Casual vs Hardcore Guilds

There are no terms used to describe guilds more vague than 'casual' and 'hardcore'. Really, these are not two opposing categories, and guilds are not simply one or the other. It's a continuum, based on how aggressively a guild aims to progress. To the extent a guild's policies reflect a desire to down bosses quickly, get gear faster, and complete hard modes and their achievements, they're that much hardcore.

But there's more to it than that. It's not even a single standard; a guild might be very casual in one aspect, while be hardcore in another (I'm beginning to hate these terms, but I told myself I'd work with them, so soldier on). Think about all the different things a guild regulates: guild ranks, bank privileges, recruitment, raid comp, loot system, raid schedule, and on and on.

Let's imagine two guilds called, say, Hocturne and Honviction. Hocturne uses suicide kings for a loot system, raids 3 times a week, 3 hours at a time, and recruits mainly friends of members. Honviction recruits by application, raids 3 times a week 4 hours at a time, and use DKP. Is Honviction more hardcore? Maybe, but what if Hocturne frequently attempted hard modes, and raid comp was based on performance. While Honviction only does normal modes and raid comps based on gearing up people? That muddles the issue a great deal, doesn't it?

The point is, casual versus hardcore as labels only work when a guild is very, VERY casual or hardcore. Most guilds are not one or the other, and find some mix between the two that works for the memebers' skill and ambition. One might even say that the concessions necessary for raiding makes ANY raiding guild non-casual to an extent. At any rate, we need to be careful not to use these terms like there's some clear line between the two, or that there is something inherently wrong about 'hardcore' guild policies. It's just a question of what works for whom.

Of course, you can also talk about casual or hardcore players, but I'll leave that for another day.