Why isn't casual gaming respected?

[Xaio30]

It's not the Casual Gaming itself, but the simplification that it brings to the industry. Simple games sell better.

I personally want games that reward you for thinking outside the box and for experiment with all the means that are given to you.


In Baldurs Gate 2, the "Chain Contingency" spell with three "Project Image" spells that each can use "Simulacrum" to clone themselves one step further, is an excellent example of this, giving you 6 Mages for the price of one.

It's overpowered, yes, but far from easy to pull off if you have not learned on your own how the spell system works.

 

[Zeraiya]

As it's been said, I don't think that it's Casual Gaming that isn't being respected, but rather casual gamers.

Unfortunately the majority of casual gamers are rude, disrespectful and narrowminded towards hardcore gamers and their games. They have a stereotype that is certainly horrible. We've all met the troll who only likes about 3 games and will go to the ends of the earth in order to tear down other games and other peoples' opinions. Because of these people casual gamers are seen as people who do not respect the medium in which they play and the games that the hardcore gamers enjoy. This immediately puts them in a negative light in the eyes of the gaming community which then increases the ferocity in which these 'casual gamers' dislike and attack 'hardcore gamers'.

I wish this weren't the case. I know many casual gamers who simply play games to have fun and to kill some time, and they still enjoy games and they are still very much consumers like we are. Games are made in order for us to have fun and everyone should be able to do that. Whether you're playing for 2 hours on the weekend or all day everyday. Casual gamers are a large majority of gaming and therefore hold weight and we shouldn't disrespect them. The problem is they, in turn, must respect and appreciate the gamers who have a passion for games.

On paper it's simple, but people aren't simple. We'll always comes across the haters who hate simply because they can. It's a matter of just ignoring them and encouraging casual gamers to not be like the trolls. If we have more casual gamers who are pleasant and respectful, well then they'll receive more respect. It's not rocket science.

 

[Khuzaki]

my problem with casual gaming, is, like many have said "casual gamers" but not because they're not improving, or getting better. I get upset because they mindlessly buy games. look at call of duty, halo, or any other franchise that has had more then nine games. its frustrating to me when I see all my classmates playing black ops, and when I ask them why, their response is because its the next call of duty. the primary reason I don't respect casual gaming has to be because of the success of games like cod, where they release the same game every year, and everyone buys it mindlessly.

I consider myself a hardcore gamer, not because I feel I'm better then everyone else, but because I put alot of time into the hobby, because I also enjoy watching other people play, or reading After Action Reports, things like that.

 

[Hiname]

Personally, I have a huge hate for "cassual", to use that wod, while I would love to use some others that come to my mind.

I see it mostly happen in MMOs that I loved. Everything is fine and dandy, you have to play long or farm hard for somehing really hard to get.
Then suddenly, a wild cassual appears and brings along his pack.

"Waah waah waah, thats too hard, I want the same stuff as those other guys and I want it NOW because I pay the same money per month even though I play two hours per week!"
And for whatever reason, they GET it! The grind is reduced to enarly non-existant and the lazy cassual jackass can dress himself in the same sets or weapons as someone who worked its ass of to get it.

And e voilá, cassuals get a huge broadsite of hate from the non-cassual gaming front and the developers are all confused why the community starts getting worse and worse because the spiral of envy, hate and disgust goes on and on.

Cassuals demand, they get catered, and the non-cassuals hate the cassuals guts for getting the same stuff shoved up their sugared asses. When I get told how easy it is today in Ain to craft the Miragents set 8during my time a month-killing, money-draining quest like no other) and you now get 3 hearts of magic (one core-component to make it) per MAIL when your each level 49.. honestly, I feel sick.

So yeah, thats me about cassuals being the black plaque of gaming.

 

[Woodsey]

(If you need see-through walls to play Hitman, just don't fucking play it.)

Wait. There's a Hitman game with see-through walls??

Oh you must mean the next one... Yeah it seems to be pulling a Splinter Cell: Conviction.

