Define: "Casual"

Grymmoire · November 2016

Casual and hardcore gamer differences? Generally speaking this:

vs this:

Afafrenferr · November 2016

The bottom one was me tryin to complete vMA the first time.... it was bad....

Publius_Scipio · November 2016

Grymmoire wrote: »

Casual and hardcore gamer differences? Generally speaking this:

vs this:

I don't know. I would say that the top gif is also a "hardcore" gamer. It seems he has a custom gaming PC (the hardcores call it a "rig"). And It would seem he has an ESO Collector's Edition Molag Bal statue on his TV there in the background.

The second picture simply depicts the emotional instability hardcore gamers suffer from.

Doctordarkspawn · November 2016

Isellskooma wrote: »

Casuals want everything handed to them.
(Easy content)

This is the lie that people should be shamed and guildkicked for. It became a meme when darksouls became popular, now some are stupid enough to believe it.

In reality, Casuals are just the people who make the majority of the playerbase. Their typically not into the darksouls level challenge and are basicly just there to have a few beers and have some fun. Their largely capable in many areas but unwilling to sacrifice everything for the sake of success. Many of them will not do veteran trials, including myself, just because...well, they wanna run something personalized and not something Meta. Thing is, many have found ways to make weird builds work. I meta dude who ran a sorc tank build who ran a full on daedric army build. He did his job and did it well, it was just some flavor. If there was much Leeway with DPS, I think we'd see alot more.

Another circumstance is that they dont have the time to get the skills and gear required -for- the meta.

Filthy casual is a term used by so called 'elites' to sneer at others, and it's why alot of them repeatedly advocate for some content to outright be repurposed for them on a regular basis.

However, not every casual is the dingus healing -air-. Honestly most 'casual' players are just the people who play videogames for fun, the people who suck are genuinely in their own catagory. These people that popped up around Darksouls popularity hike calling others filthy casuals need to recognize they are and allways will be a minority, and their cool kids club bullcrap is something many of us dont got time for.

disintegr8 · November 2016

I think a casual player is someone who has a life (maybe a family, a job, other hobbies) outside of ESO which takes a higher priority than the game. The game is just a game to them and something they might play to fill in time between everything else in their life.

Every casual player who enjoys the game goes through a bit of a hard core phase when they start playing, just like with any new hobby or toy, where it becomes a priority in their life, but they end up returning to their normal priorities sooner rather than later.

I am not saying all hard core players do not have these outside interests at all. But at the end of the day a casual player is not going to think about choosing the game over their partner, family, friends or job, whereas a hard core gamer will definitely think about it - and maybe even choose it.

Elsonso · November 2016

newtinmpls wrote: »

Play the game in a way that will bring you enjoyment. If what you are doing is not fun - do something else.

You are talking to a person who played a single character for one thousand hours before hitting VR 16. Even though ZOS is doing their best to narrow the game play to specific (repetitive) activities and trivializing other ways to play, I will probably find some niche that provides entertainment. Right now, I am reveling in an activity that is blessed by the creators of the game: mindlessly farming bosses for world sets.

Mojmir · November 2016

If you couldn't kill doshia before the nerf.

Liofa · November 2016

Casuals are the ones who doesn't improve themselves beyond the point to clear a certain content . If they can complete a dungeon with 15k DPS , they will see it enough and won't be putting more effort into it .

This is why no one uses Group Finder . I ask you now , think of the number of times you encountered a ''tank'' who is using 2h/bow and critical rushes to the boss . They get lucky and carried by some good players and they say ''I completed X dungeon 3 times !''

You don't even need to know the definition of casual . Just look at the forums . When you see a thread saying ''I got kicked because I was using...'' , you can understand that OP is a casual .

Elsonso · November 2016

Liofa wrote: »

Casuals are the ones who doesn't improve themselves beyond the point to clear a certain content . If they can complete a dungeon with 15k DPS , they will see it enough and won't be putting more effort into it .

I think that is mostly the definition of an ESO "average player", casual or not.

Majic · November 2016

The "Casual Player" is, more than anything else, a straw man used by self-styled elitists to feel better about themselves.

Despite its popularity, evidence suggests it doesn't actually make anyone feel better about themselves.

Nyx2 · November 2016

Publius_Scipio wrote: »

Grymmoire wrote: »

Casual and hardcore gamer differences? Generally speaking this:

vs this:

I don't know. I would say that the top gif is also a "hardcore" gamer. It seems he has a custom gaming PC (the hardcores call it a "rig"). And It would seem he has an ESO Collector's Edition Molag Bal statue on his TV there in the background.

The second picture simply depicts the emotional instability hardcore gamers suffer from.

