Gamer Anxiety

I love MMO and I tend to play a lot that would require a lot of teamwork to play comfortably. I tend to solo most games because I have social anxiety but it's a lot more fun to play with others and it makes the gameplay go a lot faster.

It's also a lot easier to be social in games and that could be useful for people with social anxiety who otherwise wouldn't be able to talk to others easily.

 

I also have anxiety but games don't really help me a lot. I mean, I play them a lot and I enjoy my time but I don't find them useful to soothe my psychological disorder.

 

Main reason why I don't like MMOs as much is because of the social interaction. Even though I'm sitting at home the entire time, it still feels weird. Playing with people online that I already know in real life is a different story though, I love that. This is basically the main reason why I'm not playing DotA or LoL because I just don't want anyone depending on me and I completely suck because I've never played the game. It's an infinite loop.

 

I have self-imposed social anxiety. I have just found that a very large majority of other players are either really stupid, or really rude, to the point that I don´t even try to talk to people any more other than to give directions when I am tanking. One of the first things I do is turn off most chat modes when playing a mmorpg.

 

I don't really deal with this issue... or maybe am not aware of it, but I do tend to like playing solo most of the times than in a group of other people, but I guess that in my case it's just an innocent preference.

 

I like playing solo but I don't have too much of an issue grouping if it needs to be done. MMOs are by design supposed to be social in nature if you want to do endgame stuff or get through certain aspects of progression. Of course there's lots of solo play too to also cater to the solo crowd as well. My personal anxiety is more geared towards physical aspects of life vs online. Going to the store, getting on the bus, talking to people face to face. I rarely if ever talk to my guild mates over Vent, ect but I don't mind typing to them. They hardly know me, my background, how I look like, how I sound, ect. All they know is that I play blah blah character.

 

If it's a task that requires communication like bossing/raiding, then I'm down for that. Sometimes when playing and talking with strangers, I do get a little nervous as I have social anxiety. Talking to strangers online is helping it though. Just got to do it to get rid of it!

 

I've had some anxiety in the past but it never manifested in game\on the internet. I think MMOs are best played with friends, strangers I mute immediately if possible.

 

I tried to in the past so much but generally my friends often stop playing or have other stuff come up. Playing with new people isn't that bad since most are nice as I've found out, but I haven't talked to many over things like Vent. I don't want to stop playing a game if my friends won't play with me. >.>

 

I can play MMOs, but I'm a naturally quiet person when it comes to talking with people I don't know very well and if I'm put on the spot, I'll get quite uncomfortable. I'm much more expressive chatting since I have an easier time putting my feeling into words rather than speaking them unless I feel I need to express myself. Only when I get to know a person better will I be more willing to do voice chat and maybe video chat (though not at the moment since I need to get a new cam).

 

I hate how people often want to push you into chatting, and sometimes I'm just not in the mood. If I'm not responding, just take a damn hint. I've had a guy trying to talk to me on a mic, for like half an hour and he just wouldn't let up, it was both funny and irritating.

 

This is a really good question. I have played MMOs since I was very young, but I only recently was able to summon up the courage to talk on mic. I think I'm in kind of a weird category of gamers, where I like to play with other people to only a certain degree. I enjoy multiplayer games, but I don't like feeling pressure where I HAVE to talk to someone or be friendly with them. Like razer said, sometimes I'm in the mood, and sometimes I'm just not.

 

I don't suffer from gaming anxiety that I know of. At first I was really shy to chat or interact with people, but I got over it pretty quick. Gamers are just like you, sure some will be annoying or more vocal or whatever, but ultimately everyone is equal in a game.

I'm also not a huge fan of using my mic when I'm gaming. I much prefer chatting on the keyboard when I can. That being said, I used to shoot the crap with people on mic in NHL 14 on Xbox all the time, I just don't do it in MMORPGs for some reason.

 

I'm super social when it comes to gaming. Most MMO's I won't even play longer than maybe a few days if I don't really have people to play with. If I'm on console, however, I can play independently or with friends, both of them work for me.

 

I think that's probably due to age. I refused to talk on mic until a few years ago, and now I do it all the time, really early into a game. I've always been social, but when I was younger it was "scarier," I guess.

 

I think I am still a little confused as to what gamer anxiety is. I think I get it, but something still seems to be missing. It might be tied to age like some users have suggested, because I cannot image having too much anxiety when I was a lot younger, but maybe as I am getting older there is a little bit of social anxiety out there.

 

I don't know if this applies or not, but I absolutely hate playing with other players that require I talk to them on a headset. I have social anxiety big time and it is very hard for me to talk to others. I often avoid talking on the phone and text instead. It makes me it extremely hard for me to join a guild that does major progression in the game due to them requiring the use of vent or something of the sort. I try to talk to the other players and I freeze up. I guess it has something to do with my social anxiety. It does affect my gaming too because if I can't get into a guild that is actually worth it, my character progression is halted.

 

I have social anxiety as well and avoid talking to other players. I have to agree with you, most players are rude and think they know everything about a particular game, which drives me insane. I don't turn off the chat function though because it does help when you need to say something important, but for the most part I just play by myself or with trusted real life friends. It kind of defeats the purpose of playing an MMORPG, but I still enjoy the game.

 

Sometimes I have anxiety when I'm deep into a game, but I don't have time to play. The suspense creates the anxiety. Other times I get anxiety from just playing too long.