Casually Hardcore

Started by pkmin3033 May 30th, 2016 5:46 AM
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This is something we have infrequently touched upon in a lot of different subjects and even just in casual conversation, and I think it warrants its own thread so we can address it directly. So, awaaay we go.

In video game culture - especially in the AAA industry - there is a clear line between "us" and "them", or the hardcore and the casual. In most circles, this has gone a little beyond friendly competition or a measure of skill and turned into a full-blown war of a fashion similar to the old console wars, with "hardcore" becoming a derogatory term for someone who plays titles obsessively, and "casual" usually having the word "filthy" preceding it.

Video games are steeped in history and, for a long time, have been geared towards one audience. It has been a long time since that has been the case, however: with the introduction of quick pick-up-and-play smartphone titles, Nintendo's family-friendly policy (when they were previously the market leaders for challenging "Nintendo Hard" titles), and the increased diversity in genres and titles, video games are now a media that anyone and everyone can enjoy. There is clearly a need to define groups of individuals based upon their preferences...or is there? When the definitions themselves are so divisive, vague, often used in offensive context, do they serve any practical purpose?

Based on this changing face in the industry, could it not be argued that these labels have lost all meaning; that there is no longer an "us" and "them" but rather simply a preference in genre and play style? When someone who will pick up a console title will just as happily play a title on their smartphone when they're out and about - even if they won't admit to it - only reinforces this lack of division between the casual and the hardcore, especially when skill is a subjective thing.

Despite this however, the labels persist, and have even diversified - core gamers, gaymers, girl gamers, etc - to include other types of gamers. Like most social phenomenon, whether helpful or not, it has persisted in the wake of all the changes made to the industry as a whole, and whilst there have been additions, there have been no real changes. But is this such a bad thing? Is this a part of the identity of being a gamer that should be readily embraced and accepted? Many hardcore gamers take pride in giving themselves that label; it reflects their level of skill and the length of time they have been playing games, and there is nothing wrong with taking pride in your accomplishments; it's all a part of having fun. Similarly, newer terms and definitions were coined by those who have taken them: they were not forced upon them.

So, where do you stand on this issue - if indeed you perceive there to be an issue at all? What do you think makes someone a "casual" or a "hardcore" gamer? What would you consider yourself? In this day and age, is there a need to define individuals as casual or hardcore, or anything else? Are these labels helpful in categorizing the target audience and helping them enjoy titles relevant to them, or damaging and detrimental as one group looks down upon the other?

Alex

what will it be next?

Seen December 30th, 2022
Posted December 26th, 2022
6,407 posts
16.4 Years
I don't think there's much of an issue. Elitism will always exist and its up to the player to have thick skin about it if the name-calling does indeed bother them. I believe also that the terms hardcore and casual are linked towards the game itself. One is not hardcore for all games, only the ones he chooses. I was hardcore in TF2, where the line between casual and competitive is drawn incredibly deep due to Valve's lack of support for the competitive scene. But I still consider myself a casual in most other games I play. I'm getting a little more hardcore in Overwatch given this past weekend I spent a lot of time in game, but I still lag behind many players who seem to double me in rank, yet I've been playing since launch day just like them. I would likely be considered a casual in their eyes - and that's fine by me. I'm havving fun and that's the bottom line behind video gaming.

Satoshi Ookami

Memento Mori

Age 30
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Abyss of Time, Great Seal
Seen August 5th, 2018
Posted July 3rd, 2018
14,253 posts
14.8 Years
I don't think there are casual x hardcore gamers anymore, with the current state of industry, games are becoming more casual anyway so... there's almost no space left for hardcoreness.
Now what's left is... trophies/achievement hunters x casuals =D
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Age 31
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Argama
Seen June 14th, 2022
Posted October 9th, 2016
580 posts
10.8 Years
There was a time when I wanted to be a hardcore edgelord, but you just realize that being good at games ultimately means nothing in life. I do like challenge and I always pick hard difficulties, but I never go out of my way to master these games and become great.

When it comes to dividing people into groups, rather than just saying casul/hardcore, I'll say that people are split between people that play for the story and people that play for the gameplay. This is probably where you can use the "hardcore" and "casual" labels as people that go for the story usually play on easy or with cheats, while the gameplay people tend to play on harder difficulties.

Although I do consider it a problem that devs tend to pander to the people that just want to beat the game and have fun. I don't mind having easy mode, but I do mind when the game is built around easy mode. I don't mind it as much in new IPs, but I don't like it when they remove features from franchises to make them more approachable to wider audiences. It's good for them, since they get to sell the game to more people, but it alienates the people who played their games before (series like Etrian Odyssey, Fire Emblem or Shin Megami Tensei that become easier and easier with less features or casualized features)
"Your sight, my delight
will you marry me?"

Arsenic

Flying High

Age 26
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In the skies
Seen April 13th, 2022
Posted August 28th, 2020
3,201 posts
12 Years
Looks like I have a different view than most people here. I see hardcore play coming back, and I hate it. I see a lot of stripping of features in games to make a simpler and more fitting for hardcore competitive play. Check Rainbow Six: Siege compared to the others, was cut, stripped, and laid out for the comp crowd. Dont get me wrong Siege is fun for a little but it is more to appeal to the CS crowd than the RS crowd.

And it's not just this game.
Halo 5
The Division
Battlefront
The list goes on, though I'm talking more about multiplayer. No clue if you mean SP games.

JJ Styles

The Phenomenal Darling

Male
NCR
Seen November 10th, 2019
Posted November 10th, 2019
3,924 posts
8.4 Years
There was a time when I wanted to be a hardcore edgelord, but you just realize that being good at games ultimately means nothing in life. )
Go work for Polygon and hope that you'll get a proper reimbursement everything they'll let you play a game.

***********

On my case, well, things are simple for me. I like playing competitive multiplayer but I have no plans on becoming a professional player until I build an actual team of people who i trust, along with the proper managers and management people.

As far as games and gaming are concerned, I'm not really "in" to the whole "casual" vs "Hardcore" culture war as far as my only concerns are helping other players be better players overall. Not just better gamers, but being better players and better people. I mean sure, I can still consider myself like a super murderking beast champion warrior for all i care, but I at least I use my experience in helping others learn how to survive, appreciate, and enjoy gaming (especially multiplayer) and turn other people into worthy murderkings and murderqueens.

I'd also like to further elaborate that while i may consider myself like a "hardcore" gamer where i not only play and buy video games in the platforms that I'm playing at (PC, PS3, N3DS), I also consider myself the kind of player who takes a lot of time learning all the ropes and rattles of a video game that I take really deep interest at. I've mentioned in several posts on how I love League of Legends, DotA, and other competitive multiplayer outlets because I've invested in them. I'm not the kind of person to look down on other people's choices of games, whether they be console people, other PC people who prefer the alternatives to what I've mentioned, and people who just like playing apps in their smartphones.