Casual player mission statement

Back in the time when Everquest was the game of choice of most MMORPG players, it was easy to see who was a power gamer, and who was a casual gamer: The power gamer had one or more characters who were of the highest possible level, and went on raids. The casual player only had lower level characters, and didn't go on raids. And I was clearly in the casual gamer camp, never having gone higher than level 42, and never having participated in a raid.

With World of Warcraft, things are getting more complicated. A much larger percentage of people reach level 60, because it is only a matter of time, and the game is now old enough to have given enough time even to casual players. And once at level 60, even casual gamers are at least occasionally trying to get into a raid, because there isn't much else to do. So with me having a warrior at level 60, having killed Lucifron in Molten Core, and having played 30 hours per week for the last year, I have the outer appearance of a power gamer. But looking into my soul, I rather think of myself as a casual gamer. So what makes me casual? I think it is mainly a question of intent, what I am trying to get out of a game. So here is my casual players mission statement:

• I am a casual player, I want games to entertain me. I do not want a game to become "work". I do not play to "achieve" anything.
  
• Leveling up, and improving my equipment, are part of the fun. But they are not the only purpose of the game.
  
• I do have a life in the real world, and to me that Real Life ® is more important than my virtual life. My Real Life ® determines how much time I can spend in my virtual life, not the other way round.
  
• I accept that power gamers will level faster than me. I accept that somebody half my age can beat me easily in a twitchy game, just as the average 6-year old can beat me in playing Memory. Nevertheless I do not believe that somebody is somehow a superior human being, just because his level is higher, or because he just kicked my ass in some game. I consider "leet" to be an insult.
  
• I want to be part of a friendly guild, where everybody knows my (virtual) name. I want to chat with my guild mates, go adventuring with them, exchange experiences with them, because shared fun is multiplied fun. I do not want my guild to be a military organization where people are forced to show up at certain times and play for certain hours, just because some stupid game mechanism requires 40 high-level people for a raid.
  
• I want to explore the virtual word, and experience as much of it as reasonably possible. When I have seen everything, and a new game beckons me with a new world to explore, I am willing to quit one game and start the next one. I might stay with one game longer than with another, but I'm never permanently bound to one game.
  
• If a game offers several character classes which are sufficiently different, I want to try all of them. I'd rather have a bunch of alts at medium level than just one character at high level.
  
• If leveling to higher levels feels like a treadmill, I simply refuse to do it. I can play alts, I can quit the game, I do not feel that I "failed" in any way if I never make it to the top.
  

I don't know if that is a complete definition of "casual player", but I think it covers a good part of the casual attitude. Anything essential I forgot?
- posted by Tobold @ 2:00 PM Permanent Link