Online Friends CAN BE Real Friends

[greysinsanderson]

online friends are mostly a number, some are genuine, but they're numbers to prove your popularity to.....yourself usually

[TheWerebison]

One of my best friends is a girl I met online in a MUD. We've been friends for...god, I can't even think how long it's been now, maybe 12 years, and I finally visited her for the first time last year.

There is nothing wrong with making true friends on the internet.

[Valedus]

Hey thanks. I'll PM you on here, I don't get on Diablo 3 anymore, so don't worry about it. :P Also, same to you, Lunaesca.

---------- Post added 2012-07-31 at 07:40 AM ----------



Aye, actually have met a few folks I've met in both WoW and Rift. Some old WoW guildies moved to the area last Fall and we met up for some Gino's East deep dish pizza, was most superb! The behavior on all our parts was so much like our in-game selves, hanging out and chatting was nothing different.

Went bowling with a couple ex-guildies a few months back from Rift and while one got on my nerves actually in-game, the other I am still acquaintances with, I'd say. Still, I can appreciate his kind goodwill, providing me with some beer that night and all.

---------- Post added 2012-07-31 at 08:16 AM ----------

Interesting, how coincidences work. We just had a very random storm come over my area that I had no idea would be coming. Decided to sit outside towards its ending and just listen to it and sip coffee, what a great way to ponder calmly.

"Gino's East"

I was like wait... hm, think that's only in Chicago-land, but I could be wrong, saw you're from Illinois! Me too! That's awesome. Sorry to hear about the friend.
I honestly do believe online friends can be close friends. I have about as many online ones as IRL ones, and I feel about as close with them. Though, I would rather talk to them in person, but I don't think it prevents strong friendships.

[DeltrusDisc]

You'll know a real friend when everything goes into shit and you need help, he/she will lend you money will help you move out will let you stay in his/her home. Real friend are like family I've never experienced this with and online person, sure I laugh make jokes spend a lot of time with them, but that doesn't mean shit when things go down...

Keep your real friends you cannot count on online friends

I've had friends online buy me things and such, just because it hasn't happened to you doesn't mean it doesn't happen at all.

[Shiirow]

"They say a real friend would bail you out of jail... I say a real friend would be in the cell with you saying shit like 'She didnt look like no cop.' "

All joking aside, I used to think of people online as friends, but Ive gotten burned far too many times, figuratively speaking, by people that I rarely socialize with anyone other than a few scattered conversations. I dont consider anyone online, WoW included, as friends anymore, merely acquaintances that Im sharing an hour or so with to accomplish a goal. I may be jaded to the whole thing because of all the people that have used and abused me over the years though. *shrugs*

[TidesOfBlood]

True that. I met some really cool people when I played on battle.net back in 2005 (back when there were no bots hosting and people hosted maps themselves). Before dota flooded the custom games search, people hosted all kinds of neat custom maps to play and you would make friends. This was so because realms were not connected so you only played with people from your realm which made adding them to the friendslist much easier.

Also the chat channels were much more active back then than they are now. This was when battle.net was in its prime and there were lots of people communicated and playing with one another.

I've actually met one of my best online friends from battle.net and he introduced me to World of Warcraft in 2006. Me and him are now facebook friends and am saddend to hear that he is going to be deployed soon. We have been in contact since 2005 and have been playing on battle.net for a really long time. You meet so much cool people online when you're playing games.

[Slavemaker]

I've been good friends with a lot of the people I met on WoW for about 7 years, I still talk to them, I go to them for things and all of that business, they are just as real as anyone I know personally, anyone who says otherwise is plain wrong, these are people and they are my friends, if I ever found out something happened to any of them I would be devastated and horribly upset, speaking of which I am very sorry to hear that about your friend, my best friend and childhood friend's name is Jesica and if anything happened to her I would absolutely break down.

[DeltrusDisc]

First of all, I'm sorry for your loss.

I agree 110% with you. People say you're not social and sh*t when you're playing video games more than they'd like you to play them. BS.. I met my boyfriend through WoW and am now living with him. Been together for 2 1/2 years now. We did meet ONLINE and lived 300-400 km away from each other + he's eight years older than me.
How many prejudices do you think we slapped down? "You can't feel anything for someone you haven't met." Indeed you can... "You can't have long distance relationships." Yes you can. "You can't have a long relationship with so much difference in age." Uhm, yes.. Yes you can. And you can have all of them together. People just need to open their eyes and not judge anyone/anything before they know what they're talking about.

-Piq :-)

Thank you and I'm happy to hear about your successful relationship! I hope it continues that way.

[The High Druid]

People are completely different online than in person. Even people who are "being themselves" have annoying habits and tendencies that you can't experience via the internet.

People are completely different at work/school/the supermarket* than in at home/in the park/at work*. Even people who are "being themselves" have annoying habits and tendencies that you can't experience at home/theme park/on a boat*.

*Delete as appropriate.

Knowing someone only over the net is no different to knowing someone only at school, work, at the bar, whatever. At what point does a relationship become 'real'? Well that's different for everyone, and often also different for the two people involved. From my point of view, in two weeks time, I will marry my best friend whom I met playing World of Warcraft.

[Deleted]

Yes, and??

[Kiryia]

I personally base friendship on time spent together. Whether it be online gaming or out scuba diving as my friends and I do, the basis of almost all relationships are based on time. I basically have a non concrete timeline for what relationships status I consider a person based on where they are in a little list. It makes it easy if you ever have to describe who some one is to you.

