[SirAlvarex]

For me back in the day, the definition between the two were:

Casual: Plays the game on their own time, when they can fit it into their schedule.

Hardcore: Plays the game in place of doing other things in their life. The game is an important aspect.

You then get fine lines with the definitions, like "so a disabled person who can only reliable play a video game like everquest does so 100 hours, is he casual because he can't do anything else?" Eh, well, if EQ is a major part of his life then he is hardcore. Same thing with a person who only plays 5 hours a week, but that entire 5 hours is the result of responding to a batphone. They actively block out time in their day to play a game.

I'd say most people in the "2nd tier" raid guilds or higher would be categorized as Hardcore players. They play the game in place of doing other things in life. Is this bad? Not necessarily. There are good people here, and socializing in a game vs socializing in a bar is a much better prospect for many, so it is no way a bad term.

But lets all be honest, the fact that any of us play a 15 year old game makes us pretty hardcore. And i don't even play that much anymore :/