How many friends have you made in WoW?

[Strakha]

I noticed the other day that my friends list was mostly people that I have known since TBC or WotlK and that there was a sharp decline in friends that I had made after that were mostly just arena partners or RBG pals.

I was wondering if anyone noticed that they were making less friends as the queue systems increased (LFD, LFR, etc) or if they were making more now that there is the cross realm battle.net friend system?

I find that if you try to get a group going on your own realm to even just cap valor it seems like pulling teeth, people almost don't want to work together outside of the queue systems.

People seem to prefer the anonymous deadzone of LFD runs compared to conversation and making new acquaintances on the home realm.

Is this unique behavior for a MMORPG or do others notice this trend as well?

[Thetruth1400]

I noticed it too which is why my account subscription looks like this;

05/05 - 01/10 --Subscribed constantly
After that it goes like this;
03/10
07/10
09/10 - 01/11
04/11
03/12
12/12 - 01/13

I've only had one RL friend that played WoW and played with them until they quit in TBC. I also played with a few people I had met in Vanilla up until they quit in WotLK. After that point though, getting and keeping friends was more of a chore then it was worth to me. It seems easier to just hop in a LFR or LFD group, not talk to anyone and just go about my day without having to try and make friends as when I do, they either ignore me, tell me to just do the dungeon, or berate me for even trying.

I would love to find a guild again where I, as a player and person, actually matter. Sadly, that's not the model Blizzard wants anymore. Instead, they're all behind the randomness of LFD and LFR with the "bring the player" attitude. Sadly, the bring the player attitude is the problem, because it's fine for established people, but those not established are left out in the cold as they're not really needed.

[Scinder]

Quite a few actually. Recently (over the last couple of years) I have been lucky to actually met several players that became real life friends after learning that they lived within 10-50 miles. We hang out on occasion and went on a fishing trip to the coast. Most of the time you meet people that live in other states that probably only become friends on social media as well as in game.

[Beenie]

I have some issues with WoW, as many people seem to. Despite this, I will always look back on it fondly because of the friends I was able to make while playing. Mostly casual, game-only friends, but I have made 5 amazing friends through the game that have become an integral part of my life. I honestly can't imagine not having these people around me and I consider them as much my family as my actual family, even more so in some cases.