The 'C' Word

Esorlleh

We continuously see people trying to defend their MMOs from being called 'casual' as if the word is greatly offending in some way.

Stop taking offense to the word 'casual' people!

Being a 'hardcore' gamer doesn't make you cool and it doesn't win you any prizes. If anything, it often means that your real-life is suffering as a result of your priority choices. We need to realize that 'hardcore' and 'casual' are just different types of gamers, the difference being TIME and MONEY. These words do not set up some sort of ranking system for gamers.

I'll take WoW and Lineage2 as examples because I feel that these two games are on the extremes of casual/hardcore-ness, and also because I've played both extensively so I know what both games are like.

Lineage2 is built for hardcore players.
Does that mean it's a better game?
NO. Of course not.
Lineage2 is in fact a terrible game for casual and midcore players. The scale of success is built for those that put a lot of time into their gaming and that is why it is and will always be a niche game for a niche market.

By the same logic, WoW would be the less favourable choice for hardcore players. They will max out the levels in less than a month and have nothing but instance farming to look forward to. Case in point: my friend from LineageII recently quit and started WoW exactly 23 days ago. He is already level 56.
Of course, this is not to say that hardcore gamers don't play the game, but the core of the game is built around players that don't devote majority of their time to gaming.

I repeat,
HARDCORE does not mean COOL
CASUAL does not mean NOOB

I played Lineage2 exclusively for a little over half a year. It was crazy addicting and the game demanded a lot out of me. I became what ppl call a hardcore gamer, and my college marks suffered as a result.
(I'm not saying that ALL hardcore gamers suffer IRL.. perhaps you're lucky enough to have a decent paying job that doesn't require a lot of time, leaving you lots of time for gaming. I know plenty of people that are able to balance their lives this way and remain 'hardcore'.)

This year I renewed my WoW account and I only play when I really have time to play. My L2 account is still active but I only get on once in a while to help my old clanmates with raids.

Yes I've become a CASUAL.
It doesn't define me in terms of gaming experience as a whole,
but it defines me at this point in my life.
Does it make me a lesser person? I should hope not! ^_^

 

sidebuster

     I think most people know that casualy doesn't mean noob. There are people that think it means carebear/weak/ect. maybe noob too. Good post though for those people who are not sure what to call themselves or everybody else.

Gamewize

I completely agree with you. Hard-core doesn't make you elite, casual does not make you a noob.

Casual: People who play only about 2-4 hours a day for some good entertainment

Mid-core: People who play for 4-6 hours a day for entertainment and sometimes rank

Hard-core: People who play for 6+ hours a day mostly for either great items or rank.

I have no problems with hard-core members, sometimes I even have those long-hour MMO jams, and I have fun doing it too.

Elnator

Hard core players are simply people with a LOT of free time on their hands. Some, as noted by the OP, have that time because of screwed up priorities but others are just college kids or single folks who just happen to have lots of free time due to fewer commitments to their time.

The *vast* majority of the gaming community (as has been proven time and again, and most recently by WoW), however, is made up of players who have limited free time but still love to hop onto a game and play for an hour or two every now and then.

Most truely 'best selling' games, be they RPG or MMO or FPS or what have you, cater to the casual player. Single player games because they allow you to save your position and come back later and don't force you to have to "get to a safe spot" to log out.

RPG's that are typically considered 'casual friendly' are geared to allow people to get a sense of accomplishment even if only playing in very short time slices. WoW's quests and level system are designed to allow a player to make progress and complete goals in very short periods of time.

These are GOOD things for any game. Because the "Casual Gamer" community is about 100x larger than the "Hard core" gamer community.

SunHater

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Originally posted by sidebuster
I think most people know that casualy doesn't mean noob. There are people that think it means carebear/weak/ect. maybe noob too. Good post though for those people who are not sure what to call themselves or everybody else.

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good definition. hardcore players maybe described as more "addicted players", or player with a LOT i mean LOTS of free time(with school and all, someone that plays more than 6 hrs a day, really might have a serious problem), as it has been said already, as opposed to a casual player, who only plays whe he/she has the time.

