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STOP begging for Easy Mode in Elden Ring!

Rykan

Member
This video needs an easy mode. I made it up until 1 minute in until he talked about "It's created this flood of what, I guess we could call, Normies..."

It's harder to get through this video than to get through Elden Ring.
 
I'll just come off as mean and say it:

If you don't like the game as is and refuse to play it as is, you don't get to play the game. Respect your own time by not wasting it playing something you can't or won't enjoy. Therefore, get over YOURself. YOUR life will go on not being able to play this videogame, just as mine goes on not playing the COD's, BF's, and TLOU's the rest of the gaming world seems to enjoy. Nobody's making you play Elden Ring.
You are absolutly right....

...you are mean.
 

Rykan

Member
I'll just come off as mean and say it:

If you don't like the game as is and refuse to play it as is, you don't get to play the game. Respect your own time by not wasting it playing something you can't or won't enjoy. Therefore, get over YOURself. YOUR life will go on not being able to play this videogame, just as mine goes on not playing the COD's, BF's, and TLOU's the rest of the gaming world seems to enjoy. Nobody's making you play Elden Ring.
There's a clear difference between not liking a game because you don't like its gameplay mechanics or style and not liking a game because it offers only one difficulty mode for no good reason.
 

Y0ssarian

Banned
There's a clear difference between not liking a game because you don't like its gameplay mechanics or style and not liking a game because it offers only one difficulty mode for no good reason.
Nah he's right. I got filtered in Sekiro and Nioh/Nioh 2 but I don't expect the developers to change their vision of the game. If you don't like it because it's hard, play something else. You should be aspiring to get better at the game anyway
 

tmarmar

Member
My opinion about easy mode game?

I played perhaps the most difficult game in history: Abu Simbel Profanation.

Zf9C50X.jpg
 
Nah, we don't need an easy mode. Enough games already have that option. If you want an easy mode just go and use every tool available in the game like spamming magic, using the most broken ass talisman, arc runes, and summons.

There, that is your easy mode!
 

Rykan

Member
Nah he's right. I got filtered in Sekiro and Nioh/Nioh 2 but I don't expect the developers to change their vision of the game. If you don't like it because it's hard, play something else. You should be aspiring to get better at the game anyway
And how does adding an "easy mode" to the game change the design of the standard difficulty in any shape or form?
 
This thread is why video games are still looked at as childish by the adult world. Gatekeeping neckbeards are screaming about "muh difficulty" and clutching their fedoras in terror, as if an easy mode buried in the options somehow shrinks their e-penis, instead of promoting the idea that more difficulty options in games open up the audience to the mainstream and allow for more sales, which could help development and continue to push the genre forward. The game may have sold 12 million, but it was a 97 on metacritic, similarly rated games have sold 20 or 30 million copies. Leaving out a story mode is leaving money on the table.
How many have sold 20 or 30 million copies in a month. What are you going to say when it inevitably outsold those games?

You know what is childish? Wanting to change a game completely to fit your needs and whining it doesn't have an easy mode when plenty of other games have a easy mode. Go play your lame ass Horizon Zero Dawn or whatever Ubishit open world games that any idioit can beat with no effort.
 
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Y0ssarian

Banned
Difficulty is subjective and largely dependent on playerskill. There is no one shoe fits all which is why insisting on one difficulty mode is rather silly. You also haven't answered my question. I asked how adding an easy mode impacts the standard difficulty mode in any shape or form.
If difficulty is subjective then an easy mode is irrelevant. And, because you are not experiencing the game how the developer intended
 

Rykan

Member
If difficulty is subjective then an easy mode is irrelevant. And, because you are not experiencing the game how the developer intended
The fact that difficulty is subjective is exactly the reason why multiple difficulty levels are important and why the argument "Experiencing how the developer intended" makes no sense.

Lets take two players. Player A and Player B. Lets say we can Rank their skill at Elden Ring range on a scale from 1 through 10. Both players are capable of finishing the game.

Player A is Pretty good at Elden Ring and his skill can be considered a 7.
Player B is fairly mediocre/average and his skill can be considered a 5.

If the developer intended a specific difficulty for their game, then one of these players is not experiencing how "The developer intended". Because what is difficult for player B is not so difficult for Player A.

