Hello,

While there was a post a few months ago regarding Easy Mode and its place on these boards, I believe circumstances have changed recently and changed enough to warrant a serious discussion about it being added as a separate category leaderboard.

Firstly, we have more than one run of Easy Mode (PC) - this already makes it different from the Xbox One situation, where I am still the only runner and have no-one to compare against, so a leaderboard would just be me, with little sign of changing.

Secondly, from that point - there is a lot of interest in Easy Mode, much more than Xbox One - many more people probably have the ability to run Easy Mode than the Xbox One, and the interest has been shown in the popularity of the Easy runs and recent routing in the category. I believe Easy Mode leaderboards would also make the game look more attractive to potential runners due to the choice of difficulty, although this would need to balanced with the fact that at some modes, Easy Mode may not be "easier", just different. However, if someone tries the run in Normal, finds it unenjoyable for whatever reason, their reasons may enable them to find Easy Mode enjoyable - it is the choice that allows us to benefit here. (If someone asked if they could run on XB1 and why there was no leaderboard, I hope we could explain to said person we would create one once they completed their run as that would mean two official runs have been completed and are submittable, even if not by the original runner)

Thirdly, Easy Mode is a category that, in my view, meets the requirements for a serious category that is not a "meme", or a category that has niche requirements - it is simply beating the game as quickly as possible, while keeping the game in Easy Mode throughout the entire run. It is easy to define, and is one of the "purest" categories in terms of what it does, as explained above.

Finally, and this is a point I believe lends it the most legitimacy as a category - it has been proven by people who've already run it that it is already faster than the Normal Mode WR, and has the potential to be even faster. As such, the fastest way so far to beat the game from start to finish is to play it in Easy Mode all the way. Going on from this, if a glitch, most likely a wrong warp, is discovered, that allows us to skip a large portion of the game, is found, we would accept it as legitimate. so why not accept a feature of the game if it's faster?

I'd like to address a potential pitfall in this recent point, though. If the objective is to get from Point A (Start a new game) to Point B (Crystarium Expanded Dismissed), what if a fight or strat is discovered to be better in Normal Mode than Easy? What if it's faster or better to switch to Normal Mode to improve the chances of good drops, or for a fight, taking into account the time required to switch the difficulty in the menu?

This presents us with a dilemma - does this mean, if we accept Easy Mode because it's faster, we create a situation where we'd have to accept a category in the future - "Any%", that allows for difficulty switching between the timer being started and the finish?

The answer to this, in my opinion, is no.

However, this is the major point of contention, I think. While the chances of something being discovered that means it's quicker to switch from Easy to Normal and back for purposes of drops or faster fights is so small, there is still the possibility of it happening. Even so, it can happen.

If you start a run in Easy or Normal Mode, though, you accept a set of game mechanics, some of which differ from one another, such as how the stagger gauge functions pre-stagger. It is my opinion that it is these differences that themselves warrants the creation of a separate category, and thus, for the separate category to be created (as it should), a rule should be mandated that the run must remain in Easy Mode throughout the entire run, as a placeholder for the moment.

If it is discovered that the above issue is relevant, that should be debated when it is made so (my personal opinion is that if this does happen, Easy Mode should just be changed to Any%, although I am still not 100% certain on this).

I welcome all discussion and debate about this view - to me, the points I have raised, when put together, create an argument strong enough to legitimise an Easy Mode (PC) category being created on these leaderboards. If you disagree, agree, think enemies have reduced HP, whatever, please make your voice heard, as I believe this is the time for the issue to be taken seriously.

Thanks.