Poll of the Day > I always put games on easy mode.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Yup...no struggles here! I always take the easy way out. I'd cheat still if Gameshark was around.
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same. its a lot more fun to play when drunk

Not easy for me, but I play on default or "normal"

Used to play on the hardest settings, but I don't have time for that shit any more.
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I normally stick with normal

Then on a replay I like to ramp it up to the hardest setting
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Normal >>> hard if i like it enough and i feel like i want to replay it

Far-Queue posted...

Used to play on the hardest settings, but I don't have time for that shit any more.

This. I used to have time to really master games on the hardest settings when I was young and had more free time and no responsibilities. Now that I am an adult with adult responsibilities, I just don't have the time or desire to do that anymore.

On a similar note, I also prefer shorter games nowadays too. I used to love 40+ hours games when I was young, but now I prefer the shorter 5-10 hour games.

Depends on the game. Most shooters and action games I'll start on whatever the hardest difficulty is that you can start with on your first playthrough.

If it's an RPG or a game known for being more difficult I'll start on Normal.
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As an adult with limited free time and a metric shit-ton of competing media always clamoring for my attention (I have a stack of maybe dozens of DVDs I've bought at various times and still haven't gotten around to watching), it's kind of killed any real interest I've ever had in "frustration gaming".

If a game expects you to fail over and over until you memorize patterns just so you can get the eventual strong rush of victory after countless losses, I have neither the patience nor the time to devote to that game. I'd far rather play a game on easy and enjoy the narrative experience (especially since most games I play are narrative-heavy) or the power satisfaction of being able to sweep through enemies than play on hard and somehow "prove" myself against difficult AI or demonstrating prolonged pattern recognition. Rather than 99 losses and one massively satisfying success, I'd rather just have 100 moments of lesser satisfaction. Especially since I don't need to validate my ego by "being good" at any given game. I'd rather just enjoy a game.

The days of playing NES Ninja Gaiden for days/weeks until it becomes almost reflex are long gone for me. If a game has a "Casual" or "Narrative" difficulty setting I'm almost always going to go with that.


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I need my games to be hard as shit otherwise I won't feel.
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