Why isn't casual gaming respected?

[DarthSka]

I don't mind casual games themselves. I'll play at a party with friends when the occassion arrives, but that's about it. I don't buy something I'm going to get tired of playing in about an hour. It's how it's affected the industry that I don't like. Basically, developers are pandering to this crowd now. For example, I love the Mario Kart series (64 and DS versions especially), so when Mario Kart Wii came out, of course I grabbed it. I don't like Mario Kart Wii. I know Nintendo wants to get everyone to play, but how they handled this game was entirely too much. Added more items that punish for doing well along with the ones they had before, no snaking, and the rubber band AI all killed the experience for me. It became a game of pure luck. Sure, that had been a factor in all previous games in the series, but if you handled yourself well enough, you came through in the end. I've had so many matches where I did everything right, and bam, 5th place. So casual games are fine with me. It's the audience that I've come despite slightly. Really, I blame the industry most of all.

 

[Simeon Ivanov]

Because casual gamers just wanna kill some time. Is that respectable?

 

[Jessta]

because now there is a hundred million 'casual' games that are more like little pieces of bigger games, most of which are sold at the same full price of those bigger hardcore funner games >_>

 

[Spartan448]

The problem with casual gamers is that whilst they CAN hold their own on occasion, when it comes time to pull out all the stops, or grab a victory from 5 minutes left in the game, with your team down, very rarely do they end up succeeding in that regard.

Heck, take me, for example. I play FPSs a lot for a "casual" gamer, even CoD and Halo. And even though I usually make up the majority of my team's deaths, I do it while racking up an amound of kills acceptable for my skill level. I ain't MLG, but I ain't your classic 10-year old with a controller either.

Hell, even in EVE Online, one of the more hardcore games out there, the problem really only starts when the casual gamers in your corporation end up taking 10 minutes to kill a frigate.

 

[jacobythehedgehog]

Casual gamers are ok. I just hate how games are made to appeal to them. It just sucks

 

[TheDooD]

[start rant]
Casual gaming isn't respected because of how the casuals act like every game needs to hold their hands or have some kinda flash in their face to keep them interested. Most older gamers started out as casuals yet most of us wanted to get better sought out challenges and different experiences. I was 3 when I started gaming I played Mario like everybody did back then. Then I wanted to play more I played Zelda, Contra, Dragon Warrior, Cobra Triangle, Dragon Spirit, and Punch Out. Even when I sucked I just kept playing, I managed to beat some of the games or at lease I had or at lease get to end. I was happy that I saw improvement, most casuals just want that happy feeling without earning it and it pisses off those that busted their asses.

It's all well and good more casual gamers got into video games. Made it mainstream got the companies more cash to make games yet we still aren't respected in fact. I think we're getting less respect because it became mainstream TOO fast. Now corporations think they can shell out anything because the kids and the older adults play it. That's when oversaturation of the market happens look at music rhythm based and workout games they started out like a good idea until too many wanted to cash in on a fad and now the games are basically dead. Motion controls started out as something cool in the arcade scene. Then Nintendo made it mainstream eventhough it barely worked or made the gaming experience better. Next Sony, MS want some of that motion control money and they still fail to make it a better experience then the basic controller.

Yet it's the casual market doesn't know any better they buy into the bullshit of motion controls are the next big thing and its the old school gamers that have to suffer through good games having bad motion controls forced upon them. The same thing goes for 3D casuals call us haters because we won't buy into some bullshit tech that didn't work and really hasn't improved since it was first released.
[end rant]

 

[GamingAwesome1]

- Also -

From a male perspective, the thoughts are then either "man, this guy is a tosser. I'm outta here." or "hmm... well, at least she's playing SOMETHING... maybe I can get her going on (title)"...

Truth ^

While this is completely true, I put this down to the fact that most gamers are male and would like to see the other gender take a proper crack at the medium.

I don't see anything inherently wrong with males encouraging the gender border to break for games.

On topic, because we end up with maps like Nuketown. In a nutshell, catering to the lowest common denominator.

 

[Xaio30]

It's not the Casual Gaming itself, but the simplification that it brings to the industry. Simple games sell better.

I personally want games that reward you for thinking outside the box and for experiment with all the means that are given to you.


In Baldurs Gate 2, the "Chain Contingency" spell with three "Project Image" spells that each can use "Simulacrum" to clone themselves one step further, is an excellent example of this, giving you 6 Mages for the price of one.

