125001-what-do-the-words-casual-and-hardcore-mean-in-wildstar

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Something that keeps coming up in these forums is the extent to which Wildstar is "casual"-friendly or "hardcore"-friendly. These terms drive how we think about the game and how the developers design content intended to appeal to one group or the other--and so what we mean by them really matters a lot. I think it's worth spending a little time asking what we really mean when we toss these terms out.
 
I think most people would agree that in practical usage of these terms, we mean to define two extreme ends of a spectrum--someone who is completely casual cannot also be completely hardcore, and vice versa. But exactly which spectrum we're talking about seems to vary quite a lot from one person to another.
 
Based on general usage of the terms, we can see several different elements that seem to be involved. The terms seem to differentiate based at least in part on:
The amount of time spent playing the game. If you play only a few hours a week, you're an extreme casual. If you play almost every waking moment, you're an extreme hardcore.
The skill of the player. If you button-mash and wipe repeatedly in the tutorial, you're an extreme casual. If you sail around telegraphs with the grace of a ballerina while throwing down nuclear death upon foes who do one-shot damage and outnumber you 100-to-1, you're an extreme hardcore.
The number of people in the player's group. A solo instance is casual. A raid instance is hardcore.
The type of content being played. Someone who spends a lot of time in combat is hardcore. Someone who spends a lot of time wandering around hidden spots on the map or building up a housing plot is casual.
Of course, these different elements of the term aren't mutually exclusive, and most people seem to have a general impression of a casual as someone who doesn't play much, isn't very good, tends to play alone, and spends all their time on housing while a hardcore player plays a lot, is highly skilled, plays in large dedicated groups, and Kills All The Things. The trouble with this is that then we're left with no vocabulary to even talk about most of the people playing the game.
 
Is someone who spends a lot of time playing the game but spends most of it working on housing or finding hidden spots on the map and isn't very good at combat mechanics, are they more casual or more hardcore? Which parts of the game are supposed to appeal to them?
If someone is quite skilled, but doesn't play much but likes to play solo- or small group- content, are they more casual or more hardcore? Which parts of the game are supposed to appeal to them?
If someone plays a lot and likes to play large group-content but is not skilled, are they more casual or more hardcore? Which parts of the game are supposed to appeal to them?
 
It seems to me that these problems become much easier to solve if we stop trying to define a casual or hardcore player by how they play and instead use it to describe why they play.
 
To me, the thing that really seems to separate these player groups in practice is what aspect of the gameplay the player finds most fun.
 
By that definition, a casual player has fun primarily by using the content to have new experiences. A hardcore player has fun primarily by using the content to drive personal improvement. What matters is not the amount of time they have, it's not the number of players they play with, it's not how much innate skill they have or the type of content they spend their time on. It's about what their goal in playing is. A casual player wants to see what the game has to offer, win or lose. A hardcore player wants to be at their best, whether it's at every aspect of the game or just one.
 
One implication of this definition is that it's a fool's errand to try to make a casual player into a hardcore one, or a hardcore player into a casual one. They're distinct subjective priorities, one does not lead into the other with increased skill/time/experience.
Another implication of this definition is that it's also foolish to wall off entire types of content as exclusively for casuals or exclusively for hardcores. A player can be casual about raiding if they just want to see it. A player can be hardcore about housing if they want to make the best house in existence.
 
That's my take on it! I'd love to hear everyone else's views, and I think it might be informative for the developers to see!
 
What's your picture of a casual player and a hardcore player? What traits separate them?	
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Wonderful write-up, Yasfan.  I guess you and I CAN agree on some things.
 
-- This space reserved for when I can properly formulate an answer to the end-of-post question without sounding like a moron; it's been a fun day--	
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Wonderful write-up, Yasfan.  I guess you and I CAN agree on some things.
 
