I assume a good many people are conditioned to equate the word "hardcore" with "aggressively chasing end-game content/cutting-edge gear/world first raid clear" specifically, just because that's what that specific term has referred to in most other MMOs.

I think many would see "casual" as more "plays fewer hours a week, more for leisure than for challenge, dabbles a little bit in many/most of the game's different offerings as the mood strikes".

Thus, I would see them interpreting "focused" as "May or may not dabble a bit in other aspects of the game as a casual would, but spends the bulk of their time and energy (perhaps even as much time/energy as a "hardcore" would spend on their raiding) on one specific aspect of the game that is NOT raiding (which is why they did not choose "hardcore").

You know. These are the people who spend almost every second of their game time gathering and/or crafting. Or the ones who love playing the market above all, seeing how many of millions of gil they can amass through intelligent flipping without actually crafting or producing anything. Or the ones who do countless runs through old content to get that ONE elusive drop that would *perfectly* compliment the latest glam they've thrown together. Or they're endlessly hunting those last few rarest minions and/or mounts to complete their ALMOST FULL collection.

Just my two cents.