A disturbing trend (Games are supposed to be hard)

I'm not sure of the best definition of hard in this case...

In the olden days, games used to be hard due to the limitations it has - less space available in the media, thus it has to have smaller codes etc, and thus simpler programming. This forces them to make up with the complexity by making them difficult. However, there just wasn't enough randomness in those games - take Super Mario Bros for example. Sure, you do need some skills to get to the end, but for the majority of the time you would be able to survive just by memorising where enemies pop up and prevent them deathtouching you. You would also be able to attack just in time to connect the attack as the enemies pop out of the screen.

In contrast, games nowadays are much more complex in terms of gampeplay compared to previous games. However, the downside is that they also have become easier - enemies deal less damage, etc2. A good example of a hard, modern game is such as God Hand - less popular game but regular mobs can kill you. Many games fit the bill too, such as the more recent Dark Souls.

Personally, I do think games have become too easy. I like hard games, but I do feel that a good game should not only be hard, but be playable hard. Not dying a million times just because your gear isn't good enough (eyeing a certain game...)

I'm pretty sure this is why difficulty settings exist. So you don't have to make entirely different games for each demographic. You can satisfy both casuals and hardcore players by simply adding more depth to the game.

I'll give you difficulty levels

casuals can play level 1 until they don't suck

level 1. that's their difficulty level.

Games are supposed to be fun. For a traditional game, that is the goal. Period.

I havent played this game in a couple months , but on return , i swear to god the game is harder than it was last time i played. Prolly close to beginning of the year since i played. Is this true, the difficulty has been up'd. I dont mind at all, good game is good game , but im curious to say the least.

This game is both hard and easy.

Adventure Island, that was fucking hard, still have not beat that game.

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Caiada wrote:

Games are supposed to be fun. For a traditional game, that is the goal. Period.

Got to say that was my understanding. Whether SC or HC, we're all here for fun right?

I always found those Disney platformers on SNES (Aladdin, Lion King, etc) really, really hard.

This seemed unusually cruel, since, well...it's Disney. :(

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iamstryker wrote:

IMO the correct way to balance this is to make a game like POE and then provide additional and optional content to challenge the top players. But don't make it so everyone feels obligated to play this content to gear up. Just make it for the challenge.

I both agree and disagree with this to a certain extent.

The problem with additional, optional content in a game like this is that it's not optional. If it's there at the end and represents more content to do, then everyone will want to experience that content. You don't get to the second last level of a mario game and say "oh well, finished this game" and then not do the final level because it's optional.


On the other hand, if I could manually choose, for free, any type of map I wanted with any combination of mods I choose, I would do that just for the challenge, even if the map yielded no loot or experience. As it stands, despite there being 40+ maps worth of the most interesting content that doesn't exist in the rest of the game, only a very small fraction of the playerbase will ever see it. It is behind a big wall of grind.
With this type of game by the time you "complete" your character, by getting whatever skills and gear was your goal, you've out levelled all the content and there's nothing to test yourself against.
I like to complete my characters before facing the final challenge, not after. To me there's little point in continuing to gear up a character long after I've completed all the content.

So I'm all for any sort of freely available, highly difficult content that provides no rewards. PvP actually fits this description, it's harder that the other content, and doesn't provide better gear, it's purely for the challenge. It would be nice if there was also a PvE version of this no-reward type challenge though.