Well it finally happen...

[Noxifer]

To continue on the discussion regarding what casual and hardcore mean... I'd say there are three tiers actually :p "Casual", "hardcore" and "lifer". (These are just my opinions; yours may vary.)

Casuals are the "I play this for fun, but I do other things for fun as well; one isn't really more important than the other, or at least not much more important" category. Generally the kind of player who isn't too upset if s/he misses weekly things, like loot drops or challenge log entries or elite hunt bills... Because there's always next week.

Hardcore players are those who prioritize game time over other kinds of fun things, because they care really much about some aspect of the game. This doesn't have to be raiding or getting the latest and shiniest loot. It could also be collecting glamour equipment, levelling all classes to max, getting all the relic zetas, crafting really tricky crafts, fishing up that reluctant fish... Or anything else you might be focused on. They still do the things they need to do IRL, whether it be work, girlfriend/boyfriend/family time, household chores, but their main "fun" is playing the game.

And then there are the lifers, who (IMO) run the greatest risk of the game becoming an obsession. This is where you find the people who play an average of 10-12 hours or more per day. Whether it's because they're unemployed, skip sleep hours, don't care much for IRL socializing or something else, they cut down on "non-game" time as much as they possibly can.


Of course, all of these terms (in my eyes, again), do not say anything about the respective gamers' skill or 'eliteness'. A lifer can do high-end raiding four times a week, or just putter about for hours coming up with their next glamour outfits for all their jobs/classes... And a casual gamer might spend their limited time in the game reaching those high-end raids and focusing on doing only that.

[saber_alter]

Never in a serious light, OP.

I usually have worse insults thrown at me however.

[keepitshay]

Never been called a casual, but i have been called a scrub healer for not being able to keep up the heals with a full 2nd half of the dungeon pull on AST with two monks as the DPS. (Copperbell HM, pull included the slimes at the end).

In short: i ran out of MP because AST doesnt have anything like divine seal or a quicker MP refresher like Aetherflow and energy drain. And yes i did draw ewer and used it on myself and bole on tank since it was on spread. I was low on mp before pull.

This happened to me yesterday on SCH. In Copperbell too. It was a dark knight and he pulled the second half and he melted. I used Shadow Flare and lustrated him 3 times and within a second he was back down to 1k health. At the end of the pull, he's like "lol did i break line of sight??" And started saying that it would have went fine if I had used sacred soil..... Like 10% mitigation isn't going to help if you literally died within seconds.

[ApolloOphion]

Well that first response aside.

I haven't had what happened to Edwin happen to me yet. Though I've possibly had almost a whole party (in a light party) give up after wiping 2-3 times against Nidhogg. (where I do notice I am his AoE bait as with all the other bosses that AoE) I think the tank stayed and the Healer and DPS went probably due to rage quit.

I hate giving up after 2-3 wipes it makes no sense.

[FrejyaAthenes]

To continue on the discussion regarding what casual and hardcore mean... I'd say there are three tiers actually "Casual", "hardcore" and "lifer". (These are just my opinions; yours may vary.)

Casuals are the "I play this for fun, but I do other things for fun as well; one isn't really more important than the other, or at least not much more important" category. Generally the kind of player who isn't too upset if s/he misses weekly things, like loot drops or challenge log entries or elite hunt bills... Because there's always next week.

Hardcore players are those who prioritize game time over other kinds of fun things, because they care really much about some aspect of the game. This doesn't have to be raiding or getting the latest and shiniest loot. It could also be collecting glamour equipment, levelling all classes to max, getting all the relic zetas, crafting really tricky crafts, fishing up that reluctant fish... Or anything else you might be focused on. They still do the things they need to do IRL, whether it be work, girlfriend/boyfriend/family time, household chores, but their main "fun" is playing the game.

And then there are the lifers, who (IMO) run the greatest risk of the game becoming an obsession. This is where you find the people who play an average of 10-12 hours or more per day. Whether it's because they're unemployed, skip sleep hours, don't care much for IRL socializing or something else, they cut down on "non-game" time as much as they possibly can.


Of course, all of these terms (in my eyes, again), do not say anything about the respective gamers' skill or 'eliteness'. A lifer can do high-end raiding four times a week, or just putter about for hours coming up with their next glamour outfits for all their jobs/classes... And a casual gamer might spend their limited time in the game reaching those high-end raids and focusing on doing only that.

I've always been more of a producer.

In all seriousness that may be the most in-depth description between the two (or three) that I've seen on this forum.

[Keylus]

I am casual and I am not ashamed.

[Izsha]

I think that people who get offended by casual take the game too seriously.

Fixed.

/10char

[Ayuhra]

Honestly at this point in time I think the line between Casual and Hardcore is arbitrary. You yourself have to decide where to draw it.

I love videogames. I eat, breathe, and sleep them. I've spend probably years of my life playing them. I've played many different franchises and genres. I have a Master's Degree in game design from a prestigious university. I have been working at a game company for years making games, some of which a few of you may have even played.

And yet I see myself as casual. My love and passion for the medium is as hardcore as anything can be but I call myself casual from an awareness of limits, and those limits are not dictated by my skill but my stamina. In FFXIV I will never be tackling Alexander Savage with a static bent on world firsts.... I probably won't tackle it with a static at all. My schedule is too insane and there are days I just don't feel like playing. In my age my tiny, carpal tunnel ridden wrists are also incapable of the twitch reflexes they once had.

For a while when I played WoW I considered myself hardcore. I showed up to regular raiding nights with a cutting edge group and threw myself against bosses like the Lich King. I was one of the best hunters on my server and my druid healer was always desired by people for clearing content as well. But those days are behind me, I'm spent.

I'm not interested in being best of the best, but in doing as well as I can in the content I do. Is there anything wrong with wanting to achieve greatness in a game? Nope. Is there anything wrong with going a slower speed and learning things as you go? Nope. And I'm not sure raw skill divides those camps. Content consumption does, and the way in which one chooses to do it.

[kanjitai]

I don't think being casual is a bad thing. Just because someone is doesn't mean they don't know how to play their job.

[Kallera]

I don't remember being called it before. But it's no insult to me. If anything, this game taught me that the hardcore life is not for me. No matter how involved I get, I am competing against college students and high schoolers. I might become more skilled, but they will always have more time and more reason to spend said time.

So i have other things, including some that make money, and some that fulfills me personally.