This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Midas Mint: Some folks love feelings of accomplishment they get from doing something difficult in a game. But difficulty-favoring design is flawed. If a player can't make the game easier or skip ahead (Alone in the Dark) then the content the design team worked on is wasted. On the flipside, any player who wants a challenge can impose handicaps on himself like only using the pistol (except in Halo where the pistol was the best gun).