It's overpowered, yes, but far from easy to pull off if you have not learned on your own how the spell system works.

 

[Zeraiya]

As it's been said, I don't think that it's Casual Gaming that isn't being respected, but rather casual gamers.

Unfortunately the majority of casual gamers are rude, disrespectful and narrowminded towards hardcore gamers and their games. They have a stereotype that is certainly horrible. We've all met the troll who only likes about 3 games and will go to the ends of the earth in order to tear down other games and other peoples' opinions. Because of these people casual gamers are seen as people who do not respect the medium in which they play and the games that the hardcore gamers enjoy. This immediately puts them in a negative light in the eyes of the gaming community which then increases the ferocity in which these 'casual gamers' dislike and attack 'hardcore gamers'.

I wish this weren't the case. I know many casual gamers who simply play games to have fun and to kill some time, and they still enjoy games and they are still very much consumers like we are. Games are made in order for us to have fun and everyone should be able to do that. Whether you're playing for 2 hours on the weekend or all day everyday. Casual gamers are a large majority of gaming and therefore hold weight and we shouldn't disrespect them. The problem is they, in turn, must respect and appreciate the gamers who have a passion for games.

On paper it's simple, but people aren't simple. We'll always comes across the haters who hate simply because they can. It's a matter of just ignoring them and encouraging casual gamers to not be like the trolls. If we have more casual gamers who are pleasant and respectful, well then they'll receive more respect. It's not rocket science.

 

[Khuzaki]

my problem with casual gaming, is, like many have said "casual gamers" but not because they're not improving, or getting better. I get upset because they mindlessly buy games. look at call of duty, halo, or any other franchise that has had more then nine games. its frustrating to me when I see all my classmates playing black ops, and when I ask them why, their response is because its the next call of duty. the primary reason I don't respect casual gaming has to be because of the success of games like cod, where they release the same game every year, and everyone buys it mindlessly.

I consider myself a hardcore gamer, not because I feel I'm better then everyone else, but because I put alot of time into the hobby, because I also enjoy watching other people play, or reading After Action Reports, things like that.

 

[Hiname]

Personally, I have a huge hate for "cassual", to use that wod, while I would love to use some others that come to my mind.

I see it mostly happen in MMOs that I loved. Everything is fine and dandy, you have to play long or farm hard for somehing really hard to get.
Then suddenly, a wild cassual appears and brings along his pack.

"Waah waah waah, thats too hard, I want the same stuff as those other guys and I want it NOW because I pay the same money per month even though I play two hours per week!"
And for whatever reason, they GET it! The grind is reduced to enarly non-existant and the lazy cassual jackass can dress himself in the same sets or weapons as someone who worked its ass of to get it.

And e voilá, cassuals get a huge broadsite of hate from the non-cassual gaming front and the developers are all confused why the community starts getting worse and worse because the spiral of envy, hate and disgust goes on and on.

Cassuals demand, they get catered, and the non-cassuals hate the cassuals guts for getting the same stuff shoved up their sugared asses. When I get told how easy it is today in Ain to craft the Miragents set 8during my time a month-killing, money-draining quest like no other) and you now get 3 hearts of magic (one core-component to make it) per MAIL when your each level 49.. honestly, I feel sick.

So yeah, thats me about cassuals being the black plaque of gaming.

 

[Woodsey]

(If you need see-through walls to play Hitman, just don't fucking play it.)

Wait. There's a Hitman game with see-through walls??

Oh you must mean the next one... Yeah it seems to be pulling a Splinter Cell: Conviction.

To be fair though, the Hitman games have always had a map that showed everyone's position and the direction they were facing in real time and it didn't make the game too easy.

True, but having to switch out of one screen for the other can make a difference.

 

[Hobonicus]

They also don't get respected because of the fact that they don't aim to hone their skills on the matter. They simply do it to pass the time.

This right here sums it up perfectly the "Hardcore" MMO crowd: They think that being better than someone else at a video game is worth being "respected" for. They think that "playing games for fun" is wrong.

Anyone who identifies *themselves* as "hardcore" gamers are, by definition, twats. They honestly think that memorizing combos and maps is "skill" and is something to be proud of.

You can be damn good at something without acting like a moist bellend about it. When you start thinking of yourself as some elite champion of Pac-Man, snubbing your nose at the peasant-class who can't even get past level 12, and having to define a new 'class' for yourself to distinguish yourself from the guy who's just playing for fun, you've entered douchedom.

