Breakfast Topic: What type of player are you?
by Andrew Ross 
Jul 6th 2011 at 8:00AM
When you ask someone what type of player he or she is, you usually get the answer "hardcore" or "casual." Expanding on that, you might get "I'm a hardcore PVPer" or "I'm a casual raider." Casual and hardcore can mean so many different things to so many people that it's hard to pick just one or the other. A person who raids three nights a week might not see himself as a hardcore raider compared to the person who raids five nights a week. What about the person who doesn't raid but has an army of alts? Is he casual because he logs on and does his own thing?
I don't consider myself a casual or hardcore player. I'm the guy who has a crafting empire across his alts that I play frequently. I PVP when the mood strikes me, and while I haven't raided any of the new content yet, I run Baradin Hold every week. You can blame the alts for the lack of raiding. Some days, I might spend an hour doing my dailies or putting auctions up, and another day, I might spend 8 hours in game with a break here and there. If I had to give myself a title for the type of player I am, I would say I'm a "frequent player." A "serious player" doesn't fit right; when I think of a serious player, I think of a high-ranking arena player or one of the top raiders on his or her server.
What type of player do you consider yourself? Do you log on once a week and do a few dailies? Maybe you log in every day and do all 25 dailies before raiding for a few hours.
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
MusedMoose Jul 6th 2011 8:02AM
I'm the kind of player who chooses not to be labeled. ^_^
wow Jul 6th 2011 8:51AM
/\ THIS /\
:)
Shinanji
Scomparsa Jul 6th 2011 9:18AM
I don't get why people feel the need to label themselves as casual or hardcore anyway. Are you a WoW player? Yes? Awesome! 'Nuff said there.
Billlop Jul 6th 2011 8:03AM
Social Player. I do everything (Raid, Level Alts, PvP, Quest, Collect). But I have to do it with friends. I dont like doing anything without someone there to share it with, its because of this attitude i met my Girlfriend in WoW and i like the type of Player i am :)
Snuzzle Jul 6th 2011 9:35AM
This. I can farm all night if I need to, or raid, or whatever as long as I have human company. Even if it's just me and a couple of friends on Vent, and we're all doing our own separate thing. I spent 5 hours the other night in a FL trash pug without realizing it (and with only 1 drop) because we were all on someone's Vent and having a great time (and let me reiterate: it was a pug! :))
So yes. Social player please, with severe altoholic tendencies.
The Dewd Jul 6th 2011 4:01PM
I agree. I think this is a distinction that has long been missing in the casual vs. hardcore debate. Most of the socials I know actually aren't "causal" because they'll play a lot as long as there are other folks around.
I'll raid and wipe or just level alts or even PvP as long as I have friends to do it with. I'll even queue solo for battlegrounds as long as I have folks on vent to talk to while I'm being garroted with my own entrails by enemy rogues.
Rezai Jul 6th 2011 8:04AM
Well since I can really only play on my days off I guess I'm casual, reformed raider.
Revnah Jul 6th 2011 8:08AM
I'm the addicted type of player ;-)
As for raiding, I wouldn't call myself hardcore but I hesitate to use the word "casual" because for many people this means to show up for raids if and when they feel like it and play sloggishly. I see WoW as a hobby and so I put dedication into it (just like other people do with their football or whatever hobbies): I learn all I can about my class, I try to get better all the time.
I raid 3-4 times a week and I'm always there, punctual, flasked etc, prepared in terms of tactics and ready to go. Fortunately I've found a lovely guild that has the same values. If that's considered hardcore, then so be it!
nosoup4u76 Jul 6th 2011 11:03AM
Not sure what you'd call me. I'm a frequent player as well, usually every day if I can help it to do dailies on my main and possibly a dungeon or two now that VP has better rewards. I've been to a few raids, but not Firelands yet (trash runs don't count).
Only have the two 85's, but the main is as geared as you can get without raiding really, and the other ain't half bad at that. Aside from them, I have a small stable of alts that I rotate between depending on who's online that night or what exactly I'm in the mood for.
