Feel like i'm waltzing into a minefield..

I'm not very young anymore. So i've seen Hardcore change meaning over time much as the OP outlined.

When used to describe a Game it was used to describe a high risk high reward style of gameplay. A current example would be EVE-Online. Where a loss means ship gone. and not keeping a clone updated meant skill loss on your escape pod going boom (Skills gained over RL time)

It morphed some to describe players, People who were well prepared, skilled, focused and equipped and also had great knowlage of what they were doing. And generally kicked ass.

Now its used to describe amount of time spent. However for some reason if someone spends alot of time, but isn't "Awesome" in some way they are not hardcore.

Either way i'm not a big fan of the current "definition" of hardcore floating around. When i hear hardcore i almost hear nothing because i find its current meaning says nothing to me. Skill is skill, In eve-online, we had a Corp (LS/Guild) mate who had at most 2 hours a day to play. and was still one of the best pilots i knew. Prepared, skilled, sharp. "Hardcore" Interceptor pilot.

More time means more practice, which is definately helpfull, But it doesn't equate to skill or difficulty exclusively.

Also, I'd like to comment about life and gaming. Just because a person can play alot, does NOT mean they lack a life, nor does someone who can't play alot mean they can't be skilled, or put the effort in. In my opinion when adding either claim to a post shows a level of ignorance. If it takes someone a year to finish with limited time what others did in a month, still shows effort. And the person who could do it in a month doesn't mean they lack anything else in life.

Since this discussion usually includes such blanket statements i thought i should put my thoughts about it. Because its this type of comment i find exceedingly rude.