Easiest difficult is a thing?

[UnknDoomer]

If you check the forum you can see here and there that people usually play on UV, or, in some rare cases, HMP. Same thing goes today to others titles - most of folks I know playing on highest, or close to, difficult, no matter what game it is, if not count special run & gun for Steam achievements, which can be actual for some Doom Eternal one, for example.

 

Some games don't have typical difficult thing, like Dark Souls series, or can be tough ever for most of hardcore members, like Cuphead. But in fact today it is rather an exception if we talk about "popular" titles. As I see ever one that you can call "casual" now is way not the same meaning that it was back in 90's era, where is, also, some games were way tough for different reasons. NES onces is example in case of lease issue.

 

So. Currently I can't name anyone around, mostly no matter of how he/she old, who's actually hard stick to "IMTYTD" setting, but you still can see it in most of games.

 

BTW. Blizzard is interesting example. If we take Warcraft III then we can see that originally was only "normal" and "hard" difficulties, where hard is really... hard. Updated version also contain "easy" difficult now, but I've beat it now on hard with, seems to, less troubles then back in the day on normal.

 

By other hand - new Wolfenstein series. "Uber" setting looks weaker then "UV" for me.

 

Is anyone actually "playing for plot" today? Without stick to Sims and such kind of things.

Edited April 18, 2021 by UnknDoomer

[Cruduxy Pegg]

A lot of games add story mode now which is even easier than easy for a reason. A lot of people can't play well for one reason or another, and the world gains nothing of value by gatekeeping them from enjoying the game one way or another. You have to remember that people have different backgrounds and skill levels. And for a lot of people here UV is baby mode while nightmare is normal. Does everyone else have no right to play on UV and HMP now because those people play NM?

[yakfak]

I play Doom for plot, tbh. I probably played through yr fave gameplay set on ITYTD and killed imps through a door

[idbeholdME]

Warcraft III had an easy difficulty even back then. But you had to lose a mission on normal to be able put the game on easy (reduce difficulty button at the defeat menu).

 

As for difficulties in general, options are always good. What you find piss easy, someone else might find challenging. It doesn't harm anybody that the option to choose is there. Unless of course, you start dumbing down the game in general to make it more accessible.

[dei_eldren]

i think anyone taking up Doom who's not very experienced in other FPS games will need lower skill settings than UV, and there's always really young kids who have no way of playing even HNTR.  This must be true for all kinds of games.  When i got my first computer at 8 years old, i wish the games had been more accessible to me, but most of them weren't at the time...the first games i got good at were Chuckie Egg and PSSST!  But something like Jet Set Willy was way too complicated for me to figure out - so i just explored the rooms and collected what little i could.

 

In Doom, i also prefer to play HMP, just enjoying the gameplay style more...i wouldn't say i'm just a casual Doomer, but i don't want to experience any stress when playing, either, cause then it stops being fun.  So for me HMP is a good compromise, where i have a real sense of accomplishment and excitement without feeling like i'm doing it out of necessity.  And i started with HNTR a few months ago so it was definitely useful to me.

 

 

[Matthias]

Well, I play the easiest difficulty when I play Doom on Nintendo Switch, as the controls are you know, very console-like. You are slow without mouse and you just want to get rid of some time when you're waiting for a train or something.

 

Sometimes I play megawads that I don't know much on the easiest, as you don't know how good the mapper is and he could be careless with ammo and such, so you can have troubles later, so that's why I feel more comfortable to play the easiest first. Later on, when I know it's a good ballanced megawad, I can use UV.

[roadworx]

there's nothing wrong with playing on easy mode. hell, i used to do it back when i was a little babbo doomer who sucked at the game even more than i do now

 

even now, i typically play on hmp and only go up to uv if i feel it's too easy. i don't play to prove myself or anything, i play to have fun

[jmac]

Saying "people usually play on UV, or in some rare cases, HMP" is pretty inaccurate. I've been playing doom for 15+ years, and still often play on HMP, and I've seen a lot of people here say they play on HMP or easier difficulties. 

 

I think a lot of people are way too self-conscious about what difficulty they play games on, not just doom, to the point that it's detrimental to their enjoyment of the game. I know I used to be. I've been having a better time with playing doom ever since I realized I didn't have to always play on UV.

[BaileyTW]

There's probably more people who like to chill on lower difficulties than admit it. Lot of people are self-conscious, which is in part because unfortunately there are some people who are critical of not playing in a certain way, not a whole lot but even a small amount can sour the mood.

I have a hard time doing the more fun thing sometimes and lowering the difficulty when the difficulty is getting annoying, cause there's always a part of me nagging me that I gotta challenge myself at the thing, which is how I like to play doom, but not every game I play is fun to me for it to be pants shittingly hard.

[Capellan]

18 hours ago, UnknDoomer said:

Is anyone actually "playing for plot" today?

 

Absolutely.  I play tend to Narrative or Easy difficulty on Bioware games for instance, because I am there for the characters and banter, not the grinding, never-ending maps full of Stuff to Do Because You Need to Level Up.

