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David Bowers lightly ribbed me earlier about being too lazy to read quest text. Avid role-player that he is, he considered skipping quest text a capital offense. He went on to tell me about some folks that even made sure to read every readable book or object in the game, like A Steamy Romance Novel or those books lying around in Stratholme. Role-players pride themselves in immersing themselves in game lore and the environment. I don't think I could be so involved or keep in character so well for so long. I thought to myself just how hardcore that was. On the other hand, some people would probably consider my dropping 375 Mining to level up Enchanting just for the ring enchants for PvP to be hardcore. I certainly think what Nihilum did by having a majority of their raiding crew take up Leatherworking just for the Drums of Battle was incredibly hardcore.

The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that a lot of people are pretty hardcore in their own way. I mean, my wife continued to raid with us while she was pregnant, healing us through Serpentshrine Cavern while lying down on the bed. She would log on to fill our roster when we were short even though she was bedridden because of doctor's orders. One of her friends in-game who was also pregnant played a Druid and was actually tanking a Heroic 5-man when she felt contractions come on and had to excuse herself midway through the instance. It turned out to be a false alarm, but I think these women are pretty hardcore for playing in their condition.

My brother-in-law once spent days and days killing the Booty Bay Bruisers in Stranglethorn Vale until he was hated by the Steamwheedle Cartel. The Bloodsail Buccaneers loved him for it, of course, and he came away with our former server's first Bloodsail Admiral's Hat. I personally thought that was insane and completely not worth the effort, but it was certainly hardcore. I've heard of some players who ground to exalted with the Aldor, got the faction recipes, then turned in a truckload of Dampscale Basilisk Eyes and ground to Exalted with the Scryers. That's even more insane than killing goblins in Booty Bay and unquestionably more hardcore. My friend on Bonechewer has the modest goal of getting Exalted with all reputations and has already gotten Exalted with the Argent Dawn by farming Scholomance, despite him having created his toon after The Burning Crusade. Since I don't have the patience for that, he certainly qualifies as hardcore in my book. How about players with one of every class? Even better, how about those with a Level 70 of every class? Do you think there's someone with a Level 70 of every class on both factions? That's hardcore altitis!

That's the cool thing about the game, I realize. There's something in it for everybody. From the financial genius who managed to get the maximum amount of Gold in the game to a Hunter that's hell-bent on meleeing everything, there's a form of hardcore that defines every player. Most of us take an aspect of the game to the extreme, particularly the aspect that we enjoy the most. Back in the old days, I would spend over 20 hours a day in the Battlegrounds trying to get to Rank 14. A day job and a stubbornness to do it solo got me just short of that goal, but I know every single player who got to Rank 14 legitimately were truly hardcore. We saw each other so often in the Battegrounds that it felt like we were almost friends.

Even casual players have an aspect of their game that can be considered hardcore. My cousin made it a point to raise all his skills -- from every weapon to all professions -- to max level. It's a relatively minor thing, but not all players bother with it. World of Warcraft is, at its heart, a casual player's game, and casual players have numerous ways of showing their dedication to the game, from small ways to big ways. Even titles are a means to show how (casually) hardcore we are.

What makes this game so much fun, I think, is that we're allowed our little idiosyncrasies that define how we play. For certain, we take some aspects of this game to an extreme that other players wouldn't even consider. In this way, we can all claim a certain level of hardcore matched against our own standards. Sure, you're probably not bleeding edge raiding M'uru right as we speak but you could be the guy who has all the vanity pets including Gurky and a baby Panda. What's your hardcore display in WoW? Do you know any hardcore tales or something that sets a player apart from the rest because of her dedication to the game?

Tags: Casual, Hardcore, Role-playing, Titles

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends