Dodece said:
@johnlucas
I have to disagree with you my friend. Speaking as someone who was a dedicated MMO player for many years. I can truthfully attest to the fact that yes these two groups do exist. That particular genre due to its size and nature can support both groups. I can also attest to the fact that they want dramatically different things, and that there is even a degree of racism. Yes hardcore gamers look down on casual gamers.
I would also say that most people in this thread that say they are hardcore are hardly core, or barely beyond casual. Ironically most hardcore players will actually brag about how hardcore they are right after they say they are hardcore. They will tell you stories of their exploits. Among their favorites are play sessions. Warning to the wise anything under fifteen hours straight is pathetic. Hardcore games seem to love to binge.
Casual players on the other hand seem to be more well casual. I have seen casual players literally go hard over decorating a in game house, or will freely confess that they turned down the difficulty, or even went to find a guide for the first level of a game.
I know you want to adapt a Wii philosophy to all of gaming, but its simply not true. You cannot just jam these two groups together unless you allow for ample room, and more importantly the consequence is you create a shitty experience for both. You make a game easy for casual players to grasp, and the hardcore players feel insulted. You make the game deep enough to satisfy the hardcore, and the casuals get confused and quit. There is no middle ground here it has been tried, and its not really there unless your looking for a short term experience.
I have seen too many hardcore gamers go on tirades about care bears. I know how serious many in that particular segment take their gaming. Which might be lost on casual gamers, but it is there, and its a fire that burns as hot as the sun.
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And I'm gonna hafta disagree with you there.
You may in fact call ME a "hardcore gamer". At the same time you can look at me as a "casual gamer".
I'm the kind of guy who is loathe to look at hintbooks and prefer figuring out the challenge by trial and error myself in the game. I played those reflex-intensive games of 80s and 90s and mastered styles and techniques to win the game. Oh my God you shoulda seen me play Bayou Billy back in the day. I had it down to a science! I beat that bastard too! Tricks too. Used to really get into doing tricks.
I can sit literally hours at a time playing games. Lose whole days playing. Virtual days not an absolute 24 hours. I don't harm my body trying to play a game. But I HAVE fallen asleep playing games before especially RPGs. I'm a completionist and am always digging around for that hidden adventure or aspect in the game left for the extra curious to follow. And I like to challenge the hard difficulties.
The fact that I sit up talking about gaming history and typing about games online at all shows my "hardcoreness". Though I'm not a PC Gamer I remember being intrigued by the PC games of the early 90s when they made appearances on consoles and for a while wanted a computer to play those unique games like a Civilization or a Command and Conquer or a Populous or a Sim City 2000 or what have you.
I spend lots of money every generation buying up games and accessories. Critically acclaimed games that might not sell as well commercially. I collect loads of titles from used game stores. And when I buy them I insist on original instruction book to be in there to make it feel complete. Always intrigued by game concept first and then with style of interface and how it's implemented. And I don't play game series out of sequence if I can help it. I refused to play Metroid Prime 3 until I beat Metroid Prime 2. Likewise I will not start on Super Paper Mario until I finish Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door.
I play gritty violent "mature" games with realistically illustrated designs and dealing with graphic subject matter. I would play an AO game if it was available (and worth the quality of course). I am delighted at times with complex button inputs in the control scheme especially when creatively used. I like the challenge of using a complex control where I used my index & thumbs to act out a move. To omit a certain button while pressing the others. And I was a master of the fast button press tapping multiple times in a second.
But at the same time I also play less frequently than I used to due to occupation with other things in life or due to lack of interest in any game that day, sometimes even technology in general. There are some days when I don't even fiddle with my computer leaving it off all day. I play family friendly fare and cartoony illustrated and cute titles. I buy some license tie-ins if I'm interested in the license. I don't care so much about bits and specs and all that tech talk with numerous numbers and letters. I'm not one to camp out at launch for hours on end (though I at first wish I had when Wii launched). I'm not a graphics fiend and am more interested in the overall aesthetic based on the type of game it is.
At times I don't want to memorize an overly complex set of controls (like in fighting games to memorize all the moves and combos). And sometimes I want games with as minimal button interaction as possible. Press one big button to say yes, the other to say no, or use a stylus (when I finally get my DS). I won't pay beyond $200 for a game system (Wii's the exception). Sometimes I buy a game purely based on its boxcover art (this paid off in dividends when I did this in 94 with SNES Shadowrun. LOVED that game. Bought it blind. No reviews and not even prior knowledge of game or the game's origins.) I love those flash/java/etc games on computer like Text Twist, Alchemy, Hexic, & Lemonade Stand. I don't particularly follow game ratings or reviews
So what does that make me? Harcasual? Cazcore? Hardcore turning Casualese, I think I'm turning Casualese, I really think so? What?
John Lucas
