Are most players in the middle?

[SecretIsland]

There's recently been a lot of debate on whether the game should cater towards hardcore players or casual players.

I found this pie chart that gives an idea of the composition of player "styles".

(source)

The definition of "focused" in that survey is a player who "values the game and achieves goals within it quite highly". By this definition it definitely does not seem like they're casuals since they're hunting for achievements. But since they did not respond with "hardcore" they are probably not playing the game as much as hardcore players. I think this probably means that most people see themselves as somewhere in the middle. A silent majority, if you will :P

I'm curious what "focused" players do in this game though. If you would describe yourself as a "focused" player, what activities do you enjoy in the game? Do you do a bit of both hardcore and casual activities? Or are you as the name suggests, more focused on a specific part of the game that may be neither considered as hardcore nor considered as casual? I definitely look forward to hearing everyone's way of playing this game, since it seems that they're not particularly well-represented by the loud minorities on this forum!

[Dzian]

That charts quite old (2017) but I also find it questionable because really what the hell is the difference between a "dedicated casual" and a "focussed" player? or a focussed player and mid core?

or even the difference between a pleb and a very casual player..

But a player who dedicates a lot of there time to crafting and a player who focusses on crafting are the same thing.

[SecretIsland]

That charts quite old (2017) but I also find it questionable because really what the hell is the difference between a "dedicated casual" and a "focussed" player? or a focussed player and mid core?

or even the difference between a pleb and a very casual player..

But a player who dedicates a lot of there time to crafting and a player who focusses on crafting are the same thing.

Well, I'm guessing it's different types of focus. A dedicated casual focuses on casual content, a midcore player focuses on hardcore content, and a focused player on everything else?

[Dzian]

Well, I'm guessing it's different types of focus. A dedicated casual focuses on casual content, a midcore player focuses on hardcore content, and a focused player on everything else?

If that was the case the chart should emphasise types of content over player style..

You have players for example who may basically only raid log. So where do you put them? If they're only logging in to raid and are only playing 4 or 5 hours a week that's pretty "casual."

If they're only interested in raiding that's pretty "focused". Or even "dedicated", wouldn't you say?

If they're knocking out Savage you might even label that "Hardcore".. being the top level content in the game (bar ultimate)

The same player then falls into so many of those categories that the terminology is far to broad to be considered accurate imo.

[Jeeqbit]

Most people are focused on their specific interests or casual, and there is a partial crossover in these two things. There are some hardcore players that do everything the moment it's available and you will see them all together the moment resets happen and right when a patch comes out. Because they play so much they will be the first ones to queue for all the new things, usually with their glowing relic weapons on display to show you just how much time they invest.

A lot of people are focused not by choice, but because they are forced to be, because they are still getting through the main story and there are parts of the game they can't actually do yet and plenty of things at the lower levels distract them from it, like glamour or the gold saucer.

[Ralph2449]

It highly depends on the definition really, if focused is something between hardcore and casual it could make sense but again what defines casual and hardcore to begin with, different people have very different definitions for each.

When i play an mmorpg I could be described as both since I enjoy most forms of content including higher end content but it never reaches to the level of obsession we see in some tryhard metaslaves, I am doing high end content to experience it and for fun, not because my ego depends on clearing it asap.

[QooEr]

You have players for example who may basically only raid log. So where do you put them. F they're only logging into raid and only playing 4 or 5 hours a week that's pretty casual.

this is my biggest issue with the word "casual", not just in this game but in any game. casual is such a vague term with often contradictory definitions. casual should be about time and effort invested into the game, not the skill level or content someone does

what even is "casual content" anyways? where does "casual" end? dungeons? *deep* dungeons? extreme trials? ...crafting? (ishgard rankings were anything but casual)

so yeah, if OP wants any meaningful information or discussion, the poll should use more objective criteria, such as how many hours a day/week they play, how many days/year theyre subbed, what content they do and with what frequency, what goals they might have in the game


in any case, most people ARE in the middle. thats just how statistics work

[Dzian]

this is my biggest issue with the word "casual", not just in this game but in any game. casual is such a vague term with often contradictory definitions. casual should be about time and effort invested into the game, not the skill level or content someone does

what even is "casual content" anyways? where does "casual" end? dungeons? *deep* dungeons? extreme trials? ...crafting? (ishgard rankings were anything but casual)

i was going to put something like this in my post to be honest as i wholy agree.

People look at the word "casual" and see the word "easy" which is an all to common mistake. people who play gaems casually still like challenges and stuff.

making content "casual friendly" should simply mean making it accessible, not making it easy... Savage raiding for example is very casual friendy content. (in theory at least) log in when you have an hour or 2. queue the raidfinder and go..
You can see this on the JP side as its a very successful tool. but over here in the west its a totally different story.

but thats a player issue not a content one.

[Catwho]

I don't consider myself hardcore, because I don't participate in world first races and I don't do current tier savage prog because I genuinely dislike it. (I'm doing a very very slow prog through Eden Savage with a casual group, one lockout a week, and we're picking our way through E7S right now. Yay, I finally learned how to aim the teleports!) And I don't do ultimates.

I do, however, chase down achievements like they were actual money. I love racking up the equivalent of a high score. I also collect relics and anima weapons because they're pretty! By the definition of this chart, I'm focused, but I'm most definitely not hardcore. I pace myself, and I don't play until I'm sick. I just put in a few hours daily picking my way toward a goal.

[Xatsh]

Have to agree it depends 100% on the definition. As what is hardcore and what is casual has changed drastically over time, and depending on which mmo you came from it was completely different. For example FFXI hardcore was waking up at 3am on a work day to camp a dragon for 3hrs, then log in after work to do 5-6hrs of guild events 7 days a week with mandatory attendance policies from the guild. I have seen other say hardcore is all about mentality and how you manage your time. I seen others equate hardcore as those who can beat the hardest content in the game.

Personally I would say it is a combination of the 3. (Overall playtime, difficulty of content you focus on, and Mindset in general)

1) Cannot be hardcore and play 5-10hrs a week, I do not care if you are clearing the hardest content every week in that time... that is still a casual play schedule in terms of time. (Personally I would say < 20hrs of weekly playtime = casual, 20-34 hrs a week is mid-core, 35hrs + is hardcore)

2) Cannot be hardcore and only do the easy, insta-win, fluff content. Since that is 100% designed for the casual player base. (Top tier progression = hardcore content, content with massive time gating that requires a huge investment in time is hardcore, while fluff and achievement hunting are casual centric content typically)

3) You are not hardcore if the game is not a priority in your life. (Hardcores schedule as much of their RL around the game as possible.. aka thier class/job schedule around raids and things such as that. Midcores schedule stuff on specific days typically. Casuals log in when ever without a set schedule when they have the free time and nothing going on in RL. Hardcores play to maximize progression of both themselves and team/guild... casual just play the game for fun with no true focus and progression comes when it comes.)


I would say the games player base is highly highly skewed into the casual spectrum as ffxiv is one of if not the most casual focused AAA mmos out there. And I would say 95%+ of the games playerbase is casual or at most midcore simply because the game requires you to be. By Yoshida's own admission this is not a game you are suppose to no-life. You are suppose to take break when you run out of content. You cannot 50hrs week+ endgame progression in this game for more then a few weeks before you burn thorough 100% of the content.

As for the chart, what the hell is focused? In my eyes you are Casual, Mid-Core, or Hardcore. Never heard anyone call anyone a Focused MMO player before. Focused I guess could fit in any category depending on what you are focused on.