In any case, I think hardcore is a word that hardly applies to how I play. I pretty much am just on for raids now, so my play time is a lot less than many “casuals.” I guess I am a raid-centric player?

I might add “achiever” to your rubric. There are folks that want to complete all the game’s tasks. While I might think ooh! I want to unlock the new dailies for the Argent Crusade, I just won’t do it very quickly.

I’d be medium to high on all of your categories but low on achiever.

On the social part, I tend to gravitate towards 10s as my preferred bracket of raiding. Mostly, that’s due towards skill. I love my guild and guildies, but for some reason, we’re having a terrible time on 25s. People just don’t listen to the raid leaders or pay attention, don’t show up prepared, sign up for the raid but then don’t show, etc.

Even our 10 man progression group is having problems, but that’s more due to real life issues popping up. Still, it’s rather frustrating. I love challenges, but I’m stuck at the moment…

Now maybe raids are getting so much easier a player who’d like to see all the content will not have to learn how to play his class correctly to actually see it. I mean i saw a druid healer with 71 points in resto and 24 stam gems in his blue sockets, and he was ulduar 10/25 geared … /Cry

Our guild just went thru this same discussion.

We classify ourselves as a “casual raiding guild” to eliminate alot of the griping that goes on.
We do not post “requirements” for players to have to participate but only ask that you participate when available.

As I have seen before in other areas of the gaming industry the WoW clientel is getting older now that they game has been out a few years. The needs of these people are now different than previously. They have less time to devote because of real life which leads to changes & a definitly more casual atmosphere.

Hardcore players & guilds are still there to get their firsts & BiS gear but the casuals are gaining on them fast. Even “Hard mode” achievements are being accomplished by casual players. Even some PUGs.

IMO the only thing seperating Hardcore & Casuals is simply time. The amount of time put in to accomplish any task/quest/achievement, etc be it hardcore or casual is roughly the same.

So what it comes down to is how fast do you or anyone else want to reach your goal & how much game time does Blizz think a player will need to reach that goal.

How soon will a player who plays 30-40 hrs a week run out of things to do & want new content.

How many PVP events is a player willing to continously do without other new content?

How many different toons is a player willing to bring up to that same point with no regard to the attachment to each toon.

Too many thoughts .. I’ll stop my babling now.

I see what you mean about wanting something to strive for and something that sets you apart, but making raids more accessible makes sense from a design perspective. Why design content that only a small percentage of the player-base is going to see? If raiding weren’t as easy as it is, it would make more sense to develop solo content like the Argent Crusade than to make more raids, if only so that more players will see it. I think hard modes have the right idea; let every see the same content while giving high-challenge players something special just for them. Unfortunately, I don’t raid, so I can’t say whether or not they are cutting it.

And, BTW, with achievements, you do have something to aspire to that sets you apart: the 310% speed mounts. Ride one of those bad boys and people will know that you have accomplished something special.

“I get tired of the “casuals are ruining the game” and “hardcores just want Blizzard to give them special treatment” garbage that gets thrown around.”

People just like to look for excuses as to why they aren’t enjoying the game as much as they want to. Metaphorically, it’s easier to blame a fellow diner than to bite the hand that feeds you, so “hard core” players blame casuals for dumbing the game down and “casuals” blame hard core players for making the game inaccessible. Truth be told, I think the game is definitely geared towards the casuals now, and while that is a good thing in raids, I don’t think it’s a good thing outside of them… but that’s another topic.