Are most players in the middle?

[Kaurhz]

I find this pie chart is needless and doesn't actually represent or mean much. Asking just 687 players and trying to make it representative of anything in a community this large is just pointless. Utterly meaningless. But then I don't expect much given the labels attached to the pie chart...

In any case, the game's design should in general be focused more on the larger demographic.

[Penthea]

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)

I wouldn't trust this chart. The only people that would choose "pleb" are doing so as a joke.

I would say most players are focused casuals. And by that I mean they don't take the game too seriously but they're decent enough to be fine in normal modes, and do have goals they work towards.

[Themarvin]

Casualis a lot of things if you only play the game to play savage and ultimates, then you are a casual player.... ifyou are broad spectrum everyday player and often too much as well... then you go into the hardcore area.

[SpiritedMare]

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.

[Raelsar]

... a bit too simplistic for my tastes, we'll have to dive deeper into the details.

I prefer this one here:


And the source:
https://quanticfoundry.com/2015/12/2...g-motivations/

For a short version, there are three "primary motivation" groups:

• Action-Social (red group)
• Mastery-Achievement (blue group)
• Immersion-Creativity (yellow group)

An interesting observation is that "Mastery-Achievement" sits in the middle of the other two... and most closely corresponds to the the activities outlined by the game itself. Tasks to do, goals to achieve, how to do them, and how hard they are; all things which are pretty "tangible" in the sense they are readily identified as specific things within the game itself. As such, I like to think of it as the "game-space" where everyone from all sides of the spectrum interact.

I think the casual-hardcore divide as we know it today is actually better represented by the division between the "Immersion-Creativity" and "Action-Social" groups respectively, both of which have pretty minimal overlap... though by definition, it's actually closer to to how much they're leaning into "Mastery-Achievement" group (and how much they're into the nuts & bolts of a game as a result).

The "Action-Social" group tends to correspond more with the "hardcore" crowd, largely because of the competition and power functions. They'll quite readily get into aspects like challenge and strategy, mostly in service of the other two functions and to that end; it seems quite rare that someone is into those purely for the sake of the actual challenge and joy of figuring stuff out, it's because they want something out of it and to assert dominance using those things.

The "Immersion-Creativity" group corresponds more with the "casual" crowd... and I think they have stronger preference for solitude (don't mind interacting with people, but don't actively need to be doing so constantly). I also tend to think this is the group which prefers many of the "traditional RPG" aspects, and get a lot out of FFXIV in particular. Customization and expression are big draws, and they actually like messing around in a sandbox instead of constantly chasing something. However, I think they have a love of puzzles (strategy) and have a strong completionist instinct; this may come from the "discovery" function, which is a desire to see and understand everything they can.

... but when you really get down to it, "casual" and "hardcore" are probably more in-tune with the "Mastery-Achievement" group and getting into the nitty-gritty of the game itself. The divide we see is a misnomer, as it comes from how closely each side comes from the other two groups.

And I hope that rambling response makes sense.

[linayar]

Some definitions of casual:

- relaxed and unconcerned
- made or done without much thought or premeditation
- done or acting in a desultory way (desultory means lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm)
- done or acting without sufficient care or thoroughness

- not regular or permanent
- employed or established on a temporary or irregular basis
- (of a sexual relationship or encounter) occurring between people who are not regular or established sexual partners

- happening by chance; accidental

- without formality of style or manner, in particular (of clothing) suitable for everyday wear rather than formal occasions

In theory, all of FFXIV group PVE contents can fit many if not all those definitions (sex and clothing not applied directly, of course).

However, in practice, people's expectation (especially in the NA data center) can make them not casual, and a clear division can be seen between content that people will normally do without the use of party finder and contents that people will normally do with the use of party finder. I would consider the former to be casual content, in general, while the latter to be non-casual content, in general.

