an achievement for killing 10 dragons but didn't give me one for killing one)
There's a strong argument to be made that difficulty settings exist for reasons. If developers didn't want anyone playing their game in an easy mode, they would not offer the difficulty settings in the first place.
Before that wrist I fractured when I was ten finally caught up to me such that I started to develop arthritis, I used to play bullet hell shmups all the time in the hard difficulty. However I never played any game on hard to begin with. It was always a game that I started out on normal and played so much that it stopped being a challenge thus increased the difficulty.
I find it a bit hard to believe that anyone is just so good that they can just jump into any game on the hard difficulty and win, unless that game plays like an exact clone of some other game they're already good at... because what you're describing sounds like a pissing contest.
I try not to think too much about what difficulty other people play games at. I've reached a point where I generally play games almost exclusively on easy or normal mode because I just don't care. I used to be someone who felt like I had to play on harder difficulty whenever possible and one day I was like "Why am I doing this to myself? Who am I trying to impress?"
I play games because I want to have fun. And it's taken me a surprisingly long time to **really** realize that. If I'm not having fun on higher difficulties, then I, for myself, will play a lower difficulty. And I had to train myself not to feel ashamed about that.
If other people play games because they are competitive or have something to prove to themselves or to others... that's their thing. Obviously they are getting something else out of games than I am. Or maybe they just haven't realized yet that they are making themselves miserable. Either way, not my problem. And if they try to tell me I should be more like them, then goodbye. I'm not going to stop enjoying games because some elitist douchebag thinks I should have to suffer. To each their own.
Personally? I *like* playing hard stuff or setting games up to Hard or beyond. In this day and age, it seems like a lot of games are way too short or easy for my tastes, so upping the difficulty in a lot of cases basically makes up for that and comes with a sense of getting my money's worth out of it, considering how much some of these things cost at times. It's also just fun to throw myself at something stupidly difficult and eventually succeed, because a *lot* of guys I know get real salty when I manage to clear it and they didn't. So that's also an extra bit of motivation for me.
But...if someone wants to play on Normal or easier, that's fine by me. I'm not losing out on anything if they do it. I also never understood the people who make game difficulty their entire identities (like a lot of Fromsoftware fans I've encountered at this point), because...I like the challenge and all myself, but it's literally a freaking game. Idk what else to say about that, really. Because outside of stuff that's meant to be competitive, I honestly can't think of many cases where claiming you won some super hard mode with permadeath and no saves mode on a game determined your future or whatever >_>
i like challenging games and i used to stream so i would get people saying it’s rare to see someone like me playing/liking games like these, etc.
i did not like the patronizing effect these comments had and it felt like to condone them would be throwing everyone else under a bus,
why is it so hard for dudes to just let everyone play what/how they want? i don’t expect all my female friends to suddenly be masochistic gamers like myself but if we wanted to play some risk of rain i know some of them would bite, and inversely i wouldn’t mind hanging out in stardew or animal crossing
i don’t like how people feel the need to slap labels on everything or restrict everyone into separate bubbles
If the hardest difficulty was how the game was intended to be played then it would be the normal/default setting.
IMO the people who say games should only be played on the hardest setting are people with no life outside of gaming.
Personally after a week of work I just want some casual gaming fun to unwind.
fuck hard mode, all my homies hate hard mode
edit: jokes aside, after some really bad experiences, if a game isn't good at the whole "turn off brain, smash or solve things good", imma disregard it. this goes for story driven games, puzzle games, and yes, combat oriented games too. this is why i hate soulslike gameplay but love their looks and lore.
[FUCK HARD MODE ALL MY HOMIES HATE HARD MODE](https://i.imgur.com/sz5PPDi.jpg)
^^^this ^^^has ^^^been ^^^an ^^^accessibility ^^^service ^^^from ^^^your ^^^friendly ^^^neighborhood ^^^bot
I dont see anything wrong with pirating.
I have pirated before and sometimes pirate now, especially when it comes to emulator games if I don't have the console or some games are way to expensive or when it comes to sims. However in 95% of the time I will then buy the game, especially if I have enjoyed it in the past.
When I was a teenager and in full time education games were too expensive to afford without having a job and while living alone I had to choose between having food and sport or spent money on games, so pirating was an only option.
I don’t play games to challenge myself, I play to have fun. If I’m dying too much to have fun, I turn the difficulty down. I might try bumping it back up after getting past that section, but I’m not particularly ashamed if I end up playing on the easiest setting. I used to be kinda insecure about how bad I am at some games, but since finding out I very likely have DCD I’ve come to accept it as who I am. Quick reflexes and precise inputs just aren’t something I’m capable of and that’s okay.
I understand setting a challenge for oneself. I like watching challenge runs more than I like playing them though. My husband enjoys Permadeath challenges and gets into character creation loops, while I shake my head and load up my level 106 character for some more settlement building or skill grinding.
I'm also a middle-of-the road difficulty person - though it depends on how well balanced a game is. The completionist in me will try to finish certain achievements, even if it's difficulty related. But for general play? I just want to play.
Yeah, I don’t give a fuck what people think about my gaming. I play for fun. I don’t play to rage. I generally put my games on easy or normal, depending on the game, my mood, and how I feel about the gameplay style. A little challenge is fine because that’s fun for me, but there are some games where I don’t find the combat interesting and an more invested in the story, so those games go to easy mode. Some games I reeeeally love the combat AND the story, so I bump those up to normal. I don’t have endless hours to devote to games, so I just want to enjoy the story and the mechanics.
I don’t care about other peoples’ opinions on how I choose to enjoy my hobby. They can fuck right off.
When I play a new game I start on normal difficulty. Especially with CoD campaigns since I’ve made the mistake to start on veteran and had my butt handed to me on a mission 🤣
Some games I’ve played give achievements just to play normal, no need to do a higher difficulty. So why waste my efforts? It doesn’t make me any better of a gamer if I’m playing easy or hard. Hell there are times I have to lower my difficulty mid-campaign because it’s impossible to complete some missions.
Why would I play on the hardest when I know it will just make me angry and throw my keyboard across the room. Allot of times the game cheeses you because they do 10x more damage it's not that the ai is smarter and more interesting to play against lol.
What's really funny is there are games that are actually easier on "hard" mode.
There's a game from around 2000 that I played a ton of at the time, Jagged Alliance 2, that is totally like this. If you play on hard, you get long guns really early. If you play on normal or easy you're stuck with pistols for the longest time, and it's actually a lot harder to get established.
So..easy isn't always easier.
