Tips for gamers Pt 1 — How to make gaming friends (that will last) & my experiences

I remember, about 3 years ago, I was sat playing Left for Dead 2 on my laptop, wondering why I hadn’t made any gaming friends yet. My Steam friends list was about 4 names long, and they were all people I had met at work. So I decided to take the first step; use my microphone and talk to my fellow zombie-killers using the ingame chat. At first…nothing. Nobody talked back. I think someone coughed, and that’s about it. But I persevered, and finally, after many lonely rounds, someone said “Hello”. It was an Australian girl who definitely knew how to play the game. So, convinced that we would be new best friends, I added her on Steam, and messaged her often (I was quite lonely at the time). “Wanna play L4D2 today? “How are you?” “What other games do you play?” Sadly, it took me a while to get the hint that she wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as I was about our new ‘friendship’.

So, feeling defeated and confused, I continued to play video games alone.

A few months later I got into a game called Smite, and noticed that people were actually communicating. Now admittedly, they weren’t using microphones, but they were typing messages and discussing tactics together. Sometimes they even made jokes! I decided to join in, and soon enough, I had made my first actual gaming friends. We talked on Skype and everything! I was so pleased with my new friends that I started talking to everyone I came across in Smite.

Unfortunately, my laptop died soon after, and so my new friends eventually stopped talking to me, which means they obviously were so invested in our friendship.

In 2014 I got my first console, a PS4, and it didn’t take long for me to make new friends again. I realised that people on the PlayStation seemed more sociable than those I’d met on PC. I got really good at one game in particular, and got invited to different clans, which resulted in me having too many friends, to the point where I forgot who people were when they spoke to me. So, I culled my friends list, and ended up with a group of very special friends. We made a great team, and we talked everyday, about video games, about life. After that, gaming became a whole new level of fun for me. My PlayStation was like a meeting place for me and my best buddies.

To this day I’m still best friends with these people, and hope to one day meet them all person.

So, that’s the story of how I made my gaming friends. Here is my advice to anyone who is tired of playing video games alone:

1. Talk to people using the ingame chat. It’s there for a reason!

2. Initiate a friendship. Ask them if they want to play with you again. Send them a friend request.

3. Be nice! Nobody will want to be friends with you if you’re mean to them.

4. Don’t force it. If somebody seems reluctant or ignores your messages/doesn’t want to play, don’t keep pestering them! It isn’t meant to be.

5. Make friends in other places; Youtube, Reddit, Facebook pages, Playstation communities.

6. Get good at an online game. People will notice you if you do. They might come to you for advice. Or better even, you could join/start a clan.

Thanks so much for reading. I really hope this was helpful for someone :) Now get out there and make some friends!