The other day in one of my streams, a viewer asked me a question, and I'll paraphrase:
Can you do a piece on the argument between what's better, casual or hardcore?
I think it'd be interesting to watch.
Casual versus Hardcore.
And which is better.
What's that supposed to mean, really?
Instead of trying to get the person to elaborate, I just started running my mouth for a minute
or two, and talked my way into something interesting that I'd like to share.
Hey it's Soul, bringing you the Word of Warcraft.
It's been a while but I'm going to talk about negativity in the World of Warcraft,
though this can apply to many different communities both inside and outside of gaming.
Specifically I'm going to talk about these two terms - Casual and Hardcore, and the formula
that takes these two kinds of gameplay styles to create a source of toxicity within WoW.
Let's draw a line in the sand and attempt to define what a Casual or Hardcore player
is in the context of WoW, and contained in this one conversation.
This essay isn't designed to build generalizations even though that's exactly what I'm about
to do.
I'm just trying to set up where this toxicity stems from.
We'll identify certain behaviors between these two classes of player.
A hardcore player is able to break down and reconstruct game systems and effectively map
out and maximize these systems for the largest possible gain.
Examples could include farming the auction house or determining the optimal raid comp
for an encounter.
They are highly skilled and possess the aptitude and mental fortitude to adapt to changes both
large and small, such as changing paradigms on flight, major buffs and nerfs or being
told to swap to other classes and roles on the fly.
In other words, they're top performers and don't complain while on the job, and a lapse
in behavior results in underperformance and other consequences.
They're highly motivated to be one of, if not the best in their field of expertise and
let nothing disturb their discipline.
They're fiercely competitive, research in and out of game, read and maybe write guides,
and participate in higher end theorycrafting.
Finally they're fully cognizant of the time and activity requirement to maintain their
desired level of performance.
Under the consideration that the goals are usually lofty, this time requirement is probably
much higher than average.
I'd like to think that this just about meets all the criteria of a hardcore player.
From being a top 100 world raider to a PvPer going to the WoW invitational to an achievement
or pet collector to a leader of a massive RP community.
I'd say all of these types of players could and should be considered to be hardcore.
A casual player basically doesn't fit within the criteria I mentioned, but we'll talk
as if the difference between casual and hardcore is black and white, night and day and so on.
By definition these players dedicate less time a hardcore player does in the same activity.
They go with the flow or play it by ear, and don't do all the math and research needed
to be at the top of their field, but maybe they do enough to help their team get by.
They may absolutely love collecting pets and roleplaying and maybe they are in fact mythic
raiders, but only have so much time in their day or so much wiping they can put up with
in a single night.
And of course some players do feel passionate about their performance but the sense of urgency,
aptitude and fast fingers just might not be there.
One attribute that the extremely casual or hardcore player shares, and this is my opinion
because I'm neither, is that they don't care what the other side thinks.
They're self identified, accept that their playstyles mean they have nothing to do with
each other, and mentally move on to other things.
So now we have some basic understanding, or at least a temporary definition of what a
hardcore player is, and the flimsy understanding that a casual player simply isn't hardcore.
But as you press the dislike button and prepare your rebuttal, I encourage you to continue
listening.
I was asked to talk about casual and hardcore players as if one is better than the other,
or carries more weight, or is more relevant to Blizzard's bottom line.
But to go in that direction isn't productive.
That adds fuel to the already burning fire and my M.O. is to bridge some sense of understanding
whether I have an opinion or not.
But this request fascinated me.
Maybe it's because I disagreed with the premise of the question but it somehow got
me thinking of why this whole hardcore/casual thing exists in all games but with WoW, it's
different.
In a way, WoW sort of polarized these communities not straight away but over time.
The World of Warcraft itself created this casual versus hardcore mentality throughout
its 12 year development.
It's permeated itself into the game pretty much from the beginning, as soon as it marketed
itself to be a more casual friendly MMO.
The design, engineering and systems know-how just wasn't there yet to make this divide
as real and tangible as it is today.
So let me explain.
Once upon a time there was a Classic WoW.
It had dungeons and raids and elements that its most dedicated players devoted themselves
to because that was the hardest content in the game at the time.
Meanwhile there was a mix of other fun stuff for other players, I guess non-raiders to
bum around with.
Meanwhile hardcore players killed their Ragnarosi and grinded their way to High Warlord at the
cost of some of their humanity.
Slowly and surely, Blizzard was building a playerbase of millions made up of three types
of player: the hardcore, high end player, the extremely casual just-hanging around player,
and the one that falls somewhere inbetween.
Guess who's the biggest group.
Times changed.
So did players and the world around the World of Warcraft.
Players of all levels became a bit more sophisticated and educated on how to play.
The addons and the Wowheads curated useful information to digest and tools to enhance
gameplay.
More players wanted to do more than farm heroic dungeons or fight for a raid spot in the few
guilds capable of progressing into Black Temple and beyond.
There was a growing audience of players who wanted to raid and PvP and could if they had
the chance, but didn't have the skill, time or leadership mentality to be a part of WoW's
most premier content.
At least not with the infrastructure that was in place at the time.
So changes and additions took place.
On the PvE side, technology was developed and modes were created to suit the audience
between the hardcore and casual.
