Can't get to that right now, but it would be an interesting exercise. Keep in mind that we probably don't have anywhere near the number of skills that will exist in seven years so the number would come out low if not negative.

You could reverse that using the existing cap to calculate the projected skill tree cost.

Casual<>Hardcore<>No Lifer

I think you have an extremely unrealistic idea of what the average casual gamer invests in gaming.

To me, a casual player is the guy who plays a few hours of games a week. Maybe Saturday afternoon he flips on his PS3 and kills an hour or two casually burning some time on whatever game he feels like messing around on.

A "hardcore" gamer, is someone who invests free time to try and achieve specific results in specific games. For a hardcore gamer, the gaming is an actual hobby rather than simply a time waster. A hardcore gamer is usually actively playing multiple games. So even if they are spending 3 hours or more every night gaming, it's unlikely they're gonna rack up all of that time on a single game.

I personally probably spend 10-20 hours per week gaming. Ask any casual or non-gamer if that's "hardcore" and I'd wager they will answer in the affirmative.

What YOU are, is closer to a "no lifer", which is basically someone who devotes as much time to a single game as many people devote to an actual job. 20+ hours a week, every week, on a single game is well beyond your run of the mill hardcore gamer, especially assuming you don't just play Dust 514.

Ok, so I'm aware of what the terms mean generally, but when we speak of Dust 514 specifically what defines a "casual" player? Where's the line which pushes someone into "hardcore" territory?

I'm interested in player base sentiments on this (yes that means you unless you can't resist trolling ).
I'd also love to hear how CCP is defining this.


The current Skill Point system is in part presented as a balance for Casual players so they are not outstripped by Hardcore players, but who's who?

If you play 7 hours of Dust in a week (counting all time from game client boot up, till game client shutdown as "play time" for this example) does that make you a "casual" or a "hardcore" player? (also please include a "why" here, detailed feedback > vague/general proclamations)

As an 05 Eve player I have experienced all types and here's my .02 ...

Casual Player - Logs on whenever real life permits. Usually a couple of hours a day/night and varies on days off from work. Though competitive, plays solely for fun. Doesn't get emotional and could care less about the politics and "bullcrap" of it all. If he/she joins a corp its usually to have people to play with and or access to better space, etc. Will either be an older person with a real life, a student heavy into their studies, or an Eve vet who's seen it all, done it all, and smart enough to play the game on their own terms and still be very successful...

Hardcore Player - Logs on at every given opportunity. If doesn't have the time will make the time. The game will sometimes supersede real life depending on the importance of the situation. His/her stats are very important. Will use real money to buy lots of aurum, will look for every advantage possible. Uses words like "pro" and "leet". Winning and losing have an emotional effect, sometimes severe (rage). Is very much into the politics and the "who's who". Will either be a teenager, early twenties, or an older person with no life. Sometimes also called a "Dork".

Thanks to everyone who's responded thus far :)

I'd like to reiterate that I'm seeking definitions for within Dust 514 and measured in traceable in game metrics.

Since CCP has stated that balance between "hardcore" & "casual" is a concern I am interested to see what the player base sees those terms to be within D514 in a tangible context which could actually be relevant to in game balance.

Cheers :)
Cross

Thanks to everyone who's responded thus far :)

I'd like to reiterate that I'm seeking definitions for within Dust 514 and measured in traceable in game metrics.

Since CCP has stated that balance between "hardcore" & "casual" is a concern I am interested to see what the player base sees those terms to be within D514 in a tangible context which could actually be relevant to in game balance.

Cheers :)
Cross

"Casual players are the ones who are happy playing the easier content."

uh....

"casual players are the ones who can't play the hardcore version"


hell they can't even play THIS version of a beta.

the easiest of em all.

then again, they couldn't play mag... or bf3... or bc2... or bc1.

oh, wait i see a pattern.

Peace
B

I'm not convinced I support the binary division of the player base (casual/hard-core), but I'll have a bash anyway.

The simplest metric I can think of is to create content with different levels of "hardness", balancing rewards to the difficulty level. Hardcore players will be the ones who only play the hardest content. Casual players are the ones who are happy playing the easier content.

Right now the beta only has one level of content, with essentially a random hardness level because it depends on who you spawn against.

Expecting a game to be able to balance things so that casual and hardcore players can both be happy playing the same content is a bit unrealistic, imho.

What would "easier" content would look like?

For PvE (against drones, for example), difficulty is easy to assign. Do the drones have 100, 500 or 2000 points of armour?

For PvP it will be harder, but not impossible. Having battles with lower ISK/SP rewards and with certain modules & weapons banned would be a start. Matchmaking algorithms incorporating K/D ratios, etc. might also help.