 

I played Rage 2 on Easy, as well, though (except for the car racing nonsense, which I cheated past with a trainer) I probably could have done it on Normal.

[Yumheart]

A friend of mine who usually doesn't play fps games, plays on ITYTD. They still get their ass kicked but oh well.
I don't think there is anything wrong with playing on lower skill levels. People should be able to play and enjoy Doom, no matter their skill.

[Jello]

3 hours ago, jmac said:

Saying "people usually play on UV, or in some rare cases, HMP" is pretty inaccurate. I've been playing doom for 15+ years, and still often play on HMP, and I've seen a lot of people here say they play on HMP or easier difficulties. 

 

I think a lot of people are way too self-conscious about what difficulty they play games on, not just doom, to the point that it's detrimental to their enjoyment of the game. I know I used to be. I've been having a better time with playing doom ever since I realized I didn't have to always play on UV.

QFT. It took me a few years after I got back into Doom to turn it down to HMP if something was kicking my ass. 

 

Then I realized I was quitting quite a few enjoyable .wads because I was too proud to not play on UV. It doesn't help that quite a few .wads are balanced with UV in mind, but still. I think I missed out on quite a bit.

 

I can do the original iwads on UV, got through Alien Vendetta on UV, but when it comes down to it, I kind of suck at Doom. Better than quite a few people I'm sure, but compared to the upper tier, just no. So at this point, I'd rather play on HMP and just enjoy the game.

[Final Verdict]

 

There's a lot of that around now, but to be honest its always been there. In general I tend to play on hard difficulties but that's only because I enjoy a challenge. 

 

After all, where is the fun in playing it on the hardest setting if you just get frustrated with it? Likewise, for those who are used to hard difficulties in games it would be frustrating for them to play on easy. Two sides of the same coin. 

 

The idea is the have fun and games are obviously a form of entertainment. If you're not having fun then go up or down in difficulty until you do. It may sound simplistic but there really isn't anything more to it. Time is also a factor, some don't have the free time to waste on playing the hardest setting and they just want to enjoy the journey/story.

 

There are many legitimate reasons to play on an easier setting and not all of them are because of skill or ability. 

 

Anything outside of that is either our own ego interfering, or someone else showboating to prove a point. Both can be safely ignored when it comes to games because they're for entertainment and escapism. 

 

The story thing is different. If I'm playing a game that has a deep story (or it's just a cut above the rest) then I generally take it down to normal and play on that. I don't see any point in putting it on hard when most of the game is focused on the narrative, characters et-cetera. In that case I'm there for the journey, not so much the challenge.

 

[leodoom85]

Easiest difficulty IS a thing indeed and exists in different flavors.

Doom is a special case which can help to clear some maps that are too hard and practice at the same time. I'm sure that all of us touched the ITYTD difficulty at least once.

 

Fun fact: in the SNES version of Doom, if you choose the easiest difficulty, two things happens. First, you are able to finish ONLY the first episode and second, you can NOT choose the other episodes, forcing you to choose a higher difficulty to play the other two episodes.

 

That's how I managed to practice the game until I got better.

[out_of_service]

Not everyone is a deity.

[BoxY]

Without ITYDT you can't have nightmare-lite which is one of the most fun ways to replay a wad when you're sick of the regular balance, for that alone I love and respect it as a difficulty setting.

[Samz707]

While I don't play for plot, I don't mind games having easier difficulties, my only complaints are when a game is drastically overall easy regardless of difficulty you choose, while I've not played it yet, Doom 3 BFG edition doubling all ammo pick-ups with no ways to turn it off would fall under this probably, or if it adds features that are ment to make the game easier but don't mesh well/they make the game worse in attempts to balance it. (Like newer Fire Emblem giving you the ability to rewind turns, which is heavily OP but then Three Houses "Balances" this by having unfair traps you have to rewind turns to get out of, so instead of nerfing rewinds, they just throw unfair traps at you.)

 

[Immorpher]

"IMTYTD" setting is not always a plot thing. In Doom 64 it is equivalent to "Be Gentle". And since that game has more puzzles and exploration, the "Be Gentle" is more of an exploration kind of mode. Sometimes its nice just unraveling the level like its a puzzle and treating the action secondary. I can see people who enjoy walking simulations, may enjoy these easy difficulties, especially if there are puzzles to be solved.

[SiMpLeToNiUm]

On 4/18/2021 at 7:57 AM, UnknDoomer said:

...But in fact today it is rather an exception if we talk about "popular" titles. As I see ever one that you can call "casual" now is way not the same meaning that it was back in 90's era, where is, also, some games were way tough for different reasons. NES onces is example in case of lease issue.

Is anyone actually "playing for plot" today? Without stick to Sims and such kind of things.

I mean, you sortof postulate where we are with gaming today as newer games being more casual in general, and then you follow that by asking if people are playing games more casually nowadays after giving some examples of games that break that precedent. 

You've addressed a reality and then asked about whether it's happening or not in the same post. Games can generally be easier now than they were in the 90's, and there's a wider variety of games nowadays. Some games don't follow that general rule of "generally easier than they used to be." Not sure what the conclusion is meant to be from all this.

