Why do casual players seem entitled to cosmetic items added in game?

[Supersnow845]

I agree that there really isn't an objective way to decide where rewards go, and also that many people are miffed it is in savage because they don't do savage. That said, there is a broader context which I'd suggest makes it a poor decision to put it in savage.

1. Patch cycles are front-loaded with high-end content. Casuals are thus feeling neglected.
2. One of the most-requested additions for years have been more long hairstyles.
3. The hairstyle has no thematic link with the raid.
4. A perception (possibly false) that cosmetics are held in higher esteem by casuals than raiders.

We can create reverse-scenario analogies. It would be puzzling, for example, if being rewarded with BiS required you to catch all the rare animals on Sanctuary Island.

Place all this in the broader context of an uninspiring story, really miserable society quests, and the narrative that SE is pandering to hardcore players, and this reaction was completely predictable. Casual players -- the largest sub-group in the player base -- are feeling unloved, and are complaining as a result.

And yes, I recognize it can be bought on the MB and that mitigates the above somewhat. Honestly, the only way any of my characters would wear it is if they accidentally got transported to Haight-Ashbury c. 1968. I can almost smell the patchouli.

See this is where the problem is coming from

1) conflation of 2 points in this thread. Casual content being under-offered this expansion is not the same thing as saying “if you both aren’t willing to try CAR or buy it you shouldn’t feel entitled to it”. I fully agree that casual content is pathetic this expansion but that’s got near nothing to do with the idea that if you aren’t willing to go for a rare item in various ways you shouldn’t feel entitled to it. Is there an argument the hair shouldn’t have been a savage reward; yes I’d say there is. But in the context of the fact it is one if you won’t try one of the two avenues to get it then that’s more a personal problem

2) the reward is no more “casual” than it is “hardcore”. You specifically use the analogy “what if BIS was locked behind IS” directly implying that this is a casual reward locked behind high end as your analogy is the reverse. What makes this a “casual” reward? How do you determine what rewards low effort casual only players intrinsically have the right to? What if this reward was instead say a reward for 10/10/10 in Bozja. That’s all casual content but it’s a long grind people wouldn’t like. How do you determine as a playerbase wide arrangement of who is intrinsically entitled to what based on what content. It feels like most of these complaints are proxy complaints for lack of content