Worried About Difficulty...

[monstrado]

I've seen a lot posts about people not feeling the game had as much difficulty as the previous versions of Guitar Hero. This is a big problem for me, since I am all too comfortable playing songs on expert without decent scores.

I would hate to play rock band and feel like I paid for extra Guitar Hero songs with cheesy note placements. I am sure there are people out there as worried as me.

I mean, overall the only reason I play Guitar Hero is for the challenge, it's challenging to beat a new song on Guitar Hero...I hope Harmonix puts a little more time into the placement of notes, to at least make the game as hard as the previous guitar hero's on expert mode.

[TheRocker]

Yes the guitar difficulty is somewhat decreased in RockBand to balance out all of the instruments but that doesnt mean it wont the songs wont have solos or wont be challenging what so ever but if you really like difficult songs and just get Guitar hero 3 , or play the Drums on expert.

[KeithSkins]

I haven't played the game myself, yet, but don't discount the challenge of trying to line-up four musicians at a time. There might be sacrifices to individual parts, but the focus of this game seems to be ensemble play, which is a challenge in and of itself.

[hmxsean]

I am kind concerned by all the people who keep saying this, mainly because I feel that it is a rumor without a whole lot of merit. The songs aren't dumbed down in the way we track them. We still track according to the way it should "feel." Now did we go out of our way to make a game specifically just to give people a challenge? No. We made a game that is about feeling awesome while you play it.Easy is pretty easy. Expert is pretty expert. There are songs in there that challenge you on whatever instrument you play. But it isn't a game we made just to ridiculously punish fingers - it goes way beyond that.

[LongDarkBlues]

I mean, overall the only reason I play Guitar Hero is for the challenge, it's challenging to beat a new song on Guitar Hero...I hope Harmonix puts a little more time into the placement of notes, to at least make the game as hard as the previous guitar hero's on expert mode.

You should probably get a different game, then - that's not the focus of this game at all. There will still be plenty of challenging parts, but if you're just looking for an insanely difficult challenge, you should be playing GuitarFreaks or something.

I can 5 star a couple of Expert songs in GHII, and I failed out of Suffragette City on Expert pretty fast - there's a lot of tough chord changes in there.

Edit - ah, I see Sean has this well in hand.

[Syko360]

But it isn't a game we made just to ridiculously punish fingers - it goes way beyond that.

This is my point exactly, imagine your drummer is in "TeH SuCk" on Tom Sawyer and all of a sudden your note chart breaks out into "Mini Jordan" and your Singer has to grab his nuts to hit the notes properly. Exactly. It would be ******ed and very little fun. Some people gotta remember that in Guitar Hero it was you, yourself, and I and if it was not insanely hard you would just walk through Expert and have no challenge. But with Rock Band you have to keep all instruments on board or you fail. Different games.

If you want "Stupid ridiculous uber hard" just play GH3 till you get to the 8th tier where the game is so hard it feels broken compared to the other tiers. :rolleyes:

[stiper327b]

...it isn't a game we made just to ridiculously punish fingers - it goes way beyond that.

Awesome! I've been looking for a good sig worthy quote, and I doth belive that the mustachioed one just provided a little bit of gold.

[Xzyliac]

Join a real band and you'll learn music doesn't ride on six string speed demons and eight finger solos.

[Bakkster]

Join a real band and you'll learn music doesn't ride on six string speed demons and eight finger solos.

Quoted for truth.

[monstrado]

I see what you mean, however, I do enjoy to "punish my fingers" lol...I love playing insanely hard songs where people are wondering how the hell I'm actually keeping track of the notes.

On the other hand, there are people...such as most the people above me that would rather not play that many notes in a song...which is why they have different difficulty.

I'm not sure where you guys are going with this post...

[Nilsen31]

I am kind concerned by all the people who keep saying this, mainly because I feel that it is a rumor without a whole lot of merit. The songs aren't dumbed down in the way we track them. We still track according to the way it should "feel." Now did we go out of our way to make a game specifically just to give people a challenge? No. We made a game that is about feeling awesome while you play it.Easy is pretty easy. Expert is pretty expert. There are songs in there that challenge you on whatever instrument you play. But it isn't a game we made just to ridiculously punish fingers - it goes way beyond that.

:confused:

I am confused by your awesomeness.

[LongDarkBlues]

On the other hand, there are people...such as most the people above me that would rather not play that many notes in a song...which is why they have different game.
fixed.

That's what GHIII is for, I guess. Or start importing guitar games from Japan.

[skyehill]

So Harmonix stops making Guitar Hero and now all of a sudden it's a bad game? The fanboys around here are really pathetic. It really is OK to like one game and still like another. Really. It is.

