Hardcore as a word is becoming so over used here it needs to be pointed out that hardcore has three meanings in MMO’s:

1. An obessive PvP gamer who lives to take down other players.

2. A role-player who is a real stickler for the details, vocabulary, background and justification for actions.

3. A player who wants content before advancement, pride in achievement before fun, an in depth quest before a new dress to wear etc.

Not that this leads to any confusion whatsoever. :D

The definition of hardcore varies however, it depends on what you compare it to really. A hardcore PvPer may be anything from a person who only plays PvP to a person who wants permadeath, ganking etc, it depends on where you use it and how.

Originally posted by Scot

Hardcore as a word is becoming so over used here it needs to be pointed out that hardcore has three meanings in MMO’s:

1. An obessive PvP gamer who lives to take down other players.

2. A role-player who is a real stickler for the details, vocabulary, background and justification for actions.

3. A player who wants content before advancement, pride in achievement before fun, an in depth quest before a new dress to wear etc.

Not that this leads to any confusion whatsoever. :D

You for got the 4th one:

4. When you get more than 3 stars filled in.  :]

Originally posted by Scot

Hardcore as a word is becoming so over used here it needs to be pointed out that hardcore has three meanings in MMO’s:

1. An obessive PvP gamer who lives to take down other players.

2. A role-player who is a real stickler for the details, vocabulary, background and justification for actions.

3. A player who wants content before advancement, pride in achievement before fun, an in depth quest before a new dress to wear etc.

Not that this leads to any confusion whatsoever. :D

perhaps the power trip ego thing has a part in there somewhere, certainly your 13 year-old Wanna-be hardcore player would want to be considered...powerful in someway.

Originally posted by Scot

3. A player who wants content before advancement, pride in achievement before fun, an in depth quest before a new dress to wear etc.

 

Note that this also describes the 'casual' player except they want both the achievement and the fun.

Originally posted by Scot

Hardcore as a word is becoming so over used here it needs to be pointed out that hardcore has three meanings in MMO’s:

1. An obessive PvP gamer who lives to take down other players.

I would not consider this to be a hardcore gamer.  You can play a lot of PvP, which itself entails killing other players.  In fact, there are not many other goals in PvP.  Even if maps have other objectives, killing other players is always at the heart of PvP.

2. A role-player who is a real stickler for the details, vocabulary, background and justification for actions.

Maybe enthusiast, maybe RP zealot, but I would not call this subculture hardcore.  Unless, that is, you refer to anyone that is highly involved in anything "hardcore."

Man, that plumber is hardcore.  He really enjoys the art of plumbing and knows a lot about toilets and sinks!

3. A player who wants content before advancement,

What?  My understanding was that hardcore raiders wanted content in order to bring about more advancement.

pride in achievement before fun,

That's a bit harsh.  To a hardcore player, isn't achievement fun?  There has to be some sort of gratification that makes a hardcore player desire that hardcore atmosphere.

an in depth quest before a new dress to wear etc.

Huh?  

Not that this leads to any confusion whatsoever. :D

I understood your definitions until number three, then you lost me.  Perhaps more detail instead of catch phrases?

Originally posted by Scot

Hardcore as a word is becoming so over used here it needs to be pointed out that hardcore has three meanings in MMO’s:

1. An obessive PvP gamer who lives to take down other players.

2. A role-player who is a real stickler for the details, vocabulary, background and justification for actions.

3. A player who wants content before advancement, pride in achievement before fun, an in depth quest before a new dress to wear etc.

Not that this leads to any confusion whatsoever. :D

i bet there are hardcore chess player i will never see  them but they exist

Let's be honest; there's absolutely no such thing as a "hardcore" gamer .. we're all just gamers; some just play more/less than others and we all have different preferences.

People just use the word to fit whatever circumstance they dream up and attempt to add artificial weight to whatever forum debate they're currently spouting off in.

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

Let's be honest; there's absolutely no such thing as a "hardcore" gamer .. we're all just gamers; some just play more/less than others and we all have different preferences.

People just use the word to fit whatever circumstance they dream up and attempt to add artificial weight to whatever forum debate they're currently spouting off in.

I usually don't do this, but .... QFT. ^^^

Hardcore is a useful term when describing porn, but when talking about gamers its pretty much useless.

There are other definitions as well, and some people have varying levels of hardcore.  For example, I work around 50 hours a week, and if I had a good game to play I would consider myself hardcore.  I'd play about 4-5 hours a night, and pretty much all weekend.  Sure, some might be more hardcore than me, but I'd still consider myself a hardcore player.  pvp, rp, and content don't fit into my definition.  It's all about how you play the game.

Originally posted by jonrd463

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

Let's be honest; there's absolutely no such thing as a "hardcore" gamer .. we're all just gamers; some just play more/less than others and we all have different preferences.

People just use the word to fit whatever circumstance they dream up and attempt to add artificial weight to whatever forum debate they're currently spouting off in.

 

I usually don't do this, but .... QFT. ^^^

Yeah I agree 100% I would consider myself a "hardcore" player, but thats only because when I get into a game I can play it up to 8 hours a day (if I have the time)....but then I also know MMO players who play 19 hours a day.....

So "hardcore" is in the eye of the beholder, but it just comes down to how much time you sink....

I think it would be safe to say, if you spend the majority of your free time playing MMOs you are a hardcore player.

Hardcore is when you have or invoke real consequences for your actions in a game. For example, Diablo has a hardcore mode where, if you die, your toon got deleted. So, if I punched myself in the sac every time I died, I could be considered 'hardcore' (and perhaps a bit crazy).

I tried to get across how I saw MMO forum users using the word hardcore, I believe it is overused and has a different meaning to different people. The fact that you disagree or want to put a caveat on the meanings proves this is true. It is simply not precise enough, terribly vague in fact.

It is an emotive word, difficult to use without stirring up some feelings. If the word can be used with validity, the hardcore player puts his part of the game before any other part of the game. It is the reason he plays and the rest of the game is window dressing.

As was pointed out definition 3 should have mentioned that time was the factor, the hardcore player there generally being the one more prepared to put in more time.

My intention here was not to get us to all agree on the definitions but to realise when we see the word ‘hardcore’ on MMO forums it may not mean what we first think it does.

Originally posted by Kyleran

Hardcore is a useful term when describing porn, but when talking about gamers its pretty much useless.

 Both funny and correct.

Originally posted by Senadina

Originally posted by Kyleran

Hardcore is a useful term when describing porn, but when talking about gamers its pretty much useless.

 

 Both funny and correct.

Originally posted by Scot

Hardcore as a word is becoming so over used here it needs to be pointed out that hardcore has three meanings in MMO’s:

1. An obessive PvP gamer who lives to take down other players.

2. A role-player who is a real stickler for the details, vocabulary, background and justification for actions.

3. A player who wants content before advancement, pride in achievement before fun, an in depth quest before a new dress to wear etc.

Not that this leads to any confusion whatsoever. :D

4.  An obsessive who plays the game every waking moment, often to the exclusion of all else, who seeks to become famous or successful or admired in a game world, mostly because they aren't in the real world.

You know... a loser.

Originally posted by Kyleran

Hardcore is a useful term when describing porn, but when talking about gamers its pretty much useless.

Now that's my kind of hardcore.

For me, the term hardcore has nothing to do with the number of hours spent, but with the "intensity" in which they are spent. A real hardcore player will accomplish in 10 hours what a casual will do in 30-40 hours. But nowaday, we got things all mixt up and "wannabes who just put a lot of times in something" are now the new hardcore generation. No matter how much they suck at it.