I think that it's a combination of the two. If you are "hardcore" you are pushing extremes. I could play Wii sports all day long, mixing it up with a bit of Tetris on my retro brick Gameboy - for a grand total of 10 hours a day - but a lack of focus or attitude fails to create the extreme you see in your stereotypical "hardcore" gamer. Simply put, time wasted isn't enough. You need that competitive edge. If you are truly so hardcore, you show it. You get online, or come to a local event, and you test your mettle against others. You complete, compete, and accomplish. You push things to their limits.
For a while, I gamed hardcore. In World of Warcraft, there are epic-scale achievements to be had through the device of raiding. You need, however, organization on a huge scale, combined with skill and an enormous quantity of spare time. In my guild, we intended fully to be the best. Therefore, our schedule for raiding was 5 nights a week, 4 hours a night, in addition to overtime, and individual preparation. Not only did we have to be good, and communicate well, but I would put in ~40-60 hours a week to maintain that all-too-important edge. Then, there's the meta-game, or what you do beyond the immediate scope of the game. We would chart diagrams and graphs of encounter statistics and positioning. We would sit for hours in groups of 10 or more discussing strategy and tactics, or grind for accessories/recipes.
I wanted to be the best, and I feel that is the sentiment most essential to the hardcore persona. If you are willing to put in the time, and hone your skills, combining both those with a thirst to compete and on some scale make a name for yourself, then you are "hardcore". Don that MLG shirt with pride.
I think that to be "hardcore" you are completely right. It doesn't matter about the number of hours you play, I mean hell if I had the time I would play Pokemon all day, but that doesn't make me "hardcore" when it comes to gaming. To go out there and put yourself and your skills to the test against others who want to be the best and publicly compete for the titles, THAT'S hardcore. My brother actually used to compete for titles for playing Guitar Hero and I have had a great deal of friends who go to conventions to compete at playing Super Smash Bros. and Halo. Putting oneself out there like that and trying to be the best is the most essential part of being hardcore, but it takes time and skill to achieve that level.
ReplyDeleteEven though I find myself at times indulging in hours of game play of Bioshock or Left 4 Dead, I would never consider myself a hardcore gamer. I love play videogames but like you've mentioned, going out and competing makes the idea more hardcore. The training involved takes more devotion than I would ever give. Just like any sport, to become hardcore requires more than just playing at home.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience with gaming, a lot of people who refer to themselves as "hardcore" are actually just assholes. These are the people who play CoD4 (on hardcore mode, of course) and constantly team kill while spewing bad jokes and racial slurs. When I go to their profile to report them (in extreme cases) what gamer style did they choose for themselves? Hardcore.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying they're all like that, far from it, actually. There are the ones that are ridiculously good at video games and will not hesitate to demonstrate that via competition. But they win humbly, and treat everyone with respect.
I more or less entirely agree with you, but there's one idea I didn't really see present (although it was hinted at): the drive for a hardcore gamer to be the absolute best, whether in the context of himself or the entire world. You hit on this with "competitiveness," but that allows for margins of error and to not be the absolute greatest - and seriously, who gives a shit about who killed Nefarian second? Or third? Only first really matters.
ReplyDeleteThis points to something of a problem with hardcore gaming - similar to any given game like basketball or chess, there can be only one pinnacle at any given time. However, with gaming, I'm not sure that people are aware of this - how many thousands have spent 12+ hours/day in Azeroth only to find themselves in crappy or mediocre guilds? Similar to athletes, gamers need to be able, at some point, to identify whether or not the time and work they're putting into their passion is a worthy payout. Although I think I may have been able to rise to the top had I dedicated more time, I decided that it wasn't worth it - the possibilities of payout are far too slim compared to the other benefits gained, and the losses considered. You know - time, effort, energy, and so on, and I feel I and other people that throw themselves into a passion must ask themselves: how much is too much?
Wow that's a lot of hours to put on WoW. I heard that game was addicting and who knows maybe playing that game is as hardcore as they come. I sit and play RPGs endlessly, as well as other genres and I don't think I'm hardcore. I like to go outside and enjoy the day from time to time. Perhaps nowadays being called hardcore means doing everything to a specific genre of games. People sit and log hundreds of hours on Persona 4 of Halo 3 to try and get everything and be the best. Though, it doesn't make sense to label someone casual because they don't do the same thing someone else does.
ReplyDeleteA followup, Adam -
ReplyDeleteI think you really hit the defining characteristic between 'casual' and 'hardcore' - assuming there needs to be one - right on the head during class. As you said, it's about attitude, drive, and focus. One can play solitaire for hours and hours just to kill time each day, but they're not someone that should be labeled as 'hardcore' - that distinction should and, I imagine, is reserved for those that actually /care/ about being totally awesome at a given game, like you with Warcraft of John with fighting games.
Also, @ Van S: although my total playtime is a bit more than half of that of my brother (I'd guess about 2/3 when all of my character's are combined), the playtime total from our household is almost depressingly long - it exceeds a full year.
wtf