Casually Hardcore or Hardly Casualcore?

Been a couple of topics in guild chat this week that have raised the head of the terms of hardcore and casual and it has caused some lengthy discussions, so I thought it worthwhile to put over my vuews on the matter.

Firstly I'll come out and say that these terms are only in our heads. If you think you are a casual gamer, then you probably are, if you think I am hardcore while I think I am casual then you're right again but so am I. Confused? If not you're unlikely to read beyond here so /wave. 

If you're still with me, thanks and sorry for confusing you. You're probably wondering how could we both be right if I'm both hardcore and casual at the same time. Well my friend the reason is because we share different definitions of what is a hardcore gamer.

I'll now describe me as a gamer. I started gaming at the tender age of 3 playing card games and board games, and am now 43, I started playing video games back in 1977 with Pong on a console, moved into computer gaming back in 1981 (snake on the ZX81), got my first handheld game (Astro Wars) in 1981, got my first PC in 1990 (an Amsrad PCW8512). In 1999 I got a Playstation and played racing games and sport sims before moving on to games like Grand Theft Auto until 2005 when I got introduced to World of Warcraft since then I have had very brief flings with other MMOs but have focused 99% of all my gaming into World of Warcraft which can consist of daily amounts of 7 hours or more on my days off work and 4-5 hours on a night when I return home from work. My character is always fully gemmed and enchanted and wears the best gear I can lay my hands on.

Does that make me hardcore?

I have researched this a bit and the most common theme for a definition of a hardcore gamer, in order of frequency given around the Internet, are:

1. The gamer must play a lot of different games;
2. The gamer must have professional gaming skills;
3. The gamer must play 'their game' for hours each day;
4. The gamer must play MMOs;
5. The gamer must put their heart and soul into their gaming;
6. The gamer just wants to win;
7. The gamer has played games of all types for many years;

Lets look at these in detail and score myself in each one.

The gamer must play a lot of different games;

For the most common reason to be a hardcore gamer I fail horribly, as I only dabble in other games like SWTOR and LOL. (Hardcore 0 - 1 Casual)

The gamer must have professional gaming skills;
I raid a a respectable level on a below average server and am OK at PVP. But I AM a keyboard turner although I do keybind 95% of all my abilities. I can hardly be defind as a professional skilled gamer. (Hardcore 0 - 2 Casual)

The gamer must play 'their game' for hours each day;
Yeah I play WoW too much most days, no way I can claim casual here. (Hardcore 1 - 2 Casual)

The gamer must play MMOs;
erm got me again, infact I really only play MMOs . (Hardcore 2 - 2 Casual)

The gamer must put their heart and soul into their gaming;
I play too much, blog about WoW, am a raid leader, guild officer and listen to hours of podcasts each week all about WoW and gaming in general. (Hardcore 3 - 2 Casual)

The gamer just wants to win;
For me I want to win but I also want to have fun. Losing lessens fun and I'm sure nobody plays to lose. But If I had to choose winning all the time and not having fun or just having fun and winning half the time I'd choose winning half the time and fun. (Hardcore 3 - 3 Casual)

The gamer has played games of all types for many years; 
Well a simple read through my gaming resume prooves that, but then so has my sister, my Mum, my Dad and my wife so while I notch one up for hardcore here, it really proves 1 of 2 things, this measure is bad or we're all hardcore gamers. (Hardcore 4 - 3 Casual).

So there we have it a narrow margin win for me being a hardcore gamer. However, scoring my Mum against these criteria she also scores a 4-3 win for being hardcore. The ones she differs on to myself are that she plays many games but no MMOs.

Do you think there are other criteria that could be used? I'd love to know how you scored and how you rated me from my gaming resume.