Casual versus Hardcore
It’s a debate that has been around since the beginning. Is someone a casual or hardcore player? What does that mean?
Confusingly some players use this to compare how much time they play instead of how they play. This leads to phrases like ‘Hardcore Casual Player’ or ‘Casual Hardcore Player’. Some players even use it as an insult or compliment, depending on if they want to point out how good someone is or how little real life they have.
I am going to use Casual and Hardcore to describe how you play. And I’ll use Daily, Regular, or Occasional for how often you play. For example, someone who plays everyday but isn’t playing to ‘win’ is a casual daily player. Someone who plays to win but does not play often would be a hardcore occasional player.
If you play less than 10 hours a week I am going to label you an Occasional player. If you play 10-20 hours a week then you are a regular player. If you play more than 20 hours you have to play almost every day. You are a daily player. The majority of people play less than 20 hours a week. Looking at some older numbers from the Daedalus project each group is roughly a third of the players. Note that the surveys used are self selected and likely under represent Occasional players.
| Hours/Week | Percentage | |
| Occasional | <10 | 26% |
| Regular | 10-20 | 33% |
| Daily | 20+ | 41% |
What is the difference between a Casual and Hardcore player? Hardcore players put all their effort into some part of the game to complete it or ‘win’. For example they may be working on a top ranked arena team, to progress through all the raids, or have the best possible gear. While Casual players may do these, they don’t spend their time optimizing or finding the best way to get there. The style of play you prefer is entirely a matter of how you like to spend your free time. Casuals can see Hardcore like real life work when you are supposed to be playing a game. While Hardcode can see Casual play as aimless or a waste of time.
If you define Hardcore as visiting forums daily then more surveys tell us that roughly a third of players are Hardcore, a third are Casual, and the rest are somewhere in between which we will call Dedicated. Again these are self selected which means they likely skew towards Hardcore and misrepresent the players that don’t care to answer surveys.
| Percentage | |
| Casual | 30% |
| Dedicated | 34% |
| Hardcore | 36% |
But this is not a particularly good definition of Hardcore. Since there is no easy way to define who is Hardcore and who Casual, let’s take a look at some indications you might be a Hardcore.
- you spend almost as much time outside the game researching than you do playing
- you know the preferred stats for your class, in order, and their relative worth
- you have a loot list, prioritized for what you need and where the next item is
- you use different sets of gear for different boss fights, in the same instance
- drain strat and burn strat in arena means something to you
- instead of reading quest text, you look up where to go in a database
- you know what the changes are in the next patch, before it arrives
Using these as a guideline, the majority of players are likely casual. But since Hardcore players tend to also be the majority of daily players the perceived balance is more even.
No matter which group you find yourself in, Hardcore or Casual, keep in mind neither is better. It’s about what you enjoy in the game. If you are Casual watch out for the snake’s promises. And if you are Hardcore, don’t bite too deeply into the apple and get the seeds.
Tags: debate
Author: aos
“It about what you enjoy in the game. If you are Casual watch out for the snake’s promises. And if you are Hardcore, don’t bite too deeply into the apple and get the seeds.”—
Very well put…another excellent post aos
Thanks Sean, these terms seem to get abused so much that half the time no one knows what the other person means. Even stranger, I have heard the same player alternately describe themselves as Casual or Hardcore depending on the conversation, time of day, or more than likely the perceived troll that might be throwing the word at them.
I like your analysis, Aos–and the line Sean quoted.
The other term I’ve (seen) used is “dedicated.” But even that can be ambiguous. I play every day, usually from 6 or 7pm to 11pm, and more on Sat/Sunday. But I don’t raid; rarely do instances. Lately, lots of BGs. So I consider myself something more than “casual”; “dedicated” works. (Some might say addicted, but I’ve been there/done that, so I know the difference.)
Let’s take someone we’re all familiar with: BigRedKitty. Hardcore? Perhaps. Dedicated? Foshizzle.
In the end, I think trying to attach labels is trying to oversimplify, and after all is said, those labels are still somewhat ambiguous.
There are many that I would call Hardcore rather than Dedicated even if they don’t raid or do instances. For example,
- Leveling up to max without killing any creatures or without armor and weapons.
- Getting exhalted with all the factions.
- Build a network of game friends so large that they use software to keep track of interactions with them.
- Or even finding and doing every quest in the game.
And most importantly,
- Anyone who has a blog about the game! I am looking at you Kestrel and Sean.
In any case, I do like the term Dedicated. Thanks Kestrel. It has a positive connotation to it. And well represents the people between Casual and Hardcore. I replaced Intermediate with Dedicated.
Perhaps another definition of Hardcore and Casual would be if your time outside the game is partially dictated by the game, then you are Hardcore. But if you only think about the game when you play it, then your Casual.