First I want to address this casual/Hardcore BS.
In my time in EVE I explored the possibility of starting my own corp. Part of it is to set up for recruitment this included people’s dedication to the game. How many hours per day, minimum, do you want your members to be active 5 or more hours per day on average? Or is less than that acceptable.
They put an actual figure to how many hours as a minimum meant that the player was hard core or casual. They even used those terms.
I somewhat agree with this. Time spent playing is what determines the difference. Not what you spend that time in game doing. So no, farming does not mean you are a hard core player. Yes, you can be a casual player who farms.
I think it would come down to a ratio between the age of your account and time spent playing.
24/3 = 8
24/6 = 4
This is average per day and gives you the values you want to look for.
If you divide your account age by the time spent playing and you get a value of greater than 8, you are a casual gamer. If you get a value 4 to 8, you are a regular player. If you get a value of less than 4, you are a hard core player.
Note: If you get a value of 2 or less, seek help as you may have a problem. averaging 12 hours per day definitely screems addiction.
I personally see hard core or casual more along the lines of choice or preference. That is, given the amount of free time you have (that is time outside time spent on responsibilities) how much of that time is spent on gaming?
1% to 33% = Casual
34% to 66% = Average
67% to 100% = Hardcore
Not everyone’s lives are the same. Take mine. I have an 8 hour per day job. I sleep about 7 hours per night. I have shared custody of two children. When I have them, they will take up some of my free time, but they are a responsibility I have as a parent.
This places raising children under things like, making sure I eat and maitain employment, and get enough sleep.
They do not fall under things like reading a book, watching tv, or playing video games.
The point is that I’m not spending my free time looking after my kids but rather looking after my kids gives me less free time.
So that leaves every other week where I can pretty much no life it on the game outside working, sleeping, eating, and taking care of other necessities.
Compare this to someone who is a single parent and works a 12 hour shift. They will certainly have less free time. However, if they spend that entire free time they do have on the game, that to me qualifies as a hard core gamer.
As for farming itself. Well, here is the deal. You have a game that allows different styles of play but all use the same player driven economy. These different play styles will pull the economy in different directions and the problem comes when one person’s play is hindered because of another person’s play.
Think of it as people who make minimum wage living in an area where the cost of living is inflated because there are people who are pulling in wads of cash for some reason (Eg. Oil sands).
What they are doing about it is first trying to control where the farming happens (events where one group want to do the even while the other doesn’t want the even completed and so they are stepping on each other’s toes), and they are reducing the reward (reducing the pay so the cost of living can go down).
If two people put in 3 hours of play where one person ran dungeons and the other farmed the same dozen mobs in one location, I don’t think that the person farming should make 3 or 4 times what the dungeon runner makes. I also don’t think the opposite either. They should be pretty much on par. This keeps the economy even for everyone regardless on play style.
Oh and spare me the nonsense. Of course someone who can get through the same dungeon in half the time will end up with twice the profit over the same 3 hours.
But I hope I’ll get one, too. I bought gems in the past and would love to have some new pets as well <3