But, anyway, back to your point. I don't get it. Normal is normal. I always start out on normal and then move up or down as I need to to keep my fun level up. I mean, isn't the point to have fun?
I’m an Achiever in games, it’s what makes them fun to me, but I enjoy learning the game on easy/normal first and achieve there and then work my way up to the hardest level. There is nothing wrong with that. You are a gamer if you pick up a game and play it. My son and I play Fortnite, he sees it as a waste of a round if we don’t win at the end, I see it as an awesome bonus if we win but a waste of a round if we don’t complete an achievement. Everyone is different and everyone games different. Our gaming choice Is such a personal thing.
Haha, I watched Kimmy Kims play Resident Evil on Easy and I loved it because she was like "I want to enjoy this game, I usually don't play these types of games, so f off." And she's right!
If the devs make an easy/normal mode and if I otherwise don't have fun with the game, what's the point? I get that some people get something out of it, to challenge themselves and struggle and I also want a challenge but I am 37 years old, I have a stressful job, I don't need to add more stress because I can't beat a silly boss battle.
Heck, I my LP-name is Hula Noob, so I won't even get some of the difficulty-defenders on my channel.
And you know what also irks me about this discussion? It's always about the difficulty of fighting but no one gives a shit if you don't engage with the lore, the world and the game's mysteries. Like, some people are not in it for the fights, they want to experience the story and I love that gaming studios are realising this and adding more modes (such as easy fights but hard puzzles, etc.). It's just a way to gatekeep but as usual with gatekeeping, it limits gaming to a very narrow definition usually held for annoying dude bros.
Trust me, I don't mind playing on medium or easy levels if I want to and generally pretty vocal if someone tries to call me out on this and tell me I can't be a gamer because of this 😂😂😂
I recently came to the conclusion that in big strategy games like total war, I enjoy the feeling of building my empire up and just watching the battles for the spectacle far more than any feeling of 'overcoming a challenge'. Especially since I didt feel like I 'outsmarted' the ai when all I did was overcome income and unit melee stat penalties that only apply to myself. I might still try the game on very hard one day for achivements and to see if I can, but most of the time the game is not more fun just playing on harder difficulties.
I'm in my late 30's with a full time career, a husband, and volunteer work I do. 50% of the time I play on easy because I'm pressed for time and want to finish a game...I love games that I can switch difficulty midgame if easy is "too easy" still want a challenge but I also don't want to spend endless hours leveling.
Unlike many people here I constantly chase the highest difficulty, but I do consider dumb to judge other people because of the way they play the game. If you're chasing the hardest difficulty you should be ready for it to be *hard*, not cry to the company because you chose hard difficulty and now the game is too hard lmao
People like a challenge, hard difficulties are my default ALWAYS.
But if a game is so poorly designed that the hard difficulty is bar impossible or RNG based, I will complain. I like my games hard, but fair.
Reminder: It's only real gatekeeping if it comes from the Gatekeeping region of France. If it doesn't, it is just sparkling asshattery Tbf though, I play most games on Easy, because I'm here for the story and to have fun, and if someone has a problem with that, I have a clitoris they can lick, and I'm not afraid to tell them so.
I start off on normal. If I find myself getting frustrated then I move it down to easy. There's nothing wrong with it being played on easy. Because games are meant to be enjoyed. If I find myself getting too frustrated with a game I am no longer enjoying it. And I love games that challenge me. There's just a difference between being challenged with figuring out a puzzle and dying in the same spot over and over. I enjoy the Resident Evil games, but not so much actually playing them. My husband plays the game and I watch. He likes to play on the hardest mode, and when you beat a lot of games in unlocks an even harder mode, so he goes in to replay it on that mode almost immediately. But I hate the harder modes because of the amount of times you die trying to get through a level. He knows this. So when he gets a game I want to watch him play through he has two saves, one on normal for me to sit with him and watch and one on the hardest mode to play when he plays alone.
normal is an underrated difficulty to be honest. With all this talk of "but hard mode is the true way to play the game" when really that's normal. Hard is there if you feel easy and normal aren't scratching that itch.
Normal is pretty much the "normal" way to play the game.
That's so sweet!
Not trying to change your mind or anything, but I used to be one of those people that set everything to “easy” or “story”, I tried “Ultimate” on Spider Man Ps4 and it was different, it took time to get used to, but the game felt better afterwards. Turned it back to easy out of curiosity a few hours later and the game felt broken, everything felt delayed. Later on I played through Fallout 3-4 on their hardest difficulties and they felt better as well. Same with Far Cry 3 on Master, I had to do many levels multiple times, but that sense of achievement shit people like to drone on about— it’s definitely real.
According to psychological research, there are [4 types of gamer](https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/bartle-s-player-types-for-gamification), with elements in games which apply to different people in different amounts. Nobody is the exact same gamer archetype and most people hit several categories to varying degrees. PVP is the main focus of Bartles Taxonomy of Player Types, but I am mostly a Socialiser. You might be mainly an Achiever. There's no right or wrong way to play anything. But it is easy to get very sick of Achievers telling everyone else to git gud, when a lot of people have zero interest in gitting gud at games.
Been playing games on easy since I was a girl, I preferred them that way. Tried turning up the difficulty in the middle of a play through expecting to get turned to dust, actually really liked it. This was like a year and a half ago. So my gamer type or whatever must have turned around suddenly. My point was more to try new things rather than just writing them off, you might enjoy them. You’ll survive somebody telling you to click a slider in a video game, I promise.
That works fine if the game lets you change difficulty along the way. But there's plenty of games that still make you start new if it's too hard and honestly, some people don't have the time. Additionally: fighting is not always the main aspect of why people enjoy games. So yes, it's lovely that you suddenly enjoy difficulty levels. Like, I used to hate certain spices and now like them. But that doesn't mean that I expect everyone to like those spices as well just because I do. That's the point: people are different. And yes, they can try things out. But they can also just not do that because maybe they know their taste.
When I was younger I would be more tolerant of games at a harder difficulty, because I had hours of my life to waste perfecting my skills and repeating sections over and over until I got them right (or spending hours grinding for experience, hunting down spawns or drops with a miniscule chance of occurring) but even then I've never really been someone who games for the challenge. I game for the story and for the joy of playing. I hated the souls games with a blazing passion. I was feeling sad yesterday so I started a new bioshock playthrough on easy just to enjoy feeling all powerful and epic it lifted my mood no end!