Now lets say that The difficulty experienced by Player B is the one the developers intended. Lets introduce another player: Player C. Player C's skill level is 3/10 and he can't beat the game. If you introduce an easier mode, Player C can now finish the game and his skill would be comparable to player B, which means the player now experiences the game as intended.

The idea that the experience of Elden Ring completely breaks down if you add an optional easier mode in which player takes, for example, 20% less damage is hilarious. You're basically admitting that the game has nothing going for it besides its difficulty, which is not true.
 

Keihart

Member
The fact that difficulty is subjective is exactly the reason why multiple difficulty levels are important and why the argument "Experiencing how the developer intended" makes no sense.

Lets take two players. Player A and Player B. Lets say we can Rank their skill at Elden Ring range on a scale from 1 through 10. Both players are capable of finishing the game.

Player A is Pretty good at Elden Ring and his skill can be considered a 7.
Player B is fairly mediocre/average and his skill can be considered a 5.

If the developer intended a specific difficulty for their game, then one of these players is not experiencing how "The developer intended". Because what is difficult for player B is not so difficult for Player A.

Now lets say that The difficulty experienced by Player B is the one the developers intended. Lets introduce another player: Player C. Player C's skill level is 3/10 and he can't beat the game. If you introduce an easier mode, Player C can now finish the game and his skill would be comparable to player B, which means the player now experiences the game as intended.

The idea that the experience of Elden Ring completely breaks down if you add an optional easier mode in which player takes, for example, 20% less damage is hilarious. You're basically admitting that the game has nothing going for it besides its difficulty, which is not true.
I think you are missing a big fat evident difference between having difficulty modes on a game.
If the game feels too hard for you and there are difficulty options, what you gonna do? probably change the setting right? maybe stop playing, but less likely right?
If a souls game feels too difficult, some of those players, the ones engaged are gonna find ways to overcome the obstacle because the games usually give you optional paths to become stronger.
The design is betting on getting as many people as possible to experience the satisfaction of overcoming the challenges, integrating a menu with an easy mode robs those players of that, defeating the design.
This is more evident on Demon's Souls and Elden Ring , and less evident on Bloodbourne and Sekiro.
 
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ANDS

King of Gaslighting
I think you are missing a big fat evident difference between having difficulty modes on a game.
If the game feels too hard for you and there are difficulty options, what you gonna do? probably change the setting right? maybe stop playing, but less likely right?
If a souls game feels too difficult, some of those players, the ones engaged are gonna find ways to overcome the obstacle because the games usually give you optional paths to become stronger.
The design is betting on getting as many people as possible to experience the satisfaction of overcoming the challenges, integrating a menu with an easy mode robs those players of that, defeating the design.
This is more evident on Demon's Souls and Elden Ring , and less evident on Bloodbourne and Sekiro.

A quick look at player tracking for FS games shows they are failing this spectacularly.
 

ANDS

King of Gaslighting
how? because not every player finishes the game?

More than "doesn't finish the game. . ." The engagement with content beyond Margit (which in and of itself is pretty low) is. . .not fantastic. I would say most games of this size have pretty low completion rates (because they are just so fucking long, including this one), but it's the front-end completion that is not fantastic with ER.
 

Keihart

Member
More than "doesn't finish the game. . ." The engagement with content beyond Margit (which in and of itself is pretty low) is. . .not fantastic. I would say most games of this size have pretty low completion rates (because they are just so fucking long, including this one), but it's the front-end completion that is not fantastic with ER.
i would say that is the wrong way to measure engagement, i got around 100 hours of playtime (and only lvl 50) before even going to the second legacy dungeon.
My brother got to the academy with something like 30 hours of playtime.
Game is hella not linear.

Besides that, as i said before "getting as many people as possible to experience the satisfaction of overcoming the challenges" means leaving behind all that people that won't engage with the game further, those who do are going to have bunch of game and challenges without even touching the first big challenge the game puts in frot of you.
 
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Y0ssarian

Banned
The fact that difficulty is subjective is exactly the reason why multiple difficulty levels are important and why the argument "Experiencing how the developer intended" makes no sense.

Lets take two players. Player A and Player B. Lets say we can Rank their skill at Elden Ring range on a scale from 1 through 10. Both players are capable of finishing the game.

Player A is Pretty good at Elden Ring and his skill can be considered a 7.
Player B is fairly mediocre/average and his skill can be considered a 5.

