Question of the Day, May 30, 2010

[V8 Ninja]

Before I go on, I should say that I HATE the term "Hardcore". It's a useless term that needs to die. Instead of using that BS term, I'm going to use "Serious" instead because it makes more sense and isn't as convoluted as the aforementioned word.

I feel as though I should give a better explanation for what I said. For those that are too lazy to go to the second page and Ctrl-F my username, what I basically said was that it's all about the types of games you play. And I believe that. Or, at least, I can't believe the other options being viable for the argument. You see, You can spend tons of money on games, but that doesn't make you a serious gamer if you're buying the 30th edition of Madden '98. Similarly, you can't call yourself a serious gamer if you wasted tons of hours on Tetris and Farmville (Bleh, just THINKING about that game makes me queasy!). As for defending the third option, I say you have to play games that are fun, whether that be M-rated, blood-&-guts fun or cute, life-lesson-teaching fun. If you're a serious gamer, you don't play the game because it's "Blood-Soaked" or "Hip With The Youngsters", you play it because it's fun to play.

 

[Yureina]

Time commitment is how i'd see it, though also the player's quality as well. "Hardcore gamers" are not crappy either. At least they shouldn't be.

 

[e2density]

Other: Your drive to get better at a game.
I personally consider myself a hardcore gamer since the day I started I've been trying to go competitive in some game, I managed to get there in Team Fortress 2

 

[steve-I-am-me]

I believe (as at least one of the other post mentions) It's a self perception thing.

If someone plays say 168 hours of gaming a week (They couldn't play more in a week, even if they really wanted) Most people would see that as "That's a hardcore gamer right there" but the gamer in question might think it's just a hobby and they aren't hardcore.

Where as if someone plays just one game a few hours a week and they are really into it they can think to themselves I'm a hardcore gamer based on the level of enjoyment they get from it.

Steve out.

 

[Treefingers]

A genuine love for games is all that's needed.

this, I like this one.

I'm glad you do.

 

[Triaed]

Alas I am not "hardcore", just a gamer.
I really appreciate games, the art, the technical merits, the entertainment value and, yes, the enjoyment I derive from them.

The first videogame I played was Pacman outside a pharmacy when I was barely able to reach the control panel, and I quickly got myself an Atari 2600 (well, begged my dad for one). I have not stopped since then.

Proudly a gamer since 1978... harcores can kiss my giblets

(quick edit for typos)

 

[Funkbucket]

A genuine love for games is all that's needed.

^this.

 

[Fearzone]

Other: Talent--determined in the multiplayer arena.

It takes more than time and money. If you spend most of your free time playing games and buy a lot of of them and you still suck at them, then you are a casual player. I say this, because it mostly describes me.

 

[Giest4life]

The fact that I can shoot heroine in my eyes while using the other hand to play Manhunt 2, and then jacking off in between the load screens.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

hardcore are fanboys of brands,series( and genre/comfort zone nuts) casuals play randomly and consume infrequently(due to time/life/hobby issues/levels) ...strangely the same as the game snobs who are worse than the fanboys, they play randomly and consume infrequently(due to qaulity issues) and are fanboys of the product(game qaulity).


Oh I am a game snob BTW, how do you do you GD SHEEPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAH

 

[L_Lawliet]

Other: The knowledge you have about the games that you play, as well as how you play them.


Disproof of option 1: There can be hardcore gamers for every genre. There are hardcore Mario gamers, hardcore Call of Duty gamers, hardcore Tetris gamers, you name it.

Disproof of option 2: You can play until your thumbs fall off, but if you don't know what you are doing, then you can't consider yourself a hardcore gamer by any means. Someone who needs a rocket launcher to get a kill in Halo is not a hardcore gamer.

Disproof of option 3: Money has nothing to do with one's ability. You can buy a game new for $60 or used, three years after its release for $20, but only you and the store clerk knows how much you spent. Everyone that you play will know how good (or bad) you are at a game.

Proof of "knowledge" claim: In Pokemon, you can use Rare Candies to get a pokemon to level 100 with ease, but it takes knowledge to EV train pokemon, and that makes all the difference in competitive battling.

