26 January, 2008

Rubric of the Hardcore

Okay, so I lied. I'm not making my own taxonomy. I'm more interested in finding the existing lists of gamer types out there and seeing how they divide up the space.

The biggest debate these days is casual vs. hardcore. I remember taking a poll in Next Generation magazine (RIP) measuring "hardcoreness". Of course, it was assumed that by simply reading the magazine, you were a gamer. Today, the terms casual gamer and non-gamer are often used with derision and mean multiple things. Below are some of the qualities people seem to use to determine if other people are hardcore or casual.

Informed

  • Reads many news and review sites. Has strong opinions backed up with keen observations and statistics. May have a blog and / or be active on forums.

  • Professional Game Reviewer (I don't know why. They're just considered less hardcore.)

  • Has one or two genres (or one or two systems) they care about.

  • Knows about one game (or one franchise or one company).

  • Goes to the store and buys the wrong game.

  • For the wrong system.

  • Constantly reading and writing articles on all aspects of gaming (business, news, reviews, history, technical details, academic research, trends). Probably doesn't play any more. :)


Time Commitment

  • No Job. No School. Only Game.

  • Every free moment outside of work / school. Social life avoided.

  • Many free moments outside of work / school. Social life present.

  • Weekend Warrior

  • Once in a while

  • Used to play games


Competetiveness

  • Needs all the win. Hates team games.

  • Needs to win. Will sacrifice for the team.

  • Wants to win (or is trying to accomplish some kind of goal)

  • Winning and losing irrelevant. (probable griefer / assclown)

  • Prefers games without "winners" and "losers". (wuss)


Skill

  • World Class (If you run, you'll only die tired.)

  • Best in Region

  • Best among friends

  • Good Player

  • Okay Player

  • Easy Points

  • Comically Inept


Tactical Ability

  • Uses sound tactics and map strats and adapts quickly.

  • Two out of three.

  • One out of three.

  • Sticks together.

  • WAAAAAUUUGGGHH!


1337ness

  • Doesn't use cheats (and wins)

  • Writes cheat utils

  • Uses cheats (and wins)

  • Doesn't use cheats (and does not win)

  • Presses ALT-F4 for god mode

  • Uses cheats (and does not win)


Platform Preference (US only; different in other countries)

  • 360

  • PS3

  • PS2

  • PC

  • Retro Console

  • Portable (DS, PSP)

  • Wii

  • Browser

  • Phone


Genre Preference

  • First Person Shooter

  • MMO

  • Real Time Strategy

  • Third Person Action

  • Retro

  • Sports

  • Role-playing

  • Puzzle

  • Anything Free

  • Anything Marketed to Children

  • eXtreme Sports

  • Educational

  • Adult / Hentai

  • Pet Simulator

  • Non-combat MMO (aka Chat Room, aka Second Life)

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