And, if the question is "Are people playing skill-oriented games for their plot?" then the answer is obviously yes, but also no at the same time. It happens and it doesn't happen.

[Major Arlene]

I'll just lead with this.

 

[P41R47]

On 4/18/2021 at 8:57 AM, UnknDoomer said:

If you check the forum you can see here and there that people usually play on UV, or, in some rare cases, HMP

pretty inacurrate statement, but its no surprise.

 

This kind of thread also appears regularly around here.

I don't understand why people think they are better or superior for playing on harder difficulties.

I wonder if they realice this are just games, and games are meant to be fun and/or entertaining.

If a player find the harder difficulties not fun or entertaining, there is no shame on playing on the difficulty setting the player found convenient.
I play almost everything on HNTR and i have no shame on that. Once i know the mapset, and if i want to replay it, maybe i would play it on HMP, but never UV, you know why?

Because i'm here for the plot of this, baby!

 

This is not for you, as i don't know you at all, but its clear that whoever think is a game god and is superior to the others because of that, surelly knows nothing about life and thats how it become to believe ''insert game name'''s god after playing it nonstop.

[UnknDoomer]

Quote

This is not for you, as i don't know you at all

Not. Well. In two words. Not care / count myself as so called "doomgod" (especially when know at least three folks who really are) / will not go "die hard" to deal with specific game if things will go "too far". Interested why others do and

 

Quote

pretty inacurrate statement, but its no surprise.

like to compain about a lot here and there sometimes, from point of view / what I've seen by other hand, like @Major Arlene and @Final Verdict

 

Quote

There's a lot of that around now, but to be honest its always been there.

mentioned also.

 

But, seems to, suddenly currently none of that folks joined the thread. Or prefer to remain silent?...

Edited April 19, 2021 by UnknDoomer

[MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai]

On 4/18/2021 at 3:02 PM, yakfak said:

I play Doom for plot, tbh. I probably played through yr fave gameplay set on ITYTD and killed imps through a door

90´s John Carmack voice: "Dude, that´s like reading Playboy for articles."

[Azuris]

I play mostly on HMP on PC and on ITYTD on Consoles (Controlers aren't as good for such Games)

I think Episode 1 of Doom was the only one i completed on UV and custom single Maps i try at UV first.

I am pretty sure i could do the Rest of Doom 1 & 2, i mean, i've bet Games as Super Probotector aka Contra 3 back than and Doom Eternal on UV last Year.

But i feel pretty comfortable and entertained with HMP and nowadays beeing an Adult i just don't want to stress me out as often in Games i did when i was in School back than.

 

I am pretty sure that UV is not the most played Difficulty outside Doomworld ;)

 

But hey, that is something Doom does well, it entertains in different Ways, be it exploring and killing or surviving and killing :)

[D4NUK1]

When i play a mapset or a game that i really don't understand the mechanics at first, EASY MODE it's great.

I don't play on ITYTD, but im a fan of Hey, no to Rougth. For many megawads and sets that's are balanced in good difficultys. If the .wad it's not Balanced,  i go ITYTD Because it's really the same + Double HP and Bullets. Playing with consoles also go with that difficulty. I'm only go in hard difficulty IF:

 

• The game rewards you with more oportunity to combos or showcase your skills, like in DevilMayCry.
• The game understand that you're expert, so trow you their best challenge without be cheesed, example. UltraViolence in Doom Classic.
• The game it's short and it's mean to be mostly replayable with mutiple runs.

If im not any of those 3 points, im go first with easy-medium. If i go full hard i sure my game library completition would be the half size.

 

 

[Bridgeburner56]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you put well implemented difficulty settings in your maps people will use them. From what I have seen more people have played Bastion on ITYTD and HNTR than on UV

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

Well, I'm playing Thy Flesh Consumed on ITYTD, so, it exists and it's an option.

[Lippeth]

I tend to jump around difficulties depending on the game, my mood and how it all fits together. With most megawads I'll start at UV and switch to HMP or HNTR after around the first episode. Ancient Aliens just doesn't feel right without a Cyberdemon on map 01, but I can get worn down by constant difficulty in later levels and just want to see everything and kill stuff without too much thought.

 

With something like the Tomb Raider reboot games for example, the only difference on hard is enemies having more health and it bugs me to have multiple head shots not kill humans so I lower it for better immersion.

 

There's no right answer and I'm glad a lot of games implement them at all, though the range of quality and my patience for certain mechanics varies wildly from game to game. I do like to know what the general intended difficulty level is, or at least the difficulty which has had the most testing and balancing, but figuring it easy enough as well.

[Juza]

I only ever play on UV because I wanna see levels on their max potential. But I also don't cry if a level's too hard for me, I just bother retrying until I beat it, usually.

[Mad Dal 85]

I played on the "I'm Too Young Too Die" difficulty when I played DOOM for the first ever time (mid 90s) then I switched to Ultra-Violence and stayed on it since.