[quote=Roshirai]
I had forgotten all about that! I, too, just play the default "hardcore" mode.
I think that’s a pretty good argument for the game to default to manual + autosaves instead. :)
edited by Roshirai on 3/29/2015[/quote]
No, I think the default comes down to a preference on the developers’ side for how they envision the game is meant to be played. There is a subtle, but important, distinction between "This game has an iron man mode" and "this game has an easier mode."
I think it is a good example that people will generally attempt to play a game in the default mode before customizing.
With that being said, it perhaps could have been better implemented with an initial choice at the beginning, like many games do with the difficulty setting, but, in my opinion, it’s a minor "nice to have" and I’m glad the focus was placed elsewhere.