People like you are the reason why "casual" turned into an insult. And anyone describing casuals as people who play games for fun: guess what, so is everyone else.

When "hardcore players" refer to people as casuals then it's about their lack of skill / knowledge or their unwillingness to even acquire those two things. Their issues are the kind of people that stand in red and throw games because they can't put up with any challange. People that only play games in order to gain instantaneous self gratification where the concept of losing shouldn't be part of any gaming experience. These are things nobody would want to put up with so don't confuse "hardcore player" with "a$$hole". It's not just that people are being labeled that way, they call themselves casuals so the word becomes more and more associated with bad things.

When most casuals describe themselves it all becomes about time investment, that they have a job or just want fun. You can use it that way but it really doesn't say anything about you and just causes misunderstandings. Casuals could be refered to as the bulk of any game. The question is whether that bulk consists of competent players that are willing to learn and adapt. Or if they're the kind of people I just described. Only in few games this topic causes as much trouble as in ESO but people seem to love pointless fighting and the "us vs them" mentality.

Tai-Chi · November 2016

SirAndy wrote: »

Afafrenferr wrote: »

Define: "Casual"

Someone like me who plays a couple of hours a week without any pressure, perceived or otherwise.

I got 4 chars to VR16 before there was such a thing as a free CP lunch, finished all dungeons and trials multiple times over and spent some quality time in Cyrodiil.
Heck, i even won a few duels!

I also have all crafts maxed (On all 4 mains), all 9 traits researched for everything on my crafters and more mats and gear than i could ever use.
And in my spare time, i run my own Guild and maintain my resource mapping AddOn.

For me the most important part of ESO is that i still have fun playing it after more than 3 years.

Everything else is just gravy on the cake ...

GRAVY ON THE CAKE - Which recipe is that one? What are the ingredients/mats?
I thougt it was ICING ON THE CAKE.

Doctordarkspawn · November 2016

Mojmir wrote: »

If you couldn't kill doshia before the nerf.

By that logic I'm hardcore as ***.

I killed Molag Bal in first week of release, I am positively OG by that reckoning. Not on this account tho, since Zeni ate my last one. (Thank you, ISP, for eating my email adress.)

Smitch_59 · November 2016

Why do some folks feel the need to label players as "casual" or "hardcore" or whatever? They are meaningless labels anyway.

The bottom line is we all play to have fun.

Publius_Scipio · November 2016

Nyx2 wrote: »

Publius_Scipio wrote: »

Grymmoire wrote: »

Casual and hardcore gamer differences? Generally speaking this:

vs this:

I don't know. I would say that the top gif is also a "hardcore" gamer. It seems he has a custom gaming PC (the hardcores call it a "rig"). And It would seem he has an ESO Collector's Edition Molag Bal statue on his TV there in the background.

The second picture simply depicts the emotional instability hardcore gamers suffer from.

People like you are the reason why "casual" turned into an insult. And anyone describing casuals as people who play games for fun: guess what, so is everyone else.

When "hardcore players" refer to people as casuals then it's about their lack of skill / knowledge or their unwillingness to even acquire those two things. Their issues are the kind of people that stand in red and throw games because they can't put up with any challange. People that only play games in order to gain instantaneous self gratification where the concept of losing shouldn't be part of any gaming experience. These are things nobody would want to put up with so don't confuse "hardcore player" with "a$$hole". It's not just that people are being labeled that way, they call themselves casuals so the word becomes more and more associated with bad things.

When most casuals describe themselves it all becomes about time investment, that they have a job or just want fun. You can use it that way but it really doesn't say anything about you and just causes misunderstandings. Casuals could be refered to as the bulk of any game. The question is whether that bulk consists of competent players that are willing to learn and adapt. Or if they're the kind of people I just described. Only in few games this topic causes as much trouble as in ESO but people seem to love pointless fighting and the "us vs them" mentality.

I have no idea what all this means in actuality. I don't know about all this "people like you" business. I made a random game purchase back in 2003 for Xbox. It was Morrowind.

ArchMikem · November 2016

Casual gamers are people who want to experience and enjoy the game world in a manner that is pleasurable and stress free. They want to take things at a steady pace, explore and achieve things on their own time, whenever they want to do it. This may mean they won't have the most powerful characters, but their characters will still mean something to them.

Hardcore gamers go into a title immediately setting out to complete as much as they can, as quickly as they can. They spend every single minute dedicated to maximizing their status and capability in the game, hence the term "Min/Maxer". They see a game as little more than something to best, and be the best in, and if it's Multiplayer, they strive to be better than everyone else, and when they are, they tend to be obnoxious and arrogant about it, like their digital achievements give them real world authority.

