Hardcore / Casual MMO players

[That Ninja]

     The idea of casual and hardcore players may cross several different types of games; I wanted to talk about the sides in MMO’s.
     The only real introduction I’ve had to either side is in World of Warcraft so I will talk from that point, though I have friends who have played / play other MMOs to either side.
     I think that if I asked every person on my server what was a hardcore player and what was casual player, you would probably get about 1000 different answers from everyone.  So I will put forward my definition of what is a casual and what is hardcore.  A casual player is one that may log on once a day (or not), play around a little, perhaps run and instance, and overall just do whatever they feel like doing, be that do some quests, run an instance or two, or just talk to some friends / guild mates and log off.  A hardcore player is (to me) a player that logs on every day no matter what with the distinct idea of what that session will entail, and treats the game more as a job then a game.  Hardcore players tend to raid as much as possible and when something does not go their way, tend to be the first to “freak out.”
     I have played on both ends of the spectrum.  When I first started playing at level cap (then level 60) I wanted to raid as much as possible, so I attached myself with a guild that had the same mindset.  I would be on every day after I got home from school till I ate dinner (which I usually begrudged because it meant less time to play), then went right back to my computer until late at night.  I regularly had about 4 – 5 hours of sleep a night simply because I thought that was the only way to remain top dog.  I obtained every item I wanted, and saw every bit of content, but at personal cost of grades and a lively social life.  This was just my experience, and please understand that I am not saying all hardcore players are like this (also I now understand and look back and think how stupid I was to devote the better part of my junior / senior year of high school to a silly game).
     Now after the first expansion came out, I developed a different mindset, with college coming up and seeing that I had a less then great social network I decided to cut back playing to about two hours a night at most.  Since then I have decided to play less and less, but when I do I have fun.  Go figure, playing a game to have fun rather than getting stressed out when we wipe on some dragon for hours on end.
     And yes I understand that now WoW is now one of the most casual friendly MMOs out there, but it works for me.  
     So, with all that said, and a bit too much with the ranting and talking about myself (go go narcissism), as far as MMOs go, do you feel yourself more of a hardcore player, or a more casual one?

[Navarre]

During the times I have played an MMO, or even a self-contained local game, I have definitely been a casual player. I simply prefer to interact with real people.

There are nuances to communication and personality that are always lost in an online communication, no matter how realistic it might seem. I enjoy the nuances of people more than the excitement of the game itself.

[morpheus11]

I don't play MMOs but I can give you my ideas of the difference between Hardcore and Casual players.

The biggest difference that I see is that hardcore players need to play at every opportunity and casual players don't need to play at all.  Also, hardcore players look to master every aspect of the game they are playing while casual players are content with just having fun.

At one point in my life I considered myself a hardcore gamer.  I played at everyone moment that I could even if that ended up being 10-15 minutes.  But, as I got older other things became a priority; first it was my wife and my job, and recently my son has taken up my time.  So, now I am lucky if I get an hour a day.  But, there are some games that I still consider myself hardcore b/c I want to be perfect at every aspect.  The last game that did that to me was Civilization 4.  That was before my son was born and it took my computer to stop working for me to step back and realize what that game had done to me. 

I think a great video game whether an MMO or not can bring out the hardcore gamer in any casual player. 

[Gaumer]

I'm a hardcore MMOer. But I'm addicted, and I haven't played an MMO in almost 4 years. I was logging more than 40 hours a week in WoW, more than at my job. Eating in front of the computer, sleeping maybe 3 hours a day, and totally ignoring my friends and family. I quit cold-turkey and haven't played since. I still miss it sometimes when I'm sitting around bored but I get over it, it's a drug I just can't handle.

[Tog511]

i like to think i come from a new time  and age where i can be both  a hybrid if you will. At times i am constantly playing i sometimes would play for days at a time being sucked into the wow world and other times i just don't care and i drop it for a few months and then walk back into the trap of wow it really just depends on what side of the bed i wake up on.One day i grab a starwars and the next i get a newspaper i can switch mental gears quite smoothly and have no problem with it .

[Marvel2099]

I think it all depends on the game and the person playing it.  I know a mate who can play WOW all day, only stopping to work, eat and sleep. Then another mate who was introduced to WOW by the first mate, yet he only plays 2-3 hours a week at most.  However he can play games like CoD MW for hours on end. 

I personally will play some games for hours on end.  Half-Life (Seriously where is Episode 3 ), MUA 1 and 2, X-Men Legends 1 and 2, the Doom series and Quake series.  Then I have games I got for Christmas last year, Fallout 3, which I have played for about 3 hours in the last year.  Partly due to having other games to play and I have to admit not giving it enough time to decide if it's worth playing or not.   

[Tog511]

I think it all depends on the game and the person playing it.  I know a mate who can play WOW all day, only stopping to work, eat and sleep. Then another mate who was introduced to WOW by the first mate, yet he only plays 2-3 hours a week at most.  However he can play games like CoD MW for hours on end. 

I personally will play some games for hours on end.  Half-Life (Seriously where is Episode 3 ), MUA 1 and 2, X-Men Legends 1 and 2, the Doom series and Quake series.  Then I have games I got for Christmas last year, Fallout 3, which I have played for about 3 hours in the last year.  Partly due to having other games to play and I have to admit not giving it enough time to decide if it's worth playing or not.   

if you liked half life and doom i think you should really give fallout 3 a chance i thought it was okay but the idea behind it was great in the sense that it kinda brings those styles together but you just can't beat the classics

[Gaumer]

Fallout 3 had me until I beat it once.

I know, its prolly one of the most replayable games ever, and if I find the time, I will do it again.

Its a really fun game.