[TheRocker]

So Harmonix stops making Guitar Hero and now all of a sudden it's a bad game? The fanboys around here are really pathetic. It really is OK to like one game and still like another. Really. It is.

I dont hate Guitar Hero i basicly play it at least once a week i just dont like what it has become since Harmonix stopped developing it.

[Bakkster]

I see what you mean, however, I do enjoy to "punish my fingers" lol...I love playing insanely hard songs where people are wondering how the hell I'm actually keeping track of the notes.

Well then you enjoy Guitar Hero! That's great! Minor issue: RB != GH.

I could complain that Halo doesn't have enough role-playing elements.
I could complain that Elder Scrolls doesn't have enough shooting.
I could complain that the cars in Forza 2 don't have nitrous oxide.
I could complain that Portal doesn't have multiplayer.

But if I did any of those things, I would be expecting things that are not primary goals of the gameplay. I play Halo because it's a shooter and Elder Scrolls because it's an RPG. It would be laughable to expect Halo to be as deep of an RPG or Elder Scrolls to be as deep of a shooter as the other, as that's not what the game is about.

Rock Band is about having fun by playing music with the band dynamic.
Guitar Hero is about having fun by challenging yourself to play guitar solos.

If you like to play Guitar Hero, then more power to you. Just don't try to make other games into Guitar Hero.

[Nilsen31]

I don't even like the really hard songs in the GH series...

I play it for the music...


My favorite song in GH3 is The Seeker...

I can beat it on Expert but I only get like 86%...not that I really care...cuz I just have fun playing the song.


Now when I get up to the really heavy stuff...like that Slipknot song...I just get annoyed at how fast I gotta go hit the buttons...my hands start to hurt...and I just stop playing...no thank you.

[Xzyliac]

I'm not sure where you guys are going with this post...

I love finger bleeders both in my games and on my real guitar but this is not that kind of game.

In the real world those finger bleeders make up a very small minority of (good) rock.

If you want a guitar game buy Guitar Hero. For a band experience get Rock Band.

In reality finger bleeders are rare. There's so much more out there. You don't need to be the center of attention. Pft...guitarist.
Oh. Wait.

[Syko360]

On the other hand, there are people...such as most the people above me that would rather not play that many notes in a song...which is why they have different difficulty.

I'm not sure where you guys are going with this post...

You seem to be missing the entire point. In Guitar Hero there are many parts of songs where you play the Keyboard part or some other non-guitar instrument just as filler so you don't stand there like an idiot waiting for notes.

In Rock Band 90% of the fun is not playing during a vocal solo and watching your singer go all Ronnie James Dio on it. Or hearing your drummer nail a drum-fill section. Then you jump back in and everybody watches you shred a solo. You are comparing apples to Oranges. If you want streaming triples and zig-zag solos get GH3.
If you want to jam and have a hell of a time with your friends while being challenged with "Accurate" note charts, get Rock Band.

[MartyMcFly]

In Rock Band 90% of the fun is not playing during a vocal solo and watching your singer go all Ronnie James Dio on it. Or hearing your drummer nail a drum-fill section. Then you jump back in and everybody watches you shred a solo. You are comparing apples to Oranges. If you want streaming triples and zig-zag solos get GH3.
If you want to jam and have a hell of a time with your friends while being challenged with "Accurate" note charts, get Rock Band.

This is an awesome paragraph. Well said!

[Eagoyle]

I think Sean put it best. They aren't going to dumb down the note charts just for Rock Band.

I would assume that the same song on GHIII and RB, both on expert, will have the similar number of notes, but maybe not the same sequence of notes. The "difference" in difficulty will be in the the song selection. You aren't going to see songs that are extremely difficult for just the guitar. That song wouldn't be fun for the rest of the group.

There is no "I" in Rock Band, but there is a COBRA in it. "Go COBRA!!!"

Eagoyle

[Apples]

I was in the "concerned" camp for a long while, but I've come around based on two facts:

1. The same people who did GH1 and 2 charts didn't suddenly get stupid overnight.

2. Played one guitar song on a Best Buy demo this week, purported to be one of the easier songs. The chart was very enjoyable... more so than the strumtastic wankfests of GH3. Plus, I nearly failed while trying to get "cute" and cut to the solo buttons.... so obviously it was no free 5* performance.


The more this easy difficulty concept gets propegated, the more I'm convinced it's just rhetoric from folks in "the other rhythm game camp".

[LongDarkBlues]

Also:
Bad Cronk, Card Knob and Crank Bod

[Xzyliac]

All this talk of difficulty make me wonder if this guys heard Green Grass and High Tides or Run for the Hills.

[army_of_me]

All this talk of difficulty make me wonder if this guys heard Green Grass and High Tides or Run for the Hills.

