Once a character is started in hardcoe mode, how can I verify that the hardcoe setting has never been deactivated and that I am still in good standing for the "special reward"?

I noticed that I can toggle between difficulties (like Easy, Very Easy) while leaving the hardcoe mode set to On. Does this affect eligibility for the reward?

Is it true that after you deactivate hardcoe mode you can not turn it back on for that character? I could probably answer this question for myself with a little trial and error, but my character would basically lose its hardcoe prestige permanently.

It would be nice if there were some distinction in the settings menu that definitively says hardcoe mode has never been interrupted.

If u haven't touched ur hardcoe setting u should be good. Honestly I would t mess with difficulty once started anyways.

You can verify it by never turning off hardcoe mode. Beyond that it's trust.

No.

No, that's not true.

Speaking as someone without the game, I can only give provisional answers:
You would be able to remember if you kept hardcoe on or off.
It shouldn't, it states that you simply need to complete the story with HC mode turned on.
Not sure about the third, but that's what I heard.
There doesn't need to be, you should remember if hardcoe is on or off.

That's what I'm worried about...I hate to just trust that I'm in good standing. I went into Settings but didn't change anything, yet it still did the little "Saving" popup when I exited out. It still says hardcoe On and I've never turned it off. If I thought my hardcoe status was ruined, I would start the game over again.

Do you get a warning if you attempt to disable hardcoe mode?

*puts two fingers to forehead*

My psychic powers are telling me that you turned hardcoe mode off. But then you reloaded a save prior to turning it off. This is the source of your uncertainty.

I did not do that (yet). Can you do that and get away with it?

See what I mean...hardcoe mode needs a status message somewhere rather than playing the whole game through and just hoping you didn't foul up the setting.

Pretty sure once you turn HC mode off, you cannot turn it back on. I think it even mentions that in the pop-up box you get when it first asks you to turn it on/off.

According to the dialogue early in a new game, it can be turned off and on at any time:

Yeah, there was confusion because the wiki claimed you couldn't turn it back on once turned off, but I think the general concensus is that's incorrect.