Making friends via gaming

Hi, my daughter (21) would like to make friends with people with similar interests via gaming. She is on a 2 year break from university due to severe anxiety, agoraphobia and feels isolated but at the same time finds social interaction exhausting. She is really getting into pc gaming using games from Steam, but also has ps4. I was trying to do a bit of research for her to find best ways. I found something called Discord sites but I couldn't work out how to make sure it's a friendly site. My daughter is pretty savvy about keeping herself safe online so wouldn't be in danger of exploitation. However, she would find it upsetting if someone she felt she'd started to make a connection with turned out to be not very nice. She's stopped playing ps4 games online because of in game behaviour of a few people. She does find it hard to trust people now. She finds it easier to connect with people if there is a shared interest. Does anyone have any suggestions of appropriate ways to connect via gaming?

Thanks 

  • Always happy to help where I can

  • Thanks that's kind of you to come back with this. I'll pass it on to her.

  • You can find public servers here - https://disboard.org/servers

    You can filter them to find ones for you.  Found it and though I'd come back and post it.
    Though I usually find servers from being link by someone I'm taking to or Face book groups I'm interested in like Dungeons & Dragons

  • I really cannot understand why so many people are so extremely lonely in this digital age. Just communicate. I play alone on https://bezdepozytu.com.pl/automaty-do-gier/hot-target/ , but always communicate with friends. Sure, some will think you are crazy and may make passive-agressive fb posts about you creeping, or straight up tell you; but those aren't people you'd like to have around, so never count them. Talking and being nice is all it takes to make friends. There is no secret code or technique. Just conversation.

  • Thanks that's really kind of you. I'll wait for her to raised it again and then try to casually mention it and see if she can gradually start to move herself forward.

  • That's very kind of her. I have to be a bit careful how to raise it as she doesn't want me to find friends for her. I have to be patient and wait for her to try to reach out.

  • Thanks that would make her feel safer I think 

  • My experience of Discord has been positive on the whole.

    Although the way it worked for me is that I find a game that appeals, then I look for a Discord specific to that game to either ask questions about how to play better, or find people to play with.

    To ensure a particular Discord is a good fit, you can usually "lurk" first where you just read all the other peoples posts and only join in when you feel confident.

  • My steam community page is in my profile. Add me if you want, just make sure you tell me where you're coming from Slight smile

    As for specific communities, most of them revolve around the game in question that your daughter enjoys playing. I myself am part of several online discord communities, but very few of them know that I'm on the autistic spectrum.

    The games which I play are now predominantly PvE games, as I don't have the temprement, reactions or the desire for PvP games by and large. PvE games are also steeped in lore, and most of it makes for interesting reading. Currently making my way through Star Trek Online, having walked away from EVE.

    Being neuro-divergent online can sometimes be incredibly difficult, as most competitive PvP games give way to greifers and people being just plain horrid.

    I've looked for autistic friendly communities on steam, but I get the feeling that the majority of them are made by neuro-typical people for neuro-typical people to make fun of neuro-divergency. If you find any specific groups that are ASD friendly, please send me a message, as I'd like to join

    Regular.

  • Would you be happy for your daughter to play on discord with my son also ? Xx

  • My daughter, 18 yo, uses Discord & has found it very safe. If yours wants to chat to mine she’d be happy to connect on Discord

  • Ok o 

    Thank you . I will let my son know to do this x

  • hard to say really depends on what games you play if you follow any youtubers that play the games you play they often have their own discord servers you can join or you can just search on discord what games you play and servers will come up.

  • Hi o 

    Which discord sites would you say are best for meeting new friends ? X 

  • I'm a gamer discord is good but it still can have a lot of unpleasant people on there that's just the nature of the internet and a large part of the gaming community just isn't very nice. It depends a lot on what kind of games she likes to play and the community around it.

  • Hi there 

    My son is 20 and is exactly in the same position as your daughter. He is very lonely and loves gaming but has had some not nice experiences of some online. He is a lovely lad and very kind and I'd be happy to speak more xx

  • Co-op games are my favorite. Defiantly one of the easier ones to get to know other players on.

    If she's into a certain game that's available on steam, there will likely be many groups dedicated to that game or groups which has that game as part of their regular games.

    I've connected to a group by finding an invite to the group on a website or through social media or through someone I've met in the game or who is on my friends list on steam or private message on Discord

    Personally I think the best way to join a group is to just let people know you're interested in joining a group through chatting in game or asking them if they are a part of a group.

    I mostly play with family now rarely with someone I met at an old job. But all people I know in the real world. What important to finding someone to play with I find is to find someone who likes to play the game the same way you do. Weather you like to play fast, slow, prepare, read all the dialog etc.

    I like to take the time to upgrade, build and prepare for the next area. Making sure I got a good chance of success. Some people find that too slow, and that's okay. Just gotta find the right people for you or you could end up no longer enjoying the game.

  • ah dont need to do anything, she will do that naturally as the games have their own in game chat and clan systems, when she plays with people online over the net and speaks to them if they have a clan they will probably invite her to a discord clan page if they have one. thats what discord was made for really, but thats not even needed as most game clans keep their communication in game.

  • I'm happy to illustrate how great it is that opposite to the much publicised doom and gloom is the reality of the modern gaming ecosystem. Us players control it so the more nicer players there are, our ecosystem will organically become nicer.

    The way its worked for me in the past is I use the in-game text chat system for comms with people I encounter in games for teams, party, open world events etc. The more I play and learn the more I become recognised as my in game character and my skill in that game (its brilliant fun). So I might get a bit more serious about a particular game and think VOIP could be useful here so someone has a channel for that small group and these smaller groups are the most friendly gaming groups I've experienced. People move into and out of such channels all the time as tastes in gaming change. Stay in the nice ones, leave and block the nasty ones.

    Steam is a great platform, any gamer should have steam.