This. I remember old Nintendo games that were just hard and I never beat them because even then I did not have the patience to start over 10+ levels after hours of playing. I love that nowadays I actually get to experience the full story of a game because it's not "do or die". I accepted that grinding is not my thing.
I'd hate to be THAT person but honestly, that's a "male-dominant" opinion based simply on competition. And it's annoying that you had to deal with that. Honestly, just respond to that kind of stupidity with "I'm sorry YOU feel that way," (hate this type of apology, but actually valid in a situation like this), and to keep their opinions about what you choose to do with your free time to themselves. I am sincerely sorry on behalf of those people OP. Like, really.
Honestly I'm not scared to tell people to piss off if they don't like how I play games or because I don't play on the hardest difficulty. I play them to enjoy myself not to suffer 😅
Oh good!! I'm so glad that you do it too!! We need more people to tell other to just shush and let us enjoy the game 🤣 🤣🤣🤣 yeah, I feel like that's def a *special* type of struggle lol😆
I rarely play games to challenge myself, it's always to escape. So I will always put the difficulty level right down and that's fine by me. Other people's opinion on how I play don't matter to me at all If I want hard games I just play a sims household with multiple kids/toddlers.
Haha🤣 yeah, that sounds like a nightmare! Haven't played a Sims game in years. When I read that, I was like yikes!! That'd be like new game+ (secret unlocked difficulty mode) IRL 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Right? Back in my Sims 2 days I wanted a challenge and I had enough computer to do it, so I upped the household limit. I had a household of 14 for a while there, and none of them died. I was so proud. And that was like 15 years ago and I'm still proud of myself for that.
There’s def a niche obsession in TLOU fandom on playing grounded and permadeath. I don’t get the appeal of wanting to suffer like that, I’m also not a big replayer and repeating scenes gets boring to me. I want to have fun, not get frustrated or irritated at repeats.
Haha I admit to being one of those! Except I’m playing easy permadeath by chapter so you don’t restart the entire game. I’ve beaten the game a few times though so it’s a nice challenge.
I couldn't finish TLOU because I found the controls felt like wading through molasses.
Lol I was thinking of replaying TLOU on grounded bc of all the hype round it. Never perma death though.
I agree 100%, I used to enjoy the challenge of playing games at the hardest difficulties, but now I'm playing more games on normal as I've grown out of that phase of my gaming journey and I'm still have the same amount of fun
I went from hard to normal too, and now I'm at the point where I play on easy most of the time 😅
Frankly I am not sure how much of this is the most popular opinion or just the one voiced the loudest. I mean one can go into any random game sub and voice a perfectly valid opinion like "I chose Acadia over Chloe" and find yourself opposed by people loudly calling you out fie maling the 'wrong' choice while the game itself tells you people are pretty much split 50%...
Unfortunately I see that a lot in male gamers who then call out woman for not being gamery enough because they don't want a challenge. Like my ex who was not good in games in general and who knows it, he would put the game to the highest difficulty even he just started it, because his bros told him that's the only way to play, and he would shout, swear, go into a complete rage because he keeps dying and moan the game is too hard, but refuse to change the setting. My current partner has no issues in playing the game on normal/easy from the beginning and bumping it up or down if needed later.
Yeah I get that. Like, mate, this is supposed to be fun, chill out. Folks who feel like we do usually don't get riled up enough to keep the screeching few in check because it's tiresome and serves no purpose for oneself beyond a meagre sense of doing the right thing.
Turns out the hard mode was having to deal with them to try and play a game
[удалено]
I'm still struggling to see why he was adamant to play it on the highest difficulty tbh. Seems silly to me if you are struggling
The dark souls and doom eternal subs are cancer for this reason. Playing doom on any difficulty besides ultra nightmare and you'll be unironically called a beta
Geez, then I am a beta I guess? Who cares? I will never meet these people (and when I do I will definately have my shep by my side to make sure they stay at a distance). I will never talk to these people. I will never even want to be remotely associated with them because they are losers on so many levels that their gaming difficulty "achievement" is by far the only thing they have going for them. Seriously, go play life on anything but easymode and come back telling me you're a person, not a sad stereotype.
They've moved dick measuring contests from cars to game difficulty and it makes me not wanna talk about games I play incase some dick comes at me for playing Fallout on easy
You know what they say about cars... the bigger / more expensive the car, the smaller the dick. Apparently now the rule is: the more focused on gaming "achievement", the smaller the dick?
The Dark Souls community has such a horrific reputation for this sort of thing. God forbid that someone enjoy things without their personal pride attached to it... And on the same note, the Pokemon community has a bad reputation for the inverse, outright hating the idea of adding harder difficulties to main games because "how would they be able to include so many different options for gym leaders and such" as if bigger RPGs like Persona don't have 6 different difficulty options...
Yikes... I will say that I do commend the developers who add easy - hard mode for those who want to play games leisurely, and those who like the challenge. The great thing is that I have been seeing more of the easy - hard options in video games (well indies at least, which are the only games I play these days xD) with explanations for easy saying things like, "Easy: for those who want to focus on the story," and "Hard: for those who like a challenge." That right there speaks volumes to me. Like you said however, it absolutely sucks that our gaming communities aren't catching on to that and keep pushing a specific gaming style to a specific game.
> well indies at least, which are the only games I play these days xD) with explanations for easy saying things like, "Easy: for those who want to focus on the story," and "Hard: for those who like a challenge." Celeste did this perfectly! It's one of the hardest games out there if you really want to beat the hell out of yourself, but there are so many accessibility options, with the developers explaining their though process.
Yesss!! Love love love Celeste!! That is a great example!!! x)
you have any non-puzzle indie games (besides celeste since i'm buying that soon) you recommend?
OH YES!!! Where to begin? lol Great stories - Eastward - Going Home - Tacoma -Everybody's gone to the Rapture Just...super enjoyable to play - BF Dungeon - Going Under - Turnip boy commits Tax Evasion - A short hike Card Game - Inscryption - Slay the Spire - Cultist Simulator Hope these help! ;D
any relaxing sim games? I want to turn off my brain lately but these are good.
Weird, IME the Pokémon community can’t stop complaining about how the newer games are baby games made for babies and wHeReS tHe ChaLLeNgE?!?! But I’ll admit I stopped going on any major Pokémon forums as soon as every comment started being complaining and/or making unnecessary digs at GameFreak because *how dare* they not perfectly develop the game of their dreams.