I makes me kinda sad that a lot of the community has to draw battlegrounds along the lines of casual vs hardcore, especially when you can't find more than a handful of people (at best) at a time who agree on what those terms actually mean. For some, the hardcore player is anyone better geared than they are or anyone who takes the time to really learn his class and talents. For others, it's someone who raids 5 nights a week.
Lots of distinctions and labels folks, but in the end, we're all gamers. Some of us just appreciate different aspects of the game, but we all came here to play.
Durenas Jul 6th 2011 8:13AM
I'm an explorer, achievement oriented type. I like to discover new things and locations, and help other people with my nearly encyclopedic knowledge of details of the game. I'm a serious PVE raider, but only raid about 3 days a week. I could raid more but my friends don't, and I value my friends more than I value raiding in another raiding guild. Also it's a major pain in the ass applying for a raiding guild, far more than it was when WoW was new.
I tend to get somewhat OCD with stuff, and when I have a goal, I will spend far too much time working on it. I rerolled on a new server and was running heroics in about a week.
Rats Jul 6th 2011 8:15AM
I'm an anti-social altoholic archaeologist!
Hairfish Jul 6th 2011 8:18AM
I guess I'm a "serious casual." I play every day that I can, and have a stable of alts whose classes I enjoy playing, and I learn to play each class as best as I can. IF I raid -- which is seldom these days, due to...situations -- I take it seriously. But I'm more into questing and crafting right now. I am quite serious about having fun: if it's not fun, I don't do it, period.
Oh, and I'm an altoholic.
sporteeee Jul 6th 2011 9:52AM
This. I used to raid pretty regularly during BC/LK. At one point I was the main tank (BC) then one of the top healers (LK). Now I have 3 85s (only one is geared enough to Raid), 3 level 80+ Alts, and a hunter lost somewhere in the 50s.
I can play my classes (I'm not terribad - just dumb) but don't have the time to raid or progress beyond the heroic Pugs I hate to tank.
patgamer Jul 6th 2011 8:27AM
Most nights in the game are quite busy for me, I always seem to have somthing to do or someone who wants to do somthing.
If I'm not tanking on my warrior I'm healing on my shaman, or doing a BG on my other warrior. It does get insane some nights but once dailies are over and done with I'll push in some herbing/mining or try and do some fun achievements. The Molten front achievements are pretty fun though, King of Spider hill anyone? :P
Chmee Jul 6th 2011 8:28AM
I have a lot of toons, on a bunch of servers. I play almost exclusively on Perenolde-US, though, where I have nine toons, missing a warrior and a paladin, but two druids, one of whom is alliance. All the other toons are horde. I don't like pvp much, mostly because I suck at it. I like to raid, but I frequently feel I'm behind the eight ball (lots of raid content I never got to see when it was "the" content — for example, killed Arthas for the first time last week). I like the social aspect of the game - friends are what got me here in the first place. I suppose that makes me a casual social wannabe hardcore raiding altoholic. Who likes leveling alts. If you gotta pigeonhole me, anway. :-)
fernando Jul 6th 2011 8:29AM
straight (so far)
Tim Jul 6th 2011 8:31AM
I logged in everyday for years as a type of commitment. I stopped doing that about a month ago like really enjoying Cata content like I did Lich King content. Then Firelands came out and I've been enjoying doing the dailies on my main every day and will do so until I get vendors and a big tree in the Elemental plain. It's fun except for the mob to player ratio.
Tim Jul 6th 2011 8:32AM
*not really liking. I should sleep before I type anything...
Lemons Jul 6th 2011 8:36AM
Between hardcore and casual I guess I'd be a hardcore....but not so hardcore that I'm a dick about it.
livingmercy Jul 6th 2011 4:04PM
I appreciate people like you when I come across them. I am pretty new (6-7 months or so) to the game as a whole, and I still have lots to learn and questions to ask. I depend on actual players rather than solely hanging out on websites reading. I want to learn by experience and expertise... so, in short... thanks for not being a dick. ;)