Guilty over playing my current video games on the easiest settings.

Sigh.

What happens is that right now it only feels good for me when I play video games on their piss-easy, child's play difficulty modes. Examples:

• Any and all Touhou games, official or fan-made.
• Awesomenauts. This one is a special case, as I only feel some satisfaction when playing against the stupidest bots - in a game that's meant to be played with humans, against humans.
• Old FPSes on their near-bottom difficulties.

Normally there would be no shame in admitting to that, but I can't shake the feeling that this way of playing games is somewhow...wrong, so to speak. It's like video games were designed to be played to pit the players against obstacles and deriving your fun from overcoming them. But it appears I don't do that, instead deriving satisfaction from overwhelming and crushing my enemies under my feet.

To further elaborate on this, I feel like this habit I've found will be harmful to me, since I lock myself out of reality and into my own private world where everything comes easily and all is sugar and rainbows. In short, it feels humiliating.

I Just Want to Be Normal. I want to enjoy challenges like a normal gamer, not be this...mutation I am of the average gamer.

edited 3rd Jul '13 7:37:09 PM by AngelG55th

There is no shame playing a game on the easiest setting.

Everybody has different skill levels.

As long as you enjoy the game, and can finish it at the skill level that works for you, it's fine. You don't need to make it more difficult just for the sake of "being better". It's good to challenge yourself, sure. But if it's too much for you, it's fine to keep to the lower levels.

The point of Video Games is to have fun. If you're having fun being in God Mode, there's nothing wrong with that. You're not playing it wrong at all. You're just playing the game.

First of all, remember the genre Touhou is. While Easy-Mode Mockery will kick in, if it's nigh impossible for you on normal then feel free to bump it down.

I get what you're saying. I sometimes bump a game's difficulty down if I'm having trouble and feel guilty about it. But you really shouldn't. Easy mode is there for a reason. It lets you enjoy the game without having your experience bogged down by repeated deaths. If it's too easy for you feel free to go with Normal, but as long as you're having fun then who cares?

🏳️‍⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse Alberia

You have no reason to feel guilty for playing on Easy, especially if you're playing Touhou.

If it bothers you, why not try playing on a slightly harder difficulty setting? Y'know, see how it works out for you? I mean, no need to go on Super Ultra Mega Impossible mode, just try out the next difficulty level and see how it works out?

Touhou games are already hard as hell, even on the easiest difficulty. There's no shame in going on easy mode for those games.

edited 3rd Jul '13 7:42:09 PM by thespacephantom

UN JOUR JE SERAI DE RETOUR PRÈS DE TOI

I'm not sure you guys actually read the first post. Angel is saying he/she feels guilty for playing games on their easiest setting just so that he/she can beat it without any effort. Angel is not challenged by the easy difficulty, but rather plays this way in order to beat everything as absolutely and thoroughly as possible.

My recommendation would be to up the difficulty until it's too much for you again, then lower it by one. So long as you're having fun, that's the important part.

I did, but... hmm...

Yeah. Raise the difficulty a bit. I mean, if you're having fun on your walk in the park sure, but no challenge usually means no fun. Granted, feel free to lower the difficulty if you're suddenly facing That One Level.

🏳️‍⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse Alberia

I take odd sadomasochistic glee in being horribly abused by games that beat my face in until I force myself to get better. So it's hard for me to relate to this.

So yeah; get gud scrub, spine up, play like a real core, all that vitriolic stuff that the elitist gamers spazz out when they feel like other players aren't putting themselves to the exact same standards as them etc. etc.

I wouldn't personally call my Challenge Gamer ways the "Right" course of action... But I can tell you, there's nothing quite like feeling your reflexes grow, learning the game's mechanics from the inside out and overcoming a challenge you thought impossible. The satisfaction is amazing.

edited 3rd Jul '13 8:11:28 PM by ShirowShirow

That's what I did, to an extent, before I gave up and fell back to walk in the park modes. Back then I would try to play on the middle settings. However, some fangames were at that point Sabbo described, even on the "normal" equivalent.

The problem is that I would noticeably become quite angry at a game after a few failed attempts. This actually does matter not just because stress is bad for you, but because it's really unpleasant for the folks I share Touhou fangames with. I play these kinds of games with several people while we Skype and chat about whatever comes to mind, as a way I've found to try and find people to socialize with, given my kind of...anti-social nature in meatspace. Sadly, said outbursts have gone so far as to perceptively worry a friend who's in that group, who's much like Shirow Shirow in the post above, and started to think video games might not be the best activity to bring us together.

Said friend has under his belt all 1ccs of the Touhou official games on Normal, plus one Extra Stage beaten. As for my own experience, Mo F on normal was getting me all pissy and the only game I did legitimately enjoy playing so fas was IN. On Easy. With extra starting lives. I even managed to get a good end on it.

edited 3rd Jul '13 8:29:57 PM by AngelG55th

I like my video games to challenge me. The things I'm doing feel more meaningful then.