If the developer intended a specific difficulty for their game, then one of these players is not experiencing how "The developer intended". Because what is difficult for player B is not so difficult for Player A.

Now lets say that The difficulty experienced by Player B is the one the developers intended. Lets introduce another player: Player C. Player C's skill level is 3/10 and he can't beat the game. If you introduce an easier mode, Player C can now finish the game and his skill would be comparable to player B, which means the player now experiences the game as intended.

The idea that the experience of Elden Ring completely breaks down if you add an optional easier mode in which player takes, for example, 20% less damage is hilarious. You're basically admitting that the game has nothing going for it besides its difficulty, which is not true.

I'm not admitting anything, you're putting words in my mouth. And this guy explains it better than I do:

I think you are missing a big fat evident difference between having difficulty modes on a game.
If the game feels too hard for you and there are difficulty options, what you gonna do? probably change the setting right? maybe stop playing, but less likely right?
If a souls game feels too difficult, some of those players, the ones engaged are gonna find ways to overcome the obstacle because the games usually give you optional paths to become stronger.
The design is betting on getting as many people as possible to experience the satisfaction of overcoming the challenges, integrating a menu with an easy mode robs those players of that, defeating the design.
This is more evident on Demon's Souls and Elden Ring , and less evident on Bloodbourne and Sekiro.
 

CAPSOL

Member
I think people are complaining because they simply don't understand how to play this game.

From Soft has gone out of their way to make Elden Ring their most accessible game to date. The least you could do is give them a little respect and take the time to learn how to play it.
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Another FROM game and another thread about its difficulty. At this FROM couple of games and made it perfectly clear they are not interested in difficulty option, people please move on.
 

Rykan

Member
I think you are missing a big fat evident difference between having difficulty modes on a game.
If the game feels too hard for you and there are difficulty options, what you gonna do? probably change the setting right? maybe stop playing, but less likely right?
If a souls game feels too difficult, some of those players, the ones engaged are gonna find ways to overcome the obstacle because the games usually give you optional paths to become stronger.
The design is betting on getting as many people as possible to experience the satisfaction of overcoming the challenges, integrating a menu with an easy mode robs those players of that, defeating the design.
This is more evident on Demon's Souls and Elden Ring , and less evident on Bloodbourne and Sekiro.
This is not a very good argument for two different reasons.

One is the fact that a middle ground is possible. If you must insist on following this rather weird way of thinking, you could simply allow an easy mode, but to only have it be selectable from the start. This means that you can't change it after you've started the game.

The second reason is that this is completely optional.

If you want "The satisfaction of overcoming challenges", then simply don't lower the difficulty settings. The idea that players are just gullible idiots who can't be trusted to select a difficulty level is insane. There are plenty of challenging games out there that have seperate difficulty levels long before any of the Souls game even came out. Devil may Cry 3 is difficult, that game has multiple difficulty options. So does Ninja Gaiden. The hardest difficulty settings are also much, much harder than any souls game is.
 
It doesn’t need an easy mode, it just needs a team of consultants that can show From how to balance literally anything. Hoarfrost Stomp, bleed and scarlet rot, Mimic Tear, etc are proof nobody actually play tested any of that busted shit. Look how fast and hard they all got nerfed.

Then you have bosses like Melania which are absolutely ridiculous. Super armor, life steal, and one shot combos that are almost impossible to dodge. Radahn was pretty bad too before his nerf (at least for your average Joe) but still doable and had summons help. Margit is a good example of a difficult boss early on, but Melania is just dumb and makes the dev team look talentless.
 

Keihart

Member
This is not a very good argument for two different reasons.

One is the fact that a middle ground is possible. If you must insist on following this rather weird way of thinking, you could simply allow an easy mode, but to only have it be selectable from the start. This means that you can't change it after you've started the game.

The second reason is that this is completely optional.

If you want "The satisfaction of overcoming challenges", then simply don't lower the difficulty settings. The idea that players are just gullible idiots who can't be trusted to select a difficulty level is insane. There are plenty of challenging games out there that have seperate difficulty levels long before any of the Souls game even came out. Devil may Cry 3 is difficult, that game has multiple difficulty options. So does Ninja Gaiden. The hardest difficulty settings are also much, much harder than any souls game is.
How in the world the bolded part makes any sense? it doesn't, it introduces the whole problem again of players having an easy way out of difficulty spikes instead of giving them a reason to explore and get stronger.

