Shamoozal.com - Smorgas Board

Here's a pretty good article on Hardcore vs. Casual, and trying to define them. The comments section really expands on the definitions. A good read.

http://www.nerfbat.com/2007/03/20/definition-wars-hardcore-vs-casual/

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Welcome to my life Steve, and yea most people are idiots.

I rank 'Hardcore' right up there with 'Shizzle' for words that are beneficial to society.

I'm hoping we all hate 'Shizzle', else I might just have to kill myself for a change of pace instead of demanding the deaths of others.

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Well, this article is mainly talking about MMOs. Also, the assumption is that the game wasn't boring to begin with, but you got tired of it. So, NO, you don't have to play a game through to completion, they are just saying that a hardcore gamer would give a game they enjoyed more of a chance to redeem itself if it slowed down. You seem really hostile towards the entire idea; even if you are a casual gamer, which I'm not saying you are, is that so bad?

I think there are a lot of interesting ideas in the comments, and it definitely feeds baltar's stance that it's too complicated to just call someone Hardcore or Casual. Read the comments to see how far they break it down. It's ridiculous.

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born again hardcore.

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Swear to me.

I actually do agree with his assessment of hardcore and casual

"Hardcore Gamer: A player who is willing–and usually desires–to delve into the intricacies of a game, and who strives to meet his or her goals actively.

Casual Gamer: A player who generally does not desire to delve into the intricacies of a game, and who strives to meet his or her goals passively."

But he's missing qualifier. One can be hardcore in a particular way while another can be hardcore another way. Example, I'd have to say Phil is pretty hardcore about retro gaming and game restoration. Where as I am not. However, I am much more hardcore about Street Fighter than Phil is. So I think it's best to just remove the words "of a game" and the word "gamer" from his definition. So the generalized version would be.

"Hardcore: A person who is willing–and usually desires–to delve into the intricacies of anything, and who strives to meet his or her goals actively.

Casual: A player who generally does not desire to delve into the intricacies of anything, and who strives to meet his or her goals passively."

So this can apply to anything, whether it be career, music, sports, or video games.

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"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. "

It's that 'of anything' bit that really bothers me.

I mean I absolutely agree with you, and that's 100% where the big all-encompassing definition for the word would come into play.

But I think once you say 'anything' you leave enough openings for anyone to be 'hardcore' in some aspect of video game playing or experiencing.

The other problem that I didn't realize I had until I got thinking about it, is that the modified word 'gamer' doesn't really say a whole lot either, I mean what the hell is a gamer? Does it have to be someone who plays videogames or just someone who loves videogames? I mean a nascar fan doesn't have to be a person who races nascars, they just have to enjoy the whole overall experience of the thing.

I mean I would call myself a gamer, and I hardly get to play games anymore, I do what I can in terms of reading reviews, and keeping up with the news but I don't have the time or the money to devote to it right now.

So maybe a Gamer is just someone who is 'passionate about videogames' and then when you take Russel's defined modifier 'Hardcore' that opens up avenues for being passionate about a whole slew of different videogame aspects and allows you to create a whole set of goals etc. for yourself to pursue.

Then again if the term 'Gamer' already denotes a person who is passionate about games then why even need to use the word hardcore? It seems that being a gamer should be good enough.

Now my fucking brain hurts.

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Yeah, but saying hardcore means they take their enjoyment of whatever thing we are describing to extremes. Far beyond what the normal person would do. I honestly don't think any of us fall into that category, we just love games. I'm gonna have to agree with you that we all may be hardcore in some aspect or another when it comes to games, but I think calling yourself a hardcore gamer would mean that you approach everything about games with that ferocity.

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That is exactly my point, you can't be hardcore at something so general as gaming because gaming encompasses too much. You need to make it more specific. And anyone can be hardcore at one specific aspect of gaming but not hardcore in another aspect. Example, hardcore Madden player does not equate to hardcore FPS player. I guess hardcore gamer is just the union of all things hardcore dealing with video games whether it be video poker, mahjong, Warcraft, or Halo 3. These are just the subsets of what is a hardcore gamer. But to be hardcore, a person needs to be willing–and usually desires–to delve into the intricacies said area, and strives to meet his or her goals actively.

