# Elden Ring seems to already be Game of the Year...but do I want to play it? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [February 24, 2022, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041 "2022-02-24T10:37:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 22
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/421 "2022-04-11T14:24:56Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Are these runs glitch-free? If not, what is the record for a glitch-free speedrun? ISTM all speedruns take advantage of glitches. If the game lets you do it then it is allowed; even it was never intended to work that way. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/422 "2022-04-11T20:26:44Z")
Fun moment last night. Me and “Native” spirit ashes went down into a town, so I’m pinned against a wall at a corner while he’s pumping arrows down the alley. Very Western like moment. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/423 "2022-04-11T20:43:53Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > So completely glitchless, IDK That’s listed under the “Any% no wrong warp” tab: > **[Elden Ring - Speedrun](https://www.speedrun.com/eldenring#Any_No_Wrong_Warp)** > > View Elden Ring speedruns, leaderboards, forums and more on Speedrun The #4 record says 1:23:09 using the “glitchless” route. I presume that means what it says. The two big glitches I know about are the zip trick and the wrong warp trick. There must be a third if they are distinguishing “no wrong warp” and “glitchless”, but I don’t know what it is. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > ISTM all speedruns take advantage of glitches. Not all. There are different record types. Some people like doing vanilla runs. Though even defining what a glitch is can be tricky at times. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/424 "2022-04-11T21:30:46Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Know what else is terrible? Haligtree. Since I won, I’ve been dinking around with an Easy mode mod to see the stuff I missed/skipped (I’ll likely never do another run to that extent) and that place is a stupid pain in the ass even with the mod. Hey, how does that Easy Mode mod work? Pretty well? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/425 "2022-04-11T23:17:15Z")
Definitely easier! I’m using the lowest end of it, which: > Reduce 50% Damage > Increase 25% Attack > 2X Player Hit Radius > 2x Crimson/Cerulean Tears Heal There’s two other tiers which add stuff like getting 10x the runes, easier weapon upgrades, a bunch of free levels, etc but I didn’t feel like any of that was necessary. I just wanted to be able to cruise through the content I never visited in the actual game without spending a night trying to beat some boss. It’s hard for me to say how the game would have played with it from the beginning, without a bunch of levels/gear/spells at my disposal. I think it would probably make life a bit easier for someone who wanted the core experience without the frustration or having to “git gud” above their ceiling. I think the other tiers would probably trivialize the other aspects a bit too much to feel like the same game but the base tier I’m using would essentially be you getting good without having to actually play better. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/426 "2022-04-11T23:42:29Z")
Was it easy to implement/install? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/427 "2022-04-12T00:07:49Z")
Very easy. You download a disabler for Easy Anti-Cheat and the Easy Mode mod, both from Nexus Mods. Extract the EAC disabler and put it in your Elden Ring folder and run the .exe to disable it. From the Easy Mode mod, there’s a single file you use to replace the native one called regulation.bin. So rename the native one to BACKUP-Regulation.bin (or whatever) and plug in the new one. Finally, there’s an .exe you can use the first time to launch it to guarantee you launch into Offline mode if you didn’t set yourself offline before modding or are feeling nervous about it. After that, you can just launch from Steam as usual. If you change your mind later, just restore your backup copy of regulation.bin “Online” and “Offline” in this case refer exclusively to the FromSoftware servers for PvP and seeing the player-left messages, calling in PC assistance, PvP invasions and that stuff. It has nothing to do with Steam or your internet connection. Valve doesn’t care if you’re playing a modded version of Elden Ring and the only “risk” would be getting banned from the FromSoftware servers if you were trying to play in Online mode. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/428 "2022-04-12T00:20:19Z")
I forgot one other undocumented change the mod makes: If you die, you can just hit Y on the controller to immediately reclaim your lost Eldenbucks. No need to make it back to the scene of your death or else forever lose them. And, to bring it all back around to the top: Having now played the story from tutorial cave to becoming an Elden Lord, I give zero shits about the git gud difficulty as a core part of the game and think it would be every bit as good of an experience with a native difficulty slider versus modding it. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/429 "2022-04-12T02:00:19Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > And, to bring it all back around to the top: Having now played the story from tutorial cave to becoming an Elden Lord, I give zero shits about the git gud difficulty as a core part of the game and think it would be every bit as good of an experience with a native difficulty slider versus modding it. Others disagree of course. And it is those others who are actually the core market for the games, not you or me. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/430 "2022-04-12T02:36:55Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > And it is those others who are actually the core market for the games, not you or me. Maybe. But I suppose my $60 for Elden Ring spends the same way theirs does. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/431 "2022-04-12T02:40:46Z")
