The people I would really ask “why do you bother” of are those who play 20 hours a week yet accomplish little more than those playing 2. 
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There will really never be a proper, universal definition of what a casual is; it’s too ambiguous.
There’s people who believe it mean whatever fits them and whatever negative connotations they can use though - same with terms like Hardcore, Elitists etc - which muddy the waters greatly.
if we mean talking skill level here.
Casual: LFR-Heroic raider, heroic dungeons, low-tier mythic dungeons, only ques pvp for the lelz.
Conclusion: Likely puts less effort and time to do something.
Serious player or what people say “tryhard”: Mythic raider, high-tier mythic dungeons, high rated pvp.
Conclusion: Likely puts more effort and time to do something.
I’d say 10 hours a week is casual.
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“Tryhard” refers to somebody of less talent, somebody who isn’t getting what they should considering the time spent. Lots of effort, but fewer results than you would expect.
Casuals lack strive for optimization.
That’s the main thing. Type of content people doing or not doing does not matter.
Someone needs to tell Ralph lol!!
The universal definition of casual has always been a player who is new, inexperience and doesn’t put the effort to reach higher levels of gaming.
This isn’t a complicated concept, nor should it be.
No point in telling somebody who won’t listen to anyone.
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True facts.
No, it is not.
I have been playing a good 40+ hours a week since March and I am a casual. Being casual has nothing to do with amount of play time or content pushed, it about focus, attitude and play choices.
Casual
relaxed attitude towards playing
favours fun-oriented play choices
focus is on ‘the journey’
Die-hards
intense attitude towards playing
favours goal-oriented play choices
focus is on ‘winning’
So there 
!
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That isn’t universal at all. Casual is somebody who doesn’t put in a lot of time.
I’m a casual player of Kerbal Space Program. I’m not new, I’ve been playing it for years. I’m not uninformed, I can design and pilot very complicated multi-stage rockets that do all sorts of things.
I simply don’t spend a lot of time playing it, these days.
In shadowlands I am going to be a proud tryhard and wannabe elitist
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I hate to break it to you but that isn’t casual, that’s a 2nd job.
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Unless somebody official defines it and it’s accepted by a very large population, you’re just going to get everyone’s random opinions.
I’ve seen people even claim they raided mythics, did 15+ keys and call themselves “casual” (which anyone with a brain knows they’re just someone trying to get others going by making them feel inept).
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Im super casual. Time isnt really what marks me out. I think if we look at the game like a diamond, instead of a pyramid we can at least define 2 types of players:
The ultra hardcore.
The super casual.
I dont want to speak for the ultra hardcore. They probably dont even post here anyway. I’ve no idea what drives them (is it as Kevin Jordan said, to flex on everyone below them? is it to just beat the game? Is it goal accomplishment? No idea. Probably all of them. Maybe none of them. Maybe they just love the game and want to play it on the hardest setting like lots of ordinary people do in SPGs)?
But for me, a super casual, i dont really care about the competitive game at all. In fact, the MM part no longer even features (except ancillary - maybe i need to run a dungeon to finish a quest or garner access to some achievement i want - say, the mechagnomes for example). I’ll run most LFRs just to see it. But whether in dungeons or LFR, im under no illusions that im playing a game requiring coordination or team work. Im playing a throughput-simulator. If this content was soloable, id be soloing it. Other people in the game just make it feel a bit more immersive. Just like in Destiny or ESO. They’re not really core to my experience.
But i do spend a lot of time in game… like, an unhealthy amount of time. Still, if we go back to the diamond, im probably not even part of the casual conversation despite being their obvious leader.
The casuals you’re referring to are probably mixed up with the aspiring hardcore into a messy soup of competing demands and rubbish excuses as to why they’re not elite. Basically, they’re people who probably play most of the game, but not to a level where they want to invest TOO MUCH effort into the game. Time, sure, but effort? probably not.
If were going by time played, then wouldn’t that make me hardcore then, despite barely stepping into even LFR or never stepped into a 10+?
Okay, which is it? 
Am i casual or hardcore here? I have tons of time to play but i don’t “slam” mythic pluses.
A casual pugs random stuff, does easy Mythic bosses at most, just clears weekly yolo 15s and maybe arenas and that’s it. I know because I am a casual and that’s all I did this entire expansion and the one before it.
I don’t get on at certain times. I don’t attend guild raids or events. I do my own thing when and however I want and my primary intention to play the game is to kill time, have fun or both. It’s never to progress, get achievements or anything else. I think it is both a mindset and an amount of time spent.
So i surmise. If you’re neither at the tip of the diamond (top 5%), nor at its base (bottom 5%), you’re a casual. Sure, you’re playing the entire remit of the game, but the hardcore elite will do whatever it takes for the common weal. The super filthy casual doesnt really care about the meta game (not, ‘the meta’, by the way), theyre happy just doing their own thing.
The rest of you are in that bulky middle trying to eek out your position, yet utterly incapable of defining your place.
You’re all just casuals. Playing the game as its meant to be played (coordinating with other people) so long as it aligns with your personal self-interest.
You’re clearly not playing my game, and you sure aint playing the hardcore game… so, im afraid, youre playing the normal, ordinary, as its intended, casual game. A rose by any other name, i suppose.
Still, not to check Kevin Jordan again, but i did take notes for you all (:
You’re casuals because theres no way in game to stratify you. You’re either elite/detritus, or a mass of nobody specials bobbing up and down depending on seasons, wind, engagement and whatever else floats your boat. But right now, and as the game stands, you’re a casual.
…its… its not your fault. 
Using casuals as a noun we use it like
noun
a person who does something irregularly.