Smaller, separate raid sizes.
Multiple raid difficulties.
Quest markers.
Queueable random matchmaking for dungeons and later, raids.
Flexible raid systems.
Personal loot.
PvE currency.
Reforging.
Pruning.
The list goes on.
The PvP side was also revamped for eager but less dedicated audiences in a slightly different
way, by making modes suitable for its hardcore audience.
Rated Battlegrounds and Arenas highlight this.
And today the barrier of entry for PvP in Legion is all but gone.
Level, find gear somewhere and get going.
Over time, Blizzard created a space for its admittedly large casual-ish audience.
Given the comical numbers the game has put out over the past 12 years, who could blame
them for wanting to retain these players?
WoW continues to brush aside incoming competition with its theme and continuing ability to capture
a massive audience.
Its success has attempted to be replicated time and time again, defining a generation
of more or less failed games that could only obtain a fraction of WoW's subscriber numbers.
The design of this generation's MMOs, with WoW at its forefront, are called theme parks,
dedicated to meeting the needs of as many players as possible, regardless of skill.
In my video essays I've stated many times in different ways that WoW has something for
everyone.
You might not like pet battling but you really like collecting transmog.
You might like raiding but not enough to put in the work required to get that killer mount
before the end of an expansion.
Fortunately there's a difficulty that probably suits you.
What's unfortunate though is that with all these game systems in place for the in between
players, the line between hardcore and casual became blurred, and that line is as thick
as the number of players who fall between the extremely hardcore or casual.
There are arguments from both camps that attempt to undermine the other.
For example, certain rewards should be exclusive for top players.
Casuals don't deserve legendaries and they don't need them anyway.
Players should have flexible mythic raids and dungeons.
LFR has got to go.
Flying should be available at all times.
Transmog should be unlocked regardless of the character that picks it up.
Reputation and Artifact Power should be account wide.
Reforging needs to return.
PvP gearing systems should return, too.
Master looter should come back.
The list, once again, goes on, but let's circle back to LFR for a moment.
Attempting to speak for them and understand, some of these players feel like some of these
game systems that they don't agree with undermine their WoW experience.
Why do some players want LFR to go away, for example?
It's probably fair to say that progression-minded players have to manage their time and avoid
doing activities that could otherwise be spent doing something else.
There was a lot of pushback some time ago when LFR felt required in order to max out
Valor points, or get chances at tier gear.
They didn't want to feel required to farm a raid in this or other lesser difficulties
in order to have peace of mind with their viability in their preferred difficulty of
raiding.
The complaint is valid but the level of scope was limited to the the social requirements
set by themselves, or by guild and pug leaders.
Despite this, going into LFR is as easy as pushing a few buttons, and completing it is,
in so few words, quick and easy.
On the flip side, an artifact weapon skin requires a certain amount of organized raiding
in order to complete a questline needed to complete it.
I could say that this is easy too, but I'm a raid leader.
Hardly fair.
Completing this questline for someone who doesn't normally participate in organized
raiding or any activity outside of their norm is, in so few words, harder.
Where toxicity happens is when these two kinds of players meet in the same space to find
validation for their grievances.
Instead of people trying to understand the others' viewpoints though, forums light
up over arguments over whose complaint is more valid.
Make your own group, one would say.
Don't do content you don't like doing, the other would say.
They have differences when it comes to doing content they prefer not to do or are less
than capable of doing, but share the fact that the content itself is otherwise similar.
This scenario wouldn't exist if say, there was only one difficulty of raiding.
But that doesn't resolve the problem the more casual player has; in fact it possibly
locks raiding out for that player altogether.
If that were the case, and creating multiple difficulties of raiding wasn't the answer,
Blizzard would create X activity for the more casual player to participate in instead.
But then to make X activity attractive, an appropriate reward should come from it, something
comparable to the work done but nice enough to make the player feel okay that they don't
raid.
Then the more hardcore player takes notice and starts carrying on about how now they
feel pressured to do X content.
Thus this whole cycle is renewed.
Or we end up with multiple difficulties of content as we have presently.
Finally, it's more like an observation but there no current systems in WoW that lock
players out of content because they perform different content.
The old 10 and 25 man raiding paradigms come to mind.
In Legion's example, players aren't restricted to be either a Mythic raider or a high end
Keystone dungeon runner.
They can be both.
I'll repeat my opinion, but the actual extreme sides of casual and hardcore players aren't
nearly as affected as those in the middle of the road.
These players are less likely to take part in general forums and either stick to their
smaller sub communities or don't communicate at all.
They're too focused on just playing the game their own way, don't try to push their
opinions on others, and don't care to listen to others push their opinions on them.
WoW is a product that, if it could, would serve the population of Earth, for better
or worse.
It's that paradigm that brings players together semi-organically, and is a game that is inclusive
not to the hardcore nor the casual, but to the gamer.
This melting pot of playstyles has had mixed results; sometimes forming bonds between people
who would otherwise never meet, but sometimes polarizing different player types.
What's more important, casual or hardcore?
I spoke for myself but if I had to guess what Blizzard's answer would be, I think I know
what it is.
Yes.
Share your thoughts, and Stay Breezy.
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