What is hardcore gaming, really?
Email thisI’ve been taking some time to go back over a post a did months ago where I proposed a theory of the difference between casual and hardcore gamers. I still think quite a bit of it is relevant, but there is definitely some nuance that has appeared as I have talked about the topic with different gamers (casual and hardcore), and non-gamers.
Let me get the surprise out of the way: there are two different ways to mean the term “hardcore” when talking about the gaming community, and it relates to the gamers themselves, and to the games they play. There are hardcore gamers and casual gamers, and there are hardcore games and casual games (if we wanted to make this a completely black and white topic). There are tremendous shades of nuance here, but I think that’s what it boils down to.
First, let me stress something: the different terms of casual and hardcore do not, in any way, denote quality. They are just terms to differentiate different patterns of game playing; different behaviors that are involved with games.
Hardcore Gamers*
People have a picture in their head that hardcore gamers are the guys who sit in their mom’s basement and play World of Warcraft for hours on end. The view of the casual gamer is someone that plays Farmville/Angry Birds. Both are correct. Both are also wrong. The difficult part is that these two different games are the difference between hardcore and casual games, but the players themselves could be casual or hardcore.
Click for Original at Memebase
I maintain my previous statement that engaging with a community outside of a game is what turns someone into a hardcore gamer. What I will change about my original statement though, is that even if you do not identify as a “gamer,” you can still be a gamer. You do not have to self label to be considered part of the “gamer” community.
In addition, I think the amount of time spent playing a game does have an impact upon deciding if someone is “hardcore” or not. This number can be arbitrary and hard to really nail down, but I think it does play a role. I did not mention this in my previous post because there was no real way to measure it (without a lot of research projects and interviews). Hence, my desire to use the interaction with a larger community as the barometer of when a gamer becomes hardcore or not. Sure, it’s never black and white, there is always a lot of grey, but I think this is what being a hardcore gamer really comes down to:
1) Identifying strongly with a particular game or genre.
2) Playing that game or genre extensively.
3) Engaging extensively with a community involved with that game or genre (both inside and outside of the game).
I hear one critique screaming at me as I write this: “But social games that are casual are built around community!” True. Hence why I think you need to meet some part of all 3 rules to fall into the “hardcore gamer” category.
It’s very possible to play any type of game (including Angry Birds or Farmville) and be a hardcore gamer. It’s also possible to play hardcore games (explained below) and be a casual gamer.
*This is just me throwing ideas around, tell me if you don’t agree. I want to sort it all out.
Hardcore Games
What makes a game hardcore? Where is the line between a easy casual game like Angry Birds and a complex MMO like Guild Wars 2?
In my mind, it’s the skill required to play the game.
No, not the “omg I’m going to wtfpwnbbq you at this game” kind of skill. Or even the, “man, I suck at this game but it’s still fun” kind of skill. I’m talking about the, “how long will it take me to learn how to play this game?” type of skill. Or even the, “can I even play this game? It looks really hard.” kind of skill.
Most anyone can pick up most casual games and learn how to play them in a matter of seconds, and be entertained for hours (whether you’re a casual, hardcore, or professional gamer). Looking at the hardcore games, there is usually a tutorial of some kind, and a lot of learning that goes along with it. Keybinds being a great example. Getting used to using half a dozen (or even dozens) of skills in a keyboard, learning combos in fighting games, or using a new controller for a console requires a certain amount of skill and learning. I think this is what differentiates a hardcore game from a casual game.
Click for original from Loldwell
So, to a certain extent, I’m still talking about time spent with the game. That might be different for each individual, but how long it takes to learn a game, or how difficult it is to learn a game, is what can make the game “hardcore.”
tl-dr
Hardcore games require some learning and/or skill. Hardcore gamers have a community, identify with a community, and play a lot.
Ding! You’ve leveled up! Please see your local librarian for training.
300+ hours of Skyrim. I know where I fit on that curve.
Great article. In my mind, the “hardcore-ness” of a game is measured by the amount of dedication required before you can say you mastered all aspects of a game. So in a way, you can say it depends more on the gamer than on the game itself.
Casual games are by definition simple to play and grasp, but that doesn’t mean one can’t be a “hardcore Angry Birds gamer”, if he manages to learn how to get 3 starts with a single hit on all levels. Just because the game is casual, doesn’t mean the gamer plays is casually. There are, after all, hardcore championships for paper planes.
Yeah, exactly. Just a question: Do you have to be able to “master” a game to be a hardcore gamer? Or can you be a completely unskilled horrible player, and still be a hardcore gamer?
I also really want to watch the Paper Plane Championships now. Youtube don’t let me down!
I think you don’t need to actually “master” the game, but the dedication is the same, no matter the result. Even after playing 300 hours of Skyrim I don’t consider myself the best Skyrim player ever (I probably suck on many levels), but I did play it until I managed to “complete” the game and all (but one bugged) of its achievements. I would consider it more a matter of effort than result.
Just like Ed Wood was a “hardcore movie director” for the sheer amount of work he put into the job, despite the final result being garbage.
Oh, and do watch those. The world record ones are particularly funny.
Gotcha
Now I’m just really curious to find that threshold of time when someone transitions from “casual” to “hardcore.” Is it a set number of hours? Is it just an attitude change? Would be neat to find out.
