Lol...so you assume that all casual players don't care at all about gear what-so-ever...we aren't "competitive" (again...not necessarily skill but whoever plays the most typically - with a few exceptions) anyway so who cares? Again...people in this forum, casual and lifers alike obviously care about the game, care about having decent gear, and care about playing end-game and having a challenge. I guess us casual players should just walk around in-game at a leisurely pace and enjoy the beautiful environments, chat a bit with friends, and maybe while we are at it we can kill a couple mobs as long as it is a low-difficulty and non-competitive! They can't possibly be skilled players, how can they be only playing an hour at a time? The bottom line is almost every person playing this game cares mostly about 1 thing and that is loot. If you offer the best loot in only one mode, I don't see how you can say that isn't forcing you to play said mode...
So playing competitively motivates people to play and the only way to play competitively is going to be ladders but it isn't forced on us? I normally don't like to make assumptions...but it is probably safe to say that people who care enough about the game to check this site, read the forums, and create an account to comment on those forums cares at least a little about being somewhat competitive regardless of how often or long they get to play. If the rewards in ladder were only cosmetic would we even be having this conversation? I agree, the players who don't play as much won't be rewarded as much just because of RNG but there is at least a chance I too can get a wand of woh or a full set, etc. Add on top of that to add "not only are you going to generally have worse gear because you play less, you also have 0 chance to get the best and newest items unless you play ladders" - that is the issue. I realize I will never have as good of a gear set as a player who plays so much more than me, but at least there is a chance I can see a game breaking item drop. Of course I don't take it personally, it's a video game forum Just discussion about something we both love!
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