Hardcore revisited: Hardcore as normative play in WoW
After my initial musings on hardcore gaming in WoW, I feel its time to make another attempt. Perhaps one that isn’t so broadly sweeping in random directions.
Lacking a definition – because its hard to define the majority?
Hardcore is one of those words that is used by gamers all the time, but seem to hold quite different meanings depending on who you speak to -something the insightul comments made to my previous post reminded me of. To me, hardcore carries much of the same distinctions as those founds within the powergamer and hacker concepts. In such hardcore is recognized by a instrumental attitude towards the game. It is not enough just to play the game, a hardcore player needs to understand what makes the game react as it does. There is a sense of professionalism, where efficiency and productivity are key elements of how the hardcore gamer structure his/her playtime. Playing the game is not just about experiencing new challenges, its about setting goals and being able to fulfill those goals.
From the hacker and powergamer heritage comes a sense of minority. It is an expert group that has knowledges no one else does, a group that relates to the technology in a different way then the “ordinary user”. The problem when talking about such a definition in a WoW setting, is that it is not necessarily seen as “hardcore”. Knowing what you want from the game, researching select topic to gain expertize about them, then working hard to reach these set goals – is simply playing the game.
Perhaps the exact reason for the “hardcore” concept to hold so many understandings in the WoW community, is because a hardcore approach to the game is not something done simply by a small expert group – it is a way to relate to the game that the majority of players use at some point or another.
Part-time hardcore
One of the exiting aspects of WoW as such a popular game, is that it caters for many types of play. From the raider to the soloquester. Whether the game is truly successful at either is another discussion, but what is interesting is that the approach usually only held for those at the forefront of the game (the expert group, in WoW that is the raider) is being used in various other aspects of the game. Its not unique to WoW, but its large and overly active community makes all these different hardcore approaches visible.
By working with a definition that highlights instrumentality and goal oriented play we find many ways to be hardcore. The goal can be anything from making gold, completing achievements, twinking, to collecting pets or winning arenas. To select an area of the game and getting good at it has become natural within WoW, and thinking of it as hardcore might seem a bit odd. Especially for someone that has “grown up” as a gamer in WoW. So, what does it mean to not play hardcore?
The flipside of hardcore
Playing other MMOs or speaking to other MMO players that you dont play with (after all, hardcore and casual players never seem to get along too well) the hardcore becomes more visible. After all, not all tanks in all games will think in terms of avoidance or threat output. To quote a friend who plays a raiding tank in LOTRO about how he gears: “I have heavy armor, and heavy shield. Thats about it”…
The alternative to hardcore is to just go with the flow of the game, to not really care what is the fastest or best route forward. If the game takes you to X, going to X is valid in itself – even if it means that getting to the next level will take longer. The flipside of hardcore is to indulge in what the game tells, the immersion the game brings -without making any effort to understand its underlying mechanics, without researching (through blogs or databases f.ex) what items will grant a 0,2% increase in dps. I think Gevlon tend to refer (falsely) to this group as M&S (Morons & Slackers): they don’t know the best way to do things, they only do what they want and dont seem to care that it only brings them a mediocre result. They dont care about beeing on the top of the pile, or think that the top of the pile should be reserved only for someone who needs to spend 5 hours outside the game in order to be successful for 3 hours inside it. They will gladly spend time with someone who slows down progress, just cause they think some company is nice – or cause it doesn’t matter to them that its slower.
In WoW, this attitude towards the game is seen as “noobish” at best. Its not an approach that is revered or really accepted. In WoW: the hardcore attitude is the norm, it is what we expect from other players.
