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Initial Gameplay Difficulty

Discussion in 'Featured Polls & Comments' started by Taluntain, Jun 12, 2014.

?

What difficulty do you usually play games at the first time?

Poll closed Jul 30, 2015.
  1. Normal (default)

    30 vote(s)
    83.3%
  2. Easy

    3 vote(s)
    8.3%
  3. Hard

    3 vote(s)
    8.3%
  1. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    In this poll we enquire what difficulty you usually play games at for the first time.
     
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  2. Splunge

    Splunge Bhaal’s financial advisor Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    I pretty much always go with normal. Depending on the game, I might change the difficulty part way through if the game allows it, or start over on a different difficulty if it doesn't and I'm not too far in. But most of the time I just leave it at normal for the whole game.
     
  3. olimikrig

    olimikrig Cavalier of War Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Same as Splunge. It's very rare that I amp up the difficulty on my first play-through.
     
  4. henkie

    henkie Hammertime Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Most games I start on normal, with the exception of fps games, where I usually pick a somewhat harder difficulty. Depends on the game, though.

    Stalker feels like it should be played on the highest difficulty. The gameplay supports this by allowing you to sneak around. Serious Sam on the other hand is seriously hard on the harder difficulties. In Painkiller you die quickly on the highest difficulty and healing is rare, but with proper bunny-hopping it's not that hard to avoid taking damage.

    RPGs I almost always play on normal or even a bit lower if the game has multiple easy settings. It's just not a type of game I play for the difficulty in combat.

    Same with RTS games, I play it for the base building, not for the zerg rushing.
     
  5. Vorona

    Vorona Shadow-Whisperer

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    Yeah, I mostly play roleplaying games, so I usually go for easy, at least until I feel like the game needs more difficulty. But I mainly play for the story, so I don't like frustration with combat to get in the way of my enjoyment. What I've noticed is that I'll bump it up to normal, and then find a difficult place and it's back down to easy. There's a part of me that would like the bragging rights for harder difficulties, but it's not something I've actually gotten to yet.
     
  6. Shoshino

    Shoshino Irritant Veteran

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    I like to test the water before hand, easy..

    There are many games I have abandoned because they never really let you get into them, either because they are hard enough that you never experience anything good, or because the story is crap.
     
  7. T2Bruno

    T2Bruno The only source of knowledge is experience Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Lately the games are just sitting on my computer. I don't have time to play them. I'm not sure if that means they're easy because it's no challenge at all for them to sit there or if they're hard because after months I haven't even finished the first encounter successfully. And I don't think it's normal to buy a game and have it sit for months.

    Although I did get through the trial in NWN2 OC recently (a month or so ago on normal difficulty).
     
  8. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    In light of all the Steam sales I don't think that's unusual at all :)
     
  9. Splunge

    Splunge Bhaal’s financial advisor Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    And coincidentally, Steam just started their Summer Sale. Guess I'll be addig to my unplayed games list.
     
  10. henkie

    henkie Hammertime Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    GoG has already been underway with their summer sales for a week or so. Have seen Jade Empire pass by regularly, as well.

    But yeah, lot's of games that haven't gotten played yet.
     
  11. Shoshino

    Shoshino Irritant Veteran

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    I have nearly 400 games on my steam account, I can tell you... many are unplayed.
     
  12. Arkite

    Arkite Crash or crash through Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Initially... normal/core or whatever lands in the middle, because too often easy/hard is just an inflated/deflated health bar.
     
  13. henkie

    henkie Hammertime Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    I hate it when hard difficulty is just more health on the enemies. That doesn't make it anymore difficult, just more tedious.
     
  14. hedron Gems: 7/31
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    Whatever the hardest setting there is. I'm a glutton for punishment
     
  15. The Magpie

    The Magpie Balance, in all things Veteran

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    Usually I'll just go for default. There are definitely some games, though, that some into their own on higher difficulties. The original Quake or Mass Effect 2 are good examples, as they're just more interesting to play. The only opposite example I can think of is Just Cause 2, which as a free-roaming open world game focussed far too much on "challenge" rather than over the top destructive violence, shutting you down just as you were getting a good rampage going.
     
  16. Beren

    Beren Lovesick and Lonely Wanderer Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Normal, or D&D Core Rules when such a setting exists, as it does on some games.
     
  17. Nizidramanii'yt Gems: 10/31
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    Depends: for RPG's and such I put it on 'normal'. For shooters and action-adventures like Mass Effect, I put it on 'easy'. For sports games, I put it on the hardest difficulty.
     
  18. enclave911 Gems: 2/31
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    Normal for the most part, if the game is super difficult early on, I'll switch it to easy and have another go then. If I enjoy the game enough, I'll replay it on hard. If I really enjoyed it, I'll play a third time on the hardest difficulty.
     
  19. SlickRCBD Gems: 29/31
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    Normal or easy, depending on the genre. If it's too easy on easy, I'll set it to normal. I don't even try anything about normal until after I've beaten the game once.

    The only exception for that ever was with Marathon 2, where I'd played the demo as well as the first game, and the demo had told me that there were advantages to playing on "Total Carnage". I tried the same with Infinity, but switched to normal.
     
  20. Darion

    Darion Resident Dissident Veteran BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Always hard.
    Make me suffer for my money!

    Sounds a bit wrong...but hey, what doesn't.
     
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