I always play on Novice like a boss. I'm so terrible at this game I am a boss at being bad at it.

I only play on Master, I love the challenges it gives me, but the leveling system doesn't give much appreciation to my own improvement. For example, I feel little stronger at level 50 than I did at level 1.

Yeah Master is mostly fun, keeps you on your toes especially if your lightly armoured.

Odd thing though is the heavy hitters ie.Centurions and Dragons still feel weak to me and everything else is a bullet (arrow ?) sponge which takes away from the experience a little bit.

Yep, this is how to make combat more challenging. Change the AI and not the difficulty level. That's why i use mods such as the ones you mentioned.

I agree, everyone should play on whatever difficulty setting they enjoy most, and not be afraid to adjust the setting up or down as needed.

As for one-shotting enemies, when I played a melee stealth character on Master, I was able to one-shot the vast majority of enemies with backstabs from stealth once I got the Assassin's Blade perk. It was fun because if I had to sneak everywhere and if screwed up and was discovered, I was usually killed. So the element of danger made the stealth gameplay a bit more fun in my case.

Subjective >_>

master = enemies to twice as much damage and you do half = fun?

This. Playing the difficulty you find the most fun is the best way to play.

Like master? Great! Novice? Go for it.

I always used to play PES at standard difficulty, unless I played against someone else; then we bumped it up to top player so the AI could keep up. I shocked more than one top player, er, player over the course of my PES days.

Agreed, recently started a sword and shield character ONLY using smithing, no enchanting and no alchemy (aside buying potions) and the game actually seems challenging, I actually have to use strategy to fight dragons and a lot of dungeons i have to do half, then come back for revenge later! Its great.

Exactly, I play on master, and just use the fear howl to scatter enemies then pounce and devour the little sheep as i please! Being a werewolf on master is not NEARLY as difficult as people seem to think, it just takes some common sense.

There is no difficulty the game is "meant" to be played on, it only starts on adept because it is in the middle. Same as oblivion, the tick was in the middle.

The problem I have with 'master' difficulty is that it is a false difficulty. All it does is reduce the damage you inflict and increase the damage that the AI inflicts on you.

I have no desire to revisit the health sponge effect in my game. If master difficulty perhaps made the ai more agressive, better AI and raised damage across the board (Everyone including yourself does more damage) then I might be interested.
Do not want characters taking 20 arrows or so to kill, and for me to die with one. It's silly... not 'master' mode at all, more like frail hero mode.

I realy wish TES would include proper difficulty scaleing; smarter combat ai, better stealth detection and investigation, harder loots settings (getting less good stuff), more numerous low level enemies, more agressive groups ie: all attacking at once instead of one at a time, hardcoe survival elements (like in NV) ect. rather than just an effective increase in enemy health. Then I would definatly play on master.

Disagree. Having to beat on an enemy for half an hour doesn't appeal to me.

This is a matter of perspective. For those of us who are accustomed to playing on Master, you could also say all that "Adept" does is increase the damage you inflict and decrease damage dealt by the A.I.

I think we can always appreciate improvements in A.I. tactics, and there are some mods that are doing interesting things with NPC use of potions and spells to heal their allies, etc. However, for anyone who already finds the "Master" setting enjoyable, dialing down the difficulty doesn't exactly improve the gameplay experience.

There is only one "best way" to play an Elder Scrolls game. Whatever way gives us the most pleasure is the "best way" to play these games. And difficulty does not necessarily play any part in having fun. There are as many reasons to play as there are people. And some of us do not play to challenge ourselves.

When I playon master, I have NPC's using their shields VERY aggressively , and on adept they just walk into me hoping to die, i dunno if its just me, but thats what ive noticed.

Exactly, Modernly games are all about Winning by any means necessary and Achievements, well i play GAMES for fun because that is their original purpose. If i want to play on the easiest setting because i prefer not to die constantly then nobody can look down on me for enjoying a game

Well, it's a matter of mechanics in my opinion. The player and an NPC with the same weapon, same skill, perks and level will do the same damage on the default setting. On harder settings the formula is changed. This is why I call it false difficulty because the rules are being changed. The NPC's are not playing by the same rules as the player. It's like cheating ai in a sense.

Fair enough if people like the challange, for me I would rather that both my enemy and myself are equaly vunerable; this is why I loved Duke Patricks combat mod in Oblivion. Even a lowly bandit could get the drop on a high level player and weapons were deadly to everyone.

Part of the reason I like games like Arma I guess.

:EDIT:


I agree that challange is fun. I just don't like health sponges =P
I have no problem dieing in game if it was due to a tactical mistake on my part, or because I foolishly rushed an enemy far beyond me in power and skill. I don't like dieing just because the bandit I'm facing has like 2000 hp's and beats be through a matter of health attrition.

At level 31, my sheidl and sword character does the same damage as a bandit marauder using the same weapons i hae on master. on Adept, I would be killing them instantly.

well, you realise that a bandit marauder is usualy around level 25. And he probably doesn't have anywhere near the amount of perks you have.
So again, according to game mechanics you should be doing more damage than him.

:EDIT: Just to make my point of view clearer.... I would like that the bandit marauder be more tactical than his lessar bandits. So even though you could kill him in one blow, I would rather see said bandit dodge your blows, block and evade and basicaly fight a heck of a lot harder than his lessars would. Such a bandit should also (imo) encourage the lessar bandits to join him and surround you, striking you in the back ect.

Thats the kind of difficulty I would like to see rather than just changing effective health numbers

But realistically speaking, they have been around longer than I have , I just got on the scene a few in game weeks ago. There should be enemies that are eons stronger, because they have been around for a very long time. Its called RPing.Dragons are also supposed to be the ultimate enemy, killing a dragon in 5 hits does not make them seem that way, on master I HAVE to use strategy t avoid their attacks and it takes a TON of arrows to take them down. If people wanna play on adept, or lower, thats their choice, and thats fine, but for me, anything lower than master is just LAME.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pdWAcK6Eh8&feature=related

^{Fun is playing on Master level and trying to survive without any deaths!(I'm on level 53)}

I agreed that Dragons are weak, this is an issue of leveling rather than difficulty; Bethesda decided to make dragons always killable.

As for the bandits, just because they've been around longer doesn't make them automaticaly stronger. If anything the soliders should be stronger due to training and conditioning. Bandits prey on the weak as a way of living.
If you've earnt the levels, you deserve the same power as someone who is of the same level and perks. It's a simple as that in my mind.

Keep in mind, I play on adept, but I use Duke Patrics combat mod. This makes battles very fast, very brutal and results in a lot of deaths. One or two hits will kill me. Even from lowly bandits if I'm not careful. Dragons tend to finish kill me alot if I get into melee with them. This is my idea of difficulty. Bandits can kill me just as easily as I can kill them; if I screw up... it makes for a much more thrilling game. (i'm not using any smithing/enchanting/alchemy exploits either btw)

My opinion is, I'm glad that the opinions of others weigh so lowly with me, that they'll never influence my actions.