I think I discovered why "casual gamers" are frowned upon...

[small]

definitely elitism. what people tend to forget is that its not a game that makes something casual or hardcore its the dedication of the player themselves.. people still break world records lasting dozens of hours on missile command

 

[Flammablezeus]

From my impression, it's more about game developers changing things to cater to more casual players, and thus losing some of the things people originally loved. Elder Scrolls is a pretty good example of this. You often see a lot of people who love Morrowind or even the older games, yet are disappointed in the later ones that have all kinds of hand holding and simplification done in order to cater to that wider audience. Basically, take what people love and then change it around so it suits other people as well.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone hate on "casuals" because they don't like classics. The more rational reasons I've seen has always been about how it has affected the games themselves.

Basically this.

We grew up playing a multitude of games, getting better and gaining skills along the way. Then suddenly something happened, games started getting easier and easier. Suddenly, we weren't being challenged any more in the ways we once were. We felt like we were being treated like idiots who couldn't accomplish a fraction of what we had actually already accomplished.

It's like if all new bows came with homing arrows, or if weight plates were suddenly being made lighter than advertised. It's making people feel like they're good when they're not, and insulting people who actually enjoy the activity and have gotten better at it as a result.

 

[Silverbane7]

i think the term 'casual' should be replaced by the term 'passive' as to be honest, it fits the type of player everyone hates more than 'casual'

you can be a hardcore gamer, and still play casualy.
you can be a casual gamer, and play games in a hardcore way.

i play games every day. sometimes for hours (especialy wheni hit that sweet spot where i forget the time and only my grumbling empty belly or full bladder remind me)
that would, you might think, quallify me as a 'hardcore' but it does not, becasue of the *type* of games.
some days i will go play one of my MMOs. other days its minecraft or 1player steam games. but i play them 'casualy' becasue i dont play the hell outa them in one long sitting.

other people play a single game over and over non-stop and that is what most folks consider 'hardcore' but thats not realy hardcore. thats playing 'seriously' to me. its more of a full time hobby. they are full timers.

some call me hardcore becasue i have old games, others just call me an old fart XD
i have disk versions of the original dungeon keeper (gold, deeper dungeons and even dungeon keeper 2 lol) and so would have *considered* looking at the game, if it hadnt allready blown it by being for smart phones and mobile....my phone is just for texts and calling, its a bloomin £7 tesco job XD it cant even use MP3s lmao. but it does what it needs.
im just glad im so bloody-minded that i would never touch a mobile game. i see people with their noses glued to their candy crush, and im glad thats not my thing....

casual is more about how much time you invest...i invest hours and hours a week playing games. i just dont play only 1 or 2 games only. i have a full buffet of tasty games i play.
we realy DO need to stop confusing a casual attitude to playtime to a passive attitude to games themselves.
you know the persons a 'passive' gamer, when they roll their eyes at you for saying 'i played 4 hours of last night...' but then spend their workday shuffling facebook games about.
thats the thing about the DKmobile game. with most games on things like facebook.
they arent *games* they are *time management and money gaining* systems for when you are stuck at your desk.

if you are waiting 3 hours for your next item to refresh, thats not a game, thats a line your waiting in to get some fun >.>

 

[Skatologist]

I really don't see the term as negative at all, i even apply it to myself. To me, a casual gamer is similar to a casual moviegoer or casual sports fan or really any other casual fan. Granted, casual for these fans can mean many different things, although I would say something along the lines of "not obsessed". I'm not obsessed with having a K/D above 2 online, I'm not obsessed with completing a game 100% on Nightmare level, I'm not obsessed collecting all the easter eggs. i play games mostly for the stories and fun of gameplay and sometimes the uniqueness of the game, although I will also say i'm trying really hard currently to complete the campaigns of a lot of my old games.

Also, it is my opinion that these "casual" games much more resemble the early years of gaming than you may think, mostly the arcade scene with high scores and lack of depth in story or variety of gameplay. That's usually what I think of when I think of classics, not the Nintendo, Sony, Sega, or Nintendo consoles of past and present and their games.

I don't think gaming is a "toy" or just "just entertainment" I would say I take it more seriously than films and want it to expand new horizons everyday in terms of what it can do, but I'm still a casual gamer in my own eyes.

