I’m of the opinion that these are somewhat pathetic reasons to maintain any kind of design; let them be there, but they’re pretty minor. It’s not even clear the

I’m of the opinion that these are somewhat pathetic reasons to maintain any kind of design; let them be there, but they’re pretty minor. It’s not even clear they’re emotions worth keeping around. Anyways, take it away from them, and they’ll just find something else to latch their identity to (eg speedrun). Or find it elsewhere. Not a big loss. A small group (actually by definition), a shallow reason, a weak design motivator. Games are designed, with a particular experience, setting, balance, pacing in mind; if difficulty is part of that design.. then its a part of the design. That’s it. Caveat: Not all game features are actually part of a design. Not all games have an intelligible design in the first place.