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tarheel91 on 03 September 2008
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Picko said:
tarheel91 said:
Picko said:
Squilliam said:

My Take

Based off a little web research and my own thoughts, hardcore; by my own definition is defined as an intensity of pursuit of any activity above and beyond what is typically average. It is not a definition of how well someone plays, but how someone goes about playing. The hardcore is always a minority by definition. Many people tend to use the word hardcore with the real intention of defining enthusiasts.

This is really all that needs to be said regarding what defines "hardcore" gamers. How it could be anything else is quite simply beyond me.

 

 

I guess basic definitions are beyond you.

enthusiast -

  1. One who is filled with enthusiasm; one who is ardently absorbed in an interest or pursuit: a baseball enthusiast.
  2. A zealot; a fanatic.

hardcore -

  1. The most dedicated, unfailingly loyal faction of a group or organization: the hard core of the separatist movement.
  2. An intractable core or nucleus of a society, especially one that is stubbornly resistant to improvement or change.

Now, do you think "an intensity of pursuit of any activity above and beyond what is typically average" is closer to "One who is filled with enthusiasm; one who is ardently absorbed in an interest or pursuit" or "An intractable core or nucleus of a society, especially one that is stubbornly resistant to improvement or change?"

See how his definition doesn't relate to the actual definition of hardcore at all?

 

Oh I see what you did there, you failed high school comprehension.

Clearly, his definition fulfills both (1) and (2) of the "enthusiast" and (1) of the "hardcore" definition. The intensity of a pursuit above normal levels is highly correlated to loyalty towards that said pursuit. It is probably also worth pointing that language is more a fluid concept than a stable one, definitions and language change and develop over time with words gaining new meanings. This is easily seen by the fact that dictionaries are regularly and routinely edited.

What you should've done is left out that first definition of "hardcore" and you might've got away with your silly post. But alas you just didn't think that far ahead ... maybe next time ...

(1) Even if we accept your assertion that loyalty is correlated to enthusiasm, that doesn't suddenly make them mean the same thing.  Happiness and peace of mind are usually directly related, but does that make them the same?  Hardly.  The fact of the matter is, happiness is possible without peace of mind and vice versa.  No matter how much you want it to be loyalty != enthusiasm.  The two words even talk about different things.  Loyalty is related to staying faithful or committed even under adversity.  Without some form of trial, it's hard to prove loyalty.  Enthusiasm, on the other hand, simply means that you devote a large amount of time and energy going after something.  There's no difficulty involved.  Ironic that you should mention high school comprehension, I just got my scores back from AP tests in May.  My AP English score was, ironically, a 5.

(2)I agree that language changes over time.  However, what is happening here isn't a shift from one definition to another or even the word taking on a new meaning.  It's all of these individuals trying to come up with this group (different for each individual) and then saying that hardcore defines it.  Each person's definition is different, and for communication purposes, that doesn't work.  Let's look at this existentially, and hopefully you can see the issue with this situation.  If everyone in the world had different meanings for the same words, would communication be possible?  Quite simply, no.

(3)Finally, I have no need to use disception in my argument.  There certainly is a hardcore group of people devoted to gaming who fulfill that first definition.  They defend games when they come under fire from media, argue against their peers, teachers, or whoever about why video games are good.  No matter what happens, they stay committed to gaming because they are hardcore (first definition).