Mojmir · November 2016

ArchMikem wrote: »

Casual gamers are people who want to experience and enjoy the game world in a manner that is pleasurable and stress free. They want to take things at a steady pace, explore and achieve things on their own time, whenever they want to do it. This may mean they won't have the most powerful characters, but their characters will still mean something to them.

Hardcore gamers go into a title immediately setting out to complete as much as they can, as quickly as they can. They spend every single minute dedicated to maximizing their status and capability in the game, hence the term "Min/Maxer". They see a game as little more than something to best, and be the best in, and if it's Multiplayer, they strive to be better than everyone else, and when they are, they tend to be obnoxious and arrogant about it, like their digital achievements give them real world authority.

Lol and I thought I was bitter

Elsonso · November 2016

ArchMikem wrote: »

Casual gamers are people who want to experience and enjoy the game world in a manner that is pleasurable and stress free. They want to take things at a steady pace, explore and achieve things on their own time, whenever they want to do it. This may mean they won't have the most powerful characters, but their characters will still mean something to them.

Hardcore gamers go into a title immediately setting out to complete as much as they can, as quickly as they can. They spend every single minute dedicated to maximizing their status and capability in the game, hence the term "Min/Maxer". They see a game as little more than something to best, and be the best in, and if it's Multiplayer, they strive to be better than everyone else, and when they are, they tend to be obnoxious and arrogant about it, like their digital achievements give them real world authority.

So, I was with you until you took off after those poor hard core people.

BlanketFort · November 2016

I'm a casual.
I still care a little about min/maxing, I see the meta builds more as guidelines and follow that principle. If I deviate from it to suit my playstyle, I try to weigh out the pros and cons of what I'd rather do and test if it's effective enough, so as not to be a burden to my group. I don't need the highest numbers, just good enough numbers to still allow me some leeway for build diversity, while still being able to carry my own weight in group content

I simply do my best to keep my rotation on point, avoid standing in pools of stupid, watch out for mechanics, not die, and apologise if I did.

I log in when I can, try to do some pledges, some farming runs, or quests. If I don't get it done, no problem, I'll maybe continue it tomorrow. Maybe not. Depends on how my schedule looks like, or if I'm too exhausted after work. But, generally, I am on most evenings, and almost half the day when It's my day off. I love playing the game, it's a nice break from RL stress. Or to use a boss as a punching bag after a really s*** day at work.

I'm broke/cash poor in-game. No worries, gold comes and goes. If I need some cash, I'll go loot the corpses of my fallen enemies, spit on them, then vendor off their personal items like trash, to further add insult to injury.
I enjoy the quests.
I enjoy murdering pixels. Lots of them.
I enjoy finishing group content, and if I'm playing with people from my friends list, I am then enjoying dying and, eventually, succeeding in hardmode difficulty.
I accept the challenge the game throws at me, and take a bit of pride in overcoming it. I relish victory.
I squeal with joy every time I find heavy sacks, and shiny chests.
And I rejoice the death of Bosses. Any Boss. Especially that Boss lady from vet FG2. She's a b*** and I hate her guts. Absolutely loathe her.

I definitely don't want things handed to me. I want to earn it myself, in my own pace. There's no rush for me to finish content, either dungeons or overland. I'll take my sweet time and enjoy the scenery, but I can also get down with speed runs and resisting the urge to loot every container. I'll appease my hoarding desires when questing, that's good enough.

I do content I that I can handle, and stay away from those I can't, like Trials. Maybe I'll try it someday. Or maybe I'm not cut out for it. Either way, I'll eventually get there and annoy everyone.

I'll be in PvP soon, and I'll definitely die a lot. I don't mind, I know that many players are more skilled than I. All I want is to unlock Vigor and then get the hell out

if I have to die a thousand times until I get there, then so be it. I'll gladly serve as an example of what-not-to-do. I know it isn't my forte and I can live with failing in that area. "I'm good at other things", I'll tell myself, while wearing the dunce hat, sitting in the Corner of Shame.

ArchMikem · November 2016

lordrichter wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

Casual gamers are people who want to experience and enjoy the game world in a manner that is pleasurable and stress free. They want to take things at a steady pace, explore and achieve things on their own time, whenever they want to do it. This may mean they won't have the most powerful characters, but their characters will still mean something to them.

Hardcore gamers go into a title immediately setting out to complete as much as they can, as quickly as they can. They spend every single minute dedicated to maximizing their status and capability in the game, hence the term "Min/Maxer". They see a game as little more than something to best, and be the best in, and if it's Multiplayer, they strive to be better than everyone else, and when they are, they tend to be obnoxious and arrogant about it, like their digital achievements give them real world authority.