Finduilas

In the Real World the word hardcore means something entirely different, and the label garners a certain amount of respect. Likewise the word power, when attached to your title, such as power seller.

Spending 6-10 hours per day in a virtual world playing a fantasy character fighting imaginary monsters is not something likely to gain the repsect of your peers. Imagine a young student in a bar tyring to impress a pretty young girl he's just met. She says, "so what do you like to do for fun?" Admitting that you spend  6 hours playing an elf ranger in a fantasy world, slaying orcs and dragons, is not likely to get you too far.

Only other players that spend 6 hours or more might consider it cool, and they know it. So calling themselves hardcore or powergamers make them FEEL cool, and as long as they ONLY speak about their game time to other gamers, they can maintain the illusion.

For the most part I have no problem with "hardcore" gamers, since eventually, through the circumstances of life, MOST of them will become casual.

The issue I do have is when they listen their own publicity to the point of actually BELIEVING they are cool, and thinking everyone else is a loser. When they start to think they are superior to casual gamers, better at the game, more dedicated and so on. Comments like: "mmorpgs are not for casual gamers", "go play morrowind if you want to solo," "casual gamers want the best gear but don't want to WORK for it", "casual gamers are lazy and want their hand held everywhere they go", "stop whining carebears!".

I suspect that the number of "hardcore" players will always be finite, but the number of casuals will continue to grow.

 

Rha-EL

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Originally posted by Finduilas

In the Real World the word hardcore means something entirely different, and the label garners a certain amount of respect. Likewise the word power, when attached to your title, such as power seller.
Spending 6-10 hours per day in a virtual world playing a fantasy character fighting imaginary monsters is not something likely to gain the repsect of your peers. Imagine a young student in a bar tyring to impress a pretty young girl he's just met. She says, "so what do you like to do for fun?" Admitting that you spend  6 hours playing an elf ranger in a fantasy world, slaying orcs and dragons, is not likely to get you too far.
Only other players that spend 6 hours or more might consider it cool, and they know it. So calling themselves hardcore or powergamers make them FEEL cool, and as long as they ONLY speak about their game time to other gamers, they can maintain the illusion.
For the most part I have no problem with "hardcore" gamers, since eventually, through the circumstances of life, MOST of them will become casual.
The issue I do have is when they listen their own publicity to the point of actually BELIEVING they are cool, and thinking everyone else is a loser. When they start to think they are superior to casual gamers, better at the game, more dedicated and so on. Comments like: "mmorpgs are not for casual gamers", "go play morrowind if you want to solo," "casual gamers want the best gear but don't want to WORK for it", "casual gamers are lazy and want their hand held everywhere they go", "stop whining carebears!".
I suspect that the number of "hardcore" players will always be finite, but the number of casuals will continue to grow.
 

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"Hardcore" is usually in reference to someone who has prior experience in playing MMORPGs.  Also it is in reference to people who are looking for a CHALLENGING alternative to kiddie games out there like WoW.  People play MMORPGs for the interaction and the community.  They usually play for extended periods of time...which is what MMORPGs are supposed to built for..to last.

Therefore, "hardcore" DOES engender a feeling of accomplishment and experience in the world of gaming and I believe that is what it eludes to when people use it that way.

Rha

Finduilas

That's partly true. However.

Go read the the WoW forums. Casual gamers dare to ask for level 60 small group and solo content and ALL the self styled hardcore gamers start the flame fest. Those gamers THINK they are hardcore because they raid 6 hours a night.

Go to the Vanguard forums. Many players there want no hand holding, very harsh death penatlies, more difficulty. These same people think the so-called WoW hardcore players to be carebears. There are players that will play two hours a night but WANT the game to be difficult. These ARE hardcore.

Your above defination, about having experience, implies a player is a veteran, not necessarily hardcore.

However. Even IF a player does like difficult content, challenges to overcome, how many non game players would think that something worthy or merit? Believe me, I work with ALL kinds of people from many different backgrounds, non of them players of mmos, who would ALL laugh if I discribed myself as a HARDCORE gamer. The definition is ONLY cool to other gamers, usually other self-styled hardcores.