Player Classification

[Kaedys]

I have tended to find that one's definitions of hardcore/midcore/casual depends to a large extent on what one thinks of themself as, and what level of content they see as their "ideal content". It's basically the MMO version of the "everyone driving slower than my is an idiot, everyone driving faster than me is crazy" effect you see in many people on the road. That's why definitions in just this thread have ranged from midcore starting at normal trials up through midcore even including all of savage raiding. Most people think of themselves as being in one of those groups, and define the primary content they enjoy as being that level of content, and define the other groups in relations to that.

Personally, I tend to define the difference based on how people allocate time for the game. A person for which this game dominates all other leisure activities, for which they schedule any other leisure activities, if any, around the game, is closer to the hardcore end of that spectrum. A person that plays the game when they happen to have the time and are in the mood is towards the casual end. Midcore is somewhere in the middle, where the game is a noteworthy leisure activity for them, but not to the point of their other leisure activities being oriented and scheduled around the game.

There's also the "how much work are you willing to put in" bit. The more time and effort you're willing to put in to get better at the game, to achieve goals that are difficult rather than merely time-consuming, the more likely you're on the more hardcore end of that spectrum. One of the relatively defining traits of a casual player is that they tend to approach the game with a "good enough" mentality when it comes to optimization, gameplay skill, and similar. And as before, midcore is an amorphous blob somewhere between the two.