Guild Wars 2

The terms “casual” and “hardcore” come up quite a fair number of times in most discussions on these forums and others for gaming in general. What do these terms mean to you as a GW2 player? Keep in mind that these terms are by and large subjective titles so try not to point out internet or book definitions, but rather what these terms mean to you. Also try to keep it constructive and try not to tear other people down for their interpretation of these terms.

For me, it depends on how much you care about the game x how much time you are willing to devote.

i.e.
One can play a lot, but doesn’t really care if they get legendaries or if they win at WvW etc – Casual
One can play infrequently, and they care a lot. All they ever do is farm for their legendary or fight to be top of the charts – Casual
One can play infrequently and not really care – Very casual

One can play a lot and care a lot – Hardcore

killcannon.2576:

The term “casual” and “hardcore” come up quite a fair number of times in most discussions on these forums and others for gaming in general. What do these terms mean to you as a GW2 player? Keep in mind that these terms are by and large subjective titles so try not to point out internet or book definitions, but rather what these terms mean to you. Also try to keep it constructive and try not to tear other people down for their interpretation of these terms.

I’m casual. I don’t have a schedule for anything in the game. I only play when I have time.

I would say hardcore are those players who average 6+hours playing per day…

I consider myself casual, play 1-4 hrs average per day…

Jemmi.6058:

For me, it depends on how much you care about the game x how much time you are willing to devote.

i.e.
One can play a lot, but doesn’t really care if they get legendaries or if they win at WvW etc – Casual
One can play infrequently, and they care a lot. All they ever do is farm for their legendary or fight to be top of the charts – Casual
One can play infrequently and not really care – Very casual

One can play a lot and care a lot – Hardcore

Just going to chime in here on hardcore.

I don’t believe that extended play periods = hardcore. I’ve known casuals who played 12+ hours per day and have nothing to show for in game. While people in a hardcore guild may only spend very few hours in game per week and constantly have something to show for.

If anything, I see it as goal driven play style.

Hardcore: “I’d like to achieve x-y-z by Tuesday”.
Casual: “I’ll get there someday, no rush”.

Nappychappy.7046:

Jemmi.6058:

For me, it depends on how much you care about the game x how much time you are willing to devote.

i.e.
One can play a lot, but doesn’t really care if they get legendaries or if they win at WvW etc – Casual
One can play infrequently, and they care a lot. All they ever do is farm for their legendary or fight to be top of the charts – Casual
One can play infrequently and not really care – Very casual

One can play a lot and care a lot – Hardcore

Just going to chime in here on hardcore.

I don’t believe that extended play periods = hardcore. I’ve known casuals who played 12+ hours per day and have nothing to show for in game. While people in a hardcore guild may only spend very few hours in game per week and constantly have something to show for.

If anything, I see it as goal driven play style.

Hardcore: “I’d like to achieve x-y-z by Tuesday”.
Casual: “I’ll get there someday, no rush”.

I totally agree. I said that it is time AND how much you care. My 2nd example was lengthy playtimes but a casual player.

Hardcore – the ones who don’t play for fun
Casual – ME

I take hardcore to mean how much metagaming you do.

For, say, Starcraft, this might mean spending every moment you’re not actually playing the game, watching replays, watching twitch.tv streams, and hashing out theory with colleagues.

With MMORPGs, I interpret is as things like raid involvement. Since there are no raids in GW2, I consider the “hardcore” to be someone who gets involved in guild memberships, schedules events and then doesn’t flake on them, etc. Or anyone who tries to do any amount of cat herding in WvWvW, you have to be pretty hardcore for that.

I tend not to like “casual” as a term. When someone says it, they tend to be implying “I have more of a life than you” rather than trying to communicate any useful information or interesting opinions.

I would have to say casual means non directed play. The player goes wherever the whim takes him/her. So hardcore would be more focused on specific goals, such as a specific set of dungeon armor or getting a legendary. I wouldn’t count the number of hours played per day or week.

Casual = someone that enjoys the world and can stop and smell the flowers.
Hardcore = the player that tramples the flowers on the way to the next shiney.

Casual – Someone who do is not devoted to a game; and therefore, typically does not take the time to delve into harder or more complex modes of said game.

Hardcore – Someone who is devoted to a game, in particular, to doing difficult or more complex content.

Time available to play does not figure in to any of my definitions.

darkace.8925:

Casual = It’s all about the journey.
Hardcore = It’s all about the destination.

Pretty much nailed it (in my opinion).

Casual doesn’t mean you don’t have a lot of time to play. It just means you like to relax while you play and enjoy the scenery. You’re not in a rush to get the best gear or hit max level, you move at your own pace and play whenever you feel like it. You’re a relaxed player and just enjoy the journey.

