Do most people really play the hardest difficulty level?

[Tattyblue]

I find it hard to believe when you see so many people on so many boards claim that they play on Path of the Damned, So I just wonder how the Community here was going to play on their first play through?  Also I tried to make a poll, not sure if they work here or not, I'm sort of new. I hope polls are allowed, i did not see anything in the forum guide lines against polls. Also this is my first Topic so if there was a huge discussion about this a few years ago I missed it.

[Dr <3]

Because you are biased.

Most of players DO NOT play on hard or Potd.

 

People who finished the game multiple times, and as an hobby discuss in the forums about fine mechanichs of the game or special build ideas (""" veteran players"""") have a knowledge of the game that made the game easy also on potd. They are a minority, but usually are the one that wrote the most interesting posts

[Silent Winter]

I usually play a game on 'normal' difficulty (whatever that's called - 'classic' I guess in this case).  If a game is good but normal is too easy as to make combat boring, I'll give 'hard' a try.  If a game is just too hard on 'normal' then I'm not above trying 'easy' either (though BG/IWD/PoE et al haven't needed that).

I started a PotD game in PoE just for lulz, but didn't get very far in it before I got bored with the combat giving me a hard time.

I like combat to be challenging, but still fun, and I don't want to min-max / cheese / etc to win fights.  I'm not the most strategic player though.

'Normal' usually suits me just fine.

[M4xw0lf]

I never played PoE on PotD. Hard was the maximum for me. Same with Tyranny, and same probably with Deadfire.

[Lamppost in Winter]

I almost invariably make my first playthrough of games on Easy so I can consume as much content as possible without hitting any difficulty walls (also I'll probably be too busy to play much on release anyway), then graduate to higher difficulties on subsequent playthroughs.

Edited March 23, 2018 by Lamppost in Winter

[Wormerine]

I like engaging with the system. Through years I found that playing on easier difficulties only reinforces bad habits and cheese tactics which I had to relearn later. While I am not a masochist, I do want to understand mechanics and nuances of the game I am playing. In addition, making things too easy messes storytelling. I dislike games which present protagonist with a challenge and yet give me as a player easy enjoyable time. Such absurd situation happened in Tomb Raider reboot, which starts Lara lost in a hopeless, dangerous situation, yet you as a player play through heavily guilted, linear scenario with no real threat or suspension.

 

As a veteran of IE games I found the hard (now called Veteran) to be just right - not difficult enough to get stuck, but forcing me to engage with games systems. Judging from Beta I will go for veteran again for my first play through.

 

I am wary of all difficulty settings which mess with the core ruleset. PotD ended up being much more reasonable than I expected (frankly I didn’t feel much gap between veteran and PotD) but I dislike when enemies suddenly have way to much health or do ridiculous amount of damage. Difficulty should be about mastering a ruleset, not having to abuse the only few tools given at your disposal.

[DexGames]

I personally do, especially in cRPG's.

[Don't get me wrong or see any form of arrogance or oversized ego here]

But the reason I instantly play on PoTD is for the feelings. I grew up with this type of games, therefore I'm pretty familiar with their Mechanics.

 

I think the thing is that, I got used very early to get my butt kicked in these Games , & never gave up. [Gotta be quite stubborn]

That's one side of the coin. 

Second side is just the sensation you get when you beat X, Y or Z. You got to try hard & provide the hell out of the best you can do, to succeed. [Gameplay wise]

It's kinda satisfying.

 

Also, I tend to go for PoTD because the harder the challenge, the longer the game "lasts", if you know what I mean.

I'm usually not frustated by dying / retrying or whatever, but, if I set myself to play what is about to be a great, long, epic story.

I want it to be hard, especially on the 1st Run when you don't know anything about the Game. So I'm going to struggle making my way through, & enjoy the "Playthrough" longer.

 

I think that would basically be why. It's just my way of doing it. 

But, I agree with Dr <3, I don't know if you will have that many PoTD voters, but it's interesting.

And I do understand why people don't, & play on lower difficulties. That's completely fair.

 

EDIT : I second what Wormerine said, Hard is great for the reasons he evoked.

I just go for PoTD for that Extra Layer of Butt Kicking ! Because why not. 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

PS : Just wanna say though, if you wanna be the guy making Tests, on Mechanics, Builds, Balance, etc.

