But I wanted it because I felt it described me pretty well. My modified moniker works as well, so not too much disappointment. The point is that I generally see myself as a casual WoW player. But am I?
That's the problem. What does it mean to be casual?
Quick note: I place no value judgement on casual or any type of player. This is not an evaluation of good versus bad but just me trying to define what a casual player is.
What's in a word?
Does a casual:
- Use Wowhead?
- How about Mr. Robot?
- Add-ons?
- Read blogs?
- Write blogs?
- Read Blizzardwatch?
- Read forums
- Get silver proving grounds?
- Use LFR?
- Use the group finder for non-LFR raiding?
- Have the legendary cloak or ring?
- Do the brawler's guild?
- Complete Long strange trip?
- Have the Draenor gold looting achievement?
- Have heirloom equipment?
This is obviously far from an exhaustive list and were really just some of the first things that came to mind.
Let me lay out two examples, myself and my spouse.
We both use Wowhead to look up quest chains, items, achievements, mounts, pets, bosses, etc. I'm probably more savy with navigating it but we both use and get around fine.
Neither of us use Mr. Robot. I only became aware of it a year or so ago? I'm 99% sure my spouse has no idea what it is.
Both of us had security concerns about add-ons and didn't use them for a long time. I only started using add-ons a few months ago and while I love the few I have, I actively try to avoid getting them and am still a bit wary of possible exploits. When add-ons break due to patch updates, I can sometimes find how to fix them but other times not. The spouse has no add-ons and no plans to use them anytime soon.
I read a limited number of blogs and, obviously, write this one. My spouse hopes to find time to read mine.
I read Blizzardwatch but not all of the time or exhaustively. The spouse does neither.
I generally avoid the forums, although occasionally I risk my sanity and check things out. The spouse is wiser and never does.
I have succeeded in silver proving grounds on my mage, druid, paladin, and hunter. I have just recently, and with great headache, passed with my warlock. The spouse has not tried them yet and would not be aware of them if not for me mentioning that it was necessary for the legendary ring quest line.
I used LFR a fair amount at the end of MoP but not much right now. The spouse has joined me so as to see the story, but has never run one without me, I think.
I used the group-finder to get in some SoO raids to be able to get my legendary cloak quest completed and to get my Garrosh heirloom. The spouse have never used it to my knowledge.
I have the legendary cloak on one character. Two or three others didn't finish in time (no bitterness there). I just finished the legendary ring quest on one character last night (a post on that coming soon?). The spouse has zero cloaks and almost nothing started on the ring. I held off on completing the ring quest on this character because I knew that it was unlikely the spouse would see the story if i didn't.
I am maybe rank 2 or 3 in the brawler's guild? Somewhere in that range. My spouse has had 2 fights I think?
I have completed a long strange trip and hated every minute of the mandatory PvP. I know the spouse was very, very close but I can't be sure if it is completed or not.
I got the Draenor looting achievement a while back. Not as fast as Grumpy but still, a while ago. The spouse got it a week or two ago.
I have all heirloom equipment except for pants (no guild with that achievement yet), the rings, the trinket from Darkmoon Faire PvP (or whatever it is), the fist weapons, and the new mythic dungeon heirlooms. Most everything goes up to at level 90 with a few things going to 100. The spouse has the same gear (except the intellect plate heirlooms) but half or less go to 90.
Just taking those things, are we both casual players? Just the spouse? I wouldn't call myself hard-core by any means, but am I really a casual player?
Why does any of this matter?
I don't really care what category I fall into in terms of social status or rank or other nonesense, so it doesn't matter in that sense. I'm pretty use to being outside the norm in many instances. What matters is that if I am typical, then Blizzard is not really addressing the desires of the bulk of its players. And if my spouse is closer to the average, then Blizzard is really missing the mark.
Now a company like Blizzard has to have the statistics on players enough to know the characteristics of a typical player. It's been 11 years so they have something going on right. But as they keep pushing this raid-or-die mentality, as they keep pushing certain thing in game play, it feels to me that they don't really know or don't really care about those of us they keep leaving out.
Some time ago, over at Tome of the Ancient I put it this way:
"Whatever Blizzards idea of a player is, I feel I don’t fit it at all and I’d be curious to know if I’m really that odd or not.
And while previously I felt benignly ignored as a player on the best days, I’m starting to feel actively pushed out."*
That was back during the time of no-flying ill-will, when the alts-r-bad vibe was very strong. Things have...well not improved but they've not gotten worse. Given some of the things Fiannor writes about, I'm probably just less focused on it now. Whatever the case, I've just always wondered what do other people think fits the term "casual"?
* By the way, here's the apostrophe I misplaced. ----> '
I guess it was a timelord. <----I have no idea what I was referencing when I wrote this.
Secondary note - this was actually written weeks ago, perhaps even in September or October. It was actually intended more as a discussion of what it means to be casual.
I see it as a label from the time when you reached endgame, if you didn't raid or pvp, you were a casual. As raiding (and to a lesser extent pvp) were the only ways to seriously progress and achieve in the game, and usually required large time commitments.
ReplyDeleteNowadays it seems to have split into two main groups. 1) Those who proudly label themselves casual, primarily to distinguish themselves as non-raiders, but whose play time can vary from almost 0 to more than your average raider. And 2) those who use it with a negative connotation, against change, reduced difficulty and increased accessibility, and all the baggage that comes with it.
The game has diversified somewhat since, (in theory) there's more to do than just raid or pvp, and I agree that someone who doesn't raid but puts in a lot of time can't exactly be deemed 'casual'.