But that also doesn’t mean they don’t like the hardcore content. They will get to it in time, but at their own pace. And if an opportunity arises to join in on some, they won’t turn it down. But it’s not something they rush to do at a moment’s notice.

They take their time, relax, and just enjoy the moment.

Hardcore = Hobby.
Casual = Pastime.

darkace.8925:

Casual = It’s all about the journey.
Hardcore = It’s all about the destination.

This. /thread, as far as I’m concerned.

I play more than 6 hours a day and i’m far from hardcore

To me casual is playing the game to enjoy myself with a bunch of friends, anything i deem too much work to me is hardcore…

Legendary grind
Fotm
Repetitive Dungeons running
Anything involving Lodestones…

They all feel hardcore to me, i ignore them 99%..

Some are saying that casuals don’t play for the destination. Is that the same as saying that casual players may not have any goals set for themselves while they play? And do hardcore players only do things that further whatever goal they have set themselves? Are there only two play types or are there people who fit into the middle?

I’m sure lots of folks fit in the middle.

To me ‘casual’ means “Of course I’ll help you learn how to play the game”. Whereas ‘hardcore’ means “Kitten off I’m far too busy!”

Hardcore : a nolife that plays more than me.
Casual : a noob that plays less than me.

All is in the eye of the beholder.

My boyfriend calls me hardcore, because I’m active on the forums, collect every scrap of GW2 news and information I can find and our friends usually come to me first with questions about game mechanics or advice about classes.

But I only play about 10 hours a week. Tops. I don’t have the time or energy to play more than that. Legendaries are so far beyond me, I’m not even thinking about working for one, even though getting Bolt is awefully tempting.

He, on the other hand, plays 2-3 hours a day in the weekdays and more in the weekends. He has just finished setting up a teamspeak server for the entire server. He is halfway to his Bolt. He calls himself casual.

I call us both casual. We do both have some “hardcore” elements – he in the amount he plays and the energy he puts into the community, and me because of my information gathering ticks. But sometimes when we do a dungeon run together and we happen to play with one of them speedrushers who gets anxious because the run isnt going fast enough, we are reminded that we are casual

In my opinion, casual players are the ones who don’t let the game become another job or addiction, and who are able to have fun regardless of rewards. Hardcores are people who use the game as a substitution for whatever it is they are missing in their real lives. And because of that, they throw themselves in the game with such a passion and fervor that they tend to burn out all the faster. They are the ones who cannot stand being “inferior” (however they define that) to anyone, even though the difference may be so small it doesnt really matter in the first place.

Casual— for fun only
Hardcore— for fun and competitiveness

As typically used:
Casual— Stoopid noobs that know less than you about the game, and thus shouldn’t comment on how the game should be run as you know better than those foolish peasants that can’t generate a thought. These braindead scum can’t even dodge in a fight, and obviously their lack of ability to complete such easy content means that they must fail at life and should remove themselves from the gene pool asap while they try to chase the next shiny game in their 3 second attention span.

Hardcore— Stupid no lifers that need to get a job and do something more productive to society than playing a video game. (Like complaining on a forum) If only you played as much as them, you’d be just as good if not 10x better, however you are too busy making millions and having sexual relations with people of your choice every night. Thus, such social rejects shouldn’t be allowed to comment on how the game is run either such obviously their muscles have atrophied to a point where their perception of reality has changed so much that they are too detached from the real world.

This whole game is casual. There isn’t anything in this game that relates to what I would consider hardcore in any other MMO.

No player run cities that can be burned to the ground? Casual.
Nothing but scripted boss encounters? Casual.
No gear checks? Casual.
No PvP depth? Casual.
No PvE depth? Casual.

Thank god casual and hardcore don’t relate to having fun though as I’m very much a hardcore gamer and I’m having a blast with this game (sometimes). I can only imagine how much more fun I’d be having if I weren’t a Ranger and Warrior :/

EDIT:

I thought it over. Let’s just put our eyes away from videogames and try to figure out what’s a hardcore thing to do.

Fact 1/ Running the 10 miles isn’t that hardcore. Anyone could do so with a bit of training.
Fact 2/ Running the 10 miles on a daily basis, 7 days a week, would be very hardcore.
Conclusion/ Running 10 miles still only takes about 90 minutes … So imho spending 90 minutes daily on any game such as running or Guild Wars 2 would be pretty hardcore, while doing so sporadically isn’t that much of problem.

It’s not like running has that much depth either. Put one foot in front of the other. Most people learn to do so by the time they’re 3 years old. Yet running 10 miles daily would be a rather hardcore way to spend your time.

