Casual or Hardcore? Striking a Balance in Gaming.

The Eternal Struggle Between Gaming Styles

By: Savanja

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It’s always been the long time struggle of any game maker, regardless of the type of game they are creating, to strike a balance within their game, making it both fun and rewarding for anyone who plays it.
To be able to effectively market a product, it has to appeal to a wide range of consumers. And while this may be a simple task for something as typical as toilet paper or ninja supplies, it’s a little bit of a juggle to get it right for MMO’s.

Casual vs. Hardcore. What’s the difference?

I’ve played on both ends of the spectrum. Before EQ2, I would have considered myself a casual player. I would log in a couple nights a week, or just on weekends to play for a few hours. Most of my time was dedicated to solo or duo play, and I never really saw any high end or raid content. Gaming was one of a few hobbies that I enjoyed and fit in as my time would allow.
I believe that most casual players are the same way. For whatever reason, their gaming time is limited and it’s so very important that what time they do spend in game, is not only fun, but rewarding. A gamer needs to feel like they can and have accomplished something, even if they pop in game for 30 minutes.

Now since Eq2, I’ve become a bit more hardcore. I happen to have been very excited about this particular game, and I started following its progress early on. When it was released, I found myself spending more and more time in game. I shuffled though a few race/class combos before settling on my Barbarian Monk, and it just flew from there. Shortly after her creation, I burned through the lower levels, barely touching the lower level content, shot up to level 30, then joined a guild (shout out to Aggro Fish, cuz I can do that). From then on, nearly every night was spent grouped up and experiencing the game in a way that I hadn’t before as a casual gamer. But spending that kind of time in game comes with it’s own whole set of concerns and issues that MMO developers have to overcome. Namely, keeping things interesting and exciting for gamers who go through all that there is in game so quickly.

We want content!

Content would be the biggest issue when looking at casual vs. hardcore. When you spend a little free time in game, looking at the same newbie zone every time you log in, it gets boring! I mean, how many gnolls can one kill and still get that rush of excitement? Having a plethora of exciting, and challenging lower level content is so key to keeping a gamer logging in. And not just in the main zones, but in the instances as well. The use of solo instances that are easily accessible to everyone has been a fun and welcomed addition to MMO gaming. It gives players more choices of where to spend their limited time, and gives the feeling of making discovery when you step in somewhere new. This is what makes gaming great!
Along with this, casual gamers need quests and tasks that are doable in short periods of time. Long drawn out questing can be so frustrating and discouraging when it takes days of gameplay to see any reward. It ends up being far too tedious. This means, short, less complicated quests with meaningful rewards are going to be needed. Things like the lower level quests for armor pieces in Qeynos are fabulous. Being able to log in, head out to Oakmyst, slay a few bears, and get pants for your toon, is great! Coin is hard to come by when you don’t spend a lot of time in game, so achieving usable gear in this manner makes one feel like they’ve really earned something useful and desired. And not needing a group to get it all done? Score for the little people!

In stark contrast, for those of us that spend a lot of time in game, challenge becomes the focus. Since the easier quests can be done so quickly, doing small quest after small quest makes one feel like a FedEx delivery person during the holiday season. This is where multi-legged tasks and more complicated quests come into play. Hunting out elusive creatures in dangerous areas, access quests for some of the more challenging zones, and far more complicated heritage quests, are what keep hardcore gamers interested. There’s got to be plenty to do to keep even the most avid of players from leveling too fast, hitting that level cap, and getting bored.

This is true with zone content as well. The difference is, while casual gamers tend to need more during the lower and mid levels, hardcore players need far more in end game and raid. This poses some interesting issues for game designers when trying to put it all together in a cohesive virtual world.

Fun for all? Or fun for some?

The balancing act between making a game playable for casual gamers, and challenging for hardcore gamers, will never be an easy one. Things like travel time, money sinks, time sinks, and tradeskills, will always be debated. Who ends up being catered too?

In Everquest 2, I think a particular amount of care was taken in understanding and implementing ideas to appease both sides of the coin. The game started out with a definite sway towards the more serious gamers, but slowly we have seen a lot of changes implemented that make virtual life more enjoyable for the casual gamers as well.
Things like griffon towers being added in Thundering Steppes and Nektulos Forest, cutting down travel times in these larger, more dangerous zones. Former group geared mobs being changed into soloable mobs for questing and xp’ing. And loads of quests being added on a regular basis. It all gives a balance in the game making it far more enjoyable and interesting for everyone.

Let your voices be heard!

So what kind of gamer are you, and what makes you so? And most importantly, what do you think the powers that be at Eq2 could do to make your style of gaming, more enjoyable for you? We all have vastly different ideas on what makes the game good for each of us, and I would love to hear opinions on what the general populace feel is, or should be the focus in MMO gaming. So please join the discussion on our forums, and let us know exactly what you think!