Tuesday’s Takes: A Sense of (Play) Style
by Mercurie

In the days when I played pen-and-paper RPGS (long ago in the Eighties), I observed three basic types of gamers. One was the casual gamer: this was the person who played once in a great while, playing in a game here, and a game there. They almost never played in an entire campaign. Another was the hardcore gamer: this was the person who played each and every week. If he or she did not have to work, or go to school, he or she might well have played every day if it was possible. Hardcore gamers had usually played in many campaigns, and often in many different role-playing games. A third could be described as a cross between the casual gamer and the hardcore gamer. I suppose one could call them the intermittent gamer. This was the person who might play RPGs regularly for several weeks or months at a time, then he or she might go for several weeks or months without playing a game. In my gaming group, as we got older and the demands of work and family took precedence over role playing, I would say that we were all intermittent gamers.

Given that MMORPGs developed from the pen and paper RPGs of old, it seems reasonable to me that these three types of gamers can be found in most MMORPGs as well. Indeed, the very nature of MMORPGs may well have been the developing force in creating more hardcore gamers. In the old days of pen and paper RPGs, a hardcore gamer was largely at the mercy of the schedules of his or her fellow gamers. If his or her fellow players couldn’t fit a game in on a particular date, then he or she simply couldn’t play a game. Due to their very nature, MMORPGs are available at nearly all times: all a player has to do is log on, and immediately they can start playing, regardless of whether anyone else they know is playing, or not. Of course, all MMORPGs have their share of down time, when maintenance or upgrades are being done, but then even this need not deter the hardcore gamer. With so many MMORPGs on the market today, he or she can simply play another game. If John Player can’t play EQ 2 because of down time, he can always choose to play Dark Age of Camelot or World of Warcraft.

Indeed, since the introduction of the earliest MMORPGs there have evolved hardcore gamers who spend nearly every single hour, when they are not asleep, at work, or at school, playing MMORPGs. We have all encountered them before: people for whom obtaining the Forbidden Scroll is nearly as important as getting a raise at work. There is a reason that EverQuest received the nickname “EverCrack”: for some people it can be positively addictive.

While MMORPGs have led to the creation of hardcore gamers, of a sort, who make the ones from the days of pen-and-paper games look positively lackadaisical about their gaming, it has also allowed for the proliferation of casual gamers. In the days of pen-and-paper RPGs, when the casual gamer was in the mood to play a game, he or she had to find a group to play with and pray that their schedules fit his. With MMORPGs, this is no longer the case. Like the hardcore gamer, the casual gamer can log in to whatever MMORPG strikes their fancy and play to their heart’s content. In this respect, MMORPGs may suit the casual gamer more than any other sort of gamer. After all, the game is always there whether he or she chooses to play or not.

Since MMORPGs are well suited to both hardcore gamers and casual gamers, it should come no surprise that they are also suited to intermittent gamers as well. In my experience most intermittent gamers tend to be older (like myself) and we tend to lead busy lives. We don’t always have the time to take away from work or family to play a role-playing game. In the days of pen-and-paper games, if one of us wanted to play a game, it meant calling up the guys (and here I use the term to denote both sexes…) and trying to get a game scheduled. MMORPGs have done away with this hurdle. An intermittent player can play a MMORPG whether or not one of their friends are available.

In the case of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, it seems to me that the game is being developed in such a way as to accommodate hardcore, casual, and intermittent gamers. The game is meant to be multi-layered, so that players won’t necessarily be limited to hack and slash. The world of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is planned to be one of the more complex which has been seen in MMORPGs. It is meant to be seamless. There is going to be no limit on how high or how deep one can go. The world even has its own weather! With its multiple layers and a complex world, I rather suspect that Vanguard: Saga of Heroes will please most hardcore gamers. At the same time, however, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes does make room for the casual gamer or the intermittent gamer.  If a player wishes to simply log in and play for a few hours and then not play for weeks, this option wouldn’t limit their ability to enjoy the game.

After all, this is as how it should be, at least to my mind. I rather suspect there will always be hardcore gamers, casual gamers, and intermittent gamers. And to me, it is advantageous for companies producing MMORPGs to accommodate all those types of players.


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Karen is H.D.i.C. (Head Druid in Charge) at EQHammer. She likes chocolate chip pancakes, warm hugs, gaming so late that it's early, and rooting things and covering them with bees. Don't read her Ten Ton Hammer column every Tuesday. Or the EQHammer one every Thursday, either.

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