Sort of like how I like when fiction doesn't pull it's punches on designated protagonists who one might expect to have contractual immunity.

Mind you, in a way, I think you should play on higher difficulties in your case because it might lead to you getting a better handle on your emotions/anger. If that's something you feel might be worthwhile.

And no, I'm not saying you have a problem either.

Nuuu not armchair psychology nuuuu

I once started getting really angry playing Player Versus Player games. Kind of surprised my family, because I'm a pretty docile guy. And while I was competitive, I was usually a graceful loser.

Eventually I realized it was because it was World Of Warcraft. It has a rather flabbergasting mixture of frustrating elements from the plethora of stuns to the connectivity issues to the warzone "strategy" to the simple fact that sometimes no matter what you do the other guy has better gear. Skill just didn't mean as much in that game. Once I started playing games where I died when it was my fault I was much calmer despite the fact that I usually ended up dying more.

So yeah. I'd suggest trying to find why exactly the games are making you angry. It certainly made things more fun for me.

Have you watched the Extra Credits episode on difficulty? It might help you pinpoint what you don't like about the higher difficulty in those games.

I'll embed it when I'm at my computer rather than my iphone.

You say I am loved, when I don’t feel a thing. You say I am strong, when I think I am weak. You say I am held, when I am falling short.

Funny thing, the opposite happened to me lately - I used to play games on normal and didn't bother with higher difficulties, simpy because I didn't give a shit, but recently I feel the need to always start on the hardest possible difficulty setting . I dial back a notch or two, if the game is poorly balanced or thrives on Fake Difficulty, but otherwise I just don't derive any pleasure from one-hit-killing things anymore.

Fear the cinnamon sugar swirl. By the Gods, fear it, Laurence.

This one, you say?

Just watched it, and there are some very good points made in it. What seems to be my problem, however, appears to be that the aspect of "make the player think he could have done better" that's in how to make a good challenging game doesn't really appeal to or otherwise captivate me. So, laziness when playing games? ;-;

You have brought shame to all True Gamers. I shall now proceed to insult your ancestry and sexual preferences. Expect references to your mother's promiscuity.

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.

You forgot the "Sarcasm Mode" blueshifting, friend

On a serious note: Try checking out a few Wide-Open Sandbox games. Those are designed to encourage you to screw around doing whatever you want to, so you'll feel less guilty about it.

If I wasn't being sarcastic, I wouldn't have the brainpower to spell "promiscuity".

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.

Thanks for embedding it here, I guess that means it would be redundant for me to do so. (sorry, I've hade access to my computer for about three hours but put off showing said video)

edited 4th Jul '13 5:37:06 PM by Novis

You say I am loved, when I don’t feel a thing. You say I am strong, when I think I am weak. You say I am held, when I am falling short.

Some people get their kicks from the power fantasy of being able to curbstomp the enemy. There is nothing wrong with this as long as it stays inside the game.

No worries.

I tend to do this with strategy games, either because I can't or can't be bothered figuring out the ins and outs of all the mechanics. Also, I hate endless back and forths with cities in games like Civilisation, so I tend to play a bit under the level that I can play, so I can curb stomp with impunity.

edited 5th Jul '13 10:08:31 AM by CaissasDeathAngel

My name is Addy. Please call me that instead of my username.

I normally play games on the normal setting, because easy just feels like I'm cheating. Except in Dragon Age Origins. Seriously, screw that game. Getting surrounded by a million enemies when shields don't block anything and mages can't do anything when they're out of mana sucks.

"Steel wins battles. Gold wins wars."

Kid Icarus: Uprising. I play on Intensity 5; I can play on higher levels but it's uncomfortable.

Other games, I don't really bother dialing down the difficulty. I play on Normal or Hard or whatever's above that.

Most of the times that I avoid higher difficulties is when they invoke Fake Difficulty. Because that shit sucks.

The game I spend most time playing, Fallout: New Vegas (at least when I can convince the bloody thing to run with more than five mods without falling over at the title screen) has an ez mode setting which I don't use. Not for any reasons of difficulty, it simply doesn't make a difference to what experience points you get if you crank the hard button to either too extreme or sod this, I can play this blindfolded.

On other games, you can believe I go for the easy option as fast as possible. I am not too proud, or too shy, to say I have slopey shoulders and those feelings of guilt just slide straight off.

edited for clarity.

edited 6th Jul '13 6:25:27 AM by TamH70

I see nothing wrong with this. It's the reason I still play Red Alert 2 (skirmish, free-for-all, medium difficulty enemies). Sometimes I just feel like curb-stomping a bunch of enemies without the hassle of a "challenge".

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...