can i just ask you this?  you're an xbox gamer right?  can i assume you didn't play demon's souls?

..the phalanx at the end of 1-1 in demon's souls was an easier boss than the taurus demons imo.  the fundations were layed for you with the asylum demon where you pretty much had to dive bomb the guy but if you didn't notice the ladder right behind you the taurus demon would be pretty hard to fight hand-to-hand.

if you hadn't been though the training that was demon's souls before dark souls i can see you having issues.  that first boss should have been more introductory like in demon's souls to help you understand how the souls franchise works.  if you had made it past there i think you would have a different opinion on dark souls.

I totally agree with yo-john.
I want fun and/or distraction from unpleasant situation in my life for my games and that's why I usually play them on normal difficulty.
I certainly don't want to get angry or frustrated due to gaming. That's not what hobbies are for.

If I know that a certain game is not as well received (Darkest of Days) or will piss me off with superhuman AI (Sniper Ghost Warrior), too many enemies (Earth Defense Force) or other reasons I won't waste my time with countless of retries and just quickly play through it on easy.
I only want games that I really like to be challenging and that's when I additionally play on one of the harder if not on the hardest mode (CoD, Halo, Alan Wake, FIFA, Crysis, Gears of War etc.).

I usually have several games started within the same period and if the game doesn't make me play further on its own, I'm going to play something else and when I come back to it one day, I'd need to put effort into learning the controls again, which probably leads to even more failing.

Yeah Dark Souls did not have the most easy to understand start for a noob(Dark souls was the first I played as well) I didn't have a huge problem with it but I can see how some people would.

It seems that DS2 will improve on that tho...according to dev comments.

People have different definitions of fun.  I for one, have difficulty enjoying a game when I'm constantly being spoon-fed like a child and not given a chance to figure things out on my own.

...

No it isn't. It really is pure selfishness to say something that won't effect you will "ruin" your gaming experience just because you have some arbitrary, pre-conceived notion that only people like you are allowed to enjoy the game. 

@Kitler: I saw the ladder, went up the ladder. He proceded to jump up and instantly kill me. Again. That was the breaking point for me.

Ya to the guys wanting an easier sequel, I'm very sure you're out of luck. If FROM did that then they would lose A LOT of fans, the difficulty is what makes the games amazing as when you triumph over great quandaries you feel like a total boss and that is why the games are enjoyable, yet very difficult at the same time.

The difficulty is what makes the Souls series what they are, that and the unique online.

That's the thing though. They wouldn't lose a single fan (sans the insecure one's that for some reason think only a certain type of person is allowed to enjoy the game) because nothing would actually change for those fans. They would still have the difficulty and same puzzle aspect as before. The only real difference is that more people could enjoy the game.

Only people that are presistant and aware are allowed to enjoy Dark Souls. Thats a fact. Its not a game to relax and thats not why this game was made and the creators and directors would never change that to Dark Souls. Beside for the difficulty and overcoming the impossible there isn't much else to enjoy.   

Its like me asking the flower makers to make flower 2  with a hardcore mode similar to Dark Souls atmosphere so that I can enjoy it. 

Then why don't you want that other people like me can have fun with a game like Dark Souls ?

I don't think there is anyone on this forum who would deny someone an optional harder mode (like Ranger mode in Metro, 1999 mode in Bioshock Infinite or Hardcore mode in Fallout New Vegas) for any of the mainstream games.

Wouldn't you like that the casualized games get more hardcore with proper difficulty modes that do more than just change the player's health etc. ?

From Software knows where their fanbase is. They will make sure that upcoming games are still challenging. But an easier mode could broaden the audience by several hundred thousands. That would lead to more money and possibly more budget for the next games, which is good for everyone.

What a load of bollocks. Get off your high horse.

Anyways I'm done debating with you. It's obvious you're one of those "hardcore" gamers that can't accept more people enjoying the same games that you do. This is actually like gaming racism/segregation lol.

Just madness.