& you wanna be taken seriously, on why A sucks, why B is unbalanced :

 

Then you probably shouldn't be doing your tests on Story Mode or Relaxed difficulty, for obvious reasons.

Normal shoud be the strict Minimum in my opinion, because that's the Difficulty the Game is designed around.

[both Pillars I & II, are designed around Normal & Hard according to Josh]

Edited March 23, 2018 by DexGames

[Juodas Varnas]

I usually play on the second highest difficulty on my first playthrough (unless the game is a sequel or a game i'd be mechanically familiar already, then i play on the hardest difficulty).

[Katarack21]

I play on normal most of the time. If it's a game I really like, I might try to get through a game on hard difficulty. I rarely go beyond that; I'm easily frustrated by death/reloading and cannot *stand* to redo the same battle twenty times in a row. I'm a veteran of IE games, but I'm not very tactical minded; these games are actually not easy for me despite being very much my favorite style.

[Sedrefilos]

Most people who care to participate in forums discussing a (niche) game are most probably hardcore. That's why you see many people talking about POTD in online communities. 

 

I personally play a game once in normal. I've tried several other playthroughs of Pillars 1 in hard but I never finished one (because or Defiance Bay boredom). I'm no hardcore but I LOVE this kind of rpgs and I'm a person who plays a game for the experience not just to pass time.

[Madscientist]

I play games for story and exploration, not to torture myself.

I will play on normal or veteran. Since I played tons of RPGs and I finished PoE1 on hard without problems I will probably play veteran with a full party made of companions.

[Madscientist]

Because you are biased.

Most of players DO NOT play on hard or Potd.

 

People who finished the game multiple times, and as an hobby discuss in the forums about fine mechanichs of the game or special build ideas (""" veteran players"""") have a knowledge of the game that made the game easy also on potd. They are a minority, but usually are the one that wrote the most interesting posts

 

I agree with that.

There is a huge difference between the number of people playing the game and the number of people who are active in this forum. That means your poll will not give you any info what most players do because most players are not in this forum and those who are in the forum tend to be good players who are more likely to play on the hardest difficulty. This poll will give you the upper limit of how many players play PotD. In reality, the % of players playing PotD will be lower.

 

I am a scientist and I even consider games as science, so thinking and discussing about game mechanics is fun for me. I do not know how the really good players are playing, like Boeroer, MaxQuest or the people with the ultimate achievement. But having seen some videos of people playing, I am surprized that some players were able to start the game at all.

[Yosharian]

First playthrough?  No, Veteran.

 

After that, I'll definitely play POTD.

 

POTD isn't that hard if you know what you're doing.

 

My most epic memory from Pillars 1 is trying to defeat a certain dragon on POTD mode the first time I tried it, with scaling turned on.  I had no priest on this particular playthrough.  It was painful, but very satisfying when I finally downed him.

The experience reminded me of the first time I attempted to down the Shadow Dragon in BG2.  I was utterly hopeless at the game at the time, having little-to-no game knowledge.  I also remember coming up against werewolves and being absolutely dumbfounded at how strong they were: I literally couldn't kill them even with my full party wailing on them (now I know to kill them easily).

Edited March 23, 2018 by Yosharian

[DexGames]

Mindflayers sucking Characters' Brains implying perma death.

Good Times. 

 

[Why do they die instantly ! WTF ! lol]

Edited March 23, 2018 by DexGames

[Torm51]

I find it hard to believe when you see so many people on so many boards claim that they play on Path of the Damned, So I just wonder how the Community here was going to play on their first play through?  Also I tried to make a poll, not sure if they work here or not, I'm sort of new. I hope polls are allowed, i did not see anything in the forum guide lines against polls. Also this is my first Topic so if there was a huge discussion about this a few years ago I missed it.

Why hard to believe?  I have almost 2k hours played and have only done one (the first) play through that was not Triple Crown.  I have lost many times and started over again, I have also won and thats the sweet part for me I like the pain!  Checkout this Real Time Tactical RPG called Battle Brothers.  I always play that on Iron man as well, that is real pain.  Pain is good, pain is what I want if I am to weak to win.  I deserve to lose.

 

part of the kick for me is too make is seem like it was when I deployed overseas.  Make a mistake and die no restart.