Nascar fan != Nascar driver. You can be a hardcore fan but it doesn't mean you participate in the sport.

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"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. "

There is nothing Casual about this thread.

I'm glad Russel gets it. If we really start approaching everyone who excels at one certain part of gaming as hardcore, the word loses meaning. The only people I would consider hardcore gamers are ones that approach every game the same way; like a manimal. Their enjoyment comes from taking apart a game and learning it back and forth. This can entail watching videos, reading guides, and lots of playing time.

There is no other way for these people. All I was trying to say is if that's how they want to play, good for them. As long as they don't act like they are better than other game players, I don't have an issue with them calling themselves that.

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And it's those people that dedicate all their efforts into a game that you want to consult should you want to take competitive gaming to the next level. They are there for a purpose. The cool ones will help you. The assholes will just call you noob and leave it at that. They know all the secrets, they hold all the keys.

And on a, uh, personal note sir, I'd just like to add, uh, that ever since I was kidnapped by aliens ten years ago, I've been dyin' for some payback. Just want you know that, uh, I won't let you down.

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"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. "

Yea I know nascar fan !- nascar driver, I was just using it to illustrate a point.

And I have to agree with Nick to a degree. I think if you're going to call yourself a hardcore gamer you should at least stipulate what aspect of gaming you're hardcore about.

I don't mind people saying "I'm a hardcore Half-Life gamer" that makes complete sense to me, and I can understand now what they're using the word hardcore to emphasize.

And as mentioned by pretty much everyone on this board, the real problem comes when you start using the term to denote some elitist stance.

I think throughout this thread we've really hammered the shit out of 'hardcore' and have come up with a way of approaching it that everyone can be happy with. I think if Steve or Phil wanted to bring this up tomorrow it might be best to just sort of pick out what our end result definition is and maybe highlight some of the better quotes from the last 2 or so pages.

I'm happy with the definition we came up with if you guys are.

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You're not hardcore unless you're...

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"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. "

hahahaha

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Bwahahaha! Nice one Casse!

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Whatever happened to saying, Man I really like that game I play it all the time.

I never once called myself hardcore at a game. People these days are just fucking mutants, and you can take THAT to the bank.

If I'm offending anyone, eat my shitty underware.

Dude I'm with you. For some reason people want to defend their right to say stupid shit though.

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What, were you raped by a hardcore gamer as a child? I don't get all the animosity. The only place I hear people say that kind of stuff at all is on the internet anyway. Who the fuck cares?

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I hear it all the goddamn time. Said by all manner of idiots.

And just because something is on the internet doesn't make it less stupid.

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Being mad at someone for being a braggart is one thing, but it's not the word that's at fault, it's the context. If you are hanging out in places where people all brag about how l33t and hardcore they are, maybe you should consider a change of scenery then.

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I always considered "casual" players as the ones who walked into a store and picked up a game that looked fun. No reading reviews, no looking at the publisher, no nothing. Just see a game that piques their interest and buys it.
And as such I just assumed "core" was everyone else.

oh and there was way too much text in the thread and I only skimmed it, so i'm not sure what everyone else said already.

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- Oh, great. You killed the invisible swordsman!
-- He's dead, all right.
--- How was I supposed to know where he was?
- You were supposed to fire up. _We_ both fired _up_.

You're probably better off

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so n-igger is a totally fine word as long as it's used in the proper context I guess?

Once a word comes into a common convention that is stupid or insulting it can't redeem itself.

And for a change of scenery I'd have to go to the moon, every city on this planet it filled with idiots.

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Tell me what would be the proper context for using n-gger? Please. If you really think that hardcore has the same power, you are fucked in the head.

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Jim has been called a Pirate by a worker in Gamestop hahaha

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