Casual : doesn’t want challenges
Hardcore : wants challenges to overcome

Slither Shade.4782:

24hrs – 8hrs sleep (as if) – 8 hrs work – 1 hour round trip commute – 1 hour wash and eat (I hope) = 6 hours

Anything more than 3 hours per day means spending more spare time with gw2 than friends or family. At that point the gw2 relationship has passed the casual stage and become serious. When does it become hardcore? Idk but you should save the hardcore stuff for later into the relationship so you dont run out of fun stuff to do imo.

Not to mention for most people it looks more like:

24h – 9hrs sleep – 9.5hrs at work (0.5 extra and 1hrs unpaid lunch) – 1hrs trip – 1hr wash and dinner – 1hr sporting – 0.5hrs dishes/cleaning/repairing = 2hrs free time a day.
Barely enough to do a single FotM10.

Casual = Person that plays the game in the same way they use a TV or a radio. They turn it on to get what they want from it. From my experience casual players are unsocial and care very little about game mechanics.

Hardcore = Person that makes guides; video tutorials; speadsheets with data analysis; vocal on the forums about game mechanics by providing feedback on experiences. Hardcore players are the people that build the foundation of communities. In PVP they’re athletes that people practically worship and watch their videos to learn. In PVE they’re the ones that have the leadership roles since they generally have more experience and knowledge of the game.

9 hours sleep? 8 hours sleep? I haven’t had those hours since highschool. More like 3 or 4 hours of sleep! Stop being a casual!

Casual would be 1h to 3h per week(only wvw in my case).

Hardcore are the people, that are already living more time in tyria then in this planet…

To me, a hardcore player regularly plays for long blocks of time that can be exclusively dedicated to the game. This allows them to grind fractals, do hour long dungeon runs, etc.

Everyone else is casual.

darkace.8925:

Casual = It’s all about the journey.
Hardcore = It’s all about the destination.

Yes.

SpyderArachnid.5619:

darkace.8925:

Casual = It’s all about the journey.
Hardcore = It’s all about the destination.

Pretty much nailed it (in my opinion).

Casual doesn’t mean you don’t have a lot of time to play. It just means you like to relax while you play and enjoy the scenery. You’re not in a rush to get the best gear or hit max level, you move at your own pace and play whenever you feel like it. You’re a relaxed player and just enjoy the journey.

But that also doesn’t mean they don’t like the hardcore content. They will get to it in time, but at their own pace. And if an opportunity arises to join in on some, they won’t turn it down. But it’s not something they rush to do at a moment’s notice.

They take their time, relax, and just enjoy the moment.

Thank you, I’m smiling cause now I don’t feel so all alone.

I remember my “hardcore” friend rushing through the game first week, getting that title “Been there, done that.” A bigger mis-statement there never was.

So now the hardcore are crying there isn’t enough “end content.” Oh well.

Atherakhia.4086:

This whole game is casual. There isn’t anything in this game that relates to what I would consider hardcore in any other MMO.

No player run cities that can be burned to the ground? Casual.
Nothing but scripted boss encounters? Casual.
No gear checks? Casual.
No PvP depth? Casual.
No PvE depth? Casual.

Thank god casual and hardcore don’t relate to having fun though as I’m very much a hardcore gamer and I’m having a blast with this game (sometimes). I can only imagine how much more fun I’d be having if I weren’t a Ranger and Warrior :/

Legendary grind? Hardcore

GW2 is mostly a casual game though.

Most of being hardcore involves investment. Hardcore is subjective like “good” or "bad are subjective, but if someone cares a bunch about the game, plays all the time, gets a load of ascended stuff, world completion, farms often for gold and legendary they’re probably hardcore.

darkace.8925:

Casual = It’s all about the journey.
Hardcore = It’s all about the destination.

Mark Twain would have been proud of you. Best short definition I have ever seen.

Calae.1738:

Casual = Person that plays the game in the same way they use a TV or a radio. They turn it on to get what they want from it. From my experience casual players are unsocial and care very little about game mechanics.

Why would you call someone who spends the majority of his day in the real world “unsocial”. I’m pretty sure these casuals can carry their RL social skills into the game world. Most casuals do talk in game you know, that’s because most gamers are casual, and most people ingame talk. Somewhere they must overlap.

On the other hand, I always feel elitists don’t talk because they expect everyone to know the flavor of the month exploits. Pretty annoying doing a dungeon 2 days after patch day and being kicked for not standing in the red circle because it’s bugged, not rushing through mobs that one-shot me. Ye … very communicative.

Tosha Daydreamer.9251:

My boyfriend calls me hardcore, because I’m active on the forums, collect every scrap of GW2 news and information I can find and our friends usually come to me first with questions about game mechanics or advice about classes.