Proof of "how you play" claim: You can spam a single attack in a fighting game and win, but it takes skill and knowledge to pull off combos and sophisticated techniques on demand.

 

[Catalyst6]

If you call yourself a hardcore gamer, you're not. That's step one. It's like those "skateboarding is not a crime" stickers.

I'd say it's twofold.
1/2 Playing difficult games well, on hard modes. Not playing for achievements, mind you, but playing so that you can give the game a whipping with your skill. Basically people who beat the game on the hardest difficulty because they have the skill, but are classy enough not to be a douche about it.

1/2 Having an honest opinion about video games and the culture in general. I'd probably guess that everyone on these forums has that quality.

So if you have the first half, then you're set.

Although I paint a picture of a classy, sophisticated gamer, which I suspect is just a deluded fantasy of mine.

 

[riotwraith]

How much time you spend playing. Honestly, I see "hardcore gamer" as an insult. Being one means that games are more important to you than most other things. I get mad if someone even refers to me as a gamer. I appreciate the subculture and everything. I play games a lot, I read penny arcade, I do lots of other nerdy things, but the word gamer just seems to imply that games are way more important to me than they are. They're just one of many different hobbies, not my life.

 

[riotwraith]

If you call yourself a hardcore gamer, you're not. That's step one. It's like those "skateboarding is not a crime" stickers.

I don't understand. Are you saying that skaters don't use those stickers? That anyone who has one of those stickers is not a skateboarder, even if they spend more time doing it and/or thinking about it and the culture surrounding it than most people?

 

[Verex]

How many games you have played and what you remember from playing them. Odd details like.. what did that alien on level 34 say when you blew his head up?

 

[Catalyst6]

If you call yourself a hardcore gamer, you're not. That's step one. It's like those "skateboarding is not a crime" stickers.

I don't understand. Are you saying that skaters don't use those stickers? That anyone who has one of those stickers is not a skateboarder, even if they spend more time doing it and/or thinking about it and the culture surrounding it than most people?

I mean that it's parallel in the sense that people who are actually hardcore don't walk around talking about how hardcore you are. The only people who do that are those who are not, and compensate by acting like they're "going against the grain" and being badasses, even when they are actually just doing what everyone expects them to do.

 

[chronolos]

Meh i believe you can be considered hardcore by what games you play, how often you play, and if you actually can hold your own in a conversation about the games you play. i know some wow players who dont know how to roll for loot or understand the concept of BoP items and consider themselves hardcore wow players. for them i shed manly tears.

 

[riotwraith]

If you call yourself a hardcore gamer, you're not. That's step one. It's like those "skateboarding is not a crime" stickers.

I don't understand. Are you saying that skaters don't use those stickers? That anyone who has one of those stickers is not a skateboarder, even if they spend more time doing it and/or thinking about it and the culture surrounding it than most people?

I mean that it's parallel in the sense that people who are actually hardcore don't walk around talking about how hardcore you are. The only people who do that are those who are not, and compensate by acting like they're "going against the grain" and being badasses, even when they are actually just doing what everyone expects them to do.

Okay, I can see that. The analogy just threw me off because I don't see those stickers as being anything about being hardcore, but that IS the general attitude of the people who have them, so I get it.

Fun Fact: Skateboarding is actually against the law in many places, including my hometown in Arkansas. Even where it is not, loitering and destruction of property (which you pretty much have to do to skate anywhere you don't own) are. So why are people so angry and quick to call the cops on skaters even when we aren't bothering anyone? Because of you little jackasses that run around causing trouble all the time because you're a cool rebel who doesn't play by societies rules.

 

[Luke Cartner]

Lately its seems to me that the characteristics most gamers who claim to hardcore have in common seem to be the ability to whine, QQ, insult other gamers and generally by that guy that Wil Wheaton said not to be in PAX a couple of years ago (http://www.pennyarcadeexpo.com/PAX07_Keynote.mp3)...

Oh and an ungodly amount of spare time...