"Stupid casual Pac-Man players... coming in whenever they feel like it, popping in a quarter, and enjoying themselves. Where is the discipline?! Where is the training! I spent months memorizing the AI patterns of every ghost, and can navigate those mazes with my eyes closed!"


After spending a thousand hours fighting the same boss over and over again to get the Purple Dildo of Cockslapping +47, complete with time sheets and bureaucracy, they are furious to find out that someone without a rare collector's edition dildo is having a hell of a lot more fun then them. And possibly talking to girls.

Their idea of "real gaming" is more like second job than anything one would play for entertainment. So when they see someone who sits down and can play an entertaining, lighthearted, and did I mention entertaining game for less than 4 hours at a time without requiring weekly commitments and checking in with your boss it hurts them.

This is because their entire concept of "fun" consists of being better than someone else. Since they're better than no one in real life, and the world frowns upon getting into slap fights with gradeschoolers to show your dominance, they have to rely on video games.

The game itself is secondary, and not even really necessary, as long as their is some empirical way to prove people are your lessors. You could have an accounting simulator and people would brag about their dividends and stock trades while calling someone who's only getting 2.9% on their checking account "noob faggots" and rubbing their ballsack on your face. (If we make an accounting simulator in space we can call that Eve Online.)


Rage on "hardcore gamers." I'm going to go play a few rounds of Plants vs. Zombies then go meet my girlfriend for sex.

I could explain to you how you're vastly missing the point in your elitism rant full of exaggerations and hilariously unintentional irony, but you're clearly too cool for these gaming forums. Your beam of pretend logic is focused so hard on blind hate that it misses everything else. Hell, even your base generalization is a common misconception thrown around by edgy people too obsessed with absolutes to actually think about it. You've basically extrapolated from the general topic and a quoted a poorly worded argument to repeat what many have said before more colloquially.

So I could make a point by point list of why everything in your rant is misguided, hypocritical, and borderline off topic, but I'm guessing you'd ignore it because immature anger is so sexy.

 

[Pyro Paul]

simple reason:
because hardcore gamers are afraid of it...

Big money companies put their cash into what promises the most returns on their dollar.

The Cheap to produce while highly addictive casual game is exactly what they are looking for.

So... why put money into big budget ventures and risk the game bombing when you can put a much smaller investment into the next installment of 'Farmville' and see a much higher profit margin?

the simple fear of Popularity > Good brings the hardcore players to resent the entire field.
Look at Warcraft... World of Warcraft is so popular that entire projects such as Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, and Warcraft 4 where put on hold or even cancelled Just to support the MMO.

 

[Michael Hirst]

You're living on planet Earth, it's full of irrational beings who believe in all kinds of crazy notions. Of these many strange ideas is that playing certain types of videogame can make you a second class citizen in the gaming community, these people are idiots.

 

[lord.jeff]

Wow I thought we were past all this hate, it's really surprising that were willing to bash people who are just starting to get into gaming.

This whole they need to earn respect thing is bull crap, why because you all sucked at one point(I still suck at Team Fortress and started before free to play) and we can either be asses and force them out of the community and piss them off and end up having a hundred annoyed players because they had to deal with an unskilled player, or we could do what other hobbies do and help new comers, and yes other hobbies help new comers just look at non credit classes at a community collage, which gives us a bigger happier community. I also don't think it matters if they try to improve their skills because in the end it is just a time passer we should just let them have there fun just. Sure all hobbies have assholes that insult people for not being able to preform to there standards or not having watched Citizen Kane, but guess what they get called ass holes for a reason. Plus other hobbies have far fewer of them, how many of you people call yourself movie goers and not have seen the classic films and how many times have you been told that you cant watch movies till you watch them all, now compare that to the number of times you bitched about casual gamers. Just remember next time you go complain about casual gamers we all have the same goals at the end of the day, having fun.

 

[Domehammer]

Because Casual gamer is demonized to be people who want easy games. Casual gamers are people who put life before gaming and hardcore put gaming before life. Problem is greedy and lazy gamers that pass off as casual gamers do to how demonized phrase casual gamer is. They cry and moan over something till it get changes or just keep going. They don't want to put effort in to get something they want it spoon fed to them with a shovel. Though since they get put with Casual gamers as a group there opinion actually gets taken with some importance. We need a term to replace Casual gamers or to loop in the people that are lazy crying and moaning people so there opinion gets less regarded as being part of a large group.