For your questions, I don't think you could box in most casuals. There are absolute expectations of non-casuals, for example using wowhead (or equiv), completing proving grounds, legendary chains etc. but being casual doesn't mean you don't do these things.
Inevitably there has to be a skill element in it as well. Some players can pick up any class and defeat silver proving grounds first attempt, just because of their skill and knowledge of the game - it might take them 10 minutes, whereas a 'casual' may struggle with it for some time.
So to me, casuals can't or won't commit to play schedules, or long play sessions, so they can't be relied upon to do group activities such as raiding at regular times. They are less concerned with performance and status, as their activities demand less of them, and are more concerned with other attributes of the game, such as aesthetics and enjoyment.
And finally, it's hard to present this without sounding negative, but I see casuals less likely to conform. That is, if presented with requirements to participate in something, a casual is more likely to not participate. For example, changing specs, using a certain voice chat, installing addons, doing pvp, whatever, if they don't want to do something, they would rather not participate at all, than conform to someone else's view of how to play.
This is a great comment and thanks! I have so much I want to say to it but am in a rush. I will say this quickly though. Your last paragraph is what clinches it for me. And I don't see that paragraph as a negative at all. I embrace it with zeal :) I am what I've always know I am - a casual.
DeleteDo I --
Delete- Use Wowhead?
Yep! I use it all the time to find (or remind myself) where quests or bosses that give cool Mod drops are, and of course when I am writing up Mog posts.
- How about Mr. Robot?
I poked around with Mr Robot a bit back when it was new and I was still doing regular guild-based raiding. After I went LFR-only, though, I stopped bothering with it -- and, indeed, stopped bothering with reforging at all.
- Add-ons?
I consider myself an add-on minimalist. As an altoholic, I try to stay away from class-specific add-ons; the only one I've ever gotten was one to help me with the Boomkin rotation back when I was raiding as my Boomkin in ICC. I'm very attached to the addons I *do* use, though.
- Read blogs?
I sure do.
- Write blogs?
That, too ;)
- Read Blizzard Watch?
Heh, I check BW pretty regularly.
- Read forums
Nope. I can't tolerate the bad behavior enough to sift through for the stuff that's actually worthwhile.
- Get silver proving grounds?
Only on my main.
- Use LFR?
I ran LFR in Mists with a whole bunch of alts, but in Warlords, I've only set foot in LFR once: to kill the Iron Reaver to get the gyroscopic stabilizer blueprint for my Shipyard.
- Use the group finder for non-LFR raiding?
Nope. I did use it to get into groups for the Celestials to finish up my legendary cloak, but I haven't used it for anything else.
- Have the legendary cloak or ring?
I've got the cloak, but I abandoned the ring early in the questline.
- Do the brawler's guild?
I'm not really interested in doing stuff in-game that is difficult just because it is difficult, so nope. I'll do difficult stuff for other reasons, but not just to prove that I can beat it.
- Complete Long strange trip?
I eschew PvP as much as possible, so nope.
- Have the Draenor gold looting achievement?
I do have that one, as I've got a Level 3 Storehouse in my Garrison, but it just sort of happened -- and if it hadn't just sort of happened, I wouldn't have actively, consciously pursued it.
- Have heirloom equipment?
I have a full collection of heirloom armor (though not weapons) for teh Moggingage. Some of it is upgraded to Mists level, but I haven't bothered to get any of the Warlords heirloom upgrade tokens.
Crooked's description really hits the nail on the head, though:
"So to me, casuals can't or won't commit to play schedules, or long play sessions, so they can't be relied upon to do group activities such as raiding at regular times. They are less concerned with performance and status, as their activities demand less of them, and are more concerned with other attributes of the game, such as aesthetics and enjoyment.
And finally, ... I see casuals less likely to conform. That is, if presented with requirements to participate in something, a casual is more likely to not participate. For example, changing specs, using a certain voice chat, installing addons, doing pvp, whatever, if they don't want to do something, they would rather not participate at all, than conform to someone else's view of how to play."
Yep, that's pretty much me, and that's pretty much how/why I consider myself a "casual" WoW player, even though I log in for as many hours each evening as my other responsibilities allow.
@Kamalia
DeleteThanks for the long reply and I thought Crooked's definition was perfect too.
It's funny that they were concerned it would be perceived in a negative fashion, because I read everything listed as a positive.
Now, obviously, from a raiding perspective all of that would be bad. The unity, the cohesion, the time dedication, and the same requirements are going to be what allows a raid team to succeed, as I understand it. I get that and I don't think it is bad per se. If it is "bad", it is only bad for me in how I typically want to play the game.
As to add-ons, I have said it before and I'll said it again, I really do love Altoholic. I don't know if there is better out there or not, but it makes things so much better for me.
Lately I feel like on one end there are the "competitors." People who enjoy overcoming difficult tasks through skill. They might not care about the world or the lore. I think of the other end as people who enjoy "living" in Azeroth. Then there's every combination in between.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty much on the "living" end. I play to escape so I'm not going to do anything I consider annoying when I have enough of that IRL. I definitely think the devs are from the "great skill" end.
It really is a herculean task to make sure the game makes all of us happy, I don't even know if they try. WoD has not been a great success on my end of the spectrum and I may have to vacation somewhere else to make it to Legion.
I also feel bad being hard on WoD because my real life has changed in the same time frame so discontent from stupidhead RL may be bleeding through and tainting Azeroth.
Why does this comment have your name on it? I'm pretty sure I wrote this. :)
DeleteAs above, in a rush so I'm going to come back to both of you, but I very much agree and identify with what you've said here.