Casual versus Hardcore

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Pawtato, Aug 13, 2020.

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  1. Pawtato Augur

    How many hours a week defines a casual? I set the line at 4 hours a week. Two gaming sessions of two hours for a single game is pretty reasonable, but 2 hours for 3 three times a week seems pretty hardcore. Even, if we’re talking 1 hour for more than 4 days a week is pretty crazy for a single game.

    I’m in the “hardcore” side of things just another round of spawns or another 50 AA and I’ll log...
  2. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    Defining "casual" and "hardcore" reminds me of the old story of the judge (Supreme Court?) asked about how to define "pornography". He said, he couldn't define it, but he knows it when he sees it.

    After the 500th iteration of this discussion over the years, I've come to agree with the old judge, on this particular issue.

    But, to respond directly, I'll disagree, and say that "hours/week" has nothing to do with the HC vs C debate. It's more about what you're doing in the game, how you approach it, how much of a completionist you are, how you approach min/max, etc. It's quite a bit more nuanced, but leaves room for people to be both hardcore and casual at the same time, regarding different aspects of the game.

    Though I will say, if you play a LOT, it's a lot more likely you're hardcore (otherwise, what the heck ARE you doing for all of those hours? ;) ). But for folks who play less, it really could go either way.

    HC vs C is how you approach the game. "hours/week" is just how much free time you have in your life!
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  3. Xerzist Augur


    I mean, if you want to "play the game" 4 hours a week, that is beyond casual. You could maybe do a little bit of content, nothing extraordinary. I mean that is quite the crawl.

    It takes 3-4 hours a night to go through raids alone, twice a week for me. So if you want to raid, maybe this will help. I don't consider myself a hardcore player by raiding twice a week by any means. If I just did raids, that's maybe 8 hours a week tops, but at 115, unless gearing a box army, it's all you need to remain current and BiS until the next expansion.

    So my recommendation, play casual to 115, then raid casual.
  4. Pawtato Augur


    You're making the argument an addict would make that it's not really that much/bad or it's not X. If you told someone that you played EQ 1 hour a day for 5 days out of the week, what would their response be?

    They're not going to ask you well how do you approach the game. The response is going to be dang you're really dedicated to that game huh?

    Also, there's no negative connotation behind being hardcore as long as its not an addiction or negligence to real life responsibilities.
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  5. Pawtato Augur


    The average gamer plays 7 hours and 7 minutes per week according to research from 2019. If you're pumping in more than 4 hours a week to a single game, then that's a hardcore player. DPG is going to look at you as a dedicated player from a financial standpoint.




    Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevina...ime-we-spend-gaming-infographic/#3540f0603e07
  6. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    I'm doing no such thing.

    You're proposing that there's some magic number of hours per week, and one side of the line is casual, the other hard core.

    I disagree. To me, they way you approach the game defines the difference.

    What we're really having here is not a disagreement about where along the X axis defines the boundary. We're debating where in 3 dimensional space we should even be looking for the spot which defines the difference ;)

    Oh, and would the people asking me about 1 hr x 5 per week, consider themselves "hardcore" TV watchers, because they watch 2 hrs x 7 per week? We all have free time, we all fill it with something.
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  7. Nennius Curmudgeon




    Well said. By Pawtato's definition a player who logs on for 1 hour a day for four days a week is "hardcore". I doubt you will get much agreement on that around here. To me, playing only four hours a week is to be almost nonexistent in the game. We all have our opinions about this.

    To me, "hardcore" in most anything in life is a LOT more than four hours a week.
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  8. Xerzist Augur

    Bro, you asked us what defines a casual gamer. Now you telling me what I am :p
  9. CatsPaws No response to your post cause your on ignore

    Well, its nice to know DPG considers all my F2P accounts as "dedicated", from a financial standpoint. o_O

    I consider them "dedicated from a financial standpoint" also since I break down the hours I play per month on the paying accounts and divide that by what I pay and it works out to the cheapest form of entertainment around.

    So when do we cross the line from casual to hard core to addicted?

    Hello my name is Catspaws and I play over 40 hours a week. :(
  10. Pawtato Augur

    It's just so fascinating watching people who clearly aren't casual then define themselves as a casual. What you do in the game is irrelevant to being casual or hardcore, it all comes down to time spent.
  11. Nennius Curmudgeon

    For me, when I ignore needed things (friends/family/house) I am addicted. My three year-old boys and the threat of poverty keep me focused on things other than games quite nicely. :)
  12. Kase Augur

    Your entitled to your opinion
  13. Nennius Curmudgeon

    In your opinion.
    Kase likes this.
  14. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    LOL, was gonna respond to Pawtato's last comment, but would just be repeating Kase and Nennius.

    And, to top it off... "It's just so fascinating watching people who clearly aren't casual then define themselves as a casual."

    Now you're just making $h!t up. Nobody has done any such thing.
  15. Cicelee Augur

    ROI raids Sunday night for three hours, and then probably the majority of their players (who are already max TS raid gear and everything else) probably takes off the rest of the week.

    In the eyes of the OP, ROI is casual.

    El. Oh. El.
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  16. Cicelee Augur

    To answer the question for the 500th time in my 20 plus year EQ career...

    Play time has nothing to do with HC vs C. It is what you do in game that defines whether you are HC or C.

    I know people who log in and socialize in guild, FS and general chat on a Saturday for five hours. There is literally nothing HC about that. Whereas like I stated in my earlier post, guilds such as ROI who get all nine raids done in 3 hours with precision and efficiency... and who consume current expansion content within weeks and have checkmarks on every achievement possible for the expansion before many even hit max level, those are HC.

    It is quality of hours played, not quantity of hours played...
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  17. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    I think everyone defines the Hard-core & Casual terms slightly differently.

    I have known some seriously hardcore folks who only played twice a week, they just got a huge amount done in a short time as they were some combination of highly organised, highly goal oriented & very skilled at what they did.

    Having a lot of time on your hands to play doesn't automatically make you fit into a hardcore bracket in my view, some can play all day they are still under the average for skill & spend more time chatting than getting stuff done.

    Personally I think anyone still playing EverQuest after 20 years is pretty hardcore so the terms have even shifted in meaning & emphasis over the game's lifetime, all the real casuals left the game years ago.

    I think a lot of us move from one state to the other though, some days you want to get a lot of stuff done but on other days you might want to chill out, so mood & "energy levels" plays a part too.
    Being a sufferer of Cyclothymia / Bipolar Disorder my condition gives me "moods" that can last weeks or months, so I tend to have Phases of being in very low-motivation or high-motivation states so personally I am hardcore as all get out in some expansions & a veritable slacker in others.
  18. Mehdisin Mahn Augur

    if you told someone you played EQ ... period... they would think you were a hardcore gamer nerd... but if you told someone you played the latest call of duty or madden for an hour a day they wouldn't bat an eye. for most people it's not THAT you play a game for a long time every week it's what game it is.

    if the average gamer plays 7 hours a week (per the post above) and you're wanting to use time investment to say someone's HC or not... then anything steady above that would be "hardcore" if you will and anything steady below that would be "casual".
    Skuz likes this.
  19. Aldryn Another New Member

    Me. I'm a casual. I'm the definition.

    [IMG]
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  20. Tolzol Augur

    ^^^^^^ can’t even get this guy to sub for an expansion launch tbh
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