I try to play with people I know and avoid the trolls and rude people. I wouldn't say that I have social anxiety, but I find death threats from squeaky voiced kids annoying so I try to play with people I know in real life.
I don't really feel like it affects my gameplay now, but back when I played Ryzom it really interfered with me enjoying the game. I was always concerned that I would do something wrong and the world would end or something, haha. Minecraft multiplayer actually helped me get over most of that, as I was lucky enough to find several really kind and patient communities. I still dislike using team-speak or the like, but that's mostly because most people in online games don't realize I'm female and it always seems to change once they realize that. Kinda' a bummer, because it can be super useful.
I don't feel that kind of an anxiety, but I understand where you're coming from. That's one of the reasons why I started playing games in the first place, because I could find like minded people who "dug" what I was doing.
Trolls suck, and can ruin a perfectly awesome gaming experience. I often play solo, or wait for my husband to play with me, just so that way I'm not totally outnumbered by trolls.
Further to this point, I find that there are certain situations where I'll be more anxious in game. When you have to group, especially with strangers, and some of them are very impatient (usually because they've run the content many times before). I've had cases where everyone started picking on a player that was maybe a bit slower than the others, yelling and critiquing their play. This bothers me because not everyone will go at the same pace, and teaming up means you have to all work together.
I'm always too shy to talk via mic when I play games as well. Like, whenever my group of friends sets up a mumble for whatever flavor of the month game we're trying, I'm always the one who never speaks. I also never bother with the big teamspeak guilds for this reason, and it keeps me away from the competitive portions of games like CSGO and DOTA2.
It does depend on the MMO there were certainly some MMO's in which I just couldn't really talk or communicate with anyone out of anxiety. I dont use a mic so that means Im just apprehensive at typing messages to people, I got that especially on Puzzle Pirates, Guild Wars 2 and Runes of Magic, but Im quite comfortable typing on Runescape, Myth War Online (when it was still running) for some reason
I always had anxiety since I was little but as I grew up I learned how to handle it. Never had problems with videogames, though.
I have mild social anxiety, but I don't really get anxiety when playing an MMO. There's a disconnect between character and the person controlling it, which helps a bit. I do get upset when someone suddenly get aggressive for no reason. I mostly stick with my guildies or irl friends who also play though. I am NOT about that "PUG lyfe" sadly.
It really depends on the situation. I think that pro players on any game can suffer from this. Take for example those participating in a League of Legends international championships. The pressure there must cause some sort of gamer anxiety when facing other skilled players. Imagine competing for a cash price of 1 million dollars. Any wrong move or bad team fight initiation might cost you not only the match but some important money. I recall some pro player crying after losing a game and that becoming semi-viral. It might be also seen at other games and events and it's simply intrinsic to human nature, to feel a bit anxious about things. If you are anxious about a game or some aspect within it a good therapy iwould be simply to face your fear and try that new role, play that other character, face stronger players, accept defeat and train hard until you conquer your fears and become a better player.
A lot of the trolls are just teen boys who have nothing better to do. Obviously don't take what they say personally because it's they're failed attempt to try and psych you out. It's a dumb way to distract you. It does ruin the experience, though. It's just best to stick with playing with or against the people you know.
Yepp. Just play with people from your own tribe. Anyways, I troll trolls and have a lot of fun doing it So, they get back what they send out into the world
I've seen people do that online before. I mean, why not? Give the trolls a taste of their own medicine. If they can't take what they're dishing, they should quit messing with other players. In a way, it's kind of hypocrisy. Like they're the only ones that can troll people, so they suddenly feel righteous and like trolling is wrong when people do it back.
I don't have anxiety meeting new people or starting a new game. I always go healer, so joining a new dungeon, raid, or battleground that I am unfamiliar with or haven't done in a long time freaks me out. I get super nervous and any little thing that goes wrong I'm all "sorry sorry sorry." But for the most part I get through it. It doesn't help that sometimes you are stuck with people who get all cranky with one mistake so you feel like you won't get the chance to learn at your own pace without being yelled at or mocked. It's silly, but it feels like that sometimes.
I'm never anxious in game, and even like to entertain trolls /flamers, or mess with them a bit, just for fun. After all, it's just online, and not face to face, so there isn't much they can do to you anyways.
That may be true, but you definitely don't play online looking for trolls. You just want some friendly competition with someone from another part of the world. You want to test your skills against someone that's not one of your local friends. Then a troll strolls along like they own the place, and mocks everyone playing, does stupid things to get attention, and just sours the session of online gameplay. Sometimes I toy with them and get revenge by trolling back, but most of the time, I'm irritated.
Even having played League of Legends for a long time now I still get minor heart attacks every now and again when something big happens. Especially if I'm laning it's always on my mind to look our for the jungler and a lot of times I get paranoid because of it.
I do get anxiety but I try not to take it too seriously. Most of the time I feel anxious when I'm playing a MOBA and I feel like I'm letting the team down. The pressure gets a bit daunting for me sometimes to the point where I'd rather just watch than play. I don't mind that much though since I enjoy watching a little more than actually playing sometimes anyway.
In mmorpg's I have bad gamer's anxiety when it comes to pvping or dungeons with people I don't know. I can do these things fine with friends and I often do that. However, I get anxiety so bad pvping with strangers, I often just quit the game for a while to calm down. I also can't play FPS games. I have that FPS syndrome and get really bad motion sickness. Remember that introduction in skyrim? That made me sick! But the rest of the game wasn't too bad. I just pushed on because my interest in the game overrode my sick feeling. My body hates my hobbies!
I also have anxiety too. I really want to participate in some events but I'm really scared to socialize with them. Sometimes I avoid interacting with people so I do the quests fast and alone.