-- This space reserved for when I can properly formulate an answer to the end-of-post question without sounding like a moron; it's been a fun day--
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			Not enough drama in this thread... I'll come back later.	
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			Neither word means anything, except in context. Trying to say that "casual" means this for Wildstar or "hardcore" means that for wildstar isn't productive because they're labels that transcend wildstar to the gaming community at large. Instead of trying to define casual and hardcore as words in themselves for the situation, its better to pay attention to context in which they're used, or if possible avoid the use altogether because they're by nature somewhat ambiguous. Where more precise language will do use it. 	
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This is a pretty well formulated question.  I'm inclined to say that attitude would be the driving factor if we are to categorize people as "hardcore" or "casual".  The drive to be the best vs. the desire to simply experience regardless of the outcome. 
 
I think "hardcore" may also encompass a more "purist" attitude - "This is what it is and should never be changed or altered, take it as is no matter how grueling things may be in their current incarnation because the ends justify the means".
 
While "casual" tends to be exhibited by a desire to see "accessibility" - "I'm paying to be entertained, so entertain me, and here's how".
 
The biggest divide I recently saw was the discussion-turned-argument about whether LFR should be added and whether "accessible" was actually synonymous with "easy", whether adding a new mode would compromise the integrity of the current system, and the conflicting desire to both engage more players in the current system while still excluding those who are "not willing to 'work' for what they want" and "only want 'instant gratification' ".
 
That is to say, "casual players" tend to point out what they see as "flaws of the game", while "hardcore players" tend to point out what they see as "flaws of other players".	
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I think attitude towards the game has a lot to do with it. Hardcore players view it more as a serious hobby, they min max and push their characters and themselves to be the best they can be
Casual players use whatever build they like to have fun with, don't worry about min maxing and just want to play here and there without the pressure of performing optimally 
 
More often though I think the two terms actually have very little meaning, they are used to insult 1. players you feel are unskilled or 2. players viewed as "elitist" or 3. anyone who enjoys the game differently to me ( that's a general me, not me personally :D)
 
There are also many players who don't fit into the casual or hardcore pigeon holes, but rather, take elements of both styles of play to mix and match and end up somewhere in between	
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			Personally, when I hear casual I think of people that focus on using the game as a facebook chat with graphics and some little things to do on the side (basically what WoW has become to an extent). I do think both words have lost any meaning regardless of how you try to look at them though, sadly.I don't see serious hobby as the way to look at it either, spending 20m to learn how to gear yourself for the best results is just being smart.	
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I'm not sure but it almost feels like we could get help by adding the Bartle stereotypes. Socializers and explorers on one side and killers and achievers on the other. Plus of course the shades of gray (and other colours  :P !) in between.
 
Nice thread Yasfan !	
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I'm new here, so I can't say too much -- just coming from a noob's perspective.
 
I am coming to like this game more the longer I play (only in my second week). Out of necessity, I'm playing alone a lot with the expectation that when I reach 50 I will have more people to group with and I will start looking for a guild in earnest. I will still be a noob, I'm sure. I want to raid, but I'm not in a hurry to get there. I've always been a pvp-er (even "hardcore" for several years), but I'm coming to this game to enjoy and appreciate the pve and try something new and challenging.
 
From what I've seen, this game needs more new blood coming in. So for the base of the game to be expanding, more non-competitive stuff should be added for new and "casual" players without in any way diluting the challenging content of the high end instances and raids. That core of players who has come to WS and remained here because of that challenge is very important to the long-term health of this currently awesome but under-appreciated game.
 
In short, expand the base with things casuals like to do: collections, housing, costumes, exploration achievements, new zones to explore, story, etc. Keep raid progression alive with new tiers and make older raid content a bit more accessible as it's "phased out" of vanguard raiding.  Doing both is of course difficult because it requires time and money. The key point is that WS needs its "hardcore" community. Games that have bailed on their hardcore players and just cater to "casuals" usually just become throwaway f2p games -- except WoW, which I don't understand why anyone would still play -- with its antiquated combat --  if they actually tried WildStar.	
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Simply put, they don't "mean" anything.  They're subjective terms that actually have no bearing on context.  As you've put pretty succinctly, the words are used interchangeably to refer to a lot of different situations.  But what do they even mean?  Let's say someone only plays 4-8 hours a week, but he spends all that time raiding and tops the DPS meter.  According to the time scale, he's a casual.  According to content, he's a hardcore.  And what if he's doing it just to do it, but isn't entirely interested.  He's just that good.  Does that mean that he has a casual attitude even though he has hardcore performance?
 
