I'd say no. Player investments and expectations aren't even in the same ballpark any longer.
I'd say no. Player investments and expectations aren't even in the same ballpark any longer.
No, they aren't the same.
2004 Casuals are the "Average" raider today; some boss kills, but not good/committed enough to push for much beyond that.
2016 Casuals are what I would consider "Tourist" players. They show up, and expect to be shown around so that they can experience some of the things a new place has to offer, but in the end they mainly just want to go to the popular attraction and get some cheap gift shop junk to show off to their friends when they get back home.
WoW has NEVER been a difficult enough game for ANYONE to give themselves the "hardcore" moniker. PvP is retarded, there's no risk vs reward. It's pve with human opponents, most of the time. PvE at all difficulties is scripted, so to walk around with your chest puffed out because you did some mythic content is a waste of time, and makes you look like an elitist asshat. If anyone played UO pre-trammel you know what I'm talking about. win a 5v1 with a tank mage before you talk about being hardcore.
You're either painfully blind or just unintelligent. I said nothing about instant gratification as that isn't what I care about. You also didn't address how simple the boss mechanics were in early WoW.
It's ok to like the longer grinds, particularly leveling up. I like those as well. But I despise simple mechanics, and that is what classic WoW consisted of in its entirety.
Sorry but mechanics aren't much harder now, though as I have stated I am a firm believer in the encounters should be difficult not the classes, also if you look at the molten core that came out for the birthday thing, yeah many wipes were to be had and back then they WERE hard for 2 reasons..........1) People didn't know wtf they were doing really and 2) People didn't have all the self heals etc they do now.
History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people - Martin Luther King, Jr.
When you had enough gear yes, you did not need as many consumables. There were very few guilds that had quasi-full Naxx gear. If you were in Nihilum, you had a maximum of 17 weeks to gear up before TBC launched.
I'm guessing you cleared Naxx all bosses one shots and in a week right? I was there as well. You're acting tough on the internet.
12 years in gaming circles is a lifetime. Things change, gaming has changed. Simple as that.
Gaming has changed, it's a simple fact. Go back 12 years ago and look at DLC, it was a rareish thing to see. now we have day 1 DLC. Mobile (phone) gaming is a big big thing now, it wasn't in 2004.
The 2016 "casuals" are generally better than the 2004 "casuals". WoW has always been the "casual" MMO anyways.
Casuals can raid now. Sure you might not be raiding mythics as a casual player, but you *can* do a similar version of the content without worrying too much about dragging your friends down.
10 years ago ? Yeah, you could raid... but you'd be one of the 30 clueless people being carried while the other 10 worked their butts off cuz the kill meant something to them.
And good god. The memories I had of "casuals" that wanted to raid. Retaholytankadins and cloth hunters galore.
Last edited by Darsithis; 2016-04-10 at 02:15 AM.
History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Casuals are usually defined the same way in 2004 and 2016.
A casual is usually defined as player who is not into competition, who doesn't have any quotas, or any imposed goals to reach in a certain time. Basically a person who plays at his own pace without any regards to what others do.
The difference from 2004 and 2016 is the context.
1. In 2004, most MMO's, especially outside of WoW, were extremely time consuming and punishing. The definition of a casual then wouldn't vary, but a casual would still spend many hours playing the game. He had to commit time and effort to achieve whatever he/she wanted to achieve. Players had a different attitude than today and would adapt to the game, instead of insisting that the game should adapt to them.
2. In 2016, everything has changed. Most MMO's are no longer extremely time consuming and punishing. People are self entitled to things they aren't entitled and make everything complicated. The definition of casual is still the same, just that they don't have to commit time and effort to achieve things since everything is handed down to them. Thus, to them, it seems there is no content.