HANDS ON GUIDE

4 - Make some actual friends

They aren't all bots you know

The Internet, as far as socialising is concerned, is still considered by polite society to be something of a joke, and the punch line is the life of the MMO player. This isn’t how it has to be. Players in a gaming clan, especially one that’s well established and with dedicated members, will often find themselves spending more time together than their work colleagues, flatmates or family.

Players spend many hours on Teamspeak, shooting the breeze and stabbing those Alliance lamers. Not considering the people you’re playing alongside for hours a day your friends is a pretty depressing thought. Get voice comms, don’t be afraid of the Guild Chat channel and if the opportunity arises get the gang together for a beer (unless they're Scandinavians, in which case you could lose a kidney). There are few things sadder in life than players who spend a good proportion of their waking hours playing a game with people they don’t like.

In gaming as in life a gamer should hang onto the people with whom he gels, from game to game and forum war to forum war, because life is too short and there’s plenty of time for solitude when you’re dead. No man is an island, even if he’s got self healing abilities and a killer DPS.

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