Generally speaking, casual and hardcore don't really have meanings, then.  They're just words we use to refer to players rather than dealing in measurables.
 
That's why I try to avoid the distinction, and I've openly mocked it in the past.  I take this game very seriously even while doing some very casual content.  I don't raid, but there were months I was on every day for at least 6-8 hours.  My playtime's been drastically cut back because of IRL, did I suddenly become a different kind of player?  I'm very capable of raiding, since that doesn't seem to definitively require more than eight hours a week, though.  I'm fully capable of making a schedule.  It's convinced me that the idea of #hardcore and filthy casual is completely misleading.  It's not even that I'm someone else's casual or hardcore; I, nor anyone else, have ever been either of them.  We just are what we are.
 
That makes discussing the game a lot different when you're talking about content in terms of absolutes.  Instead of figuring out the level of difficulty acceptable for "casuals" or "hardcores", for example, it's always best to examine what actually makes up the difficulty and view it objectively.  Or when you're talking about time sinks and whether they're for hardcores, instead just ask yourself what chunks would be digestible for people on shorter schedules or with shorter attention spans.  How long does it take to get something, how long does it take to reach a "checkpoint".  The entire game seems to be built on that premise more than anything else.  Difficulty gets stacked in areas that are a lot more relative to player skill and experience.  Time gets divvied up into small bite sized chunks, even if it can take a long time to do certain things.
 
But the entire idea that we even fit those labels as players has always seemed a bit ludicrous to me.  Not a single person here is casual or hardcore.  We just are what we are and we enjoy (or don't enjoy) the content we do.  And that's liable to change as we play, as our schedules change, and as the game changes.	
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I disagree with the idea that hardcore and casual have no objective meaning, or that they only mean something in context.  Almost anyone can look at an extremely hardcore player and name them hardcore, and the same would apply to casual. While everyone judges those in-between on a different set of values, I strongly believe that everyone has a similar idea of extreme-hardcore and extreme-casual.
 
Since I started Wildstar, I have considered myself both hardcore and casual, though what Vic posted has made me rethink that. I wasn't a different gamer, but I labeled myself differently because of the difference in effort and time I put into the game. I still enjoyed the same things.  So, maybe, content isn't "casual" or "hardcore" on its own - but players can be.
 
Sorry if my post is confusing - long day, and I need sleep.	
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Hardcore casual should be a term, along with casual hardcore lol. 
 
Hardcore Casual- still leveling to cap, and wanders all over the map in the 30 minutes they play on the weekends.
 
Casual Harcore- took 3 days off work to do new content, but slept at least 6 hours a day and took a few 2-3 hour breaks. :)
 
Ultimately i think the distinction comes from how much priority you give to the game. Even if your work schedule changes in the free time you have are you going to get an extra hour of sleep, watch a movie, or play the game in which you identify as playing hardcore. I don't think skill or trying to be the best are the best descriptions of being hardcore although competitive players i believe would give the game higher priority with their time.	
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I'm inclined to say that attitude would be the driving factor if we are to categorize people as "hardcore" or "casual".  The drive to be the best vs. the desire to simply experience regardless of the outcome. 
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You and me  :P
 
In MMOs I think casual and hardcore are purely about time investment.  You can have skillful players or shart players...but they can be casual in when they play or hardcore by playing like a job.
 
I tend to have more chance at being hardcore on forums - can I retire yet?  :D	
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Casual, and hardcore, are nothing to me but time investments. I am a casual player, but I put 110% into the game, I accomplish the most that one can (even though I have not started raiding as of yet, but hopefully later this week). Hardcore, is someone that would be on out of peak time often.
 
