The Hardcore Casual Gamer

[MizoreShirayuki]

Greetings!

After going through & reading the myriad of threads about the casual and hardcore content, I'm here to reiterate that content for everyone CAN exist! Heck, it's the direction Yoshida & the development team know they need to take.

The Merriam-Webster definition of casual is something that occurs without regularity. Thus being a casual gamer in FFXIV isn't a bad thing. Obligations to friends, school, work, etc. prevent you from playing as frequently as you would like to.


Being hardcore gamer isn't a bad thing either. Merriam-Webster's definition of hardcore is - a relatively small enduring core of society marked by apparent resistance to change. Relating this to FFXIV, the epic battles, monsters, storyline, and other things you only see in a Final Fantasy title (Final Fantasy's core values if you will) are what the hardcore audience wishes to see.

People skew the definitions of these words in order to justify their reasoning. Such as saying hardcore content is "hard" and casual content is "easy", and as such the two can't co-exist in a game.

Well, using these definitions from above, if I work so much that I'm able to play without regularity, but want to play a game that stays true to the name Final Fantasy, by definition I'm a hardcore casual gamer.

It is when people mention "end game" content in an MMO that it's meaning becomes intertwined with the meaning of hardcore (and rightfully so).

"End game" content should be content that pushes an individual or group of players to their limit. Content that is currently the hardest thing in the game. Requiring them to play skillfully and put what they've learned (be it casually or more quickly) to the test in a battle that stays true to the name Final Fantasy. Rewarding them in the end with something worth the effort, or sending them packing in a body bag with a note attached saying "See you again!".


In conclusion:

1. Allowing people to progress through the game at their own pace and style.
2. Implementing content with varying degrees of difficulty for EVERYONE to enjoy.
3. Staying true to the name Final Fantasy.

This is the direction Yoshida wants to take the game, and I believe it can be done.


Thank you for your time!

[SupaCancerion]

Well said! People just need to calm the eff down, keep in mind this game is still NOT FINISHED! In all reality, we are playing a game that is STILL in it's beta stage and has very little content. With most Final Fantasy titles, the hardcore content doesn't come til "endgame." All the super difficult hidden bosses, optional dungeons, etc. don't come until you're just about at the end of the story and you have the choice of beating the game or completing all the hardcore content of the game. I believe the same will go for this one. Final Fantasy has ALWAYS appealed to casual and hardcore audiences alike, and most likely will continue to do so. It is extremely selfish that so many hardcores are asking SE to cater specifically to them. There is a very wide variety of people who play Final Fantasy, it is a huge franchise; they can't just all of a sudden cater completely to the hardcore audience. Think realistically. Stop getting so hot headed. The game isn't finished, be patient, wait for the content. If you can't do that, there are plenty of other finished games out there for you to play while you are waiting!

[Eekiki]

I appreciate your intentions, Mizore, and I agree with you 100%.

Unfortunately this forum, like the American political system, has been overtaken by extremists on two sides which appear to be opposed, but are equally ridiculous, and should SE pay any attention to either side, this game will suffer the same way the US is suffering right now in the clutches of far left and far right lunacy.

[zaviermhigo]

In political science "bipolar" is consider healthy. Just sayin' as backwards as it sounds. If there are two countries sharing the hegemon (NOT A DIGIMON for those who don't know), it is a more healthy political world than a one hegemon or multiple (polar, or multipolar), bipolar under USSR and USA is considered healthy while a multi polar system in Europe (forget time period) of UK, France, Belgium, and other allied countries (meh they were eventually allies...minus Germany) was unhealthy.

Its a tendancy of human beings migrate to two poles under core issues making it easier to deal with problems. Interest groups then amalgamate themselves into the parties. If we had a parliamentary system in the forums or in America we'd have the oddest little parties winning seats. Just saying look up "Beer Party" its happened in Europe. IN France theres a whole party dedicated to hunting rights that win seats. Thats seems excessive in my opinion like it should just amalgmate itself into the right or the left depending on the political situation as an interest group. So instead of Hardcore vs Casual on forums we'd have more people who only cared about fixing one aspect of the game and group together under it.

Actually if you looked at the forums as a political entity its a mixed system of the two. We have Hardcore vs Casual, but then some people if you look at their signature, their main thing is map redesign or the battle system, they've focused themselves and figured out their main issue with the game.

Its like being in a special interest group.

Sorry, I just poli sci major nerd jacked the forums :/

[Rhomagus]

In political science "bipolar" is consider healthy. Just sayin' as backwards as it sounds. If there are two countries sharing the hegemon (NOT A DIGIMON for those who don't know), it is a more healthy political world than a one hegemon or multiple (polar, or multipolar), bipolar under USSR and USA is considered healthy while a multi polar system in Europe (forget time period) of UK, France, Belgium, and other allied countries (meh they were eventually allies...minus Germany) was unhealthy.

Its a tendancy of human beings migrate to two poles under core issues making it easier to deal with problems. Interest groups then amalgamate themselves into the parties. If we had a parliamentary system in the forums or in America we'd have the oddest little parties winning seats. Just saying look up "Beer Party" its happened in Europe. IN France theres a whole party dedicated to hunting rights that win seats. Thats seems excessive in my opinion like it should just amalgmate itself into the right or the left depending on the political situation as an interest group. So instead of Hardcore vs Casual on forums we'd have more people who only cared about fixing one aspect of the game and group together under it.

Actually if you looked at the forums as a political entity its a mixed system of the two. We have Hardcore vs Casual, but then some people if you look at their signature, their main thing is map redesign or the battle system, they've focused themselves and figured out their main issue with the game.

Its like being in a special interest group.

Sorry, I just poli sci major nerd jacked the forums :/

I wouldn't necessarily consider being under the constant threat of nuclear war necessarily "healthy". The collapse of the USSR created a power vacuum and has left the United States and the rest of the world in a unipolar state rather than the MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) political system we were under during the Cold War.

The other time the world was in this state was during the Roman Empire. The term Pax Romana refers to the relatively 'warless' time during Rome's rule as the world's singular dominant superpower. I've heard some people throwing around the term Pax Americana but I'm not sure if I could really agree with that conclusion or association so short in America's time in the limelight.

To get back on to subject and to agree with you a bit, I've noticed that people do have very specific things they want fixed and it's only through the fallacy of composition do the terms hardcore and casual become inappropriately assigned to people or ideas. It's safe to say though that the OP's definition doesn't necessarily apply to the context in which the forum community is using the terms. While I agree with the OP's conclusion, sometimes terms from the dictionary don't apply to how they are being used here in the context of the forums. The context ends up fiddling with the technical definition so it'd be safer to ask the person who is using a particular term to provide their definition and how they are intending to use it and go from there.