So, I was with you until you took off after those poor hard core people.

Just stating a fact. Unfortunately the number of times the winner of a PvP fight chooses to engage in Teabagging or a mocking emote such as Digging or Laying on Side happens to be the majority of times. Rarely do I see a player honor the fallen.

disintegr8 · November 2016

I read the OP's question as more of a fun topic of discussion that to help with labeling anyone and labeling people is not ideal. There are a lot of 'casual' players who still want to learn and improve just as there are a lot of friendly 'hard core' players out there willing to give them a go and help them improve.

SteveCampsOut · November 2016

WhitePawPrints wrote: »

Easy:

Casual plays the game for fun.

Hardcore plays the game to get the best stuff and the best numbers and to be the best.

No need for long-winded explanation here.

Since I can't both click agree and awesome I had to just quote it in agreement and click Awesome!

Jeremy · November 2016

Afafrenferr wrote: »

This should be fun! Define what you think a casual player is... as in... what content you have to complete to not be a casual, amount of time in game daily/weekly, player ability, or whatever arbitrary standards you set for "casuals".

Also, let us know whether you think you are casual or not. Try not to be rude! Stick with forum rules!

There is no need to be arbitrary. These words are already defined.

To do something casually in the context of playing an MMORPG means that you do it irregularly. Casual players are not players who stay committed long-term to the game - but take frequent or long breaks. This is why companies often do away with subscription fees (which require a commitment) when trying to appeal to more casual players.

Player skill or their own individual ability as a gamer has nothing to do with it.

Wolfshead · November 2016

Isellskooma wrote: »

Casuals want everything handed to them.
(Easy content)

That is biggest lie im today a casuals player and i honest never ask for everything in this game mean everything hand to me i want to earn my things which i do. Just this weekend me and my gf spend whole day farm mats so we could craft VR 160 gear and you tell me that i want everything hand to me??

I play this game for enjoy game and have fun time with my gf and my friends when we play together and we like to exploring and finding out how things work heck we go into group content and wipe on boss just to learn how it work and you tell me that i want everything hand to me???

Just for i have life outside this game dont mean i want everything hand to me it just mean that i less time play this game which in my case mean i play mostly few hours on weekend.

You should learn that those people that whine the most is mostly the so call "hardcore" player.

keoma01 · November 2016

Casuals have less time to waste in this game because they have family and job.

Neckrend · November 2016

Casual: me.

The week has 7 days. I play 4 or 5 days a week, 2 hours each day maybe. Sometimes less but never more than that.
I dont want all handed to me for free, and I dont feel any pressure to complete x\y\z stuff.

SteveCampsOut · November 2016

Jeremy wrote: »

Afafrenferr wrote: »

This should be fun! Define what you think a casual player is... as in... what content you have to complete to not be a casual, amount of time in game daily/weekly, player ability, or whatever arbitrary standards you set for "casuals".

Also, let us know whether you think you are casual or not. Try not to be rude! Stick with forum rules!

There is no need to be arbitrary. These words are already defined.

To do something casually in the context of playing an MMORPG means that you do it irregularly. Casual players are not players who stay committed long-term to the game - but take frequent or long breaks. This is why companies often do away with subscription fees (which require a commitment) when trying to appeal to more casual players.

Player skill or their own individual ability as a gamer has nothing to do with it.

Just because you make up a definition on the fly does not mean it's a universally accepted definition. Sorry, But I've been playing since Beta, I am a casual and I don't do vet content or trials and only rarely pvp. I play for enjoyment not competition.

LaiTash · November 2016

keoma01 wrote: »

Casuals have less time to waste in this game because they have family and job.

I have both, so what? Actually most hardcore mmo players i know aren't teenagers.

LaiTash · November 2016

Wolfshead wrote: »

That is biggest lie im today a casuals player and i honest never ask for everything in this game mean everything hand to me i want to earn my things which i do. Just this weekend me and my gf spend whole day farm mats so we could craft VR 160 gear and you tell me that i want everything hand to me??

I'm sorry but getting a top tier gear in just two days is by no means hardcore.

jedtb16_ESO · November 2016

Mojmir wrote: »

If you couldn't kill doshia before the nerf.

i don't think that's right. i killed doshia before the nerf..... took me four attempts admittedly.

also it is not about having fun or the amount of time spent playing.

reading through the posts it looks like the main difference is about 'winning' (whatever that means) in term of end game content and pvp.

though if at the end of a game session i have enjoyed myself or achieved a self imposed goal i consider that a win.