I played hardcore once, it's pretty good compared to Diablo 3. Feels more rewarding to play it in PoE. Less random shit to die to.
I don't have that much fun anymore in hardcore. I'm super causal now and would rather play for an hour, get off, and do something else. Sure I can do that in hardcore, but you play safer and you're more aware, so progression in hardcore is naturally a little slower. So getting more done in a short amount of time is worth it.