I would love it if we could have more people interested in the journey, or finding new ways to complete content instead of (OMG Guild X is using X strat, we have to do that if we want to compete.)

For me it is more about the journey and awesome adjustments and strats than being server first, but even in my casual arena people look at rankins… its inevitable for some to compare.

It’s something that I find myself arguing with fairly often. I’m told my mindset is “hardcore” and that I’m not cut out to be a casual raider. And a lot of time I feel that people use the word “casual” as a crutch to not improve on themselves. “Oh we are casual, so it’s okay if we repeatedly screw up a mechanic.” They use it when they can’t do numbers relative to their gear level, that they haven’t invested in gems or enchants (maybe they have, but they aren’t the best ones). They may be the people who don’t sign on beyond a raid night (whether it be progression, farm, or even LFR).

People call me hardcore because I research my spec, I read up on boss fights before they are done, I run numbers and do detailed notes for reforging and specific fight requirements. To me that’s not being hardcore, it’s me being respectful of the other 9 or 24 people I’m playing with. I want to bring my best to help the team.

I describe myself as a “Hardcore Casual.” Yes, I raid 7 hours of current content each week, I do LFRs, I cap VP on multiple characters. And then I go back and raid old Cata content for at least 3 hours a week.

I enjoy raiding and I enjoy doing my best. I don’t define myself as truly casual (I mean, I raid!) but I’m not truly hardcore like the World First guilds. I’m this gray area in between that you describe. Maybe I lean more towards the hardcore end of the scale, but I’m still gray.

Either way, we should all play how we want to play. Some day I hope these labels that are applied to the different player cultures within WoW will just fade away and we can all just be known for our enjoyment of the different aspects that the game offers.

Honestly, I hate definitions in pretty much the same way I hate saying “we will be a top xxx guild”. Because if you define yourself by a number or a term, and that is your only defining factor, the second you falter you have just failed. And guilds should be so much more than numbers – and they should be able to weather challenges when things are a little rough. At least that’s my take on it anyhow.