Meeting Online Friends IRL

Mark J Kline

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May 7, 2010
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Meeting Online Friends IRL

What happens when you meet your online friends in real life?

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Aurgelmir

WAAAAGH!
Nov 11, 2009
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Mark J Kline said:
I'm also hoping the reverse is true and some people aren't quite as big idiots as they seem online.>
Hmm... not so sure... I knew this guy...

Don't you just hate when people generalize based on one person they know?

But yeah, meeting a person you have only talked to on the net for the first time is a bit weird. Because people are, in my experience different IRL and online.

Some are easier to talk to online, because online communication follows different rules, while others are totally impossible to communicate with over the net...
 

Nightfalke

Just this guy, you know?
Sep 10, 2008
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I think it helps, ALOT, to have had voice communication with the people online as opposed to just text. I grew a lot closer to a bunch of my guildmates once we had a ventrillo server.

It also helps significantly to have more in common than just the game. I left WoW a few years back, but I still keep in touch with a bunch of my old guildies because we live (or lived, some have moved) in the same area, so we had more in common than just raiding or crafting.

Having only gaming in common can really hamper attempts at meat-space interaction.
 

lewism247

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Aug 1, 2009
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Poor guy, chin up.

I'm actually planning to a meet a few people of the escapist next year, should be good if it goes ahead.
 

Tigurus

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Apr 14, 2009
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I have a few friends which I've met through the internet and/or games.
Also have meet them and mostly it was never a problem.
Though with one well...after 2 meets, I can't call her a real friend anymore...
And the thing is, it's obvious that I must have done something very bad but she says nothing is the matter and that nothing had changed.

(I hate girls T_T)

Hopefully will meet 2 other friends again next week.
Hurrah! I hope
 
Feb 13, 2008
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Well...there's been quite a few successful meetups around here;

Escapism UK [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.218071-Escapism-UK-2010]
Escapism Down Under [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.193307-Escapism-Melbourne-2010-details]
Escapism UK - Halloween [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.229010-Escapism-UK-Halloween-2010-Event]

I've met huge amounts of people I've met online but sometimes it's just personality clashes. People are odd.

Just meet up with some new ones. There's always loads of decent people around.
 

DTWolfwood

Better than Vash!
Oct 20, 2009
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well i attended one of my online friends IRL wedding XD And if it wasnt for the fact he lives in detroit and is currently job hunting, like so many there are, we would still be gaming and cracking jokes.

all them social networks really help to keep in touch.

p.s. i've been playing games with this buddy for well over 5 years before i was invited to his wedding. been friends for well over 8 now.
 

BlueInkAlchemist

Ridiculously Awesome
Jun 4, 2008
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I met a girl online. Playing World of Warcraft, specifically.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_192/5835-The-MMOG-Connection

We've been married over a year. Need I say more?
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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Thats a real shame it seems to have turned out like it has...

I had a really successful trip. I went to London on business and then met up with a couple of friends I play with in an MMO.

The trip was fantastic, and, we have met subsequent times since. I think, if both parties are honest, and, they pretty much act the same in person as they do in a game, or other online environment. I dont see how anything bad could happen.

I plan on meeting others in a few weeks in fact, and, really looking forward to it!
 

Lono Shrugged

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May 7, 2009
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lewism247 said:
Poor guy, chin up.

I'm actually planning to a meet a few people of the escapist next year, should be good if it goes ahead.
Forums are a great place to meet people. Chatrooms, not so much. I think it's great for a group of people to get together after meeting online and have a lan party or drinks or dinner etc. I think if you have your head half screwed on and are careful you can make great friends online. Or at least people you may meet up with every few months. As for kids they need to be aware to be careful too and I know I would have had more online friends as a child if I had net access.

Like anything regarding people, you have to be careful and get to know them otherwise meeting online is the same as meeting someone at camp, video game store or a bar. That said I have met a number of crazy people in meat space.
 

Angerwing

Kid makes a post...
Jun 1, 2009
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I've met my old Guild Master and his girlfriend in person. We live in the same city (she used to live in America though, so it's a double whammy there), and we were in contact via Facebook, even after the dissolution of our guild. Anyway, we met up in the shopping mall where I work. Nice people. We're going to be going to the same university next year as well, so I foresee a bit more in person catching up.
 

razer17

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Feb 3, 2009
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Well, I went to someones birthday party last year, that person being a member of the Escapist, whom I had never met before. Also their were a couple of other people from the Escapist (Sky14kemea, Cpt_Oblivious and Insanum) and that was pretty awesome.

As mentioned about by Root of All Evil, there is an Escapism Halloween, which I am going to, and that should be good. I thought it was good meeting people I knew online, i had a great time, and I expect I'll be saying similar things when I go to Halloween.
 

lewism247

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Aug 1, 2009
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Lono Shrugged said:
lewism247 said:
Poor guy, chin up.

I'm actually planning to a meet a few people of the escapist next year, should be good if it goes ahead.
Forums are a great place to meet people. Chatrooms, not so much. I think it's great for a group of people to get together after meeting online and have a lan party or drinks or dinner etc. I think if you have your head half screwed on and are careful you can make great friends online. Or at least people you may meet up with every few months. As for kids they need to be aware to be careful too and I know I would have had more online friends as a child if I had net access.

Like anything regarding people, you have to be careful and get to know them otherwise meeting online is the same as meeting someone at camp, video game store or a bar. That said I have met a number of crazy people in meat space.
A great way to strengthen friendships is with actual talking, Skype has been fantastic for this. I'm a bit iffy about chatrooms, people tend to be a bit odd.
 

C4N4DUCK18

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Jun 9, 2010
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I used to play mmo's, but I grew out of them. Also the ones I wanted to play were out of my price range. Most of my online friends were my friends before playing mmo's anyway. We get together when we can. Work usually gets in the way. But when we do hang out, it's a lot of fun. I try to get us to go on epic quests, like journey through the crystal forest (true story). Our next quest is to visit our friend in university. ROAD TRIP WOOOOOT!
 

ShadowKatt

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Mar 19, 2009
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I've met several people from the online world in the real world, though to be honest I was the one that did the distancing afterwards. Several of them were supposed to be potential relationships, and after our time together in the real world ended, they all became very clingy and wouldn't stop pestering. However, it hasn't stopped me from doing it, I already have plans to visit another, but I need a passport to do it :/
 

Vault Citizen

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May 8, 2008
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The first time I met someone in real life that I met online it was for sex, since then I've met a couple of people I've met online and we've usually just gone to see a movie or hung out a bit, at the moment I don't have too many online only friendships so meet ups with them isn't something I really do.
 

6unn3r

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Aug 12, 2008
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I met someone who i had played LOTRO with online for the best part of 2 years on new years day 2010. We slept together. She cheated on her BF to be with me and we started seeing each other regularly for 7 months before the distance thing became a problem and we went back to being just friends.

True Story.