But then again these are nothing but labels, but I do not like putting people to labels (hint my hate for internet terms like noobs and etc). I will call someone a gentleman's sausage if they annoy me though.	
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I play when I want to and for how long I want to.
 
Casual: No set schedule, no demands on my time to play at certain times, and I like it like that.
 
Hardcore: When I do play, I get the most out of my time and have the most fun I can.
 
These are my personal interpretations of the both terms.	
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For me personally I see the terms "casual" and "hardcore" much in the same way that I view the word "art"...
 
I feel that the words are in themselves very broad terms that can vary from one individual to another depending on the standard by which they personally see fit to define it. Though I do feel generally speaking that "hardcore" and "casual" is a collective spectrum of time,dedication, and or actions/behaviors used by aid individual to define these terms and label themselves and or others as such. Looking through this and other threads that have tried to define these you can see some similar and some drastically different ideas of what they mean.
 
I don't think it's good to say the words are meaningless, but rather that if said term(s) are used in a conversation to label and or direct a discussion toward people that you feel fall into that label, it is necessary to define it for others so that the discussion can have a mutual understanding of what the conversation is aimed at.	
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			I don't know what either of those terms is "supposed" to mean, but I know it when I see it!	
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I have a joke that actually, to me, has some truth to it... "guys we're not here to have fun and joke around, focus up and lets kill it!"... Why? because most of the fun comes from winning the race to world first, in fact, if another guild kills something before me, i don't enjoy my own kill when it happens.
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Here, as resident expert of all things Wildstar related, allow me to break this down for you in a simple and easy to understand manner:
 
Casual and Hardcore are not playerskill related in an MMO, they're relative to someone's play time.  Let me explain by first giving google definitions:
 
Hardcore: the most active, committed, or doctrinaire members of a group or movement.
Casual:    1. relaxed and unconcerned.  2. not regular or permanent, in particular.  3. a person who does something irregularly.
 
By definition, it is a little bit easier to see how one, from a marketing perspective (or game design in this case) would define a player. 
 
Players can drift from Casual to Hardcore, mostly by their availability and desire to play.  A game like WoW, for instance, does a great job at capturing the Casual and the Hardcore. I believe FFXIV right now, is the premier game to capture both the casual and hardcore communities, when it comes to the MMO. 
 
Let's take a look at Wildstar's major features and talk about how they are casual and hardcore.  I'll start with my favorite:
 
PvP : PvP is a great example of a playmode that captures both the casual and the hardcore alike.  Arenas ~6 minutes long, or battlegrounds from 15-30 minutes, are prime for the casual experience.  People that enjoy the combat and the function, can come in and have a good time, whenever they like, for however long as they like.  There is almost no commitment.  PvP is truly a good example of a concept and playmode that captures the casual.   The beauty of PvP however, is it's ability to capture the hardcore player as well.  Things like top rated arenas, or rated battlegrounds-- people pushing class comps and game modes to the limits, those things require dedication and commitment.  It requires a lot of time and practice to become better skilled and compete at the top level.  But! There's beauty in that too, as someone can be a phenomenal player, and be just as high ranked because of their playskill, as someone who dedicates 3 hours a night to PvP.
 
Where PvP lost it's appeal in the beginning was how hardcore one must be to play PvP.  There were 3 gear sets, all of which required a substantial platinum (Read time) investment into gearing them out.  Not having the best gear, put you at a disadvantage.  That's very king of the hill, and very not casual friendly.  AS you can see by my monumental post count, as well as the efforts recently made by developers to unlock gear from rating, you can see just how much more popular PvP has become, once it was more casual friendly.  The thing left to do for PvP now, is to provide something for the hardcore, the most dedicated etc, and that's a structured season with new gear, and new rewards.  
 