To be fair though, the Hitman games have always had a map that showed everyone's position and the direction they were facing in real time and it didn't make the game too easy.

True, but having to switch out of one screen for the other can make a difference.

 

[Hobonicus]

They also don't get respected because of the fact that they don't aim to hone their skills on the matter. They simply do it to pass the time.

This right here sums it up perfectly the "Hardcore" MMO crowd: They think that being better than someone else at a video game is worth being "respected" for. They think that "playing games for fun" is wrong.

Anyone who identifies *themselves* as "hardcore" gamers are, by definition, twats. They honestly think that memorizing combos and maps is "skill" and is something to be proud of.

You can be damn good at something without acting like a moist bellend about it. When you start thinking of yourself as some elite champion of Pac-Man, snubbing your nose at the peasant-class who can't even get past level 12, and having to define a new 'class' for yourself to distinguish yourself from the guy who's just playing for fun, you've entered douchedom.

"Stupid casual Pac-Man players... coming in whenever they feel like it, popping in a quarter, and enjoying themselves. Where is the discipline?! Where is the training! I spent months memorizing the AI patterns of every ghost, and can navigate those mazes with my eyes closed!"


After spending a thousand hours fighting the same boss over and over again to get the Purple Dildo of Cockslapping +47, complete with time sheets and bureaucracy, they are furious to find out that someone without a rare collector's edition dildo is having a hell of a lot more fun then them. And possibly talking to girls.

Their idea of "real gaming" is more like second job than anything one would play for entertainment. So when they see someone who sits down and can play an entertaining, lighthearted, and did I mention entertaining game for less than 4 hours at a time without requiring weekly commitments and checking in with your boss it hurts them.

This is because their entire concept of "fun" consists of being better than someone else. Since they're better than no one in real life, and the world frowns upon getting into slap fights with gradeschoolers to show your dominance, they have to rely on video games.

The game itself is secondary, and not even really necessary, as long as their is some empirical way to prove people are your lessors. You could have an accounting simulator and people would brag about their dividends and stock trades while calling someone who's only getting 2.9% on their checking account "noob faggots" and rubbing their ballsack on your face. (If we make an accounting simulator in space we can call that Eve Online.)


Rage on "hardcore gamers." I'm going to go play a few rounds of Plants vs. Zombies then go meet my girlfriend for sex.

I could explain to you how you're vastly missing the point in your elitism rant full of exaggerations and hilariously unintentional irony, but you're clearly too cool for these gaming forums. Your beam of pretend logic is focused so hard on blind hate that it misses everything else. Hell, even your base generalization is a common misconception thrown around by edgy people too obsessed with absolutes to actually think about it. You've basically extrapolated from the general topic and a quoted a poorly worded argument to repeat what many have said before more colloquially.

So I could make a point by point list of why everything in your rant is misguided, hypocritical, and borderline off topic, but I'm guessing you'd ignore it because immature anger is so sexy.

 

[Pyro Paul]

simple reason:
because hardcore gamers are afraid of it...

Big money companies put their cash into what promises the most returns on their dollar.

The Cheap to produce while highly addictive casual game is exactly what they are looking for.

So... why put money into big budget ventures and risk the game bombing when you can put a much smaller investment into the next installment of 'Farmville' and see a much higher profit margin?

the simple fear of Popularity > Good brings the hardcore players to resent the entire field.
Look at Warcraft... World of Warcraft is so popular that entire projects such as Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, and Warcraft 4 where put on hold or even cancelled Just to support the MMO.

 

[Michael Hirst]

You're living on planet Earth, it's full of irrational beings who believe in all kinds of crazy notions. Of these many strange ideas is that playing certain types of videogame can make you a second class citizen in the gaming community, these people are idiots.

 

[lord.jeff]

Wow I thought we were past all this hate, it's really surprising that were willing to bash people who are just starting to get into gaming.