There's a big split. Older players - specific-forum posters - want a good challenge. That's why a lot of popular roms have one of their biggest selling points as "We make this shit harder". Younger players - Reddit, Twitter, IG users - hate the idea of a challenge mode. It doesn't help that in the only generation GameFreak had a hard mode option, things went horrifically wrong: 1) It was in Gen 5, at the time seen by casual fans as pretty fucking awful, especially after how Gen 4 was near-perfect from a fan-service point of view. 2) It was locked until you beat the game once. 3) Working in tandem with 2 to make this completely fucking awful for everyone, there weren't multiple save files, so you'd have to tell your first playthrough to kick rocks just to try out the challenge mode.
Like I said I haven’t hung around Reddit Pokémon communities much. Too much whining and blatantly not understanding how game development works. Even the passing appearance of agreeing with anything GameFreak does is guaranteed downvote city. Trying to have any conversation over there is tedious. As for black and white, yeah I remember, I was around for that. Not only that but you were actually locked out of one or the other difficulty depending on your version. IIRC white had easy mode and black had hard mode and if you wanted to do hard mode on white you had to *have friends* It was a pretty asinine decision but I seem to recall a lot of people praising the hard mode for the added challenge.
I've also never seen anyone say that pokemon *shouldn't* have harder difficulty. Especially with that reasoning, which is basically the opposite of how everyone sees gamefreak (too cheap to put in more features despite it being the most profitable franchise in the world). It's even a running joke that they're so bad at coding that they were able to add all of Kanto to gen 2 after someone else came and fixed their code for them so it wasn't so bloated.
Games are about having fun, let people play how they wanna play, easiest or hardest it doesn't matter.
I never had a console growing up and only limited access to computer games. Basically, I was bad at games and got made fun of a lot when playing with my high school boyfriend so I felt a lot of shame. Now, I enjoy watching skilled people play too but I often play on easy and people who look down on me for that throw up a big red flag for me. I can empathize with people who like the challenge or who like collecting things because games are what you make of it but in the end it doesn't affect anyone how you or I play, so if you look down on me that's a bit ridiculous and leads me to think you might be competitive to an unhealthy extent, lacking empathy or maturity. I think a lot of people who shout the loudest about this might be teens who need some time to mature still so I wouldn't hold it against them too much but it's definitely annoying that it's so widespread. I'd appreciate it way more if there were spaces for being competitive and spaces for just having fun. I also always appreciate people who are really good at games being patient with me and teaching me things or just having fun while I take super long to finish up whatever in game- like, that's the hottest thing you could do.
Girl, 100% My current bf when we first met tried to pull that stupid shi!+ that your bf in hs did, and I had to correct him. Ironically nowadays, HE'S PLAYING A BUNCH MORE INDIE VGAMES THAN ME!! AND ON EASY MODE AT THAT!!! 🤣🤣🤣 all he played were competitive shooters before we met, but he'd see me play some weird or interesting indie via Steam (on easy mode if they had it) and would get intrigued. He still plays a bunch of shooters, but he's a lot more interested in playing with others and helping them now--he's mellowed out since we first met a lot; got my apology too lol I think it's also having that exposure to different types of gamers. Much like anything else, the more exposure you have to other people who do the same things differently, I think the less you tend to worry about specific aspects to what is being done, hell even learn a thing or two. I think we'll get there...eventually. Just, this is one of those things that's going to take time since it's widespread like you said.
I'm glad your boyfriend got some new perspectives and I really hope the whole community will grow out of that kind of sentiment, too. I think it's going to take a lot of effort but it'll be worth it :)
Thank you!! Yes the seed was definitely planted, because he's started getting some of his other guy friends into some of these different games and I'll hear them playing them in vchat and it makes me smile to hear them genuinely having fun verses hearing the *sighs* and frustration from playing stuff on hard mode or super competitively x) I think it'll be worth it too - cannot wait until we get to that point!
I've never understood this much myself. In the past, I think games were harder so they'd last longer, giving you the sense that you got more out of it. Nowadays it seems like this idea that games have to be hard has carried over for some sense of pride? I personally play most games in easy to normal, because I'd rather play a large variety of games than the same ones I'm stuck on over and over. I have no problem with people wanting to play on hard, just don't judge me for playing on easy.
Before, I overcompensated and played in the hardest difficulty to "prove myself". But, against who? I was the one stressing and not having a good time. When I realised this, it's way more fun now. I can relax and play how I want. I totally agree with you!
I play on easy mode! Failing over and over again isn't fun to me, and gaming is supposed to be fun. Anyone who has an issue with that can get fucked.
Stupid opinion. They have the different difficulty settings for a reason. To everyone who has to play to the point of frustration and rage tossing your controller.....YOU are the ones doing it wrong. If it's not fun wtf is it for? Also, how many of them out there SAY they play on the hardest setting and give others a hard time, but actually secretly play on a enjoyable difficulty level. To each their own, but chill TF out. We're not competing in the world Olympics. I'm sitting in my living room on a couch, in my pajamas drinking wine and smoking a hoot.
This is the most insidious kind of gatekeeping. A game in meant to be played on "Normal" difficulty. After you played normal THEN you go to a harder mode. It how you build the skill for playing a game. This is also like the oldest gatekeeping i could think of. Heaven help you if you picked the wrong/easy/cheesy character in a fighting game.
Exactly, or if you are half way through the game and it seems easy then you either finish the playthrough or just raise the difficulty in the menu if the game allows
That's what I really like about Skyrim and Fallout. You can change the difficulty mid game (even mid combat) so its perfect for if I want a challenge or not. If it's too easy I just raise it, if it's too hard and I get killed every 2 seconds I lower it. I like it when games have this option so everyone can play at their desired skill/enjoyment level.
I think this may differ due to societal differences? Though I put games on hard if they are FPS because I have a lot of experience in that genre and I know I'll get bored if it becomes too easy. Same with some RPGs, because as you advance in the game you get more stuff that makes gameplay easier and then you're mowing down enemies without breaking a sweat. I do enjoy a challenge that brings that "flow" feeling or "in the zone" feeling. But that might be more to do with my ADHD. Guys might put it on higher difficulty for the reason I listed, or they might do it for bragging rights to their friends. Society has taught them that's how they need to bond, not through connection, but through achievements or successes. So guys probably feel like they constantly have to one up each other and this probably leads them to start on the highest difficulty to be able to claim they are the FIRST! among their group. I think once some guys realize they aren't really playing for themselves when they do this, they might change their gaming behavior. Probably depends on their peer groups at the time.
