In keeping with my theme, I present, the Hardcore Gamer.

Good Old Merriam defines ‘hardcore’ thusly:

1 a: of, relating to, or being part of a hard core, hard–core poverty, the hard–core unemployed

b: confirmed, die-hard hard–core rock fans; a hard–core liberal

2 of pornography: containing explicit descriptions of sex acts or scenes of actual sex acts — compare soft-core

3: characterized by or being the purest or most basic form of something : fundamental

So, apparently there is a 3rd gamer type - Could I have erred when I assumed that Formal Gamers were the natural opposite of Casual Gamers?  It seems, from recent posts in the Forums that, perhaps, I did, and that the correct anti-thesis of Casual Gamers are something called “Hardcore Gamers.”

What can we glean, from previous comparisons, and from the definition above, about these elusive Hardcore Gamers.  Apparently they feel that they are the *hard center* of the player sphere.  The spine of the Aardvark that is the body of Gamers.  They are the pits.  Er.  Of the fruits I mean.  Stripped to the core and exposed under the microscope of public scrutiny, they are die-hard, dyed in the wool, card carrying, unemployed pr0n addicts that answer to the basic desires of the hive mind.  A Hardcore Gamer, alone, is nothing - just one part of the whole that is Hardcore Gamerism.  A cog.

Or so the dictionary definition would lead us to believe.

Approaching the Hardcore Gamer in the Wild

This may be one of the more difficult feats to accomplish, as Hardcore Gamers are only found in large packs, usually far underground.  They think and move as one, with the entire swarm able to reconfigure itself to counter the next threat.  Individuals seem to react to one controlling mind, as they swirl from this position to that formation, all in anticipation of the coming encounter.  In battle, one can witness for oneself the value placed on an individual component by the speed at which it is healed or revived.

In my experience, I’ve found that it’s best *not* to approach such an entity - they won’t notice you, because in their estimation its utterly impossible for you to be in the same area that they are in, so obviously you can’t possibly exist.  To acknowledge you would be to grant you existance, and the Hardcore Gamer knows in the blackest depths of his heart that he is totally alone - even if he is composed of dozens of separate entities.

As promised, this week I’d like to take a look at the Casual Gamer, and see what information we can glean about them.

First, the Webster’s Dictionary definition of Casual:

1 : subject to, resulting from, or occurring by chance
2 a: occurring without regularity : occasional
b: employed for irregular periods
c: met with on occasion and known only superficially
3 a (1): feeling or showing little concern : nonchalant (2): lacking a high degree of interest or devotion (3): done without serious intent or commitment
b (1): informal, natural (2): designed for informal use

From this I perceive a misinterpretation of the nature of the Casual Gamer. According to speculation in the official forums, these Casual Gamers are solitary, intractable beasts, ornery to a fault, insisting on playing the game their own way, in solitude. Yet when carefully observed in the wild, we find that the truth is, as always, somewhat different.

The Casual Gamer, in fact, may not actually be a Tolkien fan. He comes to our little corner of cyberspace on the referral of a friend or aquaintance, because of a magazine article, or simply by pure chance. As he probably plays multiple games, his visits here are infrequent, and his play times vary wildly from day to day. His encounters with other Gamers are generally brief, and the odds of encountering the Casual Gamer more then once are very low. No one really gets to know the Casual Gamer.

The Casual Gamer’s interest in a particular game or it’s mythos is, at best, passing. Several suffer from Alt-o-mania, creating several characters without taking the time to fully come to terms with the strengths and weaknesses of each class. They form no attachments to specific characters, and take a generally lackadaisical approach to gaming. To them, this LOTRO thing, believe it or not, is *just a game!* They believe, if they’re pushed to state a belief, that they can take it or leave it.

Based on that profile, its difficult to fathom how they could ever offend other players, but, as noted, they are the very anti-thesis to Formal Gamers, who tend to hold them responsible for everything ill in the world. The Rise of Sauron, crop failure, overgrazing of the fields of Rohan, hobbits, and the separation of church and state, etc, have all been attributed to the influence of Casual Gamers on the world. But it just doesn’t concern the Casual Gamer - they can take it or leave it.

Approaching the Casual Gamer in the Wild.

Being extremely skittish, the Casual Gamer should *never* be approached.  But if you find yourself a situation in which you have no choice, the best way to go about it is to feign disinterest.  Casual gamers shy away from any real, structured mode of play - one should *never* invite them to Raid, for instance.  They may choose to accept, but as the rules and regulations of a proper Formal Raid are explained to them, they may bolt, or feel cornered.  That’s when they are at their most dangerous - when cornered they might just choose to click “Need” on that 1st Age, off-class item drop.  You know, the one the Minstrel’s been after for 9 runs now.  Indeed, the best way to interact with the Casual Gamer is in small, one to one meetings, possibly even a small fellowship, if one can calm him to that degree.  With care and patience (Hi Patience!) one might even be able to slowly coax him into greater Formality.

