The Point of Playing Hardcore

[Rukopashka]

Greetings fellow gamers,

As a player who has been enjoying games for many years, I've always been curious about the concept of playing hardcore, where losing your character means it's gone forever. I can understand the thrill of the challenge, but I have to ask, what is the point of playing with such a high risk? And furthermore, is the title of "immortal" really worth so much time and nerves?

I'm curious to hear from hardcore players about their motivations for playing this way. Is it the adrenaline rush of knowing that one mistake could mean the end of your character? Is it the satisfaction of overcoming incredible obstacles and achieving a higher level of skill? Or is it something else entirely?

So, I invite you to share your thoughts and experiences with playing hardcore and striving for immortality. What drives you to take on such a high-risk challenge? And how do you feel when you finally achieve the ultimate goal of becoming immortal?

[Kefke]

Believe it or not, some people don't want the title at all. There is a contingent of players that turn off exp gain at 59 so that they can stay Hardcore forever.

As for the point of it, that's different for different people. For some players, yes, it's about the thrill and the challenge. For some, I imagine it's about forcing a different play style, where you have to use items that would normally get passed up in favor of the more powerful options on the auction house, and think more carefully about each move. Some people probably do it to show off, or to be a part of a different community. I'm sure a lot of people don't really expect to ever make 60 and just want to see how far they can get.

For me, it's training. Coming onto Turtle, I wasn't all that confident in my skills as a player. I was doing a lot of content with a friend, and wanted something to do when they were offline. So I got the idea to roll up a Hardcore Rogue to play in my solo time. The idea was that having the consequence of permadeath would force me to "git gud" and play smarter. Which actually has worked. I've had a few deaths in Hardcore, but each time, I'm able to look at what happened, understand why I died, and learn how to better avoid dying in the future.

A lot of the time when I play regular, I don't get that learning process. Death means having to walk back to my corpse and bang my head against whatever I got killed by until the wall comes down. It can be a pretty frustrating experience. Whereas with Hardcore, I actually get less mad. Whatever happens, when it's over, it's over, and since I'm not stuck in that frustrated "can't let the game beat me" mindset, it's easier to be objective and analyze how things went. But at the same time, it still sucks to lose a good run and have to start again, so I'm still playing to avoid it, even if it doesn't bother me as much.

Does that make sense?

[Rukopashka]

Believe it or not, some people don't want the title at all. There is a contingent of players that turn off exp gain at 59 so that they can stay Hardcore forever.

As for the point of it, that's different for different people. For some players, yes, it's about the thrill and the challenge. For some, I imagine it's about forcing a different play style, where you have to use items that would normally get passed up in favor of the more powerful options on the auction house, and think more carefully about each move. Some people probably do it to show off, or to be a part of a different community. I'm sure a lot of people don't really expect to ever make 60 and just want to see how far they can get.

For me, it's training. Coming onto Turtle, I wasn't all that confident in my skills as a player. I was doing a lot of content with a friend, and wanted something to do when they were offline. So I got the idea to roll up a Hardcore Rogue to play in my solo time. The idea was that having the consequence of permadeath would force me to "git gud" and play smarter. Which actually has worked. I've had a few deaths in Hardcore, but each time, I'm able to look at what happened, understand why I died, and learn how to better avoid dying in the future.

A lot of the time when I play regular, I don't get that learning process. Death means having to walk back to my corpse and bang my head against whatever I got killed by until the wall comes down. It can be a pretty frustrating experience. Whereas with Hardcore, I actually get less mad. Whatever happens, when it's over, it's over, and since I'm not stuck in that frustrated "can't let the game beat me" mindset, it's easier to be objective and analyze how things went. But at the same time, it still sucks to lose a good run and have to start again, so I'm still playing to avoid it, even if it doesn't bother me as much.

Does that make sense?

thank you for such a detailed answer

[Shamma]

For me the main appeal is not the 1 life thing. It is playing with the ppl, who play the mode, because they tend to care MUCH more about their and other ppl's toons and time - leading to much more planned, careful and precise execution, friendliness and a MUCH better overall experience as a whole.

If playing "1 life" is the price to pay - gladly. I do no like dying in WoW and I tend not to. Made it to max lvl twice and both times the toons remained mortal. I do not care to rejoin the normal pop for the reasons above. When I want to play normal, I roll normal. Getting Immortal is like a punishment, not a reward.

[Xudo]

For me the main appeal is not the 1 life thing. It is playing with the ppl, who play the mode, because they tend to care MUCH more about their and other ppl's toons and time - leading to much more planned, careful and precise execution, friendliness and a MUCH better overall experience as a whole.

Actually, I'd like to play with this sort of people with HC restrictions, but unavailable PvP repelled me.
If blood ring will be available for HC in non-lethal mode, I'd gladly try twinking 19 HC mode.

[Lofracte]

After leveling countless characters in wow i think it's nice to add a bit of challenge to it, the game is almost 20 years old after all and questing in Kalimdor / Eastern Kingdoms can feel repetitive after a while.
HC tests your knowledge about the game more than anything, to me it is all about decision making.

I don't believe it takes that much longer to level as HC, the only thing really making it slower than a normal character is that you would avoid picking warmode so you don't have the +30% xp. But you still kill monsters as fast as any other character, when you think about it, dying is a waste of time, and since that's not supposed to happen to a HC char you could argue that it makes leveling faster this way^^

The only thing I don't like about the challenge is that it makes you "avoid pvp at all costs" when i really like pvping while leveling, but the rewards are worth it in my opinion.

[Kerguelen]

I like it because it makes me actually want to use crafted items more, think carefully about decisions, and like others said the community is just great. HC is a perfect match for my typical playstyle, which has always been purely crafting, leveling, farming, and minor "roleplay".

[Reploidrocsa]

I did the HC challenge back in the day so i could prove myself and being in the hall of fame of those who overcame this challenge