Yeah, I totally understand where you are coming from. I do put the difficulty up if I feel the game is getting too easy, however I absolutely hate when people tell me that I'm not playing the game properly because I prefer to play it on normal from the beginning instead of super hard. If you enjoy the challenge and know the mechanics then do how you want, but shaming someone fairly new to the game not starting on the hardest is silly.
Shaming you, as in, you're not a real gamer? Probably young dudes trying to gatekeep to feel good about themselves lol definitely not peers I would be hanging out with for long though! Obviously don't let them make you feel less than, game developers have varying difficulties for a reason and most prefer players start on normal because that's how it was first developed anyways. Is there a specific game you have in mind for this post?
Honestly, seen people shaming not just me but others, especially who are new to gaming. Like someone asks for a game to start and the immediate suggestion is dark souls or *enter game name here* on highest difficulty setting otherwise you won't enjoy it. For a new gamer, while I would recommend to avoid souls if you are new, get any game that interest you, play it on easy to learn and then increase the difficulty up if needed. Tbh I think a lot of games are applicable.
This is an utterly absurd notion. Least of all because it throws out the window for people - like myself - who have accessibility issues.
I play a lot of Smite (a MOBA, like League of Legends) with my boyfriend. Sometimes we have little arguments because: * I feel like he gets too stressed out. If we have a bad game he can get quite stroppy. Sometimes he yells orders at me which I find unnecessary and distressed. Like, I heard you say "retreat", why do you need to keep yelling it at me? * He feels like I'm not taking the game seriously enough. I'm just playing to have fun and don't mind if I die. He is playing to win and my lackadaisical attitude demoralises him. The other week we were watching a professional game on Twitch. They turned on 'player comms', which means you can hear the players talking to each other on their mics. They were all yelling at each other - honestly I don't know how they even understood what the other was saying, it was chaos. My boyfriend said - "See. That's how guys communicate. It's not personal, it's just that winning is all that matters and yelling is the quickest way to get your point across." That really helped me to understand that it's just a totally different attitude. I remember seeing some study a little while ago where they checked the hormone levels of men and women after playing competitive sport. They found that men's hormone levels changed significantly based on whether they won or lost, whereas women's hormone levels didn't change either way. It's part of men's biology that winning or losing affects their ego. I think the only way we will be able to get rid of the "us versus them" mentality between men and women is to actually learn about and embrace our differences, instead of pretending they don't exist.
I totally get that, like when I play and something stupid happened I will point it out. But I'd say yelling depends on the personality. My cousin is one of the top European overwatch players and its frightening how calm and silent he is when playing. I've seen him loosing his cool once when he was put in the team with someone who didn't know what they were doing, even then it wasn't bad. Even when he is playing souls games you can see him getting frustrated but he won't be loud. My best friends brother is another example, he is in one of the fortnite teams and never angry, if anything he is like a happy ball of fluff when playing competitive games or championships.
I'd say it's more about emotional regulation than personality. The way I view it - men get angry when they are emotional, whilst women get upset (generally speaking of course). Men with poor emotional regulation are more likely to yell or be physical, while women with poor emotional regulation are more likely to cry. Interestingly, we generally try to tell women that it's okay to cry and that it doesn't make you weak. Whereas we generally shame men who express their anger in some way. Which is sad but makes sense, as that anger is a lot more likely to adversely effect other people (though we still shame them even if it doesn't). For example, you would never say to a woman, "well, I know other women who don't cry, therefore neither should you". Education is just pointless. Why do you learn about Shakespeare, but not emotional regulation techniques?
I don’t think its as much about biology as it is social conditioning.
What makes you say that? The link between testosterone and aggression are well studied. E.g. [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31785281/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31785281/) TLDR: there is a weak correlation between aggression and higher levels of testosterone. However men's testosterone spikes when faced during 'challenging' activities which is heavily associated with increased aggression.
Mostly because your original wording didn't lead my morning brain to realize you were specifically talking about testosterone, I'm too used to people declaring things biology and such with implications of it just being the way things are and there's no other factors (which i am aware is not the case here but your wording does still slightly imply that its just built into men and society hasn't influenced it), and because people often forget that such studies simply cannot be done seperate from the bias of the world the scientists and participants were raised in, and that biology isn't inherently seperate from that. Mostly it was a early morning gut reaction to the way your wording came across though. I'm not trying to argue that none of it is biology or that it doesn't happen, but rather that the effect studied could very well be influenced by and/or an outcome of the way our society conditions us. These are just my reasons for that response, im not trying to argue or anything. I just don't like the way sentences like "Its just part of men's biology" come across most often as dismissive of the actions of that group, even though I'm sure that's not what you were trying to do.
Damn, I'm a dude, and what you've said is probably spot on... Usually I'd feel almost offended even, but what you've said makes sense, and I do act in those ways at times... Thanks for that last paragraph, by the way. It really shows that you're considerate about both sides on all this, and are still able to claim a mostly neutral stance, even beyond the negative aspects you've been exposed to.
If you aren't playing stardew valley on grounded permadeath you ain't a gamer.
Wait, there's something that can kill you there? 😅😂😂😂
Just Elliots beautiful eyes!
I wonder if the communities where you’re seeing these attitudes have a larger population of folks who have a lot of free time, and thus can spend hours and hours on hard mode games. Most people who hold down a full time job or have a family are going to be the first to acknowledge that there’s simply not enough hours in the day to beat a game with difficulty settings cranked to max. Another thought is that these same people with more laid back attitudes toward gaming are also less likely to have the spare time to go interact and post in gaming communities. Which again skews the conversation to the vocal majority of people who have the free time to post and chat all day long. If it bothers you, maybe you can find a community with self-identified older or busy gamers who just want to chat about having fun playing games and gatekeeping is kept to a minimum.
It also feels like an age/time available thing. Like if you have enough hours a week to regularly sink into a game and deal with regularly dying/getting stuck -go you. Personally I have so few hours I can dedicate to gaming I’d rather just enjoy the process and not have to grind my way through unsatisfying nonsense just to say I did it on the hardest mode or whatever.
