Quote Originally Posted by skaterger View Post
The definition of hardcore has certainly changed over the years, and not for the better imo. Back when I played D2 and RO, only by playing 5 hours or more daily would one be considered hardcore and to be truly hardcore more than 10 hours daily. Heck back then forming parties and farming consumables would take an hour at least before the actual raid started. Nowadays it seems playing more than 10 hours a week makes you hardcore.

I just don't get it. 24 hours a day now is the same as it was was back then. Has people's time somehow become more precious that it is somehow unfathomable to spend more than couple of hours a day gaming? Or is it the general stigma that gaming is bad and that there are other more productive things to do with your time. I feel it has a little to do with both.
I don't think it has anything to do with a stigma on gaming. I think for a lot of people it is just a reality of getting older, and having other priorities. Also, the labeling thing (hardcore vs. casual) is getting ridiculous (not by you, just to clarify). I have played games consistently at a hardcore (time wise) level before, and I can tell you that consistently doing that made me feel... off. I would often step away from the couch feeling sad at all the time wasted. Sure, it was all worth my while, I made great friends and did some awesome things... but as the years passed by I decided that my focus needed to be placed elsewhere... Playing LOTRO and FFXI at the same time really did me in lol.

Anyhow, FFXIV lends itself to people that want to play casually or play a lot... I don't think you can really be hardcore in this game (playing all the time doesn't necessarily equate to being hardcore [in my opinion, hardcore players are insatiable in that they MUST do all the game has to offer at the highest level, with little regard for other things in life]) because there are no systems in place that truly require you to play hardcore... myth and coil are/were capped... leveling 1-50 takes merely a few 3-5 hour sessions...

I usually don't get to play a lot during the week (an hour a day if my wife and kid aren't home). Maybe that makes me a filthy casual...
On weekends and breaks from work I can play for 20hrs at a clip... maybe that makes me an elitist hardcore prick...

All in all, to reply to your post and the original post in the thread, I feel that the game is working towards offering something to the average player... not the "I play all day" crowd, nor the "I want my relic in an hour" crowd. There are things that take a long time, and things that are cake. There seems to be more and more interesting things to do in the game with each patch. Ultimately, I think SE is trying to design a game that allows players to do what they want... you can get stuff accomplished in a small amount of time, but might not be able to do the top tier stuff unless you commit slightly more time. This pleases some, and turns some off. In the end, the only thing SE can do is continue to produce content that makes people want to play, regardless of how "casual" or "hardcore" they may be.