It does, and you spent it despite the game not having a difficulty slider. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/432 "2022-04-12T02:44:59Z")
Right. I’m not sure what the point of that is though. I’m saying that, as someone who played through the game without a difficulty slider, adding one wouldn’t hurt a thing for people worried about accessibility. In fact, as someone who played through the whole thing without a slider and then essentially added one via modding, I think it’s too bad they didn’t have one from the start. You know, so other people could spend THEIR $60 on the game. Because, again, I don’t feel like it would hurt a thing. Other people are free to disagree but my hands-on experience tells me that the arguments they make about “It wouldn’t help anyway” or “It takes away from the art” or all the other stuff doesn’t really hold up. And I don’t really care if they were playing Souls games on their VIC-20 in 1980 because we’re talking about this game that we both spent $60 on. My opinion, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/433 "2022-04-12T02:45:36Z")
So far as i can tell…and Im asking here…there are no factions you can join that will piss off others you’ve met is there?? IOW…the games lore and what im exactly doing is do vague, I’m worried that if I accept someones invitation to join whatever they are doing, that I will piss off someone else Ive met. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/434 "2022-04-12T02:53:17Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > So far as i can tell…and Im asking here…there are no factions you can join that will piss off others you’ve met is there?? There are quest lines that can prematurely cut off other quest lines. If Person A wants you to kill Person B, that will naturally put a crimp into finishing any quests that depend on Person B. As far as I could tell, there’s no one who just talking to them will make someone else mad at you or refuse to help you. There’s a person or two who’ll imply that assisting them is some big decision but it’s not. “Do you REALLY want to help me, knowing that I was kicked out of the Potato Farmers Guild?” It doesn’t matter and the Potato Farmers of the Lands Between will try to kill you anyway because it’s Elden Ring and everyone is immediately and irrationally hostile to your existence. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/435 "2022-04-12T03:38:54Z")
My point is that this is the design decision of the game’s creator. It is the 7th Souls game, including Sekiro, and none of them have had a difficulty slider. Their _core_ market expect a game that is what it is, that includes no decision on difficulty other than what is made available as part of the game itself. The game’s designer has stated outright that he wants players to have the experience of hitting a brick wall and overcoming it (or quitting). It’s not like some kind of oversight. It’s not a feature that they’d love to have but don’t because technology doesn’t allow it. This has been a core aspect of the game seven times in a row. Elden Ring exceeded all expectations with 12 million copies sold in a short time period. They can keep doing what they’re doing and keep their _core_ audience happy AND have good sales. Ultimately they don’t _care_ that someone didn’t buy the game because it didn’t have a difficulty slider. That person is _not_ who the game is for. They don’t _want_ that person to buy the game. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/436 "2022-04-12T03:41:12Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > …it’s Elden Ring and everyone is immediately and irrationally hostile to your existence. Aside from weird quacking dancing ladies and the odd dog here and there. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/437 "2022-04-12T03:42:53Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > My point is that this is the design decision of the game’s creator. Yes, I get that. I don’t care. I think he’s wrong. Or else narrow-minded in how people should experience the game. There’s no magic or mystery to it – I think game developers are wrong about shit all the time. Obviously he’s not going to care what I think either but he’s not here and I’m speaking to a different audience. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/438 "2022-04-12T03:58:17Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Yes, I get that. I don’t care. I think he’s wrong. That’s like saying an artist used the wrong colours in one of their paintings. It’s his creation, it can’t be wrong. You can not like it, of course, but it can’t be “wrong”. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/439 "2022-04-12T04:19:08Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > It’s his creation, it can’t be wrong. I’m referring to the player experience and his perception of it. His design decision is based on his idea of what players will find fulfilling. While that holds true for some largely self-selecting percentage who think “Die a lot then win” is the cat’s pajamas, it was probably the least interesting part of the game to me and mainly only served to slow down the better parts. So I think he’s wrong in what he thinks the player experience needs to be to find the game valuable and wrong in how he approaches that experience now. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041/440 "2022-04-12T04:21:53Z")
But he’s making games for people who do like that. The fact you don’t find that the cat’s pyjamas just means you aren’t the target audience. And yet you bought it anyway. So he’s making a particular style of game that people who like that style of game buy, and people who profess not to like that style of game also buy. How is that “wrong”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elden-ring-seems-to-already-be-game-of-the-year-but-do-i-want-to-play-it/960041.md?page=23)