1. Drop in drop out co-op. A four person party consisting of three human players plus the host players pawn might work. 

2. Keep the early game difficulty the same but add more challenging higher level enemies. (NOT level scaling)

None of the things you mentionded bother me at all. Its the easy mode that Capcom added after the fact that really pisses me off. 

@TruthSerum808 Sounds like you're mad because you can't socialize with other gamers about how hard this game is anymore.actiongamer1985

You say that like its a bad thing. Nowadays just about every game on the planet has some social aspect to it, especially Dragon's Dogma with its pawn system. But the truth is the game isn't even that hard once you figure out where to go.

Its really the "switch at any time" aspect of the easy mode that really bugs me. It should have been separate from normal mode. Having it switch at any time makes it A PART of normal mode. Making it switch at any time takes away consequences and replaces them with choices. I don't know if you can get your head around that but those are two totally different things. 

I remember going to rescue Quina in the Whitchwood and having to sneak through the countryside with my party avoiding bandits that were nearby over the ridge and being totally on edge because my party's health was running low and there was no Inn in sight. It was glorious. That experience would have been TOTALLY different with a "swtch at any time" easey mode. Get it?

I'm not sure if this is the best analogy but think of it like the movie The Matrix. We knew nothing in that world was real bet it FELT real and dangerous because the CONCEQUENCES were real. If you died in the Matrix you died for real. 

Now on the other hand take a move like Sucker Punch. It had FANTASTIC visuals,  great fight scenes  and cool looking monsters. But Sucker Punch was as boring as can be because we knew it was all a dream with no concequences and no real danger. 

Now after the easy mode patch in Dragon's Dogma you can win at any time if you choose to but you can pretend that the easy mode is not there. With easy mode you can choose to cut and run if you are out matched when before the patch you HAD TO run if you were outmatched or you were gonna die. 

Capcom just took The Matrix and turned it into Sucker Punch simply to cater to casuals. 

It is forced on you because its there whether you want it or not. Its a safetey net.  Dragon's Dogma was my GOTY before Capcom added a switch at any time easy mode because it forced you do figure out a way of getting things done in the game instead of just handing it to you.  My second favorite game of the year was Trials Evolution.

Now I don't want to get too deep and philosophical on you guys but I hope you can understand how different a game like Trials would be if you could just skip a jump at any time if you found it too hard instead of taking the time to actually learn how to do it. 

Another thing that I don't want to get too deep on you is the concept of a "metagame". Before Capcom changed the game everyone in the world was on the same page when playing Dragon's Dogma. Someone like myself would go online and talk about how they were getting roasted by bandits on the top of the hill or whatever and people would get thier heads together and talk them through it because there was no other way. Now after the patch whats the point? People will just swich to easy mode when the game prompts you. How can you not understand that the game is now fundamentally different than it was a month ago?

Besides, Dragon's Dogma gave you every opportunity to run away, go around or avoid a fight that is too tough for your characters level to handle. Now you don't need to assess the situation and do any of that. You can just switch to easy mode. 

People are so used to  dumbed down, no skill, glorified tourist simulator games like Skyrim these days so much its sickening. 

You are simply going to the wrong areas before you are ready. A lot of people uncluding myself make the mistake of making a left turn and going up the hill that is just past the encampment resulting in a rather quick demise by the bandits that live over there. 

Instead you need to accept the escort mission from the woman in charege at the encampment and head  all the way to the capital city of Gran Soren. Once you are there you can to do some low risk hunting in the surrounding areas to level up.  You can also draft some stronger pawns and buy some better gear to help you bring the smack down on those bandits over the hill and monsters in the well that you encountered earlier. 

I have heard that the new easy mode that Capcom is patcing into the game WILL NOT be a separate game file. You will be allowed to switch  to easy mode at any time during the game. You can forget about that cool sense of danger and suspense that you had before because from now on if you are getting spanked you can simply switch to easy mode and instakill any monster you want. ....You can also look forward to your main pawn coming back with an insanely imbalanced amount of Rift Crystals due to spammers flying through the game on easy mode. 

It was a fun couple of months buy you had to go and ruin it THANKS CAPCOM....If you are like me and want your displeasure to be heard go here and let them know that they are about to run one of the best games of the year right into the ground http://www.capcom-unity.com/brelston/blog/2012/08/02/easy_mode,_new_demo_coming_for_dragons_dogma