Housing:  Housing also really captures the casual and the hardcore community.  Players can hit level 14, and have a full realm of housing to play with at their own pace and time.  They don't have to make a group for it, have to be on at a certain time, or have to have any particular time invested game knowledge.  People can be super casual, collect things, and have a wonderful experience in housing.  That being said, Housing has a wonderful Hardcore aspect.  Getting the coolest items, crafting them, or spending sheer buttloads (that's a lot, btw) of time, can create huge spaceships, mazes, and masterpieces.  My favorite one was a guy made a model AT-AT.  I thought that thing was awesome.
 
PvE Raids:  Raids are most often thought of us hardcore, but they don't have to be.  In Wildstar, raids have been for the hardcore only, up until attunement and re-itemization.  Raiding 20 man instances at the difficulty they are, really is only available to the most dedicated of players.  That doesn't mean raids can't be casual.  Take FFXIV for instance, and the Crystal Tower.  It takes anywhere from 45m to an hour, the matchmaking finds the right classes for you, and can generally be accomplished and rewarding.  Take the new "boss in a box" raid:  there are 2 versions of difficulty.  That raid could require 100 people, but still be very casual, if it wasn't so involved and didn't take a long time.   You see, it's not about player skill, it's about time commitment.  The harder version of that boss is going to require a more dedicated (geared) team, with more complex strategies, etc.  The easy version can be accomplished from the gear level of the average player.  That's how you capture the hardcore and casual alike.  That's why there needs to be game modes for Datascape and GA, a normal and heroic version, for instance.
 
PvE Dungeons / Adventures / Shiphands:  All of those are have varying degrees of difficulty, etc.  Shiphands are proclaimed as targetted for the casual, which is just fine.  The thing is, they don't just have to be casual. There could be a veteran ++ version that required a certain ilvl, a certain group make-up (tank healer dps), to complete.  That would certainly be a more hardcore version, as it requires previous time investment.   Each of those different playmodes (d,a,s) have an inherent casual aspect to them.  You can just log in with your average gear level, create a group in the finder, and run them.  If something like Vet SSM is too overtuned and only the "most dedicated, hardcore" players can complete it--- that's not a problem of them not being casual, it's a problem of the instance being overtuned without a proper itemization / gear pathway.  Since the changes to those things, Vet SSM became a lot more "casual" friendly, wouldn't you think?
 
Costumes / Dyes / Pets :  While it does have some hardcore aspects to it (if you want the tier 2 gear, you're raiding datascape), costumes and dyes are inherently for the casual.  Someone can log in, swap their character around for a bit (for a nominal price), and have some change.  They can use that then for what they want, roleplaying, looking cooler in their PvE dungeon / raid, or when they're smashing faces in PvP.
 
All in all, I think it's important to understand the playerbase.  Maybe it's not easily apparent for a game like Wildstar and it's relatively low subscriber numbers, but in bigger games--- it is easy to see.  Casuals, IE less dedicated people, with irregular schedules, time commitments, make up the majority of the subscriber base. That is why people promote content that is "casual friendly."  Wildstar, Frost, Carbine, those guys tried to rebrand #hardcore as something it wasn't, and they failed in that miserably.  Wildstar wasn't made for the hardcore players, it was made buggy, and frustrating, and lacking in concepts / systems that drew in the playerbase, and then allowed them to be hardcore.	
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For me, the fun comes from getting the kill surrounded by people I like. Winning is ALWAYS more fun than losing. However, I'm not bothered by taking a bit longer to down things (as evidenced by my guild just recently starting to seriously work on DS).
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Right, that's a lot of responses! Thanks much for offering up your own takes on the topic!
 
So looking over the responses that I see here, they seem to fall into three general classes:
 
1. The terms don't mean much of anything because we don't all agree on what they mean.
2. Hardcore=playing to be their best, Casual=playing to experience the content.
3. Hardcore=spends lots of time, Casual=spends little time (or in Cirinde's variation, which I personally thought was a really interesting one, spends time scheduled to achieve a goal vs. spends time on whatever they feel like at the moment).
 