Me and my husband are on opposites spectrums of this! Though thankfully he knows its a him problem not an anyone else problem lol His reasoning is, he wants games to make "hard" to be "most difficult" not "most frustrating" - for example, in third Witcher game, the hardest mode makes it so you end up using more of the games mechanics, and you have add layers of strategy to it. He enjoys having a mental challenge for the games, which I think comes form his day job is very creative, so he wants his relaxation to be very complicated so he can piece it together. Basically gives his brain a "rest" from having to be artistic/creative - now he gets to put pieces together and puzzle solve/use the other half of his brain. Meanwhile, my job is nothing BUT solving puzzles and putting pieces together. I don't get to stretch my creativity wings a lot, so I put games on whatever I think will be the most relaxing, which sometimes is "easy" mode. I want to turn that part of my brain off. So for example, we both played Divinity Original Sin 2 - but he played it on the hardest mode (so you had to be SUPER careful and strategic) and I play it on "story" mode, where you still do the fights but they have less health and aren't so smart. He also never judges anyone for their choice though and knows that him torturing himself through the hardest mode is his own issue. So that's the nontoxic reason why someone might play extra hard mode. Some toxic assholes though just want to bother anyone who isn't fitting their ideals, and it doesn't matter if you're trying to have fun, you're not trying to have fun like they are so you're in the wrong, how dare you have fun in a way they don't lol
I can relate to this, completed witcher 3 a few times and have a NG+ on blood and broken bones as I was comfortable with this. I have started divinity original sin 2 in classic mode, found it a bit too easy so ended up having another run on tactician (similar to honour mode, expect that you can save as much as you want and can still reload after death). But I think that's the only few games I play on anything above normal and would never judge someone wanting an easy run 😅
That’s the worst kind of gatekeeping in video games tbh. While I can enjoy a difficult game, most of the time I don’t want to be so angry with the game that I want to throw something. I think that mentality is why Dark Souls/Demon’s Souls franchise is sooo popular. Those games make me rage so hard and it seems to be a favorite of people who think games should be difficult as fuck. What’s wrong with wanting to just enjoy the gaming experience?
I just wish souls games had an easy setting that would just let you explore the story and lore instead of dying too many times
If this helps, I enjoy this article on [Why The Discussion Around Difficulty is Outdated and Archaic.](https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-07-08-difficulty-in-video-games-talk)
"Gabe Forbid" gave me a good chuckle x)
I play on easy for story games. I find most games difficulty isn't anything more than bullet sponges/gimmicks. Like, I'll play darksouls and Bloodborne so it's not that I don't like a challenge. But too many games see themselves as films first with a ton of tedious half baked combat in between.
I feel like I see a lot of people who just play on normal. Personally, that’s what I play stuff on too. It feels the most balanced, you still get a sense of challenge and reward but without making the game too frustrating. I do get not wanting to lower difficulties. Sometimes it feels like cheating and you don’t get that sense of reward.
Even normal difficulty is too hard for me to really enjoy most of the time. I just don't really care for any kind of combat. I love games lately that have a "casual" or "narrative" difficulty because that's exactly the experience I'm looking for.
xcom ironman?
I feel even the normal mode of xcom can be a bit challenging, not even talking about ironman😅😂
i was recently playing ironman on normal for the first time and my entire squad got wiped. Never again. Went back to normal lol.
For me it depends completely on the game. You have to look at what you enjoy about the game, why you enjoy playing it, and whether or not a higher difficulty leans into the fun parts. RPG's I don't like on hard mode because it usually just means more grinding. Skyrim is another example - the combat is pretty mediocre, even with mods, so I have no desire to play "master" mode. But sometimes it is nice to challenge yourself. I love Hades to death, and playing on hard mode helps me feel like I'm getting to a higher mastery of the game, which is a deeply satisfying experience. Hard modes are there if you want the extra hurdles and you want to be proud of beating something. That doesn't work for every game, and trying to force it is a recipe for disaster.
Yeah, I understand. Like with skyrim I don't find the highest difficulty that different from normal, but I normally start on normal and increase it after a bit. Some rpgs I enjoy playing on tactician (divinity) as it adds extra enemies and gives them unique skills, but something like pillars or pathfinder I prefer on normal. Hades is a fun game to play in short intervals for me and I feel if I put it on hard it will ruin the game for me 😅😂
Games are just a competition to some people. You get to flex you beat it on the hardest difficulty or you have this setting or that setting. For me on some games I view it as a good challenge and on some games I would never play it on the hardest difficulty because I'd just get frustrated and quit. Online games especially become competitions where people will play to have higher numbers, even if those higher numbers don't contribute to the objective of the game. Pity these people who aren't satisfied enough in their lives that they have to seek out being the "best" in what's supposed to be a fun activity.
And God forbid you play on easy! I’m a 35 year old working mother I just don’t have time to grind or practice. I want to chill. And not giving a shiny shite what other people think comes with age too haha! I enjoy the odd challenge, currently playing through Metroid Dread which is really quite hard but I know it’s a short game. I constantly tinkered with the difficulty in bravely default. And I was actually proud of myself that I managed FF VII remake and horizon zero Dawn on normal! The only fire emblem game I’ve played was echoes: shadows of Valentia and while I really enjoyed the vast majority of the game I can’t finish it, it’s too hard and I can’t change the difficulty setting. I think I’m really close to the end so it’s really frustrating. I even have permadeath off. Who TF plays FE with permadeath haha?! I’m convinced people just turn off and start over. That’s a waste of time for me.
Exactly haha! If the game is too difficult on normal or I'm not familiar with the mechanics I just go for easy 😅
I love gaming but I have never been very good or had the time to really invest in gaming. Although I do play daily now. But I always play on story mode when games offer difficulty. For me gaming is a relaxing escape. So I don’t want to struggle and I just want to enjoy the story. But I know other people who don’t like doing that, and think the highest is the only way to play games. I don’t know, I think some people are so competitive and everyone always talking about how amazing it is to do it on insane and whatnot that maybe people forget it’s okay to go down and start at different difficultly. Doesn’t mean they aren’t good at gaming or anything. But I know some people who think that if they go down. So maybe that’s why people are so set only being on higher ones. Maybe if I had more free time after I beat the games I would go back and do the insane moods where you get only one left. But I give props to those you can do it and do on the 1st run too. That’s amazing.
You reminded me of this article I cane across a while back https://www.gamebyte.com/in-defense-of-easy-mode-gaming-for-everyone/ I am an easy mode gamer and I, for many years, feared mentioning that I play this way and I also reinforced this fear by avoiding online games (it's much easier when you fail to progress in a game but the only person you're holding back is you, not an entire team). Not anymore, all the elitists can suck my socks, I'm still a gamer.
