#difficulty

[jbk405]

With my full playthrough of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, I got to thinking about the different difficulty levels. Despite all being in the same series, the difficulties of each game are very different from one another.

With its heavy emphasis on RPG skills instead of cover-based shooter, the "Insanity" difficulty in ME1 doesn't change the nature of gameplay itself. The combat is definitely harder than the lower levels, but it's still the same game.

With ME2's change to a cover-based shooter emphasis, the "Insanity" difficulty is a whole different arena. Tactics need to be completely changed and different characters are less useful (some of which become nearly pointless outside of certain dedicated missions). Personally, I think some levels are so hard that it crosses over the line from "fun" to "work". I doubt I'll replay this game on Insanity after getting the achievement.

In ME3 it's back almost to where ME1 was, but not quite. Some squadmates are still more useful than others, but you can use any squadmate throughout the game without sabotaging your own combat. With the change in how Defenses and Powers work this might actually be the easiest of all three games in straight combat difficulty. I did the Insanity achievement on the first run without even a "practice" playthrough.

[love-3-crimes]

mouse man mouse man man of mouse

[thepersonalwords]

If the sky had no tears, the world would have no rainbows.

Matshona Dhliwayo

[lulublack90]

Prompt 10 - Difficulty

Wolfstar, January 10, word count 413

Previous part First part

The rest of the week passed quickly, and before he knew it, it was Saturday and he and Sirius were on their way to James and Lily’s to help set up the party.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why would you agree to help somebody you’ve never even met set up for a party?” He was sitting in the passenger seat of Sirius's car. A rather nice Mazda MX5. Sirius had explained to him that his parents had tried to buy him a Rolls-Royce and get him a personal chauffeur with it, but he’d managed to convince them that this was far more practical and would fit in his designated parking space. “I honestly don’t know how I managed it,” He’d said. “They were probably trying to appease me as I’m the last hope they have for an heir,” Remus knew he was talking about the death of his brother, but he didn’t ask him to elaborate and Sirius didn’t offer any more explanation, so Remus had left it and enjoyed the treat of being chauffeured about London instead of using public transport, or just walking.

Sirius pulled onto James’s drive and turned the engine off. 

“Here,” He said cheerily, and Remus couldn't help the chuckle and eye roll he gave him before opening the door, and with some difficulty, he ungracefully unfolded his tall body out of the tiny sports car.

“SIRIUS!!!” The front door banged open, and James Potter came running out, scooping Sirius up into his arms and twirling him around. 

“JAMES!!!” Sirius joined in, calming Remus’s thundering heart as he panicked that Sirius would find James’s greeting too much. Apparently, he loved it.

“Pleased to meet you,” James beamed, setting Sirius on his feet and drawing him in for a proper hug. The smile on Sirius’s face was absolutely dazzling when James finally let go of him and Remus’s stomach did a little somersault.

The pair completely ignored Remus and walked side by side into the house, thick as thieves and acting as though they’d known each other all their lives. 

“Don’t worry Remus, I still love you,” A mischievous voice spoke from behind him. 

“Lily,” He grinned, turning around and holding his arms open for her to hug him. 

“Come on, then,” She said once she’d let go, “We have a party to set up, and I have a feeling those two will be completely useless.” Remus nodded in agreement and followed Lily into the house.  

Next part

[legendaryvermin]

I've been thinking about the different kinds of difficulty in video games (and games generally), as well how to control how difficult situations are with the tools available. here are some categories of difficulty that I've identified: Execution Difficulty

Execution Difficulty is a measure that applies exclusively to the "thumbskill" involved in performing the actions needed to succeed. How tight is the timing involved? How many mistakes can a player make before they reach a fail state?

Strategic/Puzzle Difficulty

Strategic and Puzzle difficulty are tied to challenges where you have many options for how to execute, but not all executions provide equal resultant success. There might be more than one "right" answer (which marks the difference between a puzzle and a strategic situation, to me), but if there are, some answers are better, some tactics more effective, than others.

Commitment Difficulty

If you were inclined to be poetic about it, you might call this the "ironman factor". Commitment difficulty is about how long your choices can affect you, and how easy or hard it is either mitigate the effects of mistakes, or redo a scenario entirely. How long do I have to wait before making another attempt? How many attempts do I get? How quickly are my choices locked in? How much time do I have to decide?

Social Difficulty

Not all games have a social element, but any that do can introduce social difficulty. This isn't strictly about player actions that can harm another player's resources or goals, though it does cover that; it also encompasses clarity of communication, efficiency of team coordination and shared executional responsibility. How much do I have to rely on other players behavior to succeed? Do I need to communicate asymmetric information? what tools do I have to communicate with potential allies, enemies, or actors unknown?

This isn't a complete list, but it's my first foray into identifying where challenge lies in games. I think there is also measurable difficulty when it comes to navigation, but I'm not sure where to categorize it helpfully.

Anyway, if anyone has any thoughts about this I'd love to hear them.

[pumaloafing]

One thing I love in games is.. how to put it.. more difficulty options than just 'Easy, Normal, Hard', more than just a singular linear option.

Chained Echoes let you modify the size of the overdrive bar, the stats of enemies, and how aggressive enemies were, which was pretty nice.

Sea of Stars on the other hand has 'relics' which have a wide variety of effects, so far one just seems to make the game MUCH harder while the others make the game easier in a variety of ways.

Boost max HP by 100%, auto-heal after each fight, take 30% less damage, auto-succeed on timed hits for normal attacks, etc.

Only one was on by default for me which was 'full heal on level up' which I probably would have turned on anyways. Also, I hate the 'mystery locks' gimmick and the game lets me turn that off, which is nice. I also turned on one that makes it more obvious when you did a timed hit or timed guard successfully.

