I think people are to caught up in the distinction between "FGC" and "casuals". I've never entered a tournament in my life, but enjoy fighting games enough to own an arcade stick. I bought SF4 day 1, but didn't care enough to buy Super 4 etc until I nabbed it for $10 on PC. I don't care about single player, and think multi is where it's at for fighting games. Am I casual or part of the FGC?
Do you watch tournaments or competitive streams? If not, you probably aren't defined as being part of the "FGC". That doesn't make you a "casual" by definition, but it's worth noting that the FGC is not a particularly inclusive group. You shouldn't take it as a judgment of your ability to play the game or investment in the game, but rather your investment in the community.
The reason you see so much made of the FGC is because, like GAF, it's a community that tends to radiate influence out beyond its immediate scope. From the perspective of Capcom's community outreach, the opinion of one person in the FGC is probably worth ten (or more) opinions of "normal" players because they are simply that much more vocal and that much more likely to influence hardcore and casual players alike.
That creates a notable tension when there are choices made that the FGC generally prefers, but casual players do not. Rather than doing a straight-up democratic process they have to consider weighted values. That said, there is of course always a point where the value swings the other way; a choice that pisses off five million casual players is not worth it, even if it wins over ten thousand members of the FGC.