The Formal Gamer

With all the threads in the forums lately about the “Casual Gamer” it occured to me that many people might not be aquainted with the anti-thesis of this sort of player.  So I’d like to introduce “The Formal Gamer.”

According to Webster, “formal” is defined, thus:
1 a: belonging to or constituting the form or essence of a thing
b: relating to or involving the outward form, structure, relationships, or arrangement
of elements rather than content
2 a: following or according with established form, custom, or rule
b: done in due or lawful form
3 a: characterized by punctilious respect for form : methodical
b: rigidly ceremonious : prim
4: having the appearance without the substance

Knowing that, a picture begins to emerge, of our formal gamer.  Apparently, to him, the form is everything.  Content?  We don’t need no steeeking content.  What the formal gamer craves is status quo.  “This is how raids work, so all raids must conform.”  You will find Formal Gamers sequestered in their computer rooms the night before a big raid, mapping out such vital data as party make up, main tank, main assist, the specific order of attack - which mobs fall in what order.  Who should stand where, specifically.  What traits must be active and slotted on every character, in all roles.  The devil is in the details, and the formal gamer leaves no detail to chance or the vagaries of players who *shudder* choose to play their own way.

A formal player knows that no player can stand on his own - no one player knows how to play his class or fulfil a role in a fellowship, or worse, a Raid.  All must be taught, and the plan of attack must not be deviated from.  These are the players that know the raid will wipe if one person stands in the wrong spot.  Is it any wonder why they get so upset when the Devs move a rock, or misplace a spawn point?

All of this shows why Formal Gamers don’t understand, and has questioned things about the nature of the Casual Gamer, such as “Why doesn’t the Casual Gamer learn to Group?” and “Why doesn’t the Casual Gamer join a Kinship?”  Their conservative, highly unimaginative minds just cannot grasp the concept that, sometimes, a person just wants to run though content on their own.  The Formal Gamer has no use for solo content, in his mind, it’s way too easy.  And when you run through it with a fellowship of 6, it probably is.

Safely Approaching the Formal Gamer, in the wild.

If you come across a Formal Gamer in the open - that is, outside of Raid or Fellowship Only quest instances, it’s entirely likely that he’s found himself temporarily without a group.  Formal Gamers in this situation can be very dangerous.  They are out of their element, confused, scared, and their Fight or Flee instinct is thrumming.  Often they will turn their terror into sarcastic posts in the game forums.  This is when they can be at their most dangerous.  I recommend ignoring such threads and letting them die a swift pruning-death.  This will also help turn the Formal Gamer’s attention back to the game, where it should be.

Back in game, the safest method to approach a suddenly-solo Formal Gamer is by approaching slowly, while calming murmuring reasurance, such as “lfg Rift…lfg Turtle…”  If you get no response, it’s possible that the Formal Gamer is, in fact, dead.  You should bury him.  However, if he responds, you must convert your fellowship to a raid as soon as possible, and invite people as fast as you can.  This will re-establish the Formal Gamer’s sense of security, his “world-view” if you will.  Humour him when he tells you that you have too many hunters, not enough minstrels, and “What the **** is an RK doing here?”  Tell him that you’ve always wanted to try the Rift with 12 hunters.

I’m not certain about that last line…

Next Week:  The Casual Gamer!

So, here we go.  As a player I have a pretty long history in the MMO sphere.  There are probably a number of people out there that will recognise my name from other games.  Yes, I was *that* Arbalister.  To my knowledge - and I check frequently - the name is unique to me.  So if I was someone you loved and respected in another game, I’m that person here.  If you hated me in Anarchy Online (which shall henceforth be referred to in this Blog as “the Abomination”) then you probably still hate me.  Same guy.

Over in my somewhat more mainstream Blog, I’ve lately expounded a bit on the dumbing down of MMO’s in general.  In there I make mention of some instances of “dumbing down” that have or are happening in Lotro.  I’d like to make some more specific comments here. 

Read the rest of this entry »

What a wonderful thing, and not a moment too soon - I’ve been setting up a lot of the same functionality on our Kinship site that can now be found here.  We can actually just about port the kinship to this site, all that’s missing is a forum and we can probably just link out to our existing one.

Wow, all this work I *don’t* have to do. :-)  I love it.