I need to get into professional paper airplanes. Looks like fun!
Great article, as always.
I do fit your description. But I never consider myself to be hardcore (maybe I’m just in denial?).
What I consider to be hardcore gamers are the ones who are competitive and devoted. So, if you always strive to have the highest known score in Angry Birds and spend a lot of money on Angry Birds merchandise, that’s hardcore.
Thanks Skron
So just to clarify, to be hardcore, you need to be competitive with a game? Or just devoted? Or does it have to be both?
Hi Jacob,
It is nice to know we MMO players have been placed on the pinnacle of the intellectual pyramid of gamers….. Even if we had to do it ourselves.
How would you classify chess?
The rules of chess are very simple. A child can learn to play the game competently (i.e. master the rules) in a few hours. In that sense chess is a casual game.
On the other hand, chess is without a doubt the most “meta-gamed” game in history, and its strategic complexity makes it very intellectually challenging. From that perspective chess is a hard-core game.
Even then, chess and MMOs are challenging, for very different reasons. MMOs are hard because their rules are complex and hidden from the player,. Chess is challenging because its simple setup and rules gives rise to enormous play variation.
Mikkel
You bring up a good point Mikkel. And a great example as well, Chess is both very casual and very hardcore at the same time, as a game, and for the players.
I think this gets to the “grey area” I talk about, as chess (and games like “go” as well) fit into the “in between” section of the definitions.
How would you define it? I think it’s possible we need to add a “3rd category” of type of game, but i have no idea how to categorize it or what it would be called. (Part of why I made this post, to really flesh out all the ideas)
Great comment, and I really appreciate it
Now my mind has to mull it over for a while!
Hi Jacob,
I didn’t see the post where you talk about your presentation, and so didn’t realise the context for this one.
Fundamentally, I don’t think it makes sense to define what makes a player or game “hardcore” from argument. It is a predicate used very loosely, and as far as I can see says little about the subject (games or gamers), but more about the attitude of the person speaking. In that sense the two (hardcore player and game) are tautologies: hardcore games are the types of games played by hardcore gamers, and visa-versa.
I think it would be more meaningful to describe game types (e.g. genres) by “level” and type of complexity, and correlate them with player preference to find patterns of personality and game complexity.
Mikkel
You bring up a good point in terms of trying to organize games by genre (or another classification), and then by level. I think that would be good for being able to classify hardcore games. I also agree that there’s no way to really define what we’re talking about by discussing or arguing about it. I’m really just trying to get thoughts from other people and clarify how others think about the topic so that I can hopefully lay some type of groundwork for future study/research.
I will disagree with you on the statement that a hardcore gamer has to play hardcore games and vice versa. While your example of Chess was very apt and showed the grey area, there are many games I would consider “hardcore” that most people play only casually, and they don’t consider themselves hardcore gamers (WoW being a great example right now because of its ubiquitous nature).
That’s really where things start getting murky, where there are casual games played in a hardcore way, hardcore games playing in a casual way, or the middle ground of people who are both hardcore and casual gamers, and games that are hardcore and casual games.
My point is that when you say a given game is “hardcore” or “casual” you haven’t said anything descriptive about the game, since you haven’t defined hardcore and casual. You have a gut feeling for what it means, but obviously that feeling will be defined by your experience and knowledge of games. In other words it says something about your attitude to games. You can ask other gamers, what they think a hardcore game is. However, they don’t have a definition either, and so rely on their gut feeling like you. They will also reply based on their attitude.
So the argument is, then, that hardcore games have some set of properties that distinguish them from causal games. Similarly hardcore players are players with a particular set of characteristics, distinguishing them from casual gamers. Your contention is that the two are separable.
However, inherent to the definition of games, whatever set of properties you believe make a game hardcore, it must appeal to a set of players who are motivated to overcome the challenge of playing a game with those properties, to win as it were. Those players must definitionally be hardcore. On the other hand, whichever set of characteristics hardcore players have to distinguish them from casual players, there must be games with a set of properties which allows the players to excel, based on those characteristics. Definitionally those games must be hardcore.
Since whatever you think hardcore game or hardcore player means is contingent on what you understanding of games is, as opposed to some objective description of games and players, the notions of hardcore games and hardcore players are interconnected, and so whichever statement you make about hardcore games is also a statement about hardcore players, so hardcore games are the types of games played by hardcore gamers, and visa-versa.
Yes, I can definitely agree with you there. And, yes, I do not have definitions yet. That’s really what I’m looking for with these conversations, is to really figure out how people would view both words and define them from their own perspectives. (I’m also asking non-gamers, fwiw).
I think the difficult part is that we are (both of us), trying to describe a very complex issue with a vocabulary that was set up in a very colloquial fashion and use it to define a very complex issue. So, perhaps, we just need to invent a whole new set of words to define what we’re talking about, or add more words that need to be defined so that there can be a lot more nuance in the conversation, because right now it seems that we’re agreeing with each other, but the definitions and vocabulary do not quite exist for us to adequately express what we’re trying to talk about.
A truly enlightening discussion about hardcore games and hardcore players being inter-related, yet at times polar opposites of one another! …. I believe we need to find the Higgs Boson of gamers/genres to make sense of it all! the missing piece of the puzzle!
haha, I’ll put you in charge of the gamer particle accelerator Henry.