But I only play about 10 hours a week. Tops. I don’t have the time or energy to play more than that. Legendaries are so far beyond me, I’m not even thinking about working for one, even though getting Bolt is awefully tempting.

He, on the other hand, plays 2-3 hours a day in the weekdays and more in the weekends. He has just finished setting up a teamspeak server for the entire server. He is halfway to his Bolt. He calls himself casual.

I call us both casual. We do both have some “hardcore” elements – he in the amount he plays and the energy he puts into the community, and me because of my information gathering ticks. But sometimes when we do a dungeon run together and we happen to play with one of them speedrushers who gets anxious because the run isnt going fast enough, we are reminded that we are casual

In my opinion, casual players are the ones who don’t let the game become another job or addiction, and who are able to have fun regardless of rewards. Hardcores are people who use the game as a substitution for whatever it is they are missing in their real lives. And because of that, they throw themselves in the game with such a passion and fervor that they tend to burn out all the faster. They are the ones who cannot stand being “inferior” (however they define that) to anyone, even though the difference may be so small it doesnt really matter in the first place.

False on many levels , first of all GW2 is a casual MMO we need to set this straight first then we can continue , everyone should know this by now if they have even a small mmo history background.

Being a hardcore gamer usually means that set player / group of people play games for money , have sponsors , they live and breathe the games they play hence the notion “Play Hard , Go Pro” – MLG hint for ya’ll.

It’s a dying age for hardcore/pro gamers anyway since the community and the new generation wants everything served on a silver platter with no effort whatsoever you can call it “The Entitled Generation” if you will.

So the word “hardcore” shouldn’t be thrown out like that

Casual has nothing to do with challenge, skill or anything – people just like to give terms the meaning they want (think of the word “noob” and its improper application).
What casual really means is a person playing the game in bits.

For instance since last patch I’ve been playing maybe 6 hours/week, but before that I accumulated 1600 hours, thousands of kills/ascended gear, I love challenge etc.
Aka I’ve been playing casually.

Calae.1738:

Casual = Person that plays the game in the same way they use a TV or a radio. They turn it on to get what they want from it. From my experience casual players are unsocial and care very little about game mechanics.

Hardcore = Person that makes guides; video tutorials; speadsheets with data analysis; vocal on the forums about game mechanics by providing feedback on experiences. Hardcore players are the people that build the foundation of communities. In PVP they’re athletes that people practically worship and watch their videos to learn. In PVE they’re the ones that have the leadership roles since they generally have more experience and knowledge of the game.

Unfortunately, being hardcore often correlates with being an elitist dork. So, while often “casual” is used in a disparaging context, I consider core gamers to be much more unpleasant und unsocial very often. You can clearly see that in the PvP subforums, many people there are just egocentric and selfish. Casuals aren’t “unsocial” just because they don’t care about how things work. They don’t want to spend their little time on “doing the math”, they’re actually playing the game and most of them are very helpful. Just because they don’t consider a video game rocket science like some others, that doesn’t mean they’re not focussed.

offence.4726:

Being a hardcore gamer usually means that set player / group of people play games for money , have sponsors , they live and breathe the games they play hence the notion “Play Hard , Go Pro” – MLG hint for ya’ll.

It’s a dying age for hardcore/pro gamers anyway since the community and the new generation wants everything served on a silver platter with no effort whatsoever you can call it “The Entitled Generation” if you will.

That’s like saying everyone who doesn’t play soccer like Beckhamm or Ronaldo is a casual football player. Everyone who doesn’t earn money like Michael Jordan to be a casual Basketball player and anyone not winning like Kasparov being a casual chess player. That’s just nonsense.

Most players never play for money nor have sponsorships. These players don’t want everything on a silver platter and neither are they entitled. The only thing they ask is to have achievable goals for the vast majority of players, and an even playing field in pvp.

I consider myself a casual player. I have been playing since BWE2 but haven’t logged 1000hrs, I’ve logged about 350. I enjoy most aspects of the game (can’t get into WvW) but don’t force myself to shoot for #1 ranking. I like jumping puzzles but don’t need to 100% complete them. I’ll never have a legendary weapon. I take my time playing through the storyline, waste money on dyes cuz I wanna look cool (even if I don’t have a legendary or hard-to-acquire armor), and constantly roll alts. I don’t have much gold, never will be able to afford a pre-cursor. I read and post on the forums. I enjoy the game, but don’t feel the need to define myself by my in-game status.

The important thing is having fun.

As far as “hardcore”, I’d say the definition is someone who plays more than two hours per day, wears a diaper so they don’t have to pee during the game and someone who knows – to the minute – when big bosses spawn.

Oh, and if everyone in-game knows you, you are definitely “hardcore”.