You seem to be willfully ignorant to the difference between banging your head against a difficulty spike and exploring a game for ways to become more powerfull or finding alternate progression routes.
There is nothing making you fight Margit at the start of Elden Ring, you can easily skip to the second dungeon or just go do something else to get stronger and learn the ins and outs, this is not the case with action games, the dev expects you to bang your head agaisnt it or play on lower difficulties , because they are made to be replayed in progressively harder difficulties.

The "difficulty" is a design choice, and it works as proved by the game's success creating new fans with every entry, it's not even about being hard, but about being challenging.

Nothing would be gained with the addition of selectable difficulty, do you think that getting someone that doesn't want to engage with the game to play it longer is a win? the dev doesn't seem to think so, they think a win is to get someone that didn't know they would enjoy the challenge to do so and become a fan.

This whole "idea that players are just gullible idiots who can't be trusted to select a difficulty level is insane" is very ignorant of you, games are built with the notion that players are gullible idiots, that's how good desing works, the dev is capable of guiding you and motivate you without you even noticing it, all games attempt to do it to different extents and the best ones do so efforlestly.
 
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It doesn’t need an easy mode, it just needs a team of consultants that can show From how to balance literally anything. Hoarfrost Stomp, bleed and scarlet rot, Mimic Tear, etc are proof nobody actually play tested any of that busted shit. Look how fast and hard they all got nerfed.

Then you have bosses like Melania which are absolutely ridiculous. Super armor, life steal, and one shot combos that are almost impossible to dodge. Radahn was pretty bad too before his nerf (at least for your average Joe) but still doable and had summons help. Margit is a good example of a difficult boss early on, but Melania is just dumb and makes the dev team look talentless.
Melania is a pretty hidden boss unless you went out of the way to get to Haligtree
 

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
The horse is pretty much easy mode. Along with the summons. Farming exploits. Very forgivable amount of flask charges. Infinite durability. Streamers/influencers giving the player base min max go to character builds within the first month of release. Guides that show you where to get very obscure items as well as shortcuts to get early gear and weapons that can last you the whole game.

Elden Ring is a very EASY Souls game.

Anything remotely hard suffers from small arena, big boss, bs camera or SNK boss syndrome. Or you just get bored.
 

EDMIX

Member
How in the world the bolded part makes any sense? it doesn't, it introduces the whole problem again of players having an easy way out of difficulty spikes instead of giving them a reason to explore and get stronger.

I mean...how is that any of your business though? If someone wants to play in such a way, I have no clue how that would be a "whole problem" for you or me tbh. Reason to explore and get stronger needs to be upon the player to decide they want that in the first place.

If they want that, they can play a different mode.

do you think that getting someone that doesn't want to engage with the game to play it longer is a win?

If they bought it at all its a win, fuck you talking about?! lol

The fact that many are even saying this is one of the easier of the Souls games might even suggest they already nerfed it and simply didn't put the words "easy" to allow the simps to feel goodz about their "wins" in the game. Who knows. Though I'm ok with the developer never making that mode, I highly doubt this is the easiest Souls game just cuz, it likely has to do with them wanting that broad appeal, as to why it was even open world.

Keep in mind, this whole bullshit of "play it longer" is irrelevant to something like this. Its not a GAAS bud, they could give 2 shits if you stop playing, so long as you bought it.


MOST don't complete games btw. I recall reading something where some Mass Effect game only got like 40% to beat it.
 

