There’s a meta discussion happening across games Twitter and elsewhere over the last week or so thanks to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. In a nutshell, some folks think it’s too hard and would like an easy mode so they can get through it for whatever reason. Others posit that the hardness is the point and the developers shouldn’t compromise that vision for any reason.
Now, Sekiro is a single-player title and not something we’ll ever cover here, but the easy-vs.-hard argument is one had across the MMO genre all the time. I kinda can’t believe we still have to have it; its design-criminal that every MMO doesn’t have City of Heroes’ difficulty options. I want as many people in an experiencing MMOs as possible; that makes difficulty sliders an absolute necessity. That way everyone can play, whether they’re handicapped, young, old, gaming on a toaster, combat-averse, tired, bad, or yes, lazy. I don’t actually care why people want easy mode. I just don’t want games and game content blocked off with elitism and gatekeeping. And that goes double for single-player titles, where the idea that people are measuring their self-worth and value as a gamer and person dependent on their skill at a difficult game but only if somebody else can’t do it… well that just boggles my mind.
Where do you stand on difficulty modes in MMOs?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