 

[Fonejackerjon]

Games like candy crush are harder than most modern AAA games and its free with hundreds of hours of gameplay.

so how is a game judged as Hardcore? how long the cut scenes are? is metal gear hardcore? which is basically a barely interactive movie? most AAA games are easier than the so called 'casual games'

 

[Sea Sponge]

You're actually so far away from the point you ran right past it and carried on into another topic entirely.

People don't like "casual" gamers because they think games in general are being "dumbed down" to include them at the exclusion of more ... challenging games.

Take Dead Space for example. It started off as a sort of survival horror but ended up being more of an action game by Dead Space 3. Mass Effect started off as an RPG and hit 3rd person cover based shooter by the third.

People think games are getting easier to include the "casuals" and it annoys a select group.

 

[llubtoille]

I think it's just our desire to differentiate ourselves - the enthusiasts, from the masses,
Is everyone who owns a car, a 'car enthusiast'? - no, they're just car owners.
So when everyone who owns a phone is suddenly a 'gamer', we seek our a new title to identify with - the 'hardcore gamer'.

As much as media goes on about exclusion and such, titles are really useful.

 

[Sam Billin]

I think that a big part of what drives this animosity is less what games people play, but how open those people react to gaming in general. We LOVE games. We've explored every facet of the culture, and here comes these people who claim to love games, but only know the AAA, massive hype, pop-culture games; the games that will make them look cool (call of duty, gears of war, halo etc.) or games that only waste time (sims, facebook games and the like), then scoff at the real genera defining titles because they think "Ocarina of Time isn't as exciting as COD" or "Portal just doesn't look as cool as Gears of War"

 

[This is re-great-table]

*Pretends to not read OP*

Is it the same as Movie Bob not liking the New TMNT Movie and finding it a disappointing that Guardians of the Galaxy was being out done in the box office at first?

Is it the same as Shamus Young, from Experience Points, having an aged and experience outlook of video games and the mentality of "been there, done that" over the years?
Same reason that I find these "casual gamers" love this stuff is nothing special cause it's already been done and possibly better before?

Is it that, am I winning?! /s

Seriously though, I don't care about 'casual' gamers or the label.
You like Candy Crush? Good for you, I personally prefer Dark Souls, thank ya very much.
Which is also another horrible game to some. *wink*

I was beginning to miss these Gamer vs Gamer arguments. I love you folks.

 

[llubtoille]

These are things people buy for fun. You realize that, right? That you're supposed to enjoy them? I mean sure, if you get your kicks by spending hours every day practicing to be best at Industrial Warehouse Shooter III, then great, more power to you. Some of us just want something fun to do after work. My philosophy is, if a game takes practice to play it, then it's a waste of my time. I have to practice plenty of stuff in the real world, thank you.

Actually, I've never really liked the idea that a video game must be a challenge to overcome, or a puzzle to solve. I'm much more engaged when it's a world to explore, a story to be experienced, or a sandbox to play in. I don't care if my numbers are bigger than other people's numbers.

Maybe that is the difference, a casual gamer is in it for the entertainment value of the actual products, while a hardcore gamer plays them because that's what s/he does.

I guess compare it to your average car owner, that's like saying 'you do realize cars are for driving places'. But to a car enthusiast that's only a small part of it, it's also the hundreds / thousands of hours they spend in the garage tinkering with the thing, or taking it to some track and driving in circles, trying to make it go faster or smoother etc.

 

[Cybylt]

My problem had always been more during that first boom with the developers. Where a one-hit wonder like the angry birds folks won in a market that is basically a lottery so they suddenly decided they were king shit and that the rest of the industry should bow down to their genius.

 

[Vern5]

From my impression, it's more about game developers changing things to cater to more casual players, and thus losing some of the things people originally loved. Elder Scrolls is a pretty good example of this. You often see a lot of people who love Morrowind or even the older games, yet are disappointed in the later ones that have all kinds of hand holding and simplification done in order to cater to that wider audience. Basically, take what people love and then change it around so it suits other people as well.

I would say the problem comes from the other direction. For example, I once got into a discussion with a younger gamer about the Elder Scrolls series. We started out about how we both liked Skyrim. I offered up Morrowind as a game he might also enjoy if he gave it a try. His reply was that Morrowind could not possibly be good in any way because it looked so old. While that is a valid conclusion, he never played the game nor attempted to play it.

Casual gamers don't have an interest or respect for older games, not even the predecessors of their favorite titles, which is insulting to those of us who enjoyed those older games. It's a lack of respect that, understandably, draws a lot of resentment.