Rykan

Member
How in the world the bolded part makes any sense? it doesn't, it introduces the whole problem again of players having an easy way out of difficulty spikes instead of giving them a reason to explore and get stronger.
Because you have this incredibly strange idea that players must be "protected from skipping a difficult part by picking a lower difficulty". Not only is this obviously a non issue (there's absolutely no reason why anybody should be concerned with how difficult a player wants to experience to be), it solves your entire dilemma of players picking a lower difficulty as soon as they reach a difficulty spike. They wouldn't be able to without having to start the entire game over.
You seem to be willfully ignorant to the difference between banging your head against a difficulty spike and exploring a game for ways to become more powerfull or finding alternate progression routes.
There is nothing making you fight Margit at the start of Elden Ring, you can easily skip to the second dungeon or just go do something else to get stronger and learn the ins and outs, this is not the case with action games, the dev expects you to bang your head agaisnt it or play on lower difficulties , because they are made to be replayed in progressively harder difficulties.
All of this is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that Elden Ring is widely considered to be a difficult game by many people, a good portion who would like to enjoy the other aspects it has to offer besides its difficulty. This argument also doesn't work in the Souls games or Sekiro, which are not open world but have the exact same debate happening. These others games are only somewhat supposed to be played in progressive, but only because the hardest difficulties can only be unlocked after beating the game. DMC3 has like what, 7 difficulties? Obviously devs don't expect you to go through 7 difficulties.
The "difficulty" is a design choice, and it works as proved by the game's success creating new fans with every entry, it's not even about being hard, but about being challenging.
Hard and Challenging are different terms more or less talking about the same thing. Sure it's a "Design" choice but, as I and many have argued, it is not the sole defining factor of this game (or Souls game in general) and what is challenging or hard is entirely subjective. I have yet to be presented with one single actual argument how having a completely optional "easy" mode changes the game for anyone who doesn't wish to use it.
Nothing would be gained with the addition of selectable difficulty, do you think that getting someone that doesn't want to engage with the game to play it longer is a win? the dev doesn't seem to think so, they think a win is to get someone that didn't know they would enjoy the challenge to do so and become a fan.
It would open up the game to a much larger amount of players for them to enjoy without harming the experience for those who don't want to use it. You keep talking about extremes. "Players who don't want to engage with the game to play it longer" completely disregards the fact that there are many players with all sorts of varying skill levels.

Lets say I can finish Elden Ring. I find the game challenging, but I can beat it. Now lets introduce another player. This player is 20 percent less skilled than I am. If you introduce a difficulty mode that makes the game 20% easier (By reducing incoming damage for example), then that player is having the exact same level of challenge as I did, so what exactly is the issue here? Just because this opens up the possibility to me playing on that difficulty as well? Why would you, or for that matter, the dev, be concerned with that? This whole "You HAVE to play EXACTLY how it was INTENDED" feels strangely out of place in an RPG that prides itself on multiple playstyles and even more so in an open world game.
This whole "idea that players are just gullible idiots who can't be trusted to select a difficulty level is insane" is very ignorant of you, games are built with the notion that players are gullible idiots, that's how good desing works, the dev is capable of guiding you and motivate you without you even noticing it, all games attempt to do it to different extents and the best ones do so efforlestly.
It's not ignorant, I just don't share your opinion that players are "gullible idiots". Players are perfectly capable of deciding for themselves which difficulty they want to play at. This whole "I'm against difficulty settings" is just gatekeeping with no real defense for it. This becomes all the more obvious when you realise that this discussion is a one way street: Literally nobody is saying "Man, I wish they would remove difficulty settings from other games". Nobody plays any other game with difficulty settings and thinks: "You know, you can really tell that the developer designed around multiple difficulty levels. It's just not as good"

Here's the reality: Most games are build with the normal difficulty setting in mind. That's why it's called "Normal". Having "easier" or "Harder" difficulty settings doesn't suddenly break the experience just because you're not playing at the intended or default difficulty. I'd much rather have players be able to pick a difficulty that they enjoy the game at and still have fun with it and complete the game rather than players having to literally stop playing the game because they can't beat it due to having only one difficulty mode. I don't understand how more people having fun with the game is not a win.
 
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Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Because you have this incredibly strange idea that players must be "protected from skipping a difficult part by picking a lower difficulty". Not only is this obviously a non issue (there's absolutely no reason why anybody should be concerned with how difficult a player wants to experience to be), it solves your entire dilemma of players picking a lower difficulty as soon as they reach a difficulty spike. They wouldn't be able to without having to start the entire game over.

All of this is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that Elden Ring is widely considered to be a difficult game by many people, a good portion who would like to enjoy the other aspects it has to offer besides its difficulty. This argument also doesn't work in the Souls games or Sekiro, which are not open world but have the exact same debate happening. These games are only somewhat supposed to be played in progressive, but only because the hardest difficulties can only be unlocked after beating the game. DMC3 has like what, 7 difficulties? Obviously devs don't expect you to go through from the start.

Hard and Challenging are different terms more or less talking about the same thing. Sure it's a "Design" choice but, as I and many have argued, it is not the sole defining factor of this game (or Souls game in general) and what is challenging or hard is entirely subjective. I have yet to be presented with one single actual argument how having a completely optional "easy" mode changes the game for anyone who doesn't wish to use it.

