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From: Zaghadka <zaghadka@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: What difficultly level do you play one?
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2024 19:00:31 -0500
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On Sun, 7 Jul 2024 10:23:16 +0100, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action, JAB
wrote: 

>This one came up on a channel for table top miniatures games but they 
>did also talk about computer games. Now of course this is all personal 
>preference as there's no right way to enjoy games but the main thrust of 
>the argument was that the advantage of playing on easy mode (in the TT 
>context that was interchangeable with social) was it gives you a lot 
>more scope to be creative and play the game how you want and just try 
>things out to see what happens.
>
>That's certain how I approach CRPG's. I don't want to go through 
>numerous guides on how to build an optimal character, I want to pick 
>what I fancy playing. My general strategy is start on normal mode and if 
>it all becomes too much, which it often does as the game progresses and 
>your character/party becomes progressively less optimal, change it to 
>easy mode and carry on.
>
>One of the interesting parts they said is that if you're effectively 
>going to use someone else's build then what not just watch them playing 
>the game. Obviously that's a bit of hyperbole but I can understand their 
>point.
>
>So for me, yep I play on easy mode.

Usually normal. Some rpg games have unusually easy combat, then I crank
it up to hard. Ubi's "Child of Light" is a good example of that.

I also never play Ironman or suvival difficulties. I don't play video
games to be more stressed out.

My latest attempt at "hard" difficulty is KoTOR on the Switch. I
remembered combats being easy so I cranked it up to hard. Then I
discovered that "hard" means normal battles are still easy, and the
cranked up boss stuff becomes a frustrating mess because of the interface
and ally scripting. Simple things like: pause, adrenal alacrity
injection, next character the same, next character the same, sudden
realization that one of them never followed the order after you unpause.

Another example: leaving two Sith elite up to the AI while you go murder
4 or 5 dark Jedi only to find out that Carth and Bastilla have barely
dealt with the two guys in the back. Meanwhile, they're chucking
grenades. The level of micromanagement necessary to play at hard is an
exercise in frustration.

So I turned it back down to normal, and now the regular encounters are
just as easy, and the boss encounters are just as murderously hard, but
forgiving of all the interface, pathfinding, and combat script problems.

So KoTOR is just "more fun" on normal. If a game is "more fun" on hard,
that's where I set it.

TL;DR: Yeah I play at "hard." Mostly I play at "whatever's fun."

-- 
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten