I got asked for a friend, what do you get for playing HC servers. I didn’t know how to answer him.
I’m hyped for HC servers, but I agree. A lot more risk for nothing more in reward. Even Runescape’s Deadman Mode servers have a reward for the main normal account.
Perhaps in the future if HC is successfull enough, we have a seasonal hardcore server with different modifyers in loot, exp rates , or dungeon/raid drops. Idk , get creative and shake things up a bit.
Opinions?
Speaking only for myself, my reward will be the fun and friends that I meet along the way. 
“We don’t need no stinking badges” I’m just here to have fun. 
For me the experience is the reward. I’ll be chuffed if I can make it to 30. 60? Well, I might have to even share that with my wife, who could not care less XD
My cats won’t be any more impressed than you wife. Bunch of party poopers …
Why do you need a reward? It’s just another option for playing the game and it’s included with your sub. JFC you people.
The number 60 by your name.
what’s the reward for softcore? 
you get to parade around SW in your naxx gear I guess. well, same for HC.
The reward really is personal satisfaction in accomplishing a goal. In addition to fun and meeting people along the way.
Sure. Maybe.
My opinion is that for most people reaching 60 on HC, Classic is the main, normal account.
The thing you get from every game; Fun.
If its not fun, then why play?
For me, the “reward” is getting to play the same game you love but with higher stakes. It just plays different, slower. It’s a more meaningful experience. But most of all, because I find it fun. Not everyone gets that, and that’s ok.
On a much more pressing matter though, Blizzard, Body 3, 4, 6 and 7 when?
I guess the reward would be the satisfaction of accomplishing a tough feat and having fun. I want to be excited for HC but the thought of not really raiding and no PVP at 60 doesn’t sound very fun
What is the reward of playing any game, at all?
Fun?
The people saying they want a reward for hitting 60 in HC reminds me of the people who wanted to know what they could “spend their achievement points on” when Lich King dropped. (Same thing a winning football team spends their points on - nothing! That’s not how these points work! They’re a measure of scores, not a currency!)
Each level you go up in Hardcore is a measure of you getting there. That’s all. Get to 60? Good job! Most people won’t.
Maybe if you reach max they could kill your retail main permanently next time it dies and give you an achievement? Kind of like being killed by Deathwing was.
No body 5?
Shapeist.
HC Wow became a big deal because it was community driven and Blizz didn’t have its fingers in the mix. Now Blizz has its fingers and hands all over it. Blizz’s track record for the past 5 years, one has to question oneself, “how fast will they bring on the decay?”
Doing HC for fun is one thing. Chasing a Blizz placed carrot is another. I fear their “ideas” may take the fun out. And they do love conforming the game to their ideas.
The reward is you personally accomplishing something
Assuming Blizzard announces deaths on the server, you get to smugly say in gchat:
“pillaged,” “van cleef’d,” “cleaned,” etc.