Venting Social anxiety and pvp games

[seho_j]

Does anyone here suffer from so much social anxiety that it's almost impossible to get into a pvp game?
I've been playing pc games for years now and the only pvp game I've managed to play is Apex Legends, and that's only because my friend played with me.
I really like gaming and would like to play more pvp games like R6 or CSGO, but never managed to queue for even one game because I get so nervous at the thought of it.
I've been able to post online only recently for the same reason. I get anxious even when posting here.
It's really annoying how my anxiety prevents me from doing what I really enjoy.

 

[TAW122]

I'd say it's more that I just have bad reflexes when it comes to high intense, fast paced reaction things. I'd get utterly destroyed when playing against another player, especially if they know the game and what not. Thus, I am just not cut for pvp related stuff. I'd like to think that it's also due to my Aspergers and autism that may have some negative impact on my skills (but could be wrong).

 

[BabyYoda]

I never really play pvp games. I hate it when you're trying to enjoy your free time and then you get teamed up with this asshole who yells at you for not being as skilled as them. Too bad a lot of popular games are multiplayer (but I have a handful of good singleplayer ones, so yeah)

 

[nerve]

Big yes! I can play non-PVP MMOs, but it's not like I communicate with anyone or even enjoy the genre that much. I get jealous thinking about how some people have online friends they can talk to or play a game with sometimes. That sounds like it could be really nice.

Team-based stuff is most intimidating. Like I know it's just a game and it doesn't matter if we win or lose, but I can't count on other people to feel the same way. It's a hassle. If I'm going to try to do something for fun or distraction, I'd rather not have to factor in strangers.

 

[Life sucks]

I quit anything competitive. I always should get better results but perform badly and results is all that matters although in many cases I'm the better player. This fucks my brain reward system and make me anhedonic more and put pressure. Although I love the games and the gameplay and I analyze and do stuff and I enjoy it but competitiveness is what I hate. Additionally, competitiveness = more toxicity and I hate to interact with communities and toxic players so I try to play alone or with minimal interaction

 

[Fragile]

competitive games stress the fuck out of me, and i played lol from 2013 to 2019. mostly casual play, i was mildly good at ranked and that was my motivation to keep playing.
ranked anxiety was very real for me, maybe it was because of the social aspect, or my reflexes and coordination declining every season, or my friends leaving the game, but my motivation slowly died when i started to realize that i wasn't good enough.

now i stick to single player games, those have always been something that distract me from the real world and bring back happy memories from my childhood.

 

[TheBigBurden]

I play red dead but I always get anxious when someone comes near me but people usually mind their own business fortunately. I also try to play when normal people are at work so there's less people. There are also so many cool dinosaur games but they're all PVP and it bums me out I don't want to wait like 6 hours to grow a Dino and then get eaten by some asshole lol

 

[Phill]

Happily my anxiety doesn't affect me at playing games, but when it comes to sports I suffer a lot. I've always been a football fan and I love to play it, but just the thought of entering the field and team up with other guys scares the hell out of me. I used to be a really good player, but these days all I can think of when I'm playing is "Please don't pass the ball to me".

 

[terry_a_davis]

Op do you only mean games where most people talk? Just play games that most people don't. I feel sorry for you that online gaming makes you anxious, i'm not very good socially but online gaming (without talking) doesn't faze me. It's pretty anonymous, no-one can see or hear you, try not to worry about it. Just play and get good.

 

[penitent0ne]

I know exactly what you mean. I used to be able to casually make friends in gaming communities without thinking about it and even reveled among the absolute chaos and toxicity of League of Legend's /all chat, but one of the big signs that my anxiety and paranoia were becoming too much to deal with was when I realized about 2 years ago that I NEEDED to mute all forms of communication in those types of games to not have that crippling feeling constantly nagging at me.

 

[Throwawaysoul]

Im dyslexic and bad at spelling so typing in chat makes me nervous and I make more mistakes. I can't listen to the chat because of the cringe factor.
I'm also afraid of being recorded and apparently that's all people do is record online games. So even if I'm only playing with 10 people, I dwell on the possibility of being watched / mocked by hundreds

I miss being able to play games without fearing someone is going to make a shitty YouTube video.