[Madscientist]

First playthrough?  No, Veteran.

 

After that, I'll definitely play POTD.

 

POTD isn't that hard if you know what you're doing.

 

My most epic memory from Pillars 1 is trying to defeat a certain dragon on POTD mode the first time I tried it, with scaling turned on.  I had no priest on this particular playthrough.  It was painful, but very satisfying when I finally downed him.

The experience reminded me of the first time I attempted to down the Shadow Dragon in BG2.  I was utterly hopeless at the game at the time, having little-to-no game knowledge.  I also remember coming up against werewolves and being absolutely dumbfounded at how strong they were: I literally couldn't kill them even with my full party wailing on them (now I know to kill them easily).

 

There was a bug with werewolfs in BG2: Every time you loaded the game their recovery stacked. (Like the infinite stat stacking bug for PoE at release).

I played BGT ( BG1+2+ToB together as one game) and when I was on the werewolf island in Bg1 it was impossible for me to kill the boss. I failed several times, loaded and tried again. After some tries I looked at him and found out that even after hitting him with max possible damage (crit with the best weapon and max strengh) he was completely healed less than half a second later. I gave up and killed him with console command, the only time I have ever cheated in an RPG. The smaller werewolfs are a piece of cake.

[jf8350143]

The percentage of people who plays harder difficulty on a forum is bond to be higher comparing to the overall numbers. Because only the more 'hardcore' fans will goes out to a forum and talk about a game.

 

I usually starts at lower difficulties because I like to build my character based on how I feel like it instead of power level. But at higher difficulties you can't really play as a very wacky character and didn't die a lot.

Edited March 23, 2018 by jf8350143

[Veevoir]

Never taking the hardest option for the first time playing.

Most games are tuned around normal because that is the target experience. Harder levels are usually for players already confident with the game systems, knowing also what they can expect from the game & story.

So Classic it is, though if there will be apt time to test some changes in beta - I may go Veteran (or switch to veteran when I feel confident with the game enough).

[JerekKruger]

What difficulty most people on this forum play on and what difficulty most players play on are two different things. This forum will, naturally, have a higher population of people who played through Pillars multiple times, and one would expect them to play on higher difficulties in general.

 

I have no data to back this up, but I suspect most players will have played Pillars on normal.

[MaxQuest]

I find it hard to believe when you see so many people on so many boards claim that they play on Path of the Damned.

When I've stumbled upon PoE1, started the first playthrough on Hard, and switched to PotD around level 9, once I've got a first grip on mechanics. Subsequent runs where PotD only.

 

After first trying beta1 with predefined companions, was thinking about starting Deadfire on Veteran. With beta3 it got better, so will likely plan my party apriori and go straight for PotD.

 

P.S. Another question would be how many players use Expert... Personally I'm fine with ToI or occasional boss solo'ing for fun, but don't use Expert as don't like information being hidden from me.

Edited March 23, 2018 by MaxQuest

[Merany]

Most likely Veteran for very first playthrough, definitely PotD for all subsequent ones!

[Morrydwen]

I'll play relaxed or classic mode the first time. I backed Deadfire without having played the original. Now that I finally got my hands on it, I am getting my butt kicked while playing on easy difficulty. Making a 6 th companion join my team surely helped in defeating Lord Raedric. The trash fights in open nature also don't feel so trashy to me. I have the feeling that PoE is harder than the first Baldur's Gate.

[Valmy]

I play veteran. I enjoy a good challenge but I don't want to be in a situation where I have to min/max or cheese my way through something.

 

I like it when I hit a tough fight and have to fight it several times to figure it out, but I want it to be fought in a reasonably heroic way. Not where I have to come up with some sort of game-y method to stun lock the big bad while taking advantage of fog of war to break up the enemy horde or kite or whatever.

Edited March 23, 2018 by Valmy

[Tarlonniel]

I've put over 200 hours into PoE1, but I have zero steam achievements. That's because I only play in one mode: god

 

The second game ain't gonna be any different.

[Wormerine]

P.S. Another question would be how many players use Expert... Personally I'm fine with ToI or occasional boss solo'ing for fun, but don't use Expert as don't like information being hidden from me.

Never even considered turing expert mode on. I don't feel like it adds any interesting chalenge it just hides important information, which you could write down manually.