are there proper ways to engage people in game? it seems strange to me to randomly ask someone to be friends. i also don't see many ways to strike up conversations (if that's the proper way to refer to it).

for additional context, in a game like Throne & Liberty or FFXIV, there are tons of people running around doing their thing. do you just whisper to someone and say hi? do you comment on their character or if you saw them do something interesting / cool?

or, for something like The First Descendant you may run a mission with a bunch of random people and then everyone goes their separate ways. but, if that group was cool (and good) do you quickly try to friend everyone?

personal context (if it helps / matters), console gamer (PlayStation don't judge please, haha), really introverted / anxious around strangers IRL, older play (mid 50s) and ultimately... afraid of looking like a weirdo 😀

apologies in advance if this topic was already discussed (happy to check another post if some can point me to it). also, apologies if i don't directly respond to every message, although i will read them all.

edit - 2024/11/16 - i just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your advice and taking the time to reply / provide your insights. this has really been helpful!! happy gaming to you all 🎮 🕹️ 😄

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[–] Sabata11792@ani.social 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

If they look like there just roaming around, emoting, roll-playing, playing with random items/spells or generally fucking around; there likely feeling social and may respond but each MMO has a different vibe to it. Look for people loudly drawing attention in cites. Wow players tend to group up but not say anything, There is mechanical communication(IE: everyone is in perfect sync in a group activity) but that has a good chance of breaking down at the first sign of trouble. I can't say much A lot of it is bar level interaction, you hang out for 30 minutes, do your dungeon and move on. If you get along with some one during an activity, send a friend request and they may accept or ignore it, sometime they may sit on it for a bit.

There is a lot of toxicity or other people you will just not , block and move on if its a problem to you, report if it's still a problem after that. You will never win an argument on the internet. Being a weirdo is normal, and awkward interactions will be common, as that guy has a good chance of being from some country you cant find on the map(or your government may have literally bombed there family yesterday). Noting more honest than 2 randos finding out there at war with each other after spending 2 hours having fun.

[–] randomcruft@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 4 days ago

a lot of toxicity or other people you I think that's probably the biggest barrier to being social. not wanting to deal with toxic players is a huge thing from what I have read (Lemmy, Reddit, etc.)