It would open up the game to a much larger amount of players for them to enjoy without harming the experience for those who don't want to use it. You keep talking about extremes. "Players who don't want to engage with the game to play it longer" completely disregards the fact that there are many players with all sorts of varying skill levels.

Lets say I can finish Elden Ring. I find the game challenging, but I can beat it. Now lets introduce another player. This player is 20 percent less skilled than I am. If you introduce a difficulty mode that makes the game 20% easier (By reducing incoming damage for example), then that player is having the exact same level of challenge as I did, so what exactly is the issue here? Just because this opens up the possibility to me playing on that difficulty as well? Why would you, or for that matter, the dev, be concerned with that? This whole "You HAVE to play EXACTLY how it was INTENDED" feels strangely out of place in an RPG that prides itself on multiple playstyles and even more so in an open world game.

It's not ignorant, I just don't share your opinion that players are "gullible idiots". Players are perfectly capable of deciding for themselves which difficulty they want to play at. This whole "I'm against difficulty settings" is just gatekeeping with no real defense for it. This becomes all the more obvious when you realise that this discussion is a one way street: Literally nobody is saying "Man, I wish they would remove difficulty settings from other games". Nobody plays any other game with difficulty settings and thinks: "You know, you can really tell that the developer designed around multiple difficulty levels"

Here's the reality: Most games are build with the normal difficulty setting in mind. That's why it's called "Normal". Having "easier" or "Harder" difficulty settings doesn't suddenly break the experience just because you're not playing at the intended or default difficulty.

You can already adapt your play style while learning ways to lower your effective difficulty. It does require people to play with some amount of thoughtfulness.

That is the point with games built like this that you seem to miss but others have already been pointing out in this thread: there is already an easy mode built in. It just require you to actually play the game and learn… which is not trivial for everyone but it is consistent with the theme of overcoming challenges big and small (yet still fair) these games are coming from.

Elden Ring is just the vastly most popular one and there is a more vocal demand that the game caters to players that are into it just because it is popular and are not interested in that core overcoming challenges theme creating tensions with some fans and the fear of essentially selling out at some point. I think ER proved you can welcome more outsiders/casuals in while still designing for the core audience, if they alter this balance much for a sequel then yeah it would possibly start losing itself more and more.
 
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Keihart

Member
Because you have this incredibly strange idea that players must be "protected from skipping a difficult part by picking a lower difficulty". Not only is this obviously a non issue (there's absolutely no reason why anybody should be concerned with how difficult a player wants to experience to be), it solves your entire dilemma of players picking a lower difficulty as soon as they reach a difficulty spike. They wouldn't be able to without having to start the entire game over.

All of this is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that Elden Ring is widely considered to be a difficult game by many people, a good portion who would like to enjoy the other aspects it has to offer besides its difficulty. This argument also doesn't work in the Souls games or Sekiro, which are not open world but have the exact same debate happening. These games are only somewhat supposed to be played in progressive, but only because the hardest difficulties can only be unlocked after beating the game. DMC3 has like what, 7 difficulties? Obviously devs don't expect you to go through from the start.

Hard and Challenging are different terms more or less talking about the same thing. Sure it's a "Design" choice but, as I and many have argued, it is not the sole defining factor of this game (or Souls game in general) and what is challenging or hard is entirely subjective. I have yet to be presented with one single actual argument how having a completely optional "easy" mode changes the game for anyone who doesn't wish to use it.

It would open up the game to a much larger amount of players for them to enjoy without harming the experience for those who don't want to use it. You keep talking about extremes. "Players who don't want to engage with the game to play it longer" completely disregards the fact that there are many players with all sorts of varying skill levels.

It's not ignorant, I just don't share your opinion that players are "gullible idiots". Players are perfectly capable of deciding for themselves which difficulty they want to play at. This whole "I'm against difficulty settings" is just gatekeeping with no real defense for it. This becomes all the more obvious when you realise that this discussion is a one way street: Literally nobody is saying "Man, I wish they would remove difficulty settings from other games". Nobody plays any other game with difficulty settings and thinks: "You know, you can really tell that the developer didn't build this game around one specific difficulty".

