Normal.  I like to be able to finish a game without being overly frustrated.  Plus, I would like to enjoy the story without losing patience with the game.

Normal, but sometimes I make it easy.  I play Mass Effect on easy, because I'm just playing it for the story. 

I did the same thing because I couldn't get a handle on the combat at first and I wanted to experience the story.

The normal, or medium, setting.  Basically because I like a challenge but I also don’t like a game to be unfairly difficult. 

I also believe that in most games, the normal difficulty setting is what the game is designed around, so in choosing “easy” or “hard” I’m not getting what is intended.  I’m just playing a game where they just jacked up (or down) the enemies hit points, weapon damage, etc.

usually normal. If there's a recommended difficulty setting I always try that out  as well. I like to play the game the way it was mean't to be played, i believe normal is the way they envisioned the game...usually

Lately I've been starting games with the default settings, which is usually the middle difficulty or normal difficulty. Somehow I feel that the developers designed this setting as the best experience of the game. Easy usually takes away the tension of the game and Hard reduces the pace of the game to a crawl. I respect Hard mode in games, but I have to really love the mechanics to stay with it for very long.

I do easy, so I can go through and get the collectibles that I can get. thenI work my way up.

I used to start with easy or normal, but now a days, I'm heading more in the hard direction. If I can get past a game in hard mode, then it makes it easier to enjoy the game in easy mode. Simply put, I do the hard stuff first, then I go back and replay it easier to fully enjoy.

I always start in Normal, as a kid I would choose easy and work my way up but through my teenage years to now Ive always chosen normal and gone from there.

Normal, f*** hard mode. 

Since most stuff I've played over the last five or so years has been for review, I've gotten used to just playing on the default settings. I rarely start on a tougher setting, unless the game makes it clear that someone at my experience/skill level should be playing at that setting.

Before the days of reviewing games, I used to start on a harder setting to see if it was approachable and would only lower the challenge level if I was being annihilated.

I always start on Normal since that's the way they meant the game to be played by the majority of people. If it wasn't challenging enough then I bump up the difficulty on the next playthrough.

Halo games are the only ones where I start out on Heroic difficulty everytime. Bungie always said Heroic was the way Halo was meant to be played and it's a ton of fun, it's always perfectly balanced for me right inbetween Normal mode and Legendary mode. On Skyrim I started out on Apprentice difficulty but my character has gotten so strong that I'm now playing the game at Master difficulty and it's still not too difficult.

Varies.

I definitely started out easy as a kid, then worked up from there if it wasn't challenging enough; now I usually start normal, and get a feel for it there, then complete hard mode if I like the game enough.

Depending on the game though, some are boring outside hard mode, too frustrating outside easy mode, etc., it's a case-by-case basis thing. Games like Elite Beat Agents that are just addicting, I'll beat on the highest difficulty, others like Metal Gear Solid, I won't even touch the highest difficulty.

I usually play on normal and then go from there. If it's something that I really love or have mastered, I might go for the higher difficulty levels.

Normal setting since usually this is the recommended setting for the game and if i feel a game is tough like Two Worlds two i put it on easy lol!!!

I'll start out on Normal, but depending on the game, sometimes I go for easy. Most of the time, I play story-driven games, and I'm more interested in the story than I am the combat, so I frequently end up playing on easy.

I play on easy and normal if I have no choice.  I have too many games to go through, so I like to play through games a little fast.  If I like the game, I'll play it again on normal.  If I really love the game, I'll play the harder settings. 

I usually go on the default setting to get the feel of the game, and if want to up the ante, I go on hard after I beat the game.

time

something usually comes up that takes me away from fully comuning with my new game.

What? Stop looking at me like that just cause I used the word "comune"...

Normal. I would like to think that a game on the default difficulty would give me enough of a challenge, but not too much to enjoy the game.

I normally pick the difficulty according to what type of game I'm playing. If it's a strategy-based game, I prefer a challenge. If it's a button masher like Ninja Gaiden or DMC, I'll start it on Normal.

Always normal. I will quit a game before I kick it down to easy. Hard mode? I think I don't trust it. Like I feel like they break the game mechanics to make it harder and theres a better chance I'll get screwed by some imbalance or oversight. I feel like Normal was the way the game was intended to be experienced, if its a tad too easy or a tad too hard for me, so be it.

Normal. If I play on easy, I don't feel like I've really completed it but I might not want to go through it again right then, which is a conundrum I don't want to be in lol. And I'm afraid I'll get stuck or really frustrated on hard, so I don't want to start there. If I really like a game, though, I'll probably go back through on hard.

Normal. Though lately, I start a lot of shooters on Hard. This is most especially true if it's a sequel to game I've played. I think they are making some of these so easy you don't even have to pay attention to plow through a level!

Normal. I feel like Normal is the way the game is intended to be played, and harder difficulties are when you want an additional challenge beyond the standard.