I know it's difficult but I love it when any game does stuff like this, I don't consider a typical difficulty slider to be a knock against a game, but when a game lets you go fiddle with more than just 'how much stats do enemies have?' it's really nice.

[queerdreamlandrebel]

I did not look because I did not want to see.

[lgbtransgirl]

So videogame difficulty

Hard should not just mean "easier to be killed, harder to kill". Personally I think it should be that certain enemies use better AI, more advanced tactics, actively respond to things you do (such as buff & debuffs) and have expanded move sets.

It makes the harder difficulty actually more difficult rather than time consuming.

HOWEVER

I know some people prefer it as it is, so I propose a solution.

Normal: Standard gameplay. No easy mode (will explain more)

Hard: Suggestions above

Arcade: Just like an old arcade game that pads out it's length by being artificially difficult, enemies have more HP and hit harder. Also you get less stuff. Type of shit you expect from dark souls or OG arcade cabinets

IN ADDITION

I think accessibility options should be in every game. Color blind modes, modes to display sound triggers on screen in some way for hearing impaired people, longer timing windows including I-frames, etc.

Some of these would genuinely make the game easier for people, especially if you can do more than toggle on and off (say a % increase or even decrease for higher difficulty for I-frames)

[nemfrog]

A difficult matter. 1899. Book cover.

Internet Archive

[giftofgabber]

Taking selfies is so hard, like you gotta make the eyes two times bigger, and smile without showing teeth while doing it. Can anyone do that 🥴

[1five1two]

[saphydragseen]

Some advice that has helped me lots throughout my life, for my fellow sick or disabled people who struggle with eating consistently. If you havent eaten in so long that you are nauseous, drink something with sugar, could be some juice, some milk (highly recommend cause it has proteins and vitamins and is very nutritious, for when you are struggling to eat well), i use fruit concentrate on water too. This will get rid of the nausea in some minutes and as soon as you can, eat a better, propper meal.

I struggle because i dont really recive the signal of HUNGER from my body and go straight to feeling nausea, the nausea is because your body needs energy to digest food and if it is struggling (weak, lacking energy, sick) it will tell you to NOT eat.

So when i give it energy through the easiest way, drinking it (easy to drink even when nauseous and easy to digest), it has a sugar spike, and recovers just enough to properly eat after.

IMPORTANT, allways eat during the height of your energy, right when you feel better, do not wait too long, or the blood sugar spike will turn into a big drop and you will end sicker than before, with even lower blood sugar and it might even be dangerous.

I ussually try to eat something with fiber because it helps even out the absorption of sugar into your body and will help keep your blood sugar levels stable so you dont go sick again. But it works to just try to eat a balanced meal that you know is good for you.

This has worked for me for years, and while it is better to avoid getting sick alltogether and eat at consistent times, sometimes life happens and you cant keep up, and thats ok.

I know it is hard, you deserve to treat your body well, and be happy and healthy <3

Special thanks to my mother that works in the medical field and teached me all about the way digestion and energy levels and to my sibling who struggled before me and showed me their way of handling these issues, i would probably struggle more without their advice.

Im so sorry for the long text :"0 i struggle explaining myself with few words

[thepersonalwords]

When you do not bother anyone at night, does anyone bother you? No one scolds you at night, do they? During the daytime, you create interferences, and that is why you suffer. Nature’s law is such that not a single difficulty will affect you, provided you do not interfere. All that affects you is your own interferences.

Dada Bhagwan

[lulublack90]

Prompt 17 - Difficulty

@jegulus-microfic January 17, Word count 523

Previous part First part

Sneaking back into Gryffindor Tower was far easier than the last time, as most of the Gryffindors had gone up to bed. He paused at the bottom of the spiral staircase. Was he really going to do this? If he did, his relationship with James would mean something. Could he trust his brother not to tell their mother out of spite? 

“He won’t do anything bad, I promise,” James said reassuringly. “He might have a record-breaking strop, but he won’t do anything to hurt either of us,”

With difficulty, Regulus managed to get his feet moving again as he slowly walked up the stairs. 

Once they were at the right dorm, James pushed the door open to be greeted by a moan. “Oh, shit!” James pulled his wand out and pointed it at Remus’s bed. “Sonorus!” He cast quickly. “No, no, no, that’s not the one I meant!” He cried out as he tried to remedy his mistake. But it was too late.

“OH, REMUS. OH, OH, OH… FUUUUUUCK!!!” Sirius’s amplified voice filled the entire room with the sounds of his moans and heavy breathing.

Regulus felt like his ears were bleeding. He was too stunned to react. James finally managed to remove the voice-amplifying charm and cast the silencing charm he’d meant to cast.

“I am so sorry,” He said, spinning to face Regulus, his face white and his hand holding onto Regulus’s tightly as if he was afraid Regulus was about to run, which was probably a good reading of Regulus as he was seconds away from running out of the dormitory. 

Regulus closed his eyes and breathed. He needed a moment to wrap that memory in Fiendfyre and destroy it from his memory. Once he was happy that he would be able to sleep, he nodded to James, signalling that they could go to bed now. 

James took him over to the bed furthest from the door. He opened his trunk and took out a T-shirt. He handed it to Regulus, and Regulus held it up to himself. It went down to his knees, but it smelled like James, and he hurriedly put it on. He pulled the super-soft material to his nose and sniffed. It spelt so good. He felt a wave of calm wash over him. He climbed into James’s bed. James followed him and pulled the curtains closed. They settled down, curled up together in the too-small bed and fell asleep. Regulus only woke up once when he realised that his brother was sleeping with another boy just like he was. Damn, copycat.    

Next part

[tomirovira]

THE POWER OF WILL: NATURE’S RESILIENCE IN PHOTOGRAPHY