I don't buy the notion that the push for optional easy modes in games is the cause of obsessive gamers bitching about "filthy casuals". Nobody is forcing the obsessives to play on easy mode.
I prefer to think that obsessive gamers who complain about "filthy casuals" are entitled assholes trying to be gatekeepers.
@starbreaker The same entitled assholes who complain about "filthy casuals" would love optional easy modes if their existence were insider knowledge. Like, say, if the easy mode were activated by entering some sort of "code" shared among devotees.
@bstacey @starbreaker I've always found it amusing that some elitist gamers ended up interpreting the design bullshit designed to make an $80 cartridge purchase longer lasting into a life philosophy.
@starbreaker @bstacey I suspect people would do that regardless, particularly the disenfranchised which did and still does make up a large part of video game enthusiasts.