Hardcore... How would you define it?

[Arkghyom]

Rough, naughty, lustful, and addictive.

[Xatsh]

Hard core honestly is a mind set. It is when someone consider it to be more then a game. They look at something and find out how to maximize the outcome. They put in huge amount of time. Some aspects of real life no longer take priority over the game. The game is no longer about just being fun. They want thier hard work to be rewarded over those who do not put in the work.

Casuals: They treat mmos like any offline game. They just want to have fun and socialize in a multiple setting. Life > Game in almost all aspects. The do not want to invest a lot of time into the game to get the most out of it.

[Ryuko]

We are in a time of transition -- where MMOs are trying to find ways to cater to both the casual player who doesn't have a lot of time to play and the 'hardcore' players who demands more and more content with each passing week. The definition of 'hardcore', for me... is different from what I would have considered it ten years ago, or particularly with regards to the FFXI world (camping HNMs nonstop, for example).

I play FFXIV many hours a day, and pride myself at being good at all endgame content... but I do not consider myself hardcore. There is something that sets apart hardcore players from the people who are skilled with a lot of time to play. Hardcore players, to me, are the people who beat their head against new content immediately after it comes out... until they have completed it. The Free Companies that spent hours upon hours fighting Twintania in an effort to figure out how her mechanics work... those are 'hardcore' to me. The players who get server firsts and create tutorials to teach the rest of the FFXIV player base how to do a fight are 'hardcore' to me. Hardcore players are not necessarily elitist; they just have more stamina to figure out fights that haven't been figured out yet.

[Goodberry]

In my personal book, "hardcore" players are those afflicted with an enormous delusion, i.e. that being badass in a game makes them special snowflakes overall, with a right to look down with stern pity to mere mortals who do 1.5 DPS less or aren't able to one-shoot EX Titan.

In fewer words, billionaries without the billions. :P

[elreed]

hardcore= no girlfriend/boyfriend enough said

[Varhaatus]

Hardcore players will min/max and perfect the rotations of a "dps" class, leech their way to endgame and claim they are king of the world.

A casual player will roll a tank and stall said hardcore player because its funny.

Elitist = Hardcore player who ascended
Hardcore = boring and ignorant grind machine
Mid-core = plays the game for fun and progression
Casual = fun