@analgrin: Thanks for the comment, but that doesn't work for me. It's not a matter of "getting the hang of the combat." I might be able to block - badly - if blocking is set to the right mouse button. But I can't push multiple keys while also moving around.

In other games, I can get by, because I can set the difficulty to "Easy." This is particularly the case when I've got followers who can do the real damage while I mostly just distract the enemy (Mount&Blade, Mass Effect, etc.). Or if sneaking and shooting from ambush is, quite frankly, overpowered.

In those games, I don't have to be a skilled keyboard warrior in order to enjoy the game. And I just don't like having my saves restricted, for no other reason than that someone else thinks I should like it. Hell with that! We're all different.

There is a mod to fix that, so it's not such a big deal - not like the lack of difficulty settings. But I don't like that philosophy of game development. It just pisses me off. Why does someone else think they can tell me how I have to play a game? I want options! And I was finding that, instead of enjoying the game, I was having to force myself to start playing it again.

When it comes to the Elder Scrolls games, I loved Arena. It was a 'real-time' game that even I could play. And Daggerfall, despite its faults, just blew me away. I didn't get very far with the main quest, because I was so bad at the combat, but that didn't matter, because there was so much else I could do.

I was disappointed in Morrowind only because I'd hoped that they'd continue experimenting with procedurally-generated content. I still loved the game. Indeed, if might be my favorite of the series (despite the leveling system). And I've played, and enjoyed, both Oblivion and Skyrim, though the latter was certainly simplified far more than I would have liked. IMHO, this series has gone in the wrong direction since Daggerfall.

I don't want the next Elder Scrolls game to be something I can't play at all. At the same time, I wish they'd go back to the earlier games again. Pretty graphics and expensive voice-acting are fine, but they tend to make the gameplay worse, because it's too expensive to do that when there are more options for the player.

In Skyrim, you can cast a fireball in a stable full of straw, and nothing burns. That's probably a direct result of the fancy graphics, don't you think? You can't have destructible terrain, because it's too expensive. And I miss all the great spells of the earlier games, not to mention how, in Daggerfall, the cities were integrated with the rest of the world, so you could figure out a way inside even when the gates were closed (real cities, too - not the dinky little things required when every NPC is voice-acted).

I'd hoped that KC:D would move in a better direction. Instead, it made things far, far worse - from my point of view, at least. Games are subjective. Our opinions are always going to vary. That means we should have more options, so that each person can set the game more to his or her liking.

But again, KC:D did just the reverse of that. Too disappointing!

@stuff238: I don't mind so much about survival stuff, but without an "Easy" difficulty setting, I can't play KC:D at all. And the lack of saves is just stupid, given that it's not optional.

I don't want even game developers forcing me to play games their way. We're all different, after all. I uninstalled the game when I realize I had to force myself to play it. It wasn't fun for me, so why not play a game that is fun, instead? (I've got 675 hours in Kenshi, and it's still great fun.)

And as I say, I'll never manage the combat, anyway. I didn't grow up with video games, so I need difficulty settings! In that respect, it wouldn't matter for me if the game was fun, anyway. I still wouldn't be able to play it.

To each his own. I don't care in the slightest about 'realism.' No game is realistic. I care about fun. And for me, all of the Elder Scrolls games were fun (though I much preferred the earlier games to the later ones).

I can't play KC:D at all, given the elaborate combat and the lack of difficulty settings. (Heck, I even play the Elder Scrolls games on "Easy.") And the save restrictions are just stupid, as long as they're not optional. (I don't care how you play a game, so why force that kind of thing on me?)

I supported KC:D on Kickstarter, but I soon discovered I had to force myself to play it. What's the point, when I could be playing games I enjoy, instead?

Admittedly, I'm lots older than most gamers. I've been playing PC games for thirty years, but I didn't grow up with this stuff, and I'm always going to be terrible at 'real-time' combat. But I can play - and enjoy - most games. Without difficulty settings, I can't play this one. And no one is paying me to be miserable playing games. :)