To those who responded with the first class of response, I can see your point that nobody defines these things in exactly the same terms--but nevertheless, there's a reason that the labels persist and become commonplace. It's because as Tex noted, we know it when we see it, even if one attempt to define the concept differs from another and none of them capture it quite right. In fact, I'd argue that the point of the thread is exactly to try to match up the definition with the concept we generally carry around in our heads--to try to look at what the central defining elements of hardcore or casual players are.
 
To those who responded with the second class, a thought that struck me while reading over Cercie's and Byonaa's posts it seems to me that a key element of it appears to be competitiveness. Hardcore players seem to be pretty competitive folks, the need to win in order to have fun seems much stronger in the hardcore player than in the casual one. Does that seem fair? Or not? I think we can all agree that nobody finds being absolutely roflstomped to be fun, but how does the hardcore player see a challenging match or boss that they don't manage to beat? Is that a fun experience just for the challenge, or does it defer the fun until the win actually happens?
 
To me the big surprise was that the most common response seems to have been the third class: it's about time, as put forward most comprehensively by Eclips (and thanks for doing that!). I thought Cirinde's point was really an interesting one because my problem with defining it in terms of time has always been this: it's possible to spend huge amounts of time playing the game, but without a particular focus or drive to achieve rep or build prestige or collect things in a particular order, that time doesn't actually generate much in the way of achievements/progression/rewards. I think most of us probably wouldn't call that player hardcore... if anything, we'd say that they're hardcore about being casual... (love the terms "hardcore casual" and "casual hardcore", Seryss!). How does someone like that figure into the framework of defining it in terms of time?	
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How does someone like that figure into the framework of defining it in terms of time?
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My first instinct to solve that is by extending the third definition of hardcore to "spends lots of time in the game's progression". Then you do not have to say that those who spend a lot of time not actually progressing are hardcore.
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My first instinct to solve that is by extending the third definition of hardcore to "spends lots of time in the game's progression". Then you do not have to say that those who spend a lot of time not actually progressing are hardcore.
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To me the big surprise was that the most common response seems to have been the third class: it's about time, as put forward most comprehensively by Eclips (and thanks for doing that!). I thought Cirinde's point was really an interesting one because my problem with defining it in terms of time has always been this: it's possible to spend huge amounts of time playing the game, but without a particular focus or drive to achieve rep or build prestige or collect things in a particular order, that time doesn't actually generate much in the way of achievements/progression/rewards. I think most of us probably wouldn't call that player hardcore... if anything, we'd say that they're hardcore about being casual... (love the terms "hardcore casual" and "casual hardcore", Seryss!). How does someone like that figure into the framework of defining it in terms of time?
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			casual players write a couple lines in their forum posts.hardcore players write you a dissertation.THIS is the main difference	
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			The time commitment is the biggest reason why I'd like to see raid wings implemented somehow. Break the time required into smaller chunks that can be consumed in the order that players choose. And to keep folks from jumping straight at the last boss you can require that Wing A be completed before Wing B unlocks.	
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casual players write a couple lines in their forum posts.
 
hardcore players write you a dissertation.
 
THIS is the main difference
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			what is sleep?	
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what is sleep?
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I can understand that, and i described that as casual in my post, here:
 
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casual players write a couple lines in their forum posts.
 
hardcore players write you a dissertation.
 
THIS is the main difference
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But then being hardcore or casual isn't just about how much time gets spent, it's about how it's getting spent, right? Someone spending lots of time just piddling around doing whatever appeals to them at the time is completely hardcore in terms of time spent, but you're describing them as closer to casual.
 
What would have to change to make that player closer to hardcore?
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to me the terms are simple
 
Casual is a player that doesnt have alot a playtime and or logs on then decides what to do the moment it hits them.
 But there are casual raiders to so being a raider doesnt mean your hardcore or if you log on for set times to play for raids
 
Hardcore to me is someone that min/max's their character , playes a lot more and is so into the game they plan their path and what they want to do to get the most out of their logged in time.	
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Hardcore players cleave everything possible
 
Casual players don't	
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Dicking around for 12 hours doesn't make you hardcore, it just means that it doesn't matter what kind of content someone can make, they're not trying to market that person. Whether that person decides to do activites aimed at casuals over and over again for 12 hours is one thing. Or they can decide to do activites aimed at the hardcore playerbase.
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My definition for both is the amount of time/work/dedication you put in to a game. If your looking up strats offline and reading forum posts to maximize your effectiveness your obviously "Hardcore". If you just go with the flow and dont do more than the bare minimum, then to me your a "Casual" *tableflip.
 
