Hardcore vs. Casual Gamers = NO skill difference!

[Hydrated]

This article is linked on the front page of worldofwar.net and it caught my eye because of the recent threads on this forum concerning the differences between casual and hardcore gamers.

Skills and MMORPG's

This guy is expressing the same views that I hold... he just does it more eloquently than I do! I believe that the only thing keeping most casual players from obtaining the "uber-loot" in WoW is their refusal to play the game as a member of a hardcore group of players for hours on end. The PvP rewards are a great example of this phenomenon... you don't even have to be that great to move up... you just have to put in the time.

Of course there ARE exceptions to this rule. Some players do posses superior in-game skills, but those players are few and far between. And they're probably not the ones that you see decked out in their nice armor sets and such.

The author makes one point brutally clear... MMORPG's tend to reward those players who have no life outside the game. And I agree.

(I'm curious to see how long it takes for the first "You don't know 'cause you haven't killed Ony!" post to pop up!)

[Twoflower]

you dont know cause you didnt kill ony :P

well seriously, i mostly agree, on the other hand i also think it is fair, if you wanna spend 50 + hours a week in a game you may as well should be rewarded more

[Lowkey]

Originally Posted by Hydrated

This article is linked on the front page of worldofwar.net and it caught my eye because of the recent threads on this forum concerning the differences between casual and hardcore gamers.

Skills and MMORPG's

This guy is expressing the same views that I hold... he just does it more eloquently than I do! I believe that the only thing keeping most casual players from obtaining the "uber-loot" in WoW is their refusal to play the game as a member of a hardcore group of players for hours on end. The PvP rewards are a great example of this phenomenon... you don't even have to be that great to move up... you just have to put in the time.

Of course there ARE exceptions to this rule. Some players do posses superior in-game skills, but those players are few and far between. And they're probably not the ones that you see decked out in their nice armor sets and such.

The author makes one point brutally clear... MMORPG's tend to reward those players who have no life outside the game. And I agree.

(I'm curious to see how long it takes for the first "You don't know 'cause you haven't killed Ony!" post to pop up!)

I agree entirely. But, I dont think its a bad thing that those with the time to play more often get the better rewards. It would take the value away from the item if anybody could obtain it. I consider myself a casual gamer as well. Between being in the military, deployments, visiting family/friends, and hanging out on weekends, you can see that I dont always have the time to play WoW. It can often feel like we're being penelized for living our real lives, but I'm sure that those spending excessive amounts of time playing the game are lacking in certain aspects of their life too. Its just a matter of weighing in the pros and cons. I'm sure I could play a lot more WoW if I quit my job and moved back in with my mom and dad, but im not going to (they still use dial-up). So, I cant be made that I dont have the absolute best stuff.

[northernlights]

This article seems bitter and opinionated to me.

He sounds like someone who didn't have the skill to progress in a few of the games he mentions.

[220683]

I thought it was pretty obvious, especially since MMORPG companies get more $$$ the more time you play.

Of course they are going to reward you more the more time (money) you spend...

Generally, the more you do something the better you're at it. It's just how human works, there's no mystery. Now in the case of WoW, there isn't enough depth nor is there any incentive for Blizzard to reward those casual yet skilled players more than hardcore players.

So there you have it, time is money.

[Zarmon]

Originally Posted by 220683

I thought it was pretty obvious, especially since MMORPG companies get more $$$ the more time you play.

Of course they are going to reward you more the more time (money) you spend...

Generally, the more you do something the better you're at it. It's just how human works, there's no mystery. Now in the case of WoW, there isn't enough depth nor is there any incentive for Blizzard to reward those casual yet skilled players more than hardcore players.

So there you have it, time is money.

Errr... I only pay £8 a month no matter how much I play... you may want to rethink your answer

[toader]

Originally Posted by northernlights

He sounds like someone who didn't have the skill to progress in a few of the games he mentions.

Thats his whole point. It doesnt take skill to be good at these games. By skill, I think he refers to dexterity type of skills. It does take mental skill and decent thought though.

But really...WoW is not a hard game. It takes little skill to play it well. Its just very captivating and fun to do.

[tylerdurden]

Just thinking out loud and haven't thought it all the way through or anything. Really just throwing an idea out for discussion but...

Might it not be of value for Blizzard (and other MMORPG's) to offer a lower cost subscription for casual gamers who would then play on "casual" servers. Those accounts would limit a person to 15 (or so) hours of play per week? And those "casual" servers might have some other tweaks to the dynamics aimed at the casual player...

But then on those servers it might not be such a dramatic case of the person with the least life having an advantage...

[Hydrated]

Originally Posted by northernlights

This article seems bitter and opinionated to me.

He sounds like someone who didn't have the skill to progress in a few of the games he mentions.

Good thing none of us here are opinionated, huh? :whistle:

[LunarSolaris]

Those who spend 50+ hours per week in WoW (or other MMORPG's) are rewarded with "virtual" items... pixels on a computer screen.

Those who spend 50+ hours per week in the "real world" are awarded "real world" things - such as my vacation to Hawaii in 2 months.

I choose Hawaii over MC or Onyxia gear.

As to the article - I generally agree. However, I hold no ill-will to those that have all the "best" gear in the game. They play a lot - therefore it makes sense that they have the high-end items. In the end, the "hard core" gamers probably have an overall edge over a more casual gamer... but the end result of a video game shouldn't be who's the "best" as it should be to have fun.

I play WoW to have fun... not to park my toon at the AH bridge for everyone to gawk at.