Easiest difficulty. Life is hard enough, why should my games frustrate me?

Hardest difficulty. After I'm done, I usually play again on easy just for fun. But I like a good challenge, it's a huge part of the fun for me.

Usually I start with the hardest one. ^^

Hard, and thats usually the toughest difficulty thats option when you start a game.

all these people playing on normal, such a bunch of pussies!!!

Same here, I pick the easiest setting available.

I play games to relax and unwind, so I prefer them not to be stressful or demanding. I also love feeling like an unstoppable badass.

The difficulty the developers decided to put as default.

I'll play the game as it is intended.

Normal. If I like the game, my second playthrough will be on hard. I don't usually go on very hard or higher difficulties.

Although 'Normal' is often too easy, I find 'Hard' or harder difficulties are often just stupidly designed (usually just 'add more enemies' or 'all enemies are bullet sponges') or worse, immersion wrecking. For example, TLoU had an interesting Hard difficulty, with an intense deficit in bullets, really driving home the survival aspect. Unfortunately everyone else in the game has unlimited ammo and acts accordingly, absolutely destroying the illusion for me. Trying to think of other examples...I know there have been games where minions get beefed up on harder difficulties so much that story-wise they should be far more effective than portrayed.

Expert on guitar and drums.

Or if it's not that game, I'll proactively seek out the hardest difficulty available. The challenge makes the value of a given game go up for me. The division has been much more fun this way

I tend to play in Hard the very first time.