Well it finally happen...

[Cyrus-Wallace]

I'm a casual player...

I have work, Gym, Girlfriends and other S**t that I need to deal in real life.
I'ts not bad being a casual, you just put priority something else over game.
Some kids sure prioritize their game because they're young.

You can be hardcore and still have all these things. A hardcore player doesn't have to sacrifice his irl activities in order to become what she/he is.

[nuyu11]

You can be hardcore and still have all these things. A hardcore player doesn't have to sacrifice his irl activities in order to become what she/he is.

Define the "Hardcore" in your perspective? From my point of view "Hardcore" is the player who spend so much time on the game and put the game as their top priority over something else.

I wake up 7.00 am, working from 8.00am to 7.00pm (plus minus with my travel time and traffic), gym at 8.30pm to 11.00 pm, 11.00 to 12.30am play game. That is my daily routine if I have gym that day, if not I go out with my Girlfriend.

Being a casual doesn't mean you are bad and being Hardcore will not make you a good player. Some Hardcore player have poor performance at Coil before but he hardcore grind for Zeta and have all weapon for his class.

[QiLymePye]

Define the "Hardcore" in your perspective? From my point of view "Hardcore" is the player who spend so much time on the game and put the game as their top priority over something else.

I wake up 7.00 am, working from 8.00am to 7.00pm (plus minus with my travel time and traffic), gym at 8.30pm to 11.00 pm, 11.00 to 12.30am play game. That is my daily routine if I have gym that day, if not I go out with my Girlfriend.

Being a casual doesn't mean you are bad and being Hardcore will not make you a good player. Some Hardcore player have poor performance at Coil before but he hardcore grind for Zeta and have all weapon for his class.

Well said. Just cause you are hardcore doesnt make you better. Hardcore just mean you prioritize the activity over anything else.

[QiLymePye]

You can be hardcore and still have all these things. A hardcore player doesn't have to sacrifice his irl activities in order to become what she/he is.

I disagree. Casual is meant as something you do casually, not putting in alot of time. Being more relaxed, less stress. Hardcore players do sacrifice things IRL. You have to sacrifice something in your life to put most of your time into the activity that you are hardcore in. You might go to gym also, but maybe he goes to gym 4 days/ for 2hr at a time, but you go 2days/hr. The point is that people don't know the difference in definition between Casual and Hardcore. Hardcore is someone going all out, putting everything into it, whether its more time, energy, focus. Casual players just don't prioritize the activity over some other activity.

If you watch the day of a casual player and a hardcore player, you would definitely see the difference, even if they both have same responsibilities outside of the game. I was a hardcore gamer when I was younger. Why? I loved playing videogames. I could play for hours, put insane amounts of time into playing, learning everything about it. I also was a hardcore Basketball player. That changed when I got married and had kids. I played basketball casually. couldn't work on honing my skills when I had other responsibilites. I was still a hardcore gamer, but that diminished as those years went on because now, instead of me playing maybe....50-100hrs/week, I was getting in about 15-20. Casual means time spent doing said activity, doesn't mean lazy or unskilled.

Casual reader vs. Hardcore Reader: Is the casual reader lazy? Does the hardcore reader read with such ferocity they burn holes into the pages and is the master or words? Casual reader could be an english teacher and the hardcore reader could just be consuming comic books.

Casual baker vs Hardcore baker: Would you assume casual baker is inept and can't even tell the difference between salt and sugar? Would you assume a hardcore baker can make a cake out of 2 twinkies, a pound of butter, and determination? Casual baker could be a professional chef that enjoys baking every once in a while and the hardcore baker could be a grocery store baker that bakes premade bread and cookies by the buttload.

So boys and girls, Casual vs Hardcore is about time spent and priorities, not skill or motivation.

[Amiantos]

-snip-

Doesn't mean you still can't have a life. I work 7am-4pm and I go running with a friend after work. I still go to the movies, hang out with coworkers and friends and play other games one which I consider myself in the competitive tier. I've invested a good amount of time into this game too. There was a brief period where I did have to stop playing as such is the life in the military but since then I've gone back to my old playing time frames and habits. Being hardcore doesn't mean you have to sacrifice everything either. I find a difference between being hardcore and straight up unhealthy playing. I learned this first hand during my years in FFXI where I would spend 18+ hours a day playing and it adversely effected my physical and mental health.

[QiLymePye]

Amiantos, I agree, but that doesn't make you hardcore. Hardcore means time spent, not ability or being competitive. When you were playing FFXI 18+ hrs a day, thats hardcore. Im not arguing with you or disagree, I am just trying to correct what you consider "Hardcore" to what it means. Im not saying you can't have a life. i'm saying hardcore players lives consist of way more playing than the casual player. Lets take your day, and Im planning this on the limited info you gave me:

Lets assume you work 7-4 M-F(Cause thats a sweet shift, i work in the service/retail industry..blah) Im going to also assume that you work no more than 30min away from your place of employment. So I'm gonna assume you leave atleast by 630am, with a wake up time of 530? Lets say you get on avg. 6hrs of sleep during work nights. So you might be in bed by 1130pm. You get home (assuming you leave on time) at 4:30pm. Ok I don't know what you do when you get home, if you have kids, dinner plans, running, etc. So lets say you spend about 4hrs total, give or take an hour, on home stuff and errands. Its now 830pm. Lets say this is your heaviest day with doing stuff, so if this day was to happen everyday m-f, you looking at 15hrs of freetime, if significant other is cool with you playing 3hrs straight. Now this is just 100% complete assumption of your day, but even in that scenario, you spent more time in one day on FFXI than a work week of free time of 3hrs day m-f. If you wanted to avg. 5 or 6hrs, something gotta change, whether you dont cook, don't help kids with homework, dont go running that day, etc.

Hardcore players value their play time and prioritize it over everything else. You, my responsible, casual playing friend, are not a hardcore player. Based off of that assumption of your daily schedule, which again, is 100% not factually verified for the people that are gonna yell. its just an example. Now that doesn't mean you are bad at the game when you do play or that you are not competitive, those things do not make you hardcore or casual.