There was a newbie Shaman growing up in Halas. She was a true newbie in every sense of the word... kindly friends in game had to teach her all the basics like /assist and even that slow was good (since after trying it at level 5 and not noticing a difference she didn't use it again for much too long a time). This newbie was on one of the servers with a lot of server-wide first guilds. Big names that 'everyone' had heard of... except the newbie. She happily killed her polar bears graduating to mammoth calves and eventually mammoths and didn't even know those big guilds existed. They played their game and enjoyed it and she played hers and rarely did they ever cross paths. To make a long story short(er) she eventually grew up and raided and started reading websites and learned all about the game (and became a cleric but that's another story) becoming much more jaded and cynical as she gained knowledge. But the point / moral is that casuals and hardcore can coexist peacefully... I'm really sad (and tired of reading) about the posts about how the racers/hardcore/whatever are going to ruin the game for the casuals. Just play your game how you want to play your game and let other people play their game... and just like 16 years ago we'll all be just fine...
I switch back and forth based on my mood on any given day. Sometimes it's just fun to start new characters, other times raid. Vulak gave me a nice combination of that, and I expect Ragefire will be similar. Frankly, they could have used any of the sets of server rules in any combination, and I would still be ready to start up next week. It is what it is, I just plan to enjoy it.
Yea, I am a casual player until my wife divorces me because I am playing way to much casually, than I will have all the time in the world for my favorite two things....Vodka and EQ ...and be a typical bitter hardcore raider... (joking....I really dont drink anymore). I am a casual player....I will go with that story for now...
If the world were just casuals and hardcore raiders, it would be peace and harmony. The problem is you have some semi hard core players that will be max level in a month or two and will want raid targets(and even more in the months after that since Kunark doesn't open for 6 whole months). Since their guilds will have casual players in it, they will never be able to win a race, and then the socking begins......making everyone unhappy. So you either have to convince the semi hard core people to wait till Kunark to get raid targets in old world, OR you have to convince hard core raiders to share what they feel entitled too(and rightfully so since they are willing to put forth the effort). Either one is highly unlikely, so start saving your hot pockets coupons, and make sure to pick up the three liter bottle of Mt. Dew. Me personally, I am either going full on hard core and taking 2 or 3 months off every xpac, or lollygagging around until after PoP, because I want no part of the Shstorm that is going to happen around August.
