by OL » Wed Sep 19, 2012 6:44 pm
Well neither of your posts were there when I started typing either.
So suck on this!
(no, it's not that great)
There are people who like difficulty and challenge, there are people who like to just enjoy themselves without developing blisters, and there are people who like all of the above.
I think the main problem with the terms "hardcore" and "casual" is that not everyone agrees on what they mean.
You're using "hardcore" to imply one who plays games specifically for difficulty and challenge, but that's not the only meaning the term can take on.
If I had to use a classification of any kind, I could probably call myself "hardcore," but for different reasons entirely. I love videogaming. I love all different kinds of games for all different kinds of reason. I spend a huge amount of my time engaging in activities that involve them (whether playing them, discussing them, or researching them). It's easily my favorite style of entertainment.
There's clearly nothing "casual" about my indulgence in the medium, and yet I don't play them solely for brutal challenge.
"Hardcore gamer" would clearly be an apt description of me, and yet it's not because I spend 100 hours honing my skill on a single game. It's because my love for, knowledge of, and interest in the medium far exceeds that of the grand majority of people.
There's nothing particularly wrong with the terms; the ony problem is that not everyone agrees on a definition for them, thus they aren't quite as descriptive as they ought to be.