An Example! I would say im a "Hardcore" engineer, and a "Casual" warrior. (Lets be honest though, is any warrior "Hardcore" ./snicker)
 
I think the problem lies in negative connotations people attach to the terms depending on where they relate to them.
 
"Hardcore" and "Casual" are relative terms and a persons response to them depend on how each individual defines what they mean to him or herself.	
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to me the terms are simple
 
Casual is a player that doesnt have alot a playtime and or logs on then decides what to do the moment it hits them.
But there are casual raiders to so being a raider doesnt mean your hardcore or if you log on for set times to play for raids
 
Hardcore to me is someone that min/max's their character , playes a lot more and is so into the game they plan their path and what they want to do to get the most out of their logged in time.
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hmm the most skilled mmo players still play wow dont they? ;) And wow is also VERY casual friendly. wow caters to both "worlds":)
 
on topic: Hardcore in WS is dedication that goes above "normal" dedication. Normal dedication is measured by statistics. Normal would be what most players will do.
 
Myself: I'm casual on most aspects, mainly because I'm not competetive by nature, but also because I lack the best twitch gaming skills. However, I'm pretty hardcore when it comes to toon costumization and general look of my toons, meaning...I care ALOT about it...and if I dont look cool/sexy/hot (in my own opinion) I will quit the game regardless of if the game is good or not. I'm also hardcore when it comes to reading about the game i play. I read almost as much as unemployed game addicts, but I failed at reading about tactics and being able to do it as described (I have to trail and error in-game to learn). So I'm a hardcore reader, but a casual learner...
 
I'm also pretty hardcore when it comes to how to make gameplay and combat (rotation..builds etc) fit my handicap (my handicap being non competetive and bad reaction time). In all games I've played I have found the best build, and then trimmed it to my fitting. Personally I consider myself one of the best "valid fit-for purpose dps builders" persons in the gaming world:) In fact..I have NEVER seen anyone better than me at that:) (ofc...i have to thank the hundreds of nerds that provide the facts, parses, reviews, cons and pros etc so that I can work my art, casue I simply dont have the skill to do those things and I would never like to learn them)	
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So after reading this I wanted to chime in.  Hardcore and Casual can also have gameplay meanings.  Maybe somebody said this already but I certainty didn't have time to read it all.  Hardcore/Casual can be a term of difficulty of content due to MANY different variables.
 
Casual.  Means ANY run of the mill person can see do or participate.  A casual dungeon means any group of people with decent builds can walk in and complete the content.  Casual raid means any guild can easily get into the raid requirements or again complete the content with decent builds.
 
 
Hardcore.  Means the content is completeable by a small percentage or even seen by a small percentage.  Your average build wont cut it as you need to squeeze every last %age out of your role you can.  The content requires a skill level that isn't not easily achieved and takes time and practice.
 
 
Wildstar originally when I looked at it....was trying to cater to both play styles.  The World content so far seems very casual friendly while the raids seem laughable at the thought of even attempting them.  Wildstar has hit a snare that MOST MMO's hit when trying to create hardcore content.  CHOICE is REMOVED.  The choice is made for you by the community of what is acceptable to complete hardcore content due to spreadsheet warriors and parse wizards.  But so far Wildstar doesn't seem to be doing TOO bad, as skill seems to play a bigger role than actual #s.	
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Who ever looks the prettiest = hardcore.
 
Who ever looks the ugliest = casual.
 
Too easy next question.	
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{| class="blockquote"
Who ever looks the prettiest = hardcore.
 
Who ever looks the ugliest = casual.
 
Too easy next question.
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