Met you one time - No status
Met you a few times - Acquaintance
Hang out/talk once every few months - Usually friend of a friend
Hang out/talk a few times a month - Casual friend
Hang out/talk a few times a week - Friend
Hang out/talk everyday - Close Friend/Girl Friend
Met and had dinner with my family - Family

Seeing how I've spent many years raiding and doing all kinds of gaming shenanigans online with the same guys/girls I would consider most of them friends. I know most of their kids, wives and /or parents. Granted, the image given off by people having 9000 Facebook fans tends too counteract my idea of online friendship. I can say for sure anyone who sends me care packages while I'm in Iraq, remembers my birthday every year, drives 400 miles to sit with my mother in the hospital because I'm deployed to Afghanistan again is most assuredly a friend.

[DeltrusDisc]

Knowing someone only over the net is no different to knowing someone only at school, work, at the bar, whatever. At what point does a relationship become 'real'? Well that's different for everyone, and often also different for the two people involved. From my point of view, in two weeks time, I will marry my best friend whom I met playing World of Warcraft.

Congratulations!

Your question rings really strongly though, at what point DOES a relationship become 'real'? We all have our own sort of "passages" for other people, I suppose, and this friend of mine certainly made it through mine. It all started with doing several dungeon runs for a few hours together that night, leveling up. It led to playing together more and befriending on Facebook. We got on Skype and laughed and talked while playing. Hell I'll admit, even though her age, sometimes I still flirted at her and she'd be like "oh you, I could be your mother!!!" And we'd laugh. That's friendship, right there, if you ask me.

---------- Post added 2012-07-31 at 09:05 AM ----------

Seeing how I've spent many years raiding and doing all kinds of gaming shenanigans online with the same guys/girls I would consider most of them friends. I know most of their kids, wives and /or parents. Granted, the image given off by people having 9000 Facebook fans tends too counteract my idea of online friendship. I can say for sure anyone who sends me care packages while I'm in Iraq, remembers my birthday every year, drives 400 miles to sit with my mother in the hospital because I'm deployed to Afghanistan again is most assuredly a friend.

Most assuredly so! For one, thank you for your service, and props to whomever of your friends made that drive, that is truly respectable.

[Rork]

I've had friends online buy me things and such, just because it hasn't happened to you doesn't mean it doesn't happen at all.

That's not true my online friends have bought me the 397 ilevel boots and wrist.

[Velthy]

Sad story, im sorry to hear that. I gotta agree, i also met my best friend online (in WoW yeah) and i never had a better friend in my life, even tho i have many friends irl, and usually dont consider people met online as friends. There are exceptions.

[damntree]

I met my wife online. That being said I do not believe you can be real friends with someone you have never met but I think you can meet some great people online and then become friends with them in real life.

[DeltrusDisc]

That's not true my online friends have bought me the 397 ilevel boots and wrist.

Then why did you say this?

Keep your real friends you cannot count on online friends

You obviously could count on your online friends to spend *their* earned gold (sure it isn't dollars, but it is still their time) on you, so why are you so negative and not thankful?

[Schattenlied]

An online friend is very capable of being a real friend... or even more sometimes. I know a couple who have been happily married for 10 years who met playing Asheron's Call... People who think online friends can't be real friends are lying to themselves.

[Incandio]

Think you need to be careful about your language here. What's the question? Do online friends matter? (yes, they're people) Are they "the same" as real life friends? (no, anymore than an online community is the same as a real life community).

The differences between online friends and real life friends seem to be so massive and obvious they hardly need pointing out. In real life it is hard enough to perceive and understand people correctly. In an online environment this becomes not only difficult but completely impossible - just because of the paucity of information you have available. I think also the online environment massively expands the narcissistic component of friendship. They're like Star Trek food pills, rather than actual food. Note that this doesn't preclude emotional involvement in online friends. The factors that stimulate emotion are emblematic rather than actual - men are more likely to cry at the death of Bambi than the death of an actual deer. But the depth and complexity of emotion felt towards real life people, let alone friends, dwarfs that felt towards people only encountered online. I'd include in this even people with which we've had long-lasting correspondence on email.

You might say, "Hang on, people are more honest online because they're operating behind pseudonyms". Apart from the fact that this honesty is predicated on an act of anonymity, which is sort of contradictory, it becomes problematic when you ask whether this honesty is part of their true personality or not, when that honesty is not part of their day-to-day lives. The honesty could manifest itself in indulgent ways that would be filtered out in real interaction.

I don't know. There's a huge amount to say about this, and to think about, it's one of the big questions nowadays.

Edit: I also dispute sometimes the distinction between real life and online life. Probably the distinction will (appear to) erode in the future anyway as interfaces become more integrated with our senses. I prefer to just talk about real life, and stuff within it. This way real life is always recognised as being more "massive" than online life, which for me is a completely minor sub-category. It's simply an activity. It's not a separate "world" to any extent whatsoever.

[Rork]

Then why did you say this?

You obviously could count on your online friends to spend *their* earned gold (sure it isn't dollars, but it is still their time) on you, so why are you so negative and not thankful?

I'm thankfull but I don't consider this as an act of friendship, merely an help to get me to raid with them and spend time with them IG.

I've allready gave my definition of real friendship, I would not ask them to come pick me up at the airport, I'm sure an online friendship can become a real friendship but you'll have to meet and spend real time togheter.

[Palmatum]

" Subscribe for 5000 friend invites!!!!1111"

Sure they are.