Andir said:
Bodhesatva said:
Andir said:
Bodhesatva said:
Andir said:
Personally, I think it boils down to the amount of time you will sit per session and play. I think casual games are the quick and dirty, less than an hour (maybe upwards of two, but most likely little puzzle games.) Whereas, the hardcore gamer is someone that dedicates a large portion of their week to gaming. This could be in the form of 2-3 hours (or more) on week nights and 6-8+ on Saturday and Sunday (averaging about 20+ hours a week) MMO players could very easily be placed in the hardcore territory mostly since they pay to play most of the time, but also because of the time needed. There are, however, those that play MMOs that I place in the casual realm simply by the play time per week. But when you talk about MMOs, your treading a very gray line. |
MMOs have got to be the most hardcorest of hardcore by your definition. I don't understand how it can be viewed as gray? The whole point of MMOs is to spend more time. The more time you spend, the more powerful your character becomes. I don't know of any genre that gets people who play 10+ hours a day consistently the way MMOs can. There's a reason why the terms "Evercrack" and "World of Warcrack" came into existance. |
I would agree if it were for Everquest alone, but WoW has opened MMOs to those with only an hour or so a night. Sure, there are those that spend more, but in WoW you can actually be a casual gamer and still play it. You aren't going to be real famous with the guilds or have the top tier equipment, but as a casual gamer your most likely not going to really care about that. The game is simple enough to pick up and play in tiny amounts without requiring heavy play times. I know alot of people that I would consider casual that wouldn't dare pick up EQ, EQ2, etc. because of the almost required heavy online time (time sinks), but they feel perfectly happy with WoW since they can play it easily (really no time sinks, and the skills in game are not that tough to figure out and with all the interface add-ons the game virtually plays itself.) They also don't need to spend a lot of time on it. My Boss is a prime example of someone interested in games, but doesn't want something that takes hours a night to play. He logs into WoW about 3 times a week. I'd consider him casual and an MMO player. |
What game CAN'T you play for an hour a night? I'm playing Resident Evil 4 that way right now. I know you can do the same for Gears of War... Honestly, WoW just takes it from "super, retardedly hardcore" to "very hardcore." I just think it's odd to say: "This game can technically be played an hour a night, even if most people play it more. Therefore, it's not hardcore." By that definition, there are no games of any kind that are hardcore. |
I'm not going to argue with you on this as it's my personal opinion (as evident by the first word I posted) vs your personal opinion. Simply put, I think hardcore gaming and time of play are a direct correlation of each other. The thread is not about hardcore games vs hardcore gamers. You could theoretically play any game in 15 minutes and turn it off, but your not going to get the most of of some games by doing that. |
I understand you're opinion, and you're welcome to that definition. And by that definition, MMOs are the most hardcore, as people play them the most of any genre.
Again, not arguing with your actual definition -- it's a reasonable one, even if it's not mine -- just arguing with the conclusions you draw from that definition. I personally do not think that MMOs are the most hardcore: I think that is either competitive FPS or RTS play, because my definition of hardcore is different. I'm just saying -- if you use your definition, no genre is more hardcore, because no genre is more heavily played than MMOs. It would be much like saying: "I think casual gamers are people who play very little, in short bursts. Therefore, I think tetris/puzzle style games are not very casual, because people tend to play them in long sessions," when I think we could both agree that they are the ultimate example of games that can be played in short bursts.
Similarly, MMOs are the ultimate example of a genre that lends itself to consistent, prolonged play. The currency in MMOs is time, and the more time you spend, the better your character gets, almost entirely independant of the player's skill level.
Have you played many MMOs much? I'm sorry, it just seems like such an odd comment that I'm a little fixated on it. Again, saying that MMOs don't take up much time is much like saying Survival Horror doesn't have much violence or Puzzle games take hours to complete or First Person Shooters don't lend themselves to professional play. Violence is at the core of survival horror, First Person Shooters dominate Professional Gaming (along with RTS), and MMOs are the most time consuming games in existance.