Here's the reality: Most games are build with the normal difficulty setting in mind. That's why it's called "Normal". Having "easier" or "Harder" difficulty settings doesn't suddenly break the experience just because you're not playing at the intended difficulty.
it's not my design, it's Miyazaki's.
The intent is there, it works and it sells a lot by guiding the guillible players to the intended experience.
You might not like that , but is good design and it works.

about the bolded, yeah, i guess i should repeat that the problem with that is not those who want a more challenging experience but those who think they don't once they hit a hitch on the difficulty. The game will guide some of them (a lot it seems going by the popularity of the games) to enjoy the challenge and become a fan.

Some will be left, but that's a fair exchange and and hipothetical about what is there more of and what is more valuable for the dev, does the dev want the people that don't enjoy the challenge of the games playing it or wants to convert people that think they won't enjoy it on fans?

BTW, Demon's Souls and Darksouls do have alternative paths to adjust the difficulty, it's not as expansive as Elden Ring ofcourse but it s there, not to mention all the tools you are given to clear some fights and enemies by being clever instead of only being better at fighting.

Every game guides the player and attempts to do so without making it too obvious, you ignoring it is willfull ignorance.

Also, "man i wish they removed difficulty options" of most games, i really do. Most difficulty settings suck ass in most games, unbalanced pieces of shit that end up diluding the experience.
If you never thought about how shitty difficulty settings are in most games then you are pretty dense on this matter and i don't think im capable to make you understand, it's a glaring issue and a recognized one by lots of games that make an effort to eliminate them.
 
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Keihart

Member
I mean...how is that any of your business though? If someone wants to play in such a way, I have no clue how that would be a "whole problem" for you or me tbh. Reason to explore and get stronger needs to be upon the player to decide they want that in the first place.

If they want that, they can play a different mode.



If they bought it at all its a win, fuck you talking about?! lol

The fact that many are even saying this is one of the easier of the Souls games might even suggest they already nerfed it and simply didn't put the words "easy" to allow the simps to feel goodz about their "wins" in the game. Who knows. Though I'm ok with the developer never making that mode, I highly doubt this is the easiest Souls game just cuz, it likely has to do with them wanting that broad appeal, as to why it was even open world.

Keep in mind, this whole bullshit of "play it longer" is irrelevant to something like this. Its not a GAAS bud, they could give 2 shits if you stop playing, so long as you bought it.


MOST don't complete games btw. I recall reading something where some Mass Effect game only got like 40% to beat it.
Developer is not equal to a publisher, the intent behind a game is not simply to sell more.
I didn't design the game, what the fuck are YOU talking about? it's not my business how someone wants to enjoy the game, i'm simply explaining the obvious design choices and the impact of them.
I already stated why it seems to work and what are the effects of actually introducing an easy mode.

More options does not equal better, not always at least.
 

PerfectWarrior

Neo Member
After one month proving that the Elden Ring difficulty is adaptative (farming, billions of weapons, spirit ashes, ashes of war, co-op, alternative routes, fast travel, the easiest re-spec stats in all soul series...), there is still people complaining about this? just don`t play games, or stick to the Bayonetta Auto-mode.
 

StormCell

Member
After one month proving that the Elden Ring difficulty is adaptative (farming, billions of weapons, spirit ashes, ashes of war, co-op, alternative routes, fast travel, the easiest re-spec stats in all soul series...), there is still people complaining about this? just don`t play games, or stick to the Bayonetta Auto-mode.
I came here to say basically the same.

Hi GAF, I'm now about 20 hours into the game. I generally don't like the Soulsborne formula, but I love Elden Ring. There's still plenty of challenge for me in this game, but if I wanted to I could totally make most enemies irrelevant. There's enough in this game to do that. In fact, I probably will cheese the game at some point just for fun. The very last thing Elden Ring needs is an easy mode.

Steps to create your own "easy mode" are plentiful to find online. Just follow one of the hundreds of cheesing videos, farm the hell out of runes, grab some special items from various later-game locations, takes names, and kick ass. They really were thoughtful about ways to make this game easier for people because they definitely knew in advance that cheesers would seek to cheese the game. Once you have the steed, feel compelled to cheese to your heart's content and go get the tailsmans, weapons, armors, and all the smithing stones you need. Farm to hell and back. Nothing is stopping you.

But eventually, I hate to tell you, you're going to have to learn when to swing your weapon, learn when to block, and when to roll away. This game is all about catching you in a moment of dull thinking.
 
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