hardcore-raider
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Is there such a thing as casually hardcore?
Once upon a time, I was an MC raider back in vanilla WoW. I raided six nights a week, three to four hours a night. My off night, Friday, was spent gathering plants in Felwood and other materials for potions and flasks. We busted our butts on completing progression content before anyone else on the realm, and if we couldn't manage that, before anyone else on our side of the faction fence managed to do so. Somewhere in the midst of AQ-40, the guild fell apart. People were just burnt out on way too much raiding and all the preparation involved in getting that raiding done successfully. These days, I raid three nights a week, three hours a night or so. To me, it's far, far more casual than what I used to do. I don't spend a ton of time on farming materials, and I don't spend a ton of time on other things unless it happens to be in game holiday time. I don't usually run random instances unless I'm after something specific, and I don't really do PvP at all. I'd call myself casual, simply based on the time that I play and what I do with that time. Yet there are still plenty of people out there who fling the hardcore title at me. When I look at how I used to play and how I play now, I can't understand why anyone would think what I'm doing now is anything but casual, and I'm confused as to why anyone would say differently.
Free for All: A hardcore raider shines light on F2P issues
My gaming moods come and go, but generally I always avoid heavy grinding. I am 36 -- all grown up -- and the last thing I want to do is put myself into a position in a game that makes me feel like I am working instead of playing. In fact, I think participating in a heavy grind will only encourage developers to make more of the same, so I try to do my part by avoiding it. I hope this doesn't sound harsh, but I believe that heavy grinding is ruining gaming. Allow me to explain. We humans love to establish rules and boundaries. Many of us need rules and boundaries or we don't know what to do with ourselves. We like to achieve goals, and some of us are obsessed with surpassing those goals. Have you ever stopped to wonder how we got to the point that a standard work day is eight hours and how the weekend is set on the days it is? This is all due to our ability to fall in line, to give into the demands that we place on ourselves, to give into a set of rules and guidelines. One only need attend an average wedding to see how ridiculously far we accept certain guidelines in the name of tradition. Funerals can be equally silly. What does this have to do with free-to-play gaming? Well, click past the cut and we'll chat about it.