This whole they need to earn respect thing is bull crap, why because you all sucked at one point(I still suck at Team Fortress and started before free to play) and we can either be asses and force them out of the community and piss them off and end up having a hundred annoyed players because they had to deal with an unskilled player, or we could do what other hobbies do and help new comers, and yes other hobbies help new comers just look at non credit classes at a community collage, which gives us a bigger happier community. I also don't think it matters if they try to improve their skills because in the end it is just a time passer we should just let them have there fun just. Sure all hobbies have assholes that insult people for not being able to preform to there standards or not having watched Citizen Kane, but guess what they get called ass holes for a reason. Plus other hobbies have far fewer of them, how many of you people call yourself movie goers and not have seen the classic films and how many times have you been told that you cant watch movies till you watch them all, now compare that to the number of times you bitched about casual gamers. Just remember next time you go complain about casual gamers we all have the same goals at the end of the day, having fun.

 

[Domehammer]

Because Casual gamer is demonized to be people who want easy games. Casual gamers are people who put life before gaming and hardcore put gaming before life. Problem is greedy and lazy gamers that pass off as casual gamers do to how demonized phrase casual gamer is. They cry and moan over something till it get changes or just keep going. They don't want to put effort in to get something they want it spoon fed to them with a shovel. Though since they get put with Casual gamers as a group there opinion actually gets taken with some importance. We need a term to replace Casual gamers or to loop in the people that are lazy crying and moaning people so there opinion gets less regarded as being part of a large group.

 

[Hitchmeister]

I have nothing but respect for casual gamers. Nothing but contempt for people who identify themselves as hardcore gamers. And offer mad props to any casual gamer who can reduce a hardcore gamer to frothing nerd-rage.

 

[Vykrel]

I think, more aptly, casual GAMERS are not respected until they pick up a COD

CoD is a casual game, really.

but i agree with you that casual gamers arent really respected or considered hardcore gamers because they absolutely refuse to get into any game that isnt either incredibly popular, very family-friendly, or very repetitive and not complicated or in-depth.

 

[Seanfall]

What I have to say has already largely been said...so...BANANA!

And yeah...this is why they 'nerf' a lot of stuff in wow. Instead of finding a way around it or getting the gear to overcome that weakness they ***** and moan about a certain classes damage mitigation, or damage in and of itself. That and the fact that casual games make shit tons of money for very little effort, Read: Madden, COD, *enter other game here* etc. etc.

 

[Thunderhorse31]

Casual games/gaming is totally fine.

Pandering to the lowest common denominator to turn a profit on utter tripe, is not fine.

 

[Dchao]

My opinion is that the line between Casual and Hardcore games is breaking, meaning hardcore games are becoming easier, which isn't a good thing.

 

[TheDooD]

Because Casual gamer is demonized to be people who want easy games. Casual gamers are people who put life before gaming and hardcore put gaming before life. Problem is greedy and lazy gamers that pass off as casual gamers do to how demonized phrase casual gamer is. They cry and moan over something till it get changes or just keep going. They don't want to put effort in to get something they want it spoon fed to them with a shovel. Though since they get put with Casual gamers as a group there opinion actually gets taken with some importance. We need a term to replace Casual gamers or to loop in the people that are lazy crying and moaning people so there opinion gets less regarded as being part of a large group.

I noticed that when I played Dungeon Fighter Online. The "pro" players shelled out a lot of money to get the gamebreaking avatars that makes PVP suicide. The F2P players are pissed off that eventhough they're the same level they'll get trashed by somebody with speed avatars. On the other hand they are greedy and lazy players they ruin the game economy by cheating and price hiking in the auction house making very hard for everybody that wants to play fairly. They can't buy the gear they need because it costs a few days of grinding just to buy it. Then because of that Nexon makes the game easier and easier because of the cheaters making it hard for those that want to play fair.

 

[BanthaFodder]

Casual gaming is fine in itself i mean i have no problem with the type of straightforward easymode indiestuff or even if its by a larger company.
It's the casual community you can't stand, its the casual players who do not deserve any respect
since they themselves do not respect the other gaming communities and usually act like little selfentitled dipshits just because theyre not being spoonfed and held by the hand in every single game they feel like playing.