Extreme trial may be unique in that it can be difficult enough to warrant people using the party finder, but at the same time, farming mounts from it is also better with a fixed group, so a party finder is recommended either way. So maybe extreme trial content can be seen as a midway content between casual and non-casual.

Also, I use non-casual instead of hardcore because hardcore does not seem to fit well when used in comparison unless in a very specific application.

Some definitions of hardcore:

- Intensely loyal; die-hard
- Stubbornly resistant to improvement or change
- Extremely graphic or explicit

So, the only way the term "hardcore vs casual" (or vice versa) makes sense is if you define hardcore as being committed (loyal) while casual just means you're not committed (matches with doing things irregularly or temporarily). If you're raiding in a static, you're a hardcore member of the team. If you are pugging or you move around between statics, you're casual. If you're dedicated to raiding even if it means pugging, then you're a hardcore raider. If you try to raid, then take breaks often when pf fails you, then you're a casual raider.

So this applies to any content. If you're dedicated to doing roulettes every day, then you're hardcore at doing casual group PVE content.

[SecretIsland]

... a bit too simplistic for my tastes, we'll have to dive deeper into the details.

I prefer this one here:


And the source:
https://quanticfoundry.com/2015/12/2...g-motivations/

For a short version, there are three "primary motivation" groups:

• Action-Social (red group)
• Mastery-Achievement (blue group)
• Immersion-Creativity (yellow group)

An interesting observation is that "Mastery-Achievement" sits in the middle of the other two... and most closely corresponds to the the activities outlined by the game itself. Tasks to do, goals to achieve, how to do them, and how hard they are; all things which are pretty "tangible" in the sense they are readily identified as specific things within the game itself. As such, I like to think of it as the "game-space" where everyone from all sides of the spectrum interact.

I think the casual-hardcore divide as we know it today is actually better represented by the division between the "Immersion-Creativity" and "Action-Social" groups respectively, both of which have pretty minimal overlap... though by definition, it's actually closer to to how much they're leaning into "Mastery-Achievement" group (and how much they're into the nuts & bolts of a game as a result).

The "Action-Social" group tends to correspond more with the "hardcore" crowd, largely because of the competition and power functions. They'll quite readily get into aspects like challenge and strategy, mostly in service of the other two functions and to that end; it seems quite rare that someone is into those purely for the sake of the actual challenge and joy of figuring stuff out, it's because they want something out of it and to assert dominance using those things.

The "Immersion-Creativity" group corresponds more with the "casual" crowd... and I think they have stronger preference for solitude (don't mind interacting with people, but don't actively need to be doing so constantly). I also tend to think this is the group which prefers many of the "traditional RPG" aspects, and get a lot out of FFXIV in particular. Customization and expression are big draws, and they actually like messing around in a sandbox instead of constantly chasing something. However, I think they have a love of puzzles (strategy) and have a strong completionist instinct; this may come from the "discovery" function, which is a desire to see and understand everything they can.

... but when you really get down to it, "casual" and "hardcore" are probably more in-tune with the "Mastery-Achievement" group and getting into the nitty-gritty of the game itself. The divide we see is a misnomer, as it comes from how closely each side comes from the other two groups.

And I hope that rambling response makes sense.

Wow, what a neat graphic and analysis! Thanks for sharing.

[Kes13a]

for someone saying they arent a troll and not liking drama, you certainly post enough threads designed to encourage that directly.

[Shofie]

Weird pie chart, but I would wager the vast majority of the playerbase is either casual or "mid-core". There's never really a good reason to cater a game explicitly to hard core players, as they don't compromise the majority of the playerbase. Anecdotal: A lot of hard core players I know will take large breaks from the game as well periodically, and play for essentially brief, but intense bursts. This is totally fine, but not the ideal player most MMOs want to cater to. They want the casual player who is content paying a sub even if they're only playing a few times a week, versus a player who plays extensively but pauses their sub for a month or three many times in a year.

[Jirah]

Kinda feel sorry for hardcore they only have like 4 trials while everything else is for casual or hyper casual