Simple question: Why do you play hardcore?
I play hardcore because I find no meaning in just grinding for more gear, if I’m only grinding for gear to grind for gear. I find much more meaning and satisfaction in grinding for better gear and winning tough fights, when my “life” is on the line.
Also, in hardcore there’s reason to have constantly updated gear, while non-hardcore only finds reason to do it in “endgame”.
“Hardcore, where every moment is endgame”
I play HC because I like the thrill. I played a SC Rogue to 63 and a SC Barb to 40. I planned to go HC on Season 1 but I already started to feel … let’s say everything already started to don’t have an impact. Level up? Yay… . New Legendary? Yay… . Resistance? I don’t mind. Armor? I don’t mind. I am in a boss battle and my health goes below zero? Well okay…
In HC every ambush could be the last if anything goes really wrong. Boss fight? Close to half life? Oh no! The adrenalin kicks in! It’s just way more engaging. Leveling from 70 to 100? I really don’t bother. I rather start a new char after one died and try to make it better this time.
Yes DC Deaths suck. But it will get better. And while all the softcore players rage about not having content after grinding level after level to 100 I am logging in again and going for the next thrill where everything, every mechanic and every stat in the game REALLY matters: HC
nice icy veins or max roll builds? I don’t use them. It’s boring and doesn’t work in HC for me. That one skill that no one really uses because it just could safe your life? Oh I REALLY want to bring it into a dungeon. Builds are different, skills are different (at least for me). The whole view into the game is different for me between SC and HC.
Not only offense counts, but also defense. No fun/challenge in fighting when I know I can die and just repeat the fight again and again. Save good gear for backup chars and twinks. Shaking when going into tough dungeons. The moments after surviving tough fights where I was nearly dead. The community
The thrill. Since d2, i been only hc. Its just fun…one life games are rare and this is a mega franchise giving you that option.
Its def not for most of the general pop
I, like many here, come from a time when finishing a game without dying was the pinnacle of a good player.
I see hardcore that way. You’re a good player if you finish, or grind for hours on end without dying.
I challenge myself to go further. And after the tears of losing the characters, I create strength to try again. And again. And again.
I started playing HC in DII.
After playing regular characters and hitting the 70, 80 and 90 range, I felt a shift in what repetitive style of play I desired more.
I either played the game repetitively with infinite lives to farm the same bosses and high-end items, which kept my repetitive play narrow to that content, or I played HC and have the risk of dying, which opens up my repetitive to all the content of a new journey.
While reaching endgame with a HC character would keep my content narrow for as long as I was alive doing it, I felt that I achieved more doing it in HC; It’s like having a fragile trophy you don’t want to fall over.
This post might seem a bit out there to some who can’t fathom having to start all over again, but for me it creates a decade plus worth of re-playability: in HC I get bored less often.
To me HC is more exciting and has changed the way I play the game. I have to be smarter and more patient.
I play HC because every decision is consequential and if you die, you get to restart and do it even better!
*disclaimer : have not played D4 hardcore yet.
For me it’s the thrill of one life and seeing how many of each class I can kill off 
played both D2 and 3 hardcore
I play HC because my internet is reliable-enough that I don’t DC all the time. Well, that and, as stated above, every moment is end game. I focus more and get more enjoyment out of HC. The only SC I’ve played in any ARPG in a decade was a couple days in d3 when the servers were particularly bad, and I leveled one character to 75 in POE Ruthless in SSF SC so that I could learn how to play without constantly dying after making it to maps.
in this kind of game , softcore “easy mode” it make the game to just clicking everywhere without consequences or thinking.
Most of my friend who play softcore are just boring now and frustrated by how easly the first campagne experience was.
And it too late now because they know the campagne.
The first day, i started the campagne in hardcore mode, and it was so hell fun and give me a lot of adrenaline.
Sure i died 2 time in the campagne but it was so fun and challenged.
Play softcore it like choose very easy mode in all game 
.
Some people prefer start play a game in hard and normal mode.
Competition is fun… a lot less cheese than softcore… Maxroll is essentially constant cheese
Well, ever since Diablo 2 it’s been cause of the thrill. When your lobby would turn hostile and try to gank you, it doesn’t get more pucker-y than that.
And it forces you to use other builds that you wouldn’t bother with in normal cause you can be more reckless there, so it’s not only for the excitement but challenge in gameplay.
I would just copy paste this post if it wasn’t so obvious, because it perfectly encapsulates my reasons for playing HC.
I too started with a SC rogue. Having played D3 at launch I was not about to subject myself to that hell. But the game was much more stable than I anticipated (if you balk at this I must assume you didn’t play D3 at launch, though the issues there seemed to be more server side).