Casual gaming communities have ruined a lot of good games like TF2,LoL, WoW etc
and they need to be dealt with in the same way Rift does for example.

In directly casual GAMES ofc they can get whatever they want because thats the target audience
but when they start to act as if every game needs to be adapted for the casual community, thats when things go terribly wrong

Personally i avoid them like the plague and if and when i rarely play tf2 then i join servers with no f2p-players so the casual community is kept behind a steelfence, guarded by firelions, on a different continent...in space

out of curiosity, how is TF2 ruined? if you don't like casuals or F2Pers, go on a Teamplay server, or one that only accepts those who bought the game. idk, but TF2 is like Pokemon in that it's both casual and hardcore. if oyu play on a pub, it's just for fun, everyone just messing around. if it's a teamplay server, it's still fun, but far more serious (especially Highlander servers)

EDIT: sorry mate, postedd before I read, so the Teamplay thing still stands, but how is the whole game totally ruined?

 

[LobsterFeng]

It's probably been said several times, but I don't mind casual gamers as long as they don't mind me. Like, if they make fun of the stuff I play, I'll make fun of the stuff they play.

 

[2fish]

They are not respected because humans are easily whipped into a frenzy due to fear and then they pick an enemy. Games were made easier for whatever reason then some person said this is a casual game then poof the anger had a target.

The enemy is the casual gamers, those that play our games and suck at them, those that take our games and violate them, those that should be banned from our realm, those that should be killed!

I read through the arguments about casual gamers and all I see is anger directed at the enemy. There is no limit on what can be blamed on them as they are a nice scapegoat. Humans have a nice history of doing this shit our economy suck it is the Irish/Mexican/Jewish/Catholic/Casual gamer 's fault!

Everyone take a deep breath and if you want to see less streamlining in games write a letter and get other people to sign on then send it to the developers. It will do more than blaming people that have nothing to do with the game.

I shall bookmark this thread as it has great propaganda and anger in it. Let me know when the lynch mobs happen cause those casuals were lookin' at our women.

Spoiler: TL;DR

I have no time for your lazy butt read it or piss off.

 

[Laveno]

I consider myself a casual gamer, even though I've played games since I was pretty young (we're not talking three years old here, but maybe... 6-8 years or something?). I generally am not interested in working out the most efficient combo, or playing an adrenaline-pumping, rage-spawning PvP match (in any game, be it RTS, FPS or MMORPG), so I tend to stay away from competetive games. It's that simple.

I play quite a lot of singe player games, but whenever I can I prefer to play with my friends and family, cooperatively versus the AI (usually not all that much of a challenge, but some games really have succeded with that). It generally enjoys me more, and the social part is in many ways what feels good about it (one of the biggest reasons I prefer DnD to NWN2 or LBP2 to L4D2).

That said, I do, in NO way, want the game to hold my hand. I want a tutorial that introduces game elements to me, sure, but I found both Portal 2 and DA2 to be a tad to easy. It's probably that casual-gaming trait that kept me from enjoying Fallout 1 & 2 to the fullest, seeing how it requires quite some time to get into the setting and the game mechanics (the UI doesn't really help, truth be told).

I could actually understand if a person who has sat playing a game for a long while, attempting to get better suddenly found himself surrounded by people who spent their entire time missing the enemy team with their bullets (in the case of FPS), and that is one of the biggest things keeping me from playing TF2.

Edit after realising there was little to no on-topic content:

I see no real problem with casual gamers or games, though, still: to each their own. If one player WANTS to expend hours of their lives into effectivising their build order or damage output, let there exist such a game and I consider it a fault on the casual's side if a casual gamer walks into it without really having any interest in it.

Haven't personally encountered the problem of dumbed-down games (well, a little on the difficulty side... quite a lot I realise, the few times I hit up an emulator and play some old games).