For real. I don't think the demos include the most difficult guitar songs, so people should take that into account when reading complaints.

[Bakkster]

All this talk of difficulty make me wonder if this guys heard Green Grass and High Tides or Run for the Hills.

Or Highway Star, for that matter.

[Xzyliac]

Or Highway Star, for that matter.

Knew I forgot one.

And it may not be the hardest but Don't Fear the Reaper has a very kick ass solo.

[sporkBrigade]

I had a pretty significant challenge with my drummer at Best Buy last night. He was struggling with a song and kept hovering down low. Everytime he made a yelping noise, which I assumed meant he was in trouble, and I had to use my star power to save him. Not bring him back, but rather to time using it so that the points boost kept him from failing out. It was quite challenging to balance my own star power needs with my drummer's needs. Maybe this isn't the challenge you're looking for, but it certainly was satisfying to me.


Plus, I nearly failed while trying to get "cute" and cut to the solo buttons.... so obviously it was no free 5* performance.

I can't remember if it was Vasoline or Epic, but I totally failed out because I was one hand soloing. I think I was in the middle of waving to an imaginary fan when all of a sudden there was doublestrumming going on. I actually tried to hit the notes with my ring finger, and before I could react to the fact that this wasn't cutting it, I was out for the count.

Maybe the challenge of this game is balancing guitar skills with being a total wank on stage? Maybe that's just my person challenge? We'll see...

[Thrashdragon]

I think Sean put it best. They aren't going to dumb down the note charts just for Rock Band.

I would assume that the same song on GHIII and RB, both on expert, will have the similar number of notes, but maybe not the same sequence of notes. The "difference" in difficulty will be in the the song selection. You aren't going to see songs that are extremely difficult for just the guitar. That song wouldn't be fun for the rest of the group.

There is no "I" in Rock Band, but there is a COBRA in it. "Go COBRA!!!"

Eagoyle

QFT.

RB's setlist is on the whole made up of less technically difficult songs than GH's. That's why it seems easier. You're still hitting every note on Expert, the song itself is just simpler. There are a few in there that look like they will be a cast iron b*tch, and if those aren't enough, I imagine there'll be DLC to make up for that.

Remember these are the guys that made GH1 & II, I don't imagine they'd dumb down what had obviously been a working formula that makes people happy.

Besides, whenever I start to feel godly on the guitar, I'll just sit down at the drums for a quick experience in futility. :D

[Nilsen31]

lol

Yea, just wait til you play Green Grass & High Tides!!

[Nilsen31]

All this talk of difficulty make me wonder if this guys heard Green Grass and High Tides or Run for the Hills.

whoa, didnt c that.

[JackBNimble]

I see what you mean, however, I do enjoy to "punish my fingers" lol...I love playing insanely hard songs where people are wondering how the hell I'm actually keeping track of the notes.

On the other hand, there are people...such as most the people above me that would rather not play that many notes in a song...which is why they have different difficulty.

I'm not sure where you guys are going with this post...

I think they're saying RELAX DUDE!It's not going to be as easy as you may think!

[MundaneSoul]

All this talk of difficulty make me wonder if this guys heard Green Grass and High Tides or Run for the Hills.srsly

You speak the truths.

[xenopherus]

I played the game today, and the difficulty settings are just perfect. I played a couple songs on expert, and failed them all. The note placements are great. I think some people are just being a little nit-picky.

[ThuDogFood]

I don't know where to stand really.

On one hand, I don't replay most songs much on single player unless they are hard and I have a goal to accomplish.

But on the other the band modes are really cool.

But on a mysterious mutated third hand I have to realize that I won't get much co-op time because of my friends (I will get some time when I invite them, but only one plans on getting the game, and he doesn't have Xbox Live Gold).

And finally on a random bystander's hand there are the other instruments, head-to-head play, and DLC, which should give it life.

I dunno, I just want to spend a decent amount of time on guitar as well as the other instruments, and not spend most of my time on vocalist because that's what I'll suck at the most.

[xenopherus]

I don't know where to stand really.

On one hand, I don't replay most songs much on single player unless they are hard and I have a goal to accomplish.

But on the other the band modes are really cool.

But on a mysterious mutated third hand I have to realize that I won't get much co-op time because of my friends (I will get some time when I invite them, but only one plans on getting the game, and he doesn't have Xbox Live Gold).

And finally on a random bystander's hand there are the other instruments, head-to-head play, and DLC, which should give it life.

I dunno, I just want to spend a decent amount of time on guitar as well as the other instruments, and not spend most of my time on vocalist because that's what I'll suck at the most.

BWA haw haw!!! The part all about the hands made me LOL so hard! Mysterious mutated thrid hand... *wipes away a tear*