Quote Originally Posted by Atma View Post
Overall, the Purple Chested Hardcore is a dying breed. They were never the most populous of species, despite having a very loud and overpowering call. The Purple Chested Hardcore is known for it's distinct tendency to disappear when there is nothing around to actively challenge it. Purple Chested Hardcores are very needy on the food chain, requiring far larger amounts of nourishment then other breeds. This causes an environmental effect called "Starts at Max Level"fication, which causes serious damage to other species. The resources required to sustain a single Purple Chested Hardcore can tax the rest of the ecosystem, causing a severe lack of available nourishment for the middle to lower spectrum of the food chain.

The environment niche previously occupied by the Purple Chested Hardcore is now being taken over by the newly more assertive Casualbird. The Casualbird takes it's time plodding through the environment, exploring and experiencing a far more diverse diet then the Purple Chested Hardcore, which is known for it's refusal to digest anything but the most efficient fare. They consume very little in the environment, giving plenty of time for resources to develop across the entire spectrum of the foodchain. They hope to someday be able to tackle the large prey that the Hardcore can, but are content to spend months, if not years, flying around before they consider doing so.

Now, wise park rangers have started to learn that the same resources expended to attract and maintain the interest of a single Purple Chested Hardcore can easily sustain 5, if not 10, Casualbirds. And, if they are wise, they have also realized two things: Both versions crap pure golden nuggets of the same size. Thus, the smartest rangers have realized that the smart plan is "cater to the Casualbird", because it means you have far more birds pooping gold on your lawn for a much longer time.

Now that storytime is over, There will never be another successful "Hardcore" MMO. It worked when there wasn't a diverse selection of them in the market, but now that you can't even flip through a game magazine without reading about at least two new MMO games.. well, sorry. But "Hardcore" is dead, because the casual players will simply take their time, and money, to a game where they can actually feel like they're accomplishing something without needing to sit down to a 6 hour game session.
Wow lol. you seem to be confused. The hardcore player is not the dying breed- the ffxiv player is. Just so you know there are more hardcore players than you think. I started this game with 13 casual friends and 2 hardcore friends. Out of those friends 2 remain. I think you can guess which ones. This game currently has no sense of accomplishment for either groups. Casual players want goals to look forward to. The hardcore players who are decked out are usually the people that the casual players set as their goal. It has been proven in mmo's that you must appeal to both groups. If you do not appeal to the casuals you lose more people who play short term. If you do not appeal to the hardcores then you lose fewer people, but you lose people who would play the game long term. I'm not saying that some casuals aren't long term, but for the most part they tend to be on and off the game. Hardcore players are usually consistent. Basically I'm saying don't post that they should just appeal to the casuals. They need to appeal to both groups. Each is important to the game.