Like I said, it wasn't hardcore, sure it sucked the life from your bones and gave an illusion of depth, but in reality it was a tank and spank grind fest with time sinks in masquerading as content.
Yeah. Hardcore.
What's not to get?

Hardcore essentially just means more commitment required. That usually means time invested into learning increasingly complex game mechanics and having the patience to work with a leveling system. As long as a game is short, and or quick to play, it's casual friendly.

Skill required isn't necessarily related, as it's more of a byproduct of the time invested.

Honestly, I think there's room in this game for both core and casual content. However, casuals shouldn't get upset by something that takes a lot of time to do for a big reward and cores shouldn't complain that the game is too "easy".