One more thing. For all the reasons in the above post I am really starting to hate the scroll of escape. I have read some posts where people talk about how happy they are it exists, but it doesn’t do a thing for crashes anyway, which is my main problem at the moment and the only reason I would want it. Let me relate a little story to explain:
Somewhere right in the middle of D3’s life, I started a HC necro, running a skeletal mage build (I think), and got up to the point where you get a guaranteed ancient item drop, in which I got an absolutely perfect weapon. Couldn’t have been better. I was pushing them rifts hard and still doing it pretty safe, or so I thought. Rolled a butcher boss on one, engaged him, skeletons are tanking just fine, everything is going well. Then his harpoon arc attack (not sure what it is called but it is essentially medium damage instant fire and long range) triggers my cheat death ability from full health.
At that moment my heart rate gets a 50% bonus, additive. I am not bored, I am wide awake. To the best of my knowledge that attack can’t really be dodged, and his health bar is about halfway down, so I burn him as hard as I can, simultaneously backing up in hopes of outranging it if he throws it again. Unfortunately for that necro, I didn’t make it.
Anyway, I wouldn’t remember any of that if I had a scroll of escape in my pocket; I would have just said “well, see you” and it would have been another eminently forgettable step on a never-ending journey to slightly larger numbers. As it is, it’s one of my favorite deaths. Entirely my fault for being where I shouldn’t have been. Much like when my kicksin blew a fully charged dragon talon on an iron maidened mob in the throne room. Never forget.
This is my 3 char (39/32) My last is alive 42
and my Eternal is only 30 i play only 1H before start a HC cession
I know i will lost my HC champ And i know i will keep only my Eternal
But today the fact is : i have 0 enjoying to play my Eternal
So why i dont enjoy playing my Eternal instead my deadly HC champ ?
My Own Feelings :
For that experience Bliz HAVE TO gave us tools to play in those good conditions
And actually, the open chat box bug doesnt help
Fun, progression, competition.
However, starting at lvl 1 and having to grind up again really is demotivating, especially how tedious it takes to get to 50 being a completionist.
Like I want to get to 100 with story completed, map/quests done and what not, and if you die all that tedious stuff over again. Then the leap from Act 3 to Act 4, level 23 and Act 4 is 35+, so 23 to 35 that is dreadful grind.
I hate hate 1 shot mechanics, pressure plates with explosions, super insane boss mob Rotsplinter.
Its fun but they need to have indicator or tone it down.
Andarial she should be 1 shotting not some random boss mob in the wild that drops garbage. No intentions on fighting them (no idea what or who they are) but stumble across these things BOOM, start over again. Super annoying, makes me want to quit the game.
Meanwhile I see people getting to 100, they just do same dungeon over and over, playing super safe, so boring but I guess thats how you can get to 100 without any risks.
I probably need to do this. So annoyed not being 51+ again, and stumbling and learning about all these 1 shot mechanics playing the game as you’d normally play it.
When I was 61 xp was good, progress felt good, all ended because 1 shot mob.
20 to 40 that xp so slow, progress is so slow. It can all end if you find some 1 shot mechanic, cellar. Pressure plate puzzle, random overpowered achievement boss mob you stumble across.
Playing other games, if there was a super powered boss mob, they have some indicator of them to warn people about them, this game, nothing, you’ll run into them and get destroyed so quickly when they land that hit on you.
Butcher he aint nothing compared to Rotsplinter. I owned the butcher at 59. I played with my prey, he was a joke.
I have limited time to play and want every second to count.
Also the satisfaction of finally dying and starting over.
I actually look forward to dying.
I play HC because it adds to the weight of decisions. Playing with a safety net is great, and I totally support SC and “Easy Modes” or reduced difficulties in games. It brings a larger crowd and there is more player interaction from that, but the call of HC is amazing for those of us that prefer it. Knowing that if my Druid bites the dust it’s gone for good is such a motivator to play in a more involved manner.
Hell I play Classic WoW HC too, I’ve done no death runs of FF games, I’ve even tried my hand at no death runs in From Software games (unsuccessfully). I plan to fill my Hall of Fallen Heroes with all of my stupid mistakes over the next few years!
I think Hardcore is the best way to go to play D4.
I tried Softcore, you can just press respawn after died and that feels pointless. You can just fight super high leveled enemies and getting 0 risk from dying. In hardcore You mitigate a lot of risk by playing min max on stats instead go all the way to glass cannon and Need to learn enemy pattern and that makes you a better player each time you die altogether.
I lost a lot of characters but it’s still fun when your health sometime drop and give you a mini heart attack 
(so far lost 53, 22, 50, 50, 80) characters already.
It was fun until you lose your character due to server disconnect, but I’ll keep going on HC up to level 100 I guess.
Playing hardcore because over the years I’ve learned to re-enjoy playing rogue-like games. And Diablo 4 is doing quite a good job so far.
The game is fun when there is actual penalty for bad play. Substantial losses and meaningful fights are better experiences.
With that said, the DC/crashes need fixed ASAP.
Renown carryover needs to be implemented like they plan to do with eternal->seasonal.