"There's no reason to interact with other people beyond basic interactions"

>**Saying Hi, waving, helping with mobs gets no response, they act like you are not there and ignore you. I also send team invites, etc. and never get a response.**

>*I don't think I'm being anti-social, I'm just being not social, for the same reasons I don't say hi and wave to and chat up with random strangers in real life.*

>*If someone keeps a lift door opened for me, I'll obviously acknowledge that and say thanks, or if someone needs a seat on a bus ride more than I do, I'll obviously be nice and give up my seat, but I don't see any reason to "socialize" anymore beyond those basic interactions.* *I think it's awkward when strangers try to get too friendly.*

The bold is from a post I found from nearly 15 years ago and the italic is a comment responding to it.

I guess I'd just like to understand something I can't wrap my brain around, which is.. 1. do people not view in-game as different than irl, and 2. do people not experience enjoyment from playing with other people? I mean literally being playful, joking, talking for the sake of interacting with other people, immersing themselves in a shared fantasy world..?

I understand the reasons why people tend not to engage (bad experiences, no time, have enough close friends, and yes, even wanting to play solo in a living world). I don't understand why the bad outweighs the good, and why people don't value those spontaneous moments anymore where someone does /wave, you wave back, you chat about what weapon you're crafting, and go explore a dungeon together. Sometimes those are fun one-off memories, sometimes they end up being years long friendships. For everyone else, there's the block button or walking away.