Chalk up another one to medium. Once in a while I start on hard, though.

In most FPS, I play the hardest difficulty. Doom3 and Quake4 for example are far too easy on medium, having full health and armor all the time really makes the game less intense.
Strategy games or simulations like Sim City i always play on easy, because these games I just want to play without thinking too much.

Hard, anything less isn't a challenge.

Game default for the first run-through; later run-throughs at progressively higher difficulties until it isn't fun anymore or I top out. I don't think I've ever played a game on "Easy"; if "Normal" is pounding me into the dirt, I tend to just abandon the game entirely.

-- Steve

Start on easy then i will turn it up one by one as i start to learn what i am doing.

Usually Easy. I know, it's weak. My rationalization for it is that the first time through I just want to experience the story/visuals without having to redo bits over and over again.

Depends, if it's a story based game I'll usually play it on easy first so I can just enjoy the story, then I'll usually move onto normal and then hard (if I feel good at the game). If it's a gameplay based game I'll usually do it on normal.

Though if the story based game's easy mode is so easy its boring I'll usually up to normal.

Story = Easy
Otherwise = Hardest

Medium. And I won't generally try any harder unless the game is awesome, I'm not that fussed.

I play at the hardest difficulty the first time and then replay afterwards on easy.

yeup.. i do the same thang as most people here..

i usually play it under the hardest setting.. then i go to the hardest one if i haven't bought something else after i beat it the first time...

i played COD4 on Hardened... barely beat it and decided to go to Veteran.... (which was bloody crazy!! but i beat it with just an inch of throwing my controller out the window!! lol)

but some games are best on the hardest level... like Rainbow Six: Las Vegas 2... the cover system makes it easy to play it on Realistic the first time through...

PIOMP!!

I always start on the either second to lowest difficulty (I.E. Call of Duty 4) or the lowest level when there's 3 levels of hardness or I have to earn the hardest difficulty (I.E. Gears of War)

I think it's more of a preperation for multiplayer so I get better and better as i progress farther in the difficulties.

I always complete a game atleast twice for difficulty purposes.

'Normal' mode, whether there's an Easy mode or not. If I enjoy it enough, I'll play again on Hard. Rare is the game I've found where difficulty mode forces you to a huge change in play style... maybe Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, and more recently God of War. That's pretty much it.

With FPS, normally hardest, as I figure I probably won't play through again. With RTS, usually normal or the one above. Not usually the hardest one though, as that is usually a case of CHEATING BASTARD AI.

Uh, my first FPSs, I'd play through Easy, but now that I'm good at them, I'll play through Normal. Though, I did play on Heroic on my first play through of Halo 3. Usually, for me, it's regular.

Hard, usually.

Normal, if that`s too hard or too easy I start again. If a game is a new installment in a series I`m already familiar with I go for harder. I usually leave the hardest levels alone because I get too frustrated. `Moero! Nekketsu Rizamu Tamashii` (`Elite Beat Agents 2`) would be an exception. I`m still struggling with the highest insane difficulty even though I sometimes want to throw the $%&#" DS out of the window, but it`s just that addictive.

I start the game with a hand-drawn plan of how to hold the controller. I work out the ergonomically best way to hold it, after changing button configuration to suit my desired control scheme. This involves latex moulds. I then progress to analysing the spscific strengths and weaknesses of the enemies, drawing up a list of pros and cons. I visit game forums to monitor common sources of frustration for gamers and then try to incorpoate their experiences into my planning.

After this, I may (note, may) take a quick tour through the first level on easy difficulty, taking care to adjust brightness and contrast settings and sound levels in order to gauge the threats coming off-screen. Then, I switch off and go to bed, exhausted.

Normal
i never start anything else before it

Librarian Mike:
Usually Easy. I know, it's weak. My rationalization for it is that the first time through I just want to experience the story/visuals without having to redo bits over and over again.

same. Plus, I don't have a huge amount of experience with games, so until I get better at things like RTSes and FPSes, I play on easy the first time. Then work my way up if the game is really fun.

I always start on normal because I hate how FPS's just get fiddly instead of actually challenging and RTS AI's are plain stupid so they cheat enormously and playing against a cheating AI just establishes bad habits when I eventually make it online with the game.

I rarely play through FPS campaigns more than once and the only exceptions are years after the fact when I'm either bored or a sequel is coming out. I played through the original Half-Life once before HL2 came out and that may be it... I never even played through any of the Call of Duty games between 1 and 4 because every time I would pick them up they felt like the same game and I got bored.

I played through Starcraft once, Warcrafts 1, 2 and 3 once, Warhammer 40k once, never beat Winter Assault, fully completed the meta map with one race in Dark Crusade and still haven't had the patience to win once in Soulstorm (though I am actually playing against a hard AI in comp stomps with my brother for kicks even though it's ridiculously easy for us). I never beat AoE 2, 1 and never played 3 because they didn't add the attack move function...

Basically I just have game ADD which is odd because there is no other facet of my life where such ridiculous levels of ADD rears it's head.

I always start off at Medium. It is a safe comoremise between being murdered in the first 5 seconds and making the game much too simple.

In FPS games I try after some time going to higher levels of difficulty, but when it comes down to Strategy games I try challenging players. Unlike A.I. controlled opponents they are not buffed or get additional help (which does happen in some games) on higher levels of difficulty.

Also, against A.I. it is hard to provoke them or discourage them, depending on the method of course, but most of the time I found it more interessting to play against Human players than going on the Hard setting.

If it's a shooter, I start off on Hard or Medium.
If it's a completely new genre like guitar hero was for me, then I start off on easy at first..