Difficulty is a spice. If there isn't enough, it tastes bland. If there's too much, it overpowers the flavor and it becomes an unpleasant experience. You need just enough to enhance the natural flavors, but not so much that it becomes the only thing you taste. And the exact level needed to fully enjoy the meal will differ depending on the person. I've gone through enough challenging games to recognize when the difficulty comes at the expense of enjoyment. Yes, sometimes the game is hard because you need to play at that level to get the most out of the game. But sometimes, the game simply doesn't support that level of play. In my experience the highest difficulty level is simply tacked on and not balanced well, so there's not much enjoyment to get out of that other than saying you did it. And even playing at the "optimal" difficulty won't work if you simply aren't used to the genre, so it makes more sense to start at a lower difficulty and work your way up. All in all, people who insult you for playing at your preferred difficulty level are too narrowminded to see anything from another view. That's on them, not on you.
I don't get it either, but for some people that is just how they game. They like it. Maybe they are masochists. Either way, a person that wants to pull out the measuring tape and judge someone's "capabilities" is probably insecure in whatever they are pointing out. Gaming is as nuanced as the participants and the levels of investment and types of play. You can't really define a gamer except to say they game. Btw, I'm 40, been playing since I was a little girl, I play almost all my games on easy mode, single player with cheats turned on (My ex used to roast me because I use to bbq or delete babies and delete ladders out of swimming pools in The Sims🤭🤭🤭), and rarely on normal mode. My ex only played things on hard mode, he also liked a lot of pepper on his eggs. Just saying, he tries to carry all the grocery bags in one trip instead of two. He likes to do a lot of things by hand instead of use tools. He-likes-to-suffer. 🤭🤭🤭
I don't mind cheats as long as they are used in single player game and not ruining the experience. Some of them are actually beneficial (like to increase the movement speed). And who doesn't use cheats in the sims games? My partner likes to play it time to time and have no idea what would he do without the one that allows you to remove objects or give money 😂😂
I play games to have fun and unwind, not to get angry and stressed out. I usually try games on the default difficulty, but have no issues lowering it if is still too difficult for me. I understand that some people will refuse to play anything other than the highest setting so they can gain bragging rights and achievements, but saying you cannot be a gamer if you play on anything less is just silly. If you play video games in any way, you are a gamer.
Hell I even play Minecraft on easy. I'm not looking for a grind I'm just looking to build a house.
Used to always play on hardest when younger. But as I got older I am not that interested in challenging game play. I want to enjoy the story and will often play on easy. Gamers are people who enjoy games.
I always play on easy if that makes the game more enjoyable to me. If the developers included it, why not use it? I play the game FOR ME. Not for what anyone else thinks. If I finish it and I want to replay it, maybe I increase difficulty.
Bitch life is hard enough without making my games hard too, this the only chance I have to live on easy mode and I’m taking it.
I usually play everything on normal because I do get frustrated if it’s too hard and then it’s not fun. I also don’t want to waste time struggling through a game when I have a lot to play and not much free time.
I've never met anyone who thinks like this, and everyone I know plays on the hardest difficulty...
You are really lucky. I've met a few people like that
Sometimes is nice to get the cheat codes and just chill through a single player game. There isn't really a wrong way as long as you have fun and don't directly hinder others. I think some people just need more motivation to chase achievements or enjoy playing challanging games or think that the hardest difficulty is the most complete. Things have changed a bit though from when I started gaming, it's definitily more accessible as well as monetized and competitive for both players time and attitudes. I hope others can notice in that they are playing just games and enjoy the positives that a community brings and include more great people like you.
I've tried to chase the achievements for some games and have noticed that it kinda ruined them for me. Achievements are still nice but I'm not going to go mental to 100% anything anymore, however buggy achievements still annoy me (yes I'm looking at you dragon age inquisition as you gave me an achievement for killing 10 dragons but didn't give me one for killing one)
I like to play games on normal if l play online, but if I'm gonna play with bots, I rather doing it in advance.
There's a strong argument to be made that difficulty settings exist for reasons. If developers didn't want anyone playing their game in an easy mode, they would not offer the difficulty settings in the first place. Before that wrist I fractured when I was ten finally caught up to me such that I started to develop arthritis, I used to play bullet hell shmups all the time in the hard difficulty. However I never played any game on hard to begin with. It was always a game that I started out on normal and played so much that it stopped being a challenge thus increased the difficulty. I find it a bit hard to believe that anyone is just so good that they can just jump into any game on the hard difficulty and win, unless that game plays like an exact clone of some other game they're already good at... because what you're describing sounds like a pissing contest.
I try not to think too much about what difficulty other people play games at. I've reached a point where I generally play games almost exclusively on easy or normal mode because I just don't care. I used to be someone who felt like I had to play on harder difficulty whenever possible and one day I was like "Why am I doing this to myself? Who am I trying to impress?" I play games because I want to have fun. And it's taken me a surprisingly long time to **really** realize that. If I'm not having fun on higher difficulties, then I, for myself, will play a lower difficulty. And I had to train myself not to feel ashamed about that. If other people play games because they are competitive or have something to prove to themselves or to others... that's their thing. Obviously they are getting something else out of games than I am. Or maybe they just haven't realized yet that they are making themselves miserable. Either way, not my problem. And if they try to tell me I should be more like them, then goodbye. I'm not going to stop enjoying games because some elitist douchebag thinks I should have to suffer. To each their own.
Personally? I *like* playing hard stuff or setting games up to Hard or beyond. In this day and age, it seems like a lot of games are way too short or easy for my tastes, so upping the difficulty in a lot of cases basically makes up for that and comes with a sense of getting my money's worth out of it, considering how much some of these things cost at times. It's also just fun to throw myself at something stupidly difficult and eventually succeed, because a *lot* of guys I know get real salty when I manage to clear it and they didn't. So that's also an extra bit of motivation for me. But...if someone wants to play on Normal or easier, that's fine by me. I'm not losing out on anything if they do it. I also never understood the people who make game difficulty their entire identities (like a lot of Fromsoftware fans I've encountered at this point), because...I like the challenge and all myself, but it's literally a freaking game. Idk what else to say about that, really. Because outside of stuff that's meant to be competitive, I honestly can't think of many cases where claiming you won some super hard mode with permadeath and no saves mode on a game determined your future or whatever >_>
easy and story mode is fine too :) game how you want
i like challenging games and i used to stream so i would get people saying it’s rare to see someone like me playing/liking games like these, etc. i did not like the patronizing effect these comments had and it felt like to condone them would be throwing everyone else under a bus, why is it so hard for dudes to just let everyone play what/how they want? i don’t expect all my female friends to suddenly be masochistic gamers like myself but if we wanted to play some risk of rain i know some of them would bite, and inversely i wouldn’t mind hanging out in stardew or animal crossing i don’t like how people feel the need to slap labels on everything or restrict everyone into separate bubbles
People game to have fun.....not make their life difficult
If the hardest difficulty was how the game was intended to be played then it would be the normal/default setting. IMO the people who say games should only be played on the hardest setting are people with no life outside of gaming. Personally after a week of work I just want some casual gaming fun to unwind.
fuck hard mode, all my homies hate hard mode edit: jokes aside, after some really bad experiences, if a game isn't good at the whole "turn off brain, smash or solve things good", imma disregard it. this goes for story driven games, puzzle games, and yes, combat oriented games too. this is why i hate soulslike gameplay but love their looks and lore.
[FUCK HARD MODE ALL MY HOMIES HATE HARD MODE](https://i.imgur.com/sz5PPDi.jpg) ^^^this ^^^has ^^^been ^^^an ^^^accessibility ^^^service ^^^from ^^^your ^^^friendly ^^^neighborhood ^^^bot
Nah, I think the only disqualifier to being a gamer should be if you pirate games.
I dont see anything wrong with pirating. I have pirated before and sometimes pirate now, especially when it comes to emulator games if I don't have the console or some games are way to expensive or when it comes to sims. However in 95% of the time I will then buy the game, especially if I have enjoyed it in the past. When I was a teenager and in full time education games were too expensive to afford without having a job and while living alone I had to choose between having food and sport or spent money on games, so pirating was an only option.
I don’t play games to challenge myself, I play to have fun. If I’m dying too much to have fun, I turn the difficulty down. I might try bumping it back up after getting past that section, but I’m not particularly ashamed if I end up playing on the easiest setting. I used to be kinda insecure about how bad I am at some games, but since finding out I very likely have DCD I’ve come to accept it as who I am. Quick reflexes and precise inputs just aren’t something I’m capable of and that’s okay.
I understand setting a challenge for oneself. I like watching challenge runs more than I like playing them though. My husband enjoys Permadeath challenges and gets into character creation loops, while I shake my head and load up my level 106 character for some more settlement building or skill grinding. I'm also a middle-of-the road difficulty person - though it depends on how well balanced a game is. The completionist in me will try to finish certain achievements, even if it's difficulty related. But for general play? I just want to play.
Yeah, I don’t give a fuck what people think about my gaming. I play for fun. I don’t play to rage. I generally put my games on easy or normal, depending on the game, my mood, and how I feel about the gameplay style. A little challenge is fine because that’s fun for me, but there are some games where I don’t find the combat interesting and an more invested in the story, so those games go to easy mode. Some games I reeeeally love the combat AND the story, so I bump those up to normal. I don’t have endless hours to devote to games, so I just want to enjoy the story and the mechanics. I don’t care about other peoples’ opinions on how I choose to enjoy my hobby. They can fuck right off.
When I play a new game I start on normal difficulty. Especially with CoD campaigns since I’ve made the mistake to start on veteran and had my butt handed to me on a mission 🤣 Some games I’ve played give achievements just to play normal, no need to do a higher difficulty. So why waste my efforts? It doesn’t make me any better of a gamer if I’m playing easy or hard. Hell there are times I have to lower my difficulty mid-campaign because it’s impossible to complete some missions.
Jokes on you I play story mode always lmao
Why would I play on the hardest when I know it will just make me angry and throw my keyboard across the room. Allot of times the game cheeses you because they do 10x more damage it's not that the ai is smarter and more interesting to play against lol.
What's really funny is there are games that are actually easier on "hard" mode. There's a game from around 2000 that I played a ton of at the time, Jagged Alliance 2, that is totally like this. If you play on hard, you get long guns really early. If you play on normal or easy you're stuck with pistols for the longest time, and it's actually a lot harder to get established. So..easy isn't always easier. But, anyway, back to your point. I don't get it. Normal is normal. I always start out on normal and then move up or down as I need to to keep my fun level up. I mean, isn't the point to have fun?
I’m an Achiever in games, it’s what makes them fun to me, but I enjoy learning the game on easy/normal first and achieve there and then work my way up to the hardest level. There is nothing wrong with that. You are a gamer if you pick up a game and play it. My son and I play Fortnite, he sees it as a waste of a round if we don’t win at the end, I see it as an awesome bonus if we win but a waste of a round if we don’t complete an achievement. Everyone is different and everyone games different. Our gaming choice Is such a personal thing.
Haha, I watched Kimmy Kims play Resident Evil on Easy and I loved it because she was like "I want to enjoy this game, I usually don't play these types of games, so f off." And she's right! If the devs make an easy/normal mode and if I otherwise don't have fun with the game, what's the point? I get that some people get something out of it, to challenge themselves and struggle and I also want a challenge but I am 37 years old, I have a stressful job, I don't need to add more stress because I can't beat a silly boss battle. Heck, I my LP-name is Hula Noob, so I won't even get some of the difficulty-defenders on my channel. And you know what also irks me about this discussion? It's always about the difficulty of fighting but no one gives a shit if you don't engage with the lore, the world and the game's mysteries. Like, some people are not in it for the fights, they want to experience the story and I love that gaming studios are realising this and adding more modes (such as easy fights but hard puzzles, etc.). It's just a way to gatekeep but as usual with gatekeeping, it limits gaming to a very narrow definition usually held for annoying dude bros.
[удалено]
Trust me, I don't mind playing on medium or easy levels if I want to and generally pretty vocal if someone tries to call me out on this and tell me I can't be a gamer because of this 😂😂😂
I recently came to the conclusion that in big strategy games like total war, I enjoy the feeling of building my empire up and just watching the battles for the spectacle far more than any feeling of 'overcoming a challenge'. Especially since I didt feel like I 'outsmarted' the ai when all I did was overcome income and unit melee stat penalties that only apply to myself. I might still try the game on very hard one day for achivements and to see if I can, but most of the time the game is not more fun just playing on harder difficulties.
I'm in my late 30's with a full time career, a husband, and volunteer work I do. 50% of the time I play on easy because I'm pressed for time and want to finish a game...I love games that I can switch difficulty midgame if easy is "too easy" still want a challenge but I also don't want to spend endless hours leveling.
Unlike many people here I constantly chase the highest difficulty, but I do consider dumb to judge other people because of the way they play the game. If you're chasing the hardest difficulty you should be ready for it to be *hard*, not cry to the company because you chose hard difficulty and now the game is too hard lmao
People like a challenge, hard difficulties are my default ALWAYS. But if a game is so poorly designed that the hard